Mighty Leeds Weblog

Howard Wilkinson arrived at Leeds with a ten-year plan. Within four, they were champions Howard Wilkinson is not the man he seems to be. The only living English manager to have won the league title is often characterised as glum and pedantic. It is true that the hunger for learning that nourished his teaching career when he dropped down from playing with Brighton into the semi-professional game made him appear stilted, while his fondness for impenetrable pronouncements – for example “Zinedine Zidane could be a champion sumo wrestler, he can run like a crab or a gazelle” – left him vulnerable to ridicule. His thoughtfulness and tendency to weigh every word fed into his dour public image yet his players remember a tinder-dry sense of humour and his pragmatism. Wilkinson’s fitness regime and the sacrifices it entailed enforced changes to his teams’ diet while his rigorous drilling of set-pieces and his belief in the importance of the second ball, especially the knockdowns and flick-on...

Steven Chicken Strachan. McAllister. Batty. Speed. If you were tasked with building the archetypal midfield quartet from scratch, Leeds United’s 1992 midfield would be your model. The 35-year-old savvy veteran and inspirational captain, slighted by his former mentor and with a point to prove. The tough-as-nails young local lad who would put himself on the line for the cause. The intrepid, spry and versatile left winger who came up through the youth academy. Strachan. McAllister. Batty. Speed. You can’t live in Leeds for very long without becoming very familiar with those four names, always presented in that exact order, always rolling off the tongue as easily as you could name members of your own family, always spoken with the utmost reverence. In 1990, Leeds won promotion back into the top flight in Howard Wilkinson’s first full season in charge after eight long and difficult years in the Second Division. Gordon Strachan, signed from Manchester United and installed as ...

WHAT'S THIS? WHERE AM I? Written by Rob Conlon Simon Walton is reflecting on a photo of his sixteen-year-old self sitting on the Elland Road turf, surrounded by angry Valencia players after being sent off against the Spanish champions and UEFA Cup holders. “When you’ve got Lucas Radebe fighting your corner, you know you’re doing okay,” he says, spotting The Chief running into shot and to his rescue. Walton is used to being reminded of this moment, when the anniversary rolls around of the day he marked his first senior appearance at Elland Road with a goal and a red card in a pre-season friendly. Leeds were preparing for their first season following relegation from the Premier League in 2004, and Walton’s second half penalty kickstarted a comeback from two down to a creditable 2-2 draw with the side they had faced in a European Cup semi-final just three years earlier. Nobody ever asks him about the goal, though. “I just get the yearly bombardment of, ‘How do you get sent off i...

David Batty remains a cult figure with Newcastle United supporters and ChronicleLive caught up with his agent and those who worked with him during his spell at St James' Park Ever hear the one about David Batty becoming a Superbike champion under a fake name after retiring? Or how he ended up living in a caravan in Filey? Or what about the former Newcastle United midfielder's stint as a master butcher? Curious supporters have long wondered what happened to the Yorkshireman after he hung up his boots in 2004 and these rumours have taken on a life of their own. Aside from the odd public appearance - Batty played in a celebrity game at St James' Park in 2006 and laid a wreath in memory of Gary Speed, his dear late friend, at Elland Road five years later - the 51-year-old has tended to keep a low profile. Les Ferdinand has not seen his former Newcastle and England team-mate since they retired but even the Magpies' great had 'heard rumours that he goes on the Sup...