Luke Ayling was Leeds United's life, soul and defined the fight to prove the establishment wrong — Leeds Live 10/1/24

Luke Ayling is set to depart Leeds United for Middlesbrough after 268 appearances in more than seven years at Elland Road as a key part of the fabric of the club

Respect for Luke Ayling within football is perhaps best reflected by his dealings with opponents. At virtually every Leeds United match he attended, Ayling would be seen before, during or after in conversation with the opposition.

More than just conversation, it was smiles, laughter, embraces and open debates about why his latest Ayling flop deserved the referee’s whistle. Ayling has always been someone people want to speak to, spend time with and laugh with.

His reputation precedes him. ‘Bill’ is known across English football. Players and staff have either shared a dressing room with him or heard glowing reports from those who have. He’s a trusted, fair-minded, experienced, savvy, funny, warm bloke who gets it.

His team-mates have enjoyed his company at Thorp Arch on a daily basis since 2016, but when opponents come up against him, they want to catch up with him or know they can debate the finer points of a 50-50 throw-in decision with him. He’s a football man.

After dropping down to League One from Arsenal, having failed to make the grade with the London giants, he climbed the ladder again. Ayling would face the Gunners as their equal and proved he could cut it as a top-flight right-back.

His story has been inspirational for the dozens of youngsters Leeds have released while he has been at the club. Ayling has been known to give pep talks to some and remind them dropping down the leagues before coming back up is no bad thing.

No matter what your occupation is, everyone would want Ayling as a colleague. In the slim opportunities external media have had to watch training or see the players behind closed doors, Ayling has been the life and soul of the group.

When you combine his sense of humour with his professionalism, loyalty, determination, work rate and outright talent, you can understand why he has lasted so long at Elland Road. Ayling has been a cornerstone of the best Whites era in 20 years and one of the lieutenants who made it work under Marcelo Bielsa.

Ayling had already proven himself as a good Championship right-back before Bielsa arrived, but he bought in as much as anyone to the Argentine’s methods. He lost the weight, pounded the miles and became a machine down that right flank, linking up with Pablo Hernandez in particular.

There were three key moments attached to Ayling in that promotion-winning season. His post-match interview at the City Ground in February 2020 is widely regarded as one of the turning points which would propel Leeds to the Premier League.

Having lost to Nottingham Forest, Leeds were on a run of two wins in 10 matches and sparking fears another promotion collapse was setting in. Ayling stepped up and told the club’s media team he would do all post-match interviews.

The vice-captain looked tired, depressed, hollowed out and empty. There was no pre-planned message, he spoke from the heart and with honesty about whether the team really was running out of answers under Bielsa.

After that interview, Leeds would draw at in-form Brentford and win five on the bounce before Covid paused the season. Even Ayling himself would score three goals across the six subsequent games from right-back, including that acrobatic volley against Huddersfield Town.

He had set the tone with his character and his ability on the field. The lung-busting carry from his own box to Swansea City’s third in July 2020 perfectly summed up his role at Leeds under Bielsa.

That might be his single most important contribution to the football club. Kill everyone with your engine and feed Pablo to do the rest.

That was not United’s zenith under Bielsa, of course. Ayling started every game of that majestic run to ninth as a newly-promoted side in the Premier League. The celebrations at Molineux again summed up his sense of humour, while he stood out as a leader in key rearguard actions at Manchester City (with 10 men in April 2021) and Manchester United (under Michael Skubala last season).

Relegation hurt Ayling and he was certainly not one of those Liam Cooper aimed his final-day dressing-room barb at once their fate was sealed. He wanted to come back and taste promotion with fans inside Elland Road for the first time, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Rasmus Kristensen put in a concerted effort to keep Ayling out of the team last season and was eventually seen off, but the Championship has been harder on the 32-year-old this time around. Daniel Farke has been left to talk up Ayling’s dressing room strengths as a leader, but it’s too early in his career for a cheerleading role.

He wants to play, needs to play and deserves to play. He’s a football man.