An Aidy White Goal is Gold Dust (DJ Colin Remix) - An Aidy White Goal is Gold Dust (DJ Colin Remix)

The Square Ball 20/8/21 

THE OTLEY BALE

Written by Rob Conlon

Aidy White never looked like scoring for Leeds United, until he did. When the moment came, he was a natural, dancing around defenders, eyeing up the goalkeeper, a chef’s kiss of a finish. Cutting in from the wing in the no.14 shirt, it was like Thierry Henry was back at Elland Road tormenting Michael Duberry.

It’s not that White couldn’t score. During a loan spell at Oldham, he hit the net four times. But he never looked like threatening the scoresheet in a Leeds shirt. That was fine when he was playing left-back, but made things awkward whenever a manager assumed his pace meant he was destined for a Gareth Bale explosion on the wing.

Simon Grayson at least made things simple by keeping him on the left, but Neil Warnock was less sympathetic. White was immediately switched to the right wing. Nobody thought it made any sense, but we were all assuming Colin knew what he was doing. He didn’t.

Come summer, White was twenty years old, out of contract and contemplating an easy escape route. Celtic, Newcastle and Derby were reportedly interested, alongside Lille and Werder Bremen. Warnock was resigned to losing White. “We’ve heard nothing back from Aidy,” he told the club’s official website. “I don’t expect that he will accept the offer from what I was told by his advisors.” But White was daft enough to renew and was rewarded with consecutive starts at left-back in the opening two matches of the season. Then Colin put him back to looking confused on the right wing.

The absence of six first teamers gave White the chance to start in a League Cup tie against Everton, who were being talked up as potential winners of the competition under David Moyes. Sky Sports were expecting White to play at left-back, stressing his task of stopping Kevin Mirallas and Seamus Coleman down Everton’s right. Instead, Mirallas and Coleman were up against the stodge of Danny Pugh and Michael Tonge, the latter on the wing, despite being the only footballer who’s ever made me feel tired watching him run.

“Are Leeds going to be really competitive here tonight?” a typically gloomy Don Goodman was asking in commentary. “We’ll know that after 25 minutes.” It took just three before Leeds were shutting him up, Rudy Austin winning the ball in midfield and prodding it to White, who took over and did the rest like it was something he did every week, arcing the ball into the top corner. September rain settling on the net was sprayed over the Everton fans in the South Stand. Now a different question was being asked in commentary: “Where on Earth did Aidy White find that one from?” Nobody knew. It was his first goal for Leeds in his 74th appearance.

Watching the game back now, I’m pleasantly surprised by some of the football Leeds play. Like, they actually try and pass the ball, and stuff, even if Colin spends his entire night gesturing for someone, anyone, to take a long throw. White links up well with Byram — bloody hell, he was good that season — all night. El Hadji Diouf has perfect conditions to shine, i.e. Sky cameras in attendance and an away end full of seething Scousers to blow kisses at. Likewise Michael Brown, coming up against twenty-year-old debutant Francisco Junior and kicking him until he gets subbed off at half-time. Sylvain Distin’s late header flatters Everton, Austin having already deflected Pugh’s shot into the net, sending Leeds into the next round. “We were better on the night. I think even our fans were surprised,” said Warnock.

The challenge facing White was underlined by a moment midway through the first half, summing up Warnock’s attitude towards developing young players. Diouf takes a nice touch, but dithers and loses possession in his own half. Brown fails to show, leaving Byram no option but hoofing the ball forward. Making just his tenth senior appearance, Byram obliges, shanking the ball out of play and getting some words of encouragement from his boss. “Sam, fucking hell, swap your boots over.”

A month earlier, I’d seen Byram become the first player younger than me to score for Leeds, audaciously turning and chipping the goalkeeper against Oxford. I was watching the Everton game in a pub in Nottingham, just after moving down for university. The heady concoction of White’s goal, cheap Strongbow and beating a Premier League team was enough to convince me to go to a terrible nightclub playing the standard freshers fare of Flo Rida and DJ Fresh (Gold Dust is admittedly still a banger). I’d sobered up by the time I got there and it was a terrible mistake. As my friend Rhys, a Leeds fan I was lucky enough to be in halls with, says: “You hated every second we were in there and I don’t think you ever went back.”

But what price can you put on seeing Aidy White score a goal like that? It’s nine years and counting since his last goal, and he’s just signed for Rochdale from Hearts. And I’m just about feeling ready to do it all again.