'I cried a lot in those years' - Paddy Kisnorbo exclusive on highs and lows of emotional Leeds United stay - YEP 18/8/21

There is an uncontrollable excitement in Paddy Kisnorbo’s voice when he talks about Leeds United.

By Joe Urquhart

The 40-year-old – back home in his native Australia coaching A-League outfit Melbourne City – has a little piece of the Whites etched into his heart and, for better or worse, his head.

Kisnorbo spent four years with Leeds, from 2009 to 2013, helping the club begin their trajectory back up the English football pyramid as Simon Grayson took charge of the League One giants.

The centre-back spent the majority of his time defending in West Yorkshire, but there was one thing that he failed to keep at bay during his spell in LS11 – he could not stop United getting under his skin and, quite literally, into his blood.

“If only you could see my face right now, honestly, I just smile whenever I think about Leeds – what a club,” Kisnorbo told the YEP from Down Under.

He made 58 appearances in total for United, a figure that would’ve been much higher had it not been for some complex injury problems.

“They’re probably the most fond memories I have from my whole football career,” he continued.

“There were a lot of great games and great clubs but Leeds really sticks out. It was a fantastic time and to play in front of fans at Elland Road, to play with the players I played with in those teams was fantastic.

“When Simon Grayson brought me in I think they’d just missed out at Wembley. I knew there was a bit of baggage in terms of how hungry the club was to get promoted. It was quite evident what the team wanted to achieve.

“The only thing I regret is getting injured, which I can’t help and not trying to really push the club to where it is now [in the Premier League].

“I maybe had a couple of chances but I was injured for a long time and it was a difficult stage in my life. Before I got injured I could see myself never leaving, that’s how much I love the club and the town. My daughter was born there and my wife loved the city. Everything about Leeds as a whole was like a perfect scenario.”

Kisnorbo turned down Championship interest to drop into the third tier from Leicester and endeared himself to the Whites faithful immediately on debut against Exeter City – requiring 12 stitches in his forehead, an incident which summed up his playing nature.

His no-nonsense approach made him a fan favourite, the regular bloodied bandage on matchdays gave him cult-like status and the chant ‘you’ll never beat Kisnorbo’.

“I just kept double bandaging it and put some vaseline on the wound,” Kisnorbo laughed.

“That’s how you get the photo shots of the headband and the blood. I didn’t want to have the surgery. I couldn’t keep stitching my head up and I didn’t want to miss out on any training or games, so we just kept wrapping it knowing that I had a hole in my head and needed an operation at some point.”

Perhaps the most famous of his bandage pictures came at Old Trafford on January 3 against Manchester United, a day that will forever be remembered on this side of the Pennines.

Kisnorbo helped keep out Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov – making history as the first third division side to knock Sir Alex Ferguson’s men out of the FA Cup.

“There was a belief in the squad that was like no other – it didn’t matter who you played against. We would give them a hard game,” Kisnorbo recalled.

“You couldn’t let the occasion get the better of you. I think that was a real focus beforehand. I know we were playing against Man United away from home and 70,000 home fans and all that but it was surreal. We could’ve scored a couple more.

“I think that game will go down as one of the biggest Leeds have played in terms of where the two clubs were at that time.”

Kisnorbo’s performances earned him the 2009/10 fans Player of the Season award, the Players Player award and a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year.

Leeds went on to win promotion in his debut season and Kisnorbo was on his way to the World Cup with his country. Life, on-pitch at least, was as good as it could get until disaster struck. And on his birthday of all days.

A snapped Achilles against Millwall signalled the beginning of a treatment room nightmare that would plague the rest of his Leeds career.

It’s only when he talks about the hard times at Elland Road that his voice changes, wobbling slightly from the emotions he still clearly feels.

“The week before I had been told I’d made the Australia World Cup team for South Africa, so I missed out on that and the promotion ended up being bittersweet,” Kisnorbo recalled.

“It was probably one of the hardest things I have been through in my career. You’re on such a high and the next thing you know you are so low.

“I won’t lie to you. I cried a lot in those years. I didn’t watch an Australia international game for close to eight or nine years. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it knowing I could’ve been at a World Cup.

“I think the hardest thing after promotion is you’re there but not actually part of it. You’re part of the group but you’re not part of it on the pitch and that was difficult. To have it all taken away because of an injury was hard.

“I struggled mentally for a long time but it wasn’t like I was depressed or anything. It was more sadness. When you go through the year and you think you’re going to the World Cup and could get promoted along with beating Man United away – what a perfect year it would’ve been.”

Kisnorbo was absent for nearly 18 months, making his next Leeds appearance as a substitute in the final game of the following campaign. After proving his fitness once again, he returned to sign a fresh two-year deal only to suffer another long-term injury.

“I came back from my achilles and then I did my ACL,” Kisnorbo added.

“The injuries weren’t short term. I would never miss a game for a soft tissue injury. They were always hard ones. It was difficult to deal with after I’d come back from 18 months of not playing.”

That spelled the beginning of the end for his time at the club, as Grayson was replaced with Neil Warnock for the 2012-13 campaign. A loan at Ipswich and his release followed. For fans there was an element of ‘what if’ but for Kisnorbo it was an experience he wouldn’t change.

“I miss the club a lot,” he said.

“When I came I knew how big it was but you don’t realise just how big until you play week in and week out. We lost our identity a bit when Simon left and, for one reason or another, that was that. But I have memories I will cherish forever.

"I honestly wouldn’t change a single thing about my time there.”