Leeds United v Swansea City: Daniel Farke on past fuelling the present as Whites seek to pen final chapter and make their Championship story special — Yorkshire Post 29/3/25

By Leon Wobschall

MANY of the special promotion stories begin with heartache and tears.

Leeds United know a bit about that from the past.

From that crushing play-off denouement against Derby County at a stunned Elland Road in May 2019 - the sight of Pontus Jansson sitting alone on the pitch in front of the East Stand amid the pits of despair afterwards is burned into the soul of many - to redemption and silverware at the end of the following campaign.

Other clubs have completed similar journeys. From play-off torment to glory in the space of a year.

Middlesbrough captain Grant Leadbitter watched rivals Norwich City lift the Championship play-off trophy at Wembley after a defeat in May 2015 and stored it in the memory banks to serve as inspiration. Boro were promoted in the following season.

A Leeds lad in David Stockdale did something similar after Wycombe’s Wembley loss to Sunderland in the League One showpiece in 2021-22 in his final game as a Chairboys player. He found atonement with Sheffield Wednesday, again at the home of football, 12 months later.

There are other cathartic tales of teams losing out at Wembley - as Leeds did to Southampton last May – and turning it around. Brentford (2021) and Aston Villa (2019) both went up after being losing finalists a year earlier.

And so to the Leeds of today, where the tension is on a different level to the magnificence of the peak Bielsa title cruise of 2019-20.

Having one of the most expectant and passionate fanbases in attendance to witness it all adds to the subplot. Covid regulations ensured supporters were absent five seasons ago.

Leeds are entrenched in a battle of wills with Sheffield United and Burnley in a 'three-into-two-won’t-go' race for automatic promotion which has the potential to go right to the wire.

Mentality, alongside ability, will be key. Leeds should be hardened in that regard at the start of the run home at least. Hopefully, it will count for something.

United chief Daniel Farke said: "It was definitely not the easiest summer in terms of the outcome last season and the shortest summer break of all the teams, more or less because we had to play three weeks longer and then we had the hangover of the lost play-off final.

"Then we had a difficult transfer window in terms of losing some key players and some emotional moments when players like Georgi Rutter left us.

"It was not the easiest way and then the Leeds United shirt is always the heaviest in this league and there’s always lots of expectation, especially in the away games and for most of our opponents, it’s the game of the season.

"If you deliver with this consistency, 80 points after 38 games, it says a lot about the mentality of the squad and makes me pretty confident we have the nerves and mentality for a proper run-in."

The events of last spring when Leeds were pipped for automatic promotion were painful, exacerbated by what happened at Wembley - but it should condition them for what is in store in the weeks ahead and provide them with an extra incentive to get over the line. Hopefully without resorting to the dreaded end-of-season lottery for their sakes.

On the concept of his Leeds side learning anything from that bitter finale to 2023-24, Farke believes comparisons shouldn’t be made.

He continued: "You cannot compare last season and the run-in with the season right now because we have a different set-up.

"It (last season’s events) was due a lot to the contract situation and we had a group of many players who knew ‘okay, if we don’t make it to the Premier League, we have a good chance anyhow to have a move to a side who are playing for an even better position in Premier League level’.

"It made it a little difficult in the run-in without accusing anyone. We also had some unlucky situations, like with Patrick Bamford. Pascal Struijk - our rock in defending - was out.

"He was out for such a long time, which was tricky. Right now, I have more or less each and every player back in team training. It’s a different scenario, contract situation and group.”

It may be different in Farke’s view, but things aren’t exactly straightforward either.

Today, Leeds resume Championship business on the back of just one full team training session after an international break - not for the first time. Some players have clocked up the air miles over the past fortnight, for sure.

Farke added: "We have so many players on international duty, to have them back for just one training session is always a bit tricky.

"Junior (Firpo) was playing more or less in the early hours of Wednesday morning and there’s different time-zones, it's quite similar to Ao Tanaka.

"It’s difficult once a player has just played and has to travel long and through different time-zones. We have to make some late calls.

"The first game after an international break is always pretty complicated, but I am pretty sure we will be able to put a starting line up out who are ready to run and fight and play for three points. Crunch time starts right now, we are ready.”