Liam Cooper shares Championship promotion joy with Leeds United message from 1,700 miles away — YEP 22/4/25
By Kyle Newbould
The title-winning former Leeds United captain had an eye on
Monday’s celebrations
Liam Cooper sent his congratulations to former club Leeds
United following confirmation of their return to the Premier League on Monday.
Leeds secured automatic promotion from the Championship
following Monday’s 6-0 thumping of Stoke City, with Daniel Farke’s side flying
out the blocks to score five goals in the opening 45 minutes, four of which
came via Joel Piroe. Junior Firpo and Willy Gnonto were also on the scoresheet
and a third straight win sent them eight points clear of Sheffield United.
The Blades then lost 2-1 at Burnley, a result which sent the
latter and Leeds up automatically, with fans flocking to Elland Road and
celebrations continuing long into the evening. Daniel Farke and his players
stayed in the stadium to watch it all unfold following their comfortable win
and were soon joined by thousands of fans outside, and the drama was seemingly
being followed over 1,700 miles away in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
Former Whites captain Cooper, who is currently playing for
CSKA Sofia, is still loved in West Yorkshire and had an eye on the drama back
home, sharing the club’s Instagram post confirming promotion on his own story.
And the Championship title-winning defender wrote: “Congrats to everyone
involved! What a season. What a team & what a club.”
The 33-year-old then shared another post from the club’s
Instagram account, this time a video of his former teammates celebrating
promotion. Those celebrations continued long into the evening as the reality
sunk in that Leeds will be playing Premier League football again next season.
Focus on the Championship title after Leeds United promotion
confirmed
Cooper was at the heart of similar celebrations five years
ago, having led Leeds to the Championship title under Marcelo Bielsa. His
successor as captain Ethan Ampadu will also hope to be lifting a trophy with
two games to maintain top spot, where they sit by virtue of a superior goal
difference to Burnley.
Leeds host play-off hopefuls Bristol City on Monday evening
before a final-day trip to relegation strugglers Plymouth Argyle, knowing they
may well need six points to pip Burnley to the title. Doing so would also send
Farke’s side up to the incredible 100-point milestone, albeit the current focus
is on enjoying promotion.
"I normally celebrate with cake and coffee on the sofa
because I'm at an age where I'm pretty tired after a game if I'm honest,"
Farke told the YEP as Burnley and Sheffield United’s game played out. "If
there is something major to celebrate, I'm not sure. If I have to back one side
to go to Burnley and get a win it's Chris Wilder's boys.