Mighty Leeds Weblog

Ramazani has been in good form for Valencia during the second half of this season Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter Largie Ramazani has enjoyed a fruitful 2026 with Valencia, with Leeds United loanee finally finding his feet under Carlos Corberan. The winger has scored six goals in his last 12 La Liga matches, having started the last 10. Ramazani scored the opening goal in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Girona as Valencia edge their way towards relegation safety, now five points clear with five games to play. The Belgian was loaned to the Spanish club for the season having fallen down the pecking order under Daniel Farke, who left him out of the squad entirely for the August trip to Arsenal. The board still values Ramazani, and were keen not to include a buy-out option in his loan deal. Ramazani is contracted to Leeds until 2028 but where he fits in Farke’s long term plans is unclear. And reports in Spain suggest Valencia would be willing to acquire the 25-year-old permanently. ...

The investors bought a small stake in Leeds United last year and have multi-club ownership ambitions Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter The chief of minority Leeds United investors A.Gain has explained why his consortium has invested in the club and outlined his multi-club ownership ambitions. The firm bought a small stake in Leeds last year and in April confirmed it had also invested in Champions League semi-finalists Atletico Madrid. It meanwhile holds a majority stake in Colombian outfit Deportivo Cali. A.Gain, part of the IDC Sports network, is a ‘capital creation company’ which operates in the technology and entertainment field, and whose headquarters is based in Copenhagen. It manages approximately $1 billion [£740.7m] worth of assets within its portfolio. Speaking to City AM, Bobby Aitkenhead - a former basketball player and co-founder and CEO of A.Gain - explained why his group invested in Leeds under the 49ers ownership. “We think of Leeds as the sleeping giant of E...

Just pain Written by: Rob Conlon Of course there was a stat. Leeds United: the first club to lose four consecutive games at Wembley without scoring. Breaking the records you really don’t want to break since 1919. The team where unwanted history becomes official. Four games. 360 minutes. Six hours. It takes some doing to play football for that long and not score a goal, and I’ve watched Steve Morison and Billy Paynter play up front for Leeds. Except as a winless run it’s… not that long really. Leeds have gone four games or more without a win three times already this season. Earlier this month, in rugby league, the New Zealand Warriors finally snapped a seventeen-match losing “hoodoo” against the Melbourne Storm, after which their coach Andrew Webster said: “[It wasn’t] a hoodoo, I’d call it a streak.” And that’s all Leeds losing at Wembley is. A streak. There is no curse, just four games in isolation spread over thirty years. The problem for Leeds at Wembley is that it’s about s...

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke had already raised the matter earlier in the season Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter It's a stain on the game, and it’s happening far too often. Leeds United are not the only team to be victim of goalkeeping tactical timeouts but they have had their fair share. Games against Manchester City, Sunderland, Brentford and now Chelsea have all seen the opposing shot-stopper seemingly feign injury to instigate a touchline chat with the manager. Everyone knows what is happening, yet nobody can stop it. Why? This simple question has two meanings, the first of which is legalistic. Referees currently have no powers to punish such acts as there are no stipulations in the game regarding this precise scenario. And so the officials therefore cannot risk playing on in case the goalkeeper is genuinely injured. And there is the argument that 'keepers might start playing through the pain barrier when genuinely hurt and therefore injure themselves fur...

You Know What You Are Written by: Dan Moylan At Wembley on Sunday, with Leeds building pressure in the second half of the FA Cup semi-final, Robert Sánchez went down. Nothing had happened. He went down because Chelsea’s interim head coach Calum McFarlane wanted a moment to deliver tactical instructions. A goalkeeper lying on the turf is, for now, the most convenient way to get one. Over eighty-two thousand people inside Wembley knew it. Millions watching at home knew it. Even Jarred Gillett, the dickhead referee who continually pandered to Chelsea’s theatrics throughout the game, probably knew it. Nobody was pretending otherwise. Some hours later we were sat silently in a traffic jam on the M1 northbound, somewhere near Luton or Milton Keynes or Northampton or wherever. I returned to the question that often takes root in my brain: what would Marcelo think? Calum McFarlane, speaking after the game, brushed off the criticism, saying matter-of-factly, “I used it as an opportun...

Leeds' fight for survival has been founded on an unbreakable spirit but they lost their bite just when they needed it most - this FA Cup semi-final loss highlights what they need to do to kick on, writes TOM COLLOMOSSE By TOM COLLOMOSSE, FOOTBALL REPORTER In the moments before kick-off, Chelsea supporters unfurled a banner that seemed to mock Leeds United's recent struggles in the FA Cup. 'We've got some memories, albeit from the 70s' it read. Leeds fans might have been able to smile at that but what followed over the next two hours would have darkened their mood. The rivalry between these clubs peaked in the 1970 Cup Final, which Chelsea won in a replay and which has been called the most brutal game in English football history. Where was Leeds' inner Norman 'Bites Yer Legs' Hunter? Where was the spirit of Billy Bremner or - though he was only one when that game was played - David Batty? Leeds' fight for survival this season has been founde...

Ampadu decided to enact his own act of gamesmanship in response to Chelsea's decision Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter Ethan Ampadu says he was simply repaying gamesmanship tactics when he went over to the Chelsea dug-out amid the controversial goalkeeper time-out Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final defeat. Robert Sanchez hit the deck around the hour mark with Leeds United building pressure to allow interim Chelsea head coach Calum McFarlane to benefit from a quick sideline team-talk to help the Blues reset. Such instances have been seen in Leeds games against Manchester City and Sunderland this season and this time, with Leeds supporters enraged, Ampadu decided to go over with the Chelsea players to listen in on the huddle. Speaking to TNT Sports, Ampadu explained his thoughts: “There’s been a bit of a thing with it this season. Everyone knows the referee can’t do anything about it. It’s obviously clever. “We’ve had it a couple of times when we’ve had momentum and the keeper...

Furious Leeds stars confront Chelsea players in 'cheating' row: Blues accused of telling Robert Sanchez to go down so team-mates could get instructions as former goalkeeper insists 'it must be stopped' By LUKE POWER, SPORTS REPORTER Leeds' players and staff confronted Chelsea after alleging that they told goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to go down in the second half of their FA Cup clash. Chelsea were 1-0 up but Leeds were building momentum when the Spanish stopper went down in the 61st minute. Sanchez waited to be attended to by medics while his team-mates went over to the sidelines to grab a drink and hear instructions from caretaker boss Calum McFarlane. Daniel Farke's side were understandably miffed that the stoppage brought a halt to their progress and his stars protested vocally. Leeds man Ethan Ampadu attempted to interrupt a conversation between McFarlane and Tosin Adarabioyo until Blues midfielder Romeo Lavia forcefully pushed him away. Lavia an...

Chelsea 1-0 Leeds: Enzo Fernandez’s winner means Calum McFarlane will lead the Blues out for an FA Cup final on 16 May, just four days after replacing Liam Rosenior as head coach Miguel Delaney Chief Football Writer, at Wembley For an FA Cup semi-final that didn’t offer much to talk about beyond Enzo Fernández scoring the winner, Chelsea’s 1-0 win could provoke a lot of other discussion. Some of it served to quieten even this raucous Leeds United crowd by the end. By that point, you wouldn’t have thought an FA Cup final appearance was at stake, given how quickly Wembley emptied. Another debate could, of course, be had about staging semi-finals here. Still, there’s something rather sorry about even the Leeds players saluting scores of empty seats. Maybe that just shows how professional Chelsea’s performance had been. Outside a few spikes of activity like Brenden Aaronson’s early shot and a piledriver from Anton Stach, Calum McFarlane’s side just shut Leeds out. None of the energ...

Chelsea 1-0 Leeds: Blues deserve their FA Cup final spot after dominating here, but questions should be asked as to why they capitulated so shamefully in midweek, writes OLIVER HOLT By OLIVER HOLT, CHIEF SPORTS WRITER Enzo Fernandez is enough of an unprepossessing individual that, at the start of this month, he was banned for two matches by his own club but he is still capable of being a very fine footballer for Chelsea when the mood takes him. On Sunday afternoon at Wembley, the mood took him. The histrionics of some of his team-mates - Moises Caicedo and Pedro Neto deserve special mention - might have made the unflinching heroes of Chelsea's FA Cup winning team of 1970 weep in despair. But Fernandez played with the kind of unrelenting steel and unremitting excellence that would have allowed him to hold his own amid the blood and thunder of earlier eras and it was fitting that it was his first half header that took Chelsea to the FA Cup final, where they will meet Manchest...

The defender has an FA Cup winner's medal, but it comes with regret attached Jeremy Cross James Justin is on a mission to pile on the pain for Chelsea - and make up for one of the lowest moments of his career. Justin was left devastated in 2021 when an ACL injury forced him to miss Leicester City's shock FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea. The full back received a winners' medal, having played in some of the previous rounds before getting injured, but admits he doesn't even know where it is. And now he wants to get his hands on another one on behalf of Leeds United, who meet managerless Chelsea in a crunch semi final showdown today (SUN). Justin said: "It was a bittersweet moment, to be honest. Obviously I had played in a couple of rounds before and did well, but to be injured while my team-mates were out there, it was a bitter pill to swallow. "At the end of the day it’s a team sport, and I’ve still got a medal to show for it. I don't know wher...

Adam Pope has covered Leeds United for the city's BBC radio station for more than 20 years. Here he speaks to Whites fans to find out what being back in the FA Cup semi-finals means. Almost 40 years without a semi-final appearance in the most prestigious of domestic cups is a footballing barren land. More so when the club that have trudged across it for nigh on four decades were responsible for an iconic moment in the cup's 1972 centenary edition. Since Billy Bremner lifted the FA Cup, headlines around Leeds' association with the competition have been largely corrosive for the club's reputation. The tone was set in the 1973 final, when second division Sunderland shocked Don Revie's side beneath Wembley's Twin Towers. There have, of course, been positive times - the run to the 1987 semi-finals and, memorably, Simon Grayson's third-tier outfit beating Manchester United in their own backyard in 2010. Otherwise it has been capitulation at Crawley, humi...

By Stuart Rayner It was the low point of Daniel Farke's three years as Leeds United manager, but looking back, he thinks the Championship play-off final defeat to Southampton may have been for the best. Farke was brought to Elland Road partly because of his excellent record in taking teams out of the second tier. For much of his debut season all was going to plan, only for them to stumble in the run-in and lose the play-off final to the Saints. But Farke and Leeds responded the right way, going up as champions 12 months later, and now well-placed to consolidate their Premier League place ahead of the club's first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, against Chelsea on Sunday. Farke thinks the extra time may have seen Leeds go up in better shape than would have been the case a year earlier. "In sport you can’t just take the days when the sun is shining," he reflected. "You have to take the difficult days. "Normally 90 points is automatic promotion, in ...

By Stuart Rayner For a self-styled "emotional" club to play at Wembley in their first FA Cup semi-final in 39 years will be a sentimental experience for Leeds United. For Ethan Ampadu, it goes deeper still. Such is the fast-moving pace of modern football, captain Amapdu is one of only six players who took part in Leeds' last game at Wembley, two years ago in the Championship play-off final. Karl Darlow was an unused substitute, Pascal Struijk injured. On top of that, Sunday's opponents are Chelsea, where Ampadu was destined to make a name for himself when he joined as a 16-year-old already in the Wales squad. It never quite worked out that way. He did play for the Blues, 12 times, but spent much more time on loan – in Germany with RB Leipzig, in Yorkshire with Premier League Sheffield United, and in Serie A with Venezia and Spezia. He made the bench for 2019 Europa League final against Arsenal, but never got off it, making fewer appearances for Chelsea tha...

Daniel Farke is transforming the perception of Leeds United and his own managerial acumen Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter Following Leeds United’s first league win at Old Trafford for 45 years, Daniel Farke said his mission was to shake off the ‘Leeds are falling apart' tag. He feels he has gone some way towards that. “It feels like in these crunch moments, we deliver,” he said. The same can be said of the orator himself. Back in November, Farke appeared to be on the precipice. After three straight defeats and five in his last six matches, Leeds tumbled down the table and into the bottom three for the first time with Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool the next three games. The preceding defeat to Aston Villa saw cries of ‘make a sub’ from match-goers followed by full-time boos. Reports then emerged that the coach had two games to save his tenure. Whether accurate or not, Farke was facing the heat. Usually a man of eloquent explanations and deep analysis, the man...

Farke was due to share the touchline with Rosenior for Leeds’ FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea but the Englishman’s sacking means he will play no part Will Castle Leeds manager Daniel Farke admitted he felt for Liam Rosenior after the former Chelsea boss was sacked mere days before the pair were set to share a touchline at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals. Rosenior was axed by the Blues hierarchy following a dismal 3-0 defeat to Brighton on Tuesday - the club’s fifth Premier League loss on the bounce without scoring a goal, taking the club to a 114-year low. It means Calum McFarlane will take charge at Wembley for what is his second stint as interim manager in four months, charged with arresting this slump and taking Chelsea within 90 minutes of silverware. Farke, whose Leeds side have not reached the last four in this competition since 1987, cannot help but have sympathy for Rosenior and has backed him to come back stronger. “I mind my own business and don’t take decisions ...

By Graham Smyth Daniel Farke has provided his Leeds United injury news ahead of Sunday’s Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea. Leeds United have lost a senior player for the rest of the season and are awaiting news on the fitness of three others ahead of the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Sunday. This week in training Ilia Gruev injured the meniscus in his knee and Daniel Farke confirmed on Thursday that the midfielder will not play again this season. Elsewhere in the squad Anton Stach has been rehabbing an ankle injury, Jayden Bogle has a slight knock and Sebastiaan Bornauw hurt his ankle in midweek. Stach injured his ankle when he was wiped out by an unpunished challenge in the penalty area at West Ham United in the quarter-final and has not played since. Bogle was caught by a heavy tackle in the first half of the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Wednesday night and Farke took him off at the break, bringing Joe Rodon back in from the bench. Bornauw appeared to coll...

Silly season Written by: Rob Conlon Who are you and what have you done with the Leeds United I fell in love with? The return of my favourite football club after the final international break of the season was meant to be fraught, agonising, absolutely terrifying — our annual meeting with an Easter existential crisis. It was not meant to be this deliriously silly and downright funny. In that sense, this game did share aspects of sheer bastardy recognisable from the occasional Leeds result in my formative years, like the spoil-yer-party win at champions QPR in 2011 or the crushing of Watford’s promotion dreams in 2013. Except those victories were borne out of pure antagonism by United sides who’d already soiled their own season and had nothing to play for, whereas the current Lads of Leeds keep threatening to make this a campaign worth commemorating. Tyler Adams’ tears were just a bonus. It was made only sweeter by so much of the indifference that preceded Sean Longstaff’s resple...

By Graham Smyth The YEP’s take and off-camera moments from Leeds United’s 2-2 draw at AFC Bournemouth. Leeds United go to Wembley in the best possible mood and frame of mind after their late, late show at Bournemouth snatched a precious point. The Whites are next in action in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea and what better way to prepare than celebrating a 97th-minute equaliser that took them to the potentially magic 40-point mark? Here's the YEP take. Good day Sean Longstaff How's that for a contribution? Match action has been hard to come by for Longstaff and yet when the chance arose to score his second banger of the season against Bournemouth he did not falter. A fringe player scoring that kind of goal, in the 97th minute no less, just adds to the feelgood factor in the dressing room ahead of the FA Cup semi-final. Not to mention it puts Leeds on 40 points. What a way to get there. Safety beckons. Daniel Farke His changes helped get Leeds back in the g...