Mighty Leeds Weblog

UNDERCOVER AT THE BASEBALL Written by: Andy P If ever there was a summer of our discontent, the months that followed the end of the 1995/96 season was it. The previous campaign had been a rollercoaster featuring genius cameos from the maverick Tony Yeboah and two unlikely cup runs, one culminating in our first Wembley final since 1973. But after the humiliation there by Villa, Leeds won just one league game of their final nine. Behind the scenes there had also been division, both within the playing staff and the boardroom. Chairman Leslie Silver was smart enough to understand that in the new Premier League era the amounts that had to be risked to achieve success were potentially ruinous; the failed big money transfer of Tomas Brolin had gone some way to proving that the old school, gentlemen’s way of running a football club was over. Silver and Bill Fotherby had been sounded out on a takeover by Chris Akers, one of an upcoming generation of entrepreneurs to successfully monetis...

BY ROSS BELL Cast your mind back to the 1994 World Cup, what does it conjure up for you? For me I can see Diana Ross’ incredible penalty that exploded a goal, big Jack Charlton handing little bags of water to his Irish players on the sidelines, Alexi Lalas and that beard; and most of all, the exciting Swedish forward line of Martin Dahlin and Tomas Brolin. They lit up the competition with an excellent partnership that looked to set them both on the road to fantastic careers at the very top level. Whilst Dahlin would score 50 in 106 games for Borussia Mönchengladbach, his career would gradually slide from relevance with a move to Blackburn Rovers not really working out. His partner in crime, however, would be the subject of a big money move to Leeds United. On November 7th 1995, just over a year after starring in a World Cup semi-final against eventual champions Brazil, Tomas Brolin would reject moves to three Italian clubs to join Leeds United in a club record £4.5million deal – ...

Dermot Gallagher might well be presiding over the Roses derby between Leeds United and Manchester United next week as part of his Ref Watch work for Sky Sports. By Lee Sobot Twenty seven years ago he was the man in the middle and awarding Howard Wilkinson’s Whites an early penalty as the hosts savoured a 3-1 victory against their arch rivals on Christmas Eve. Leeds would go on to experience a disappointing campaign in which they finished in 13th place whereas the Red Devils eventually reclaimed the Premier League title they had won in both 1994 and 1995, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team having been dethroned by Blackburn Rovers in the previous campaign. But Christmas came early for Leeds against Fergie’s side on December 24, 1995 in what remains the third most recent victory against the arch-enemy in the league. Leeds were handed a golden opportunity to go in front when Nicky Butt handled the ball in the area as the Red Devils looked to clear a Gary McAllister corner. McAllister’s ...

Nestor Watach “Coming away from this match I found myself muttering about how shit and boring and lucky Leeds had been,” is how an Arsenal fansite writer described the experience of losing 1-0 at home to Leeds United in February 1997. “We all knew as soon as George Graham left Highbury that he’d be back to out-Arsenal us like this one day.” Arsene Wenger had been appointed as Arsenal’s new manager three months prior and while that writer’s belief was early evidence of the aesthetic, right-way-to-play doctrine that would come to define the Gunners in their prime years, the Frenchman’s revolution was not yet underway: Patrick Vieira was the only non-British or Irish player in their XI as they succumbed to FA Cup elimination to Leeds. Yet there remains an acknowledgement of what Arsenal once were. After all, their fans ironically readopted ‘Boring, boring Arsenal’ and would proudly chant ‘One-nil to the Arsenal’ as Graham delivered two league titles and an FA Cup. They were master...

The End: Crystal Palace vs Leeds United, 31st January 1998 Written by: Moscowhite • Daniel Chapman Artwork by: Eamonn Dalton November 6, 2020 8-Palace On YouTube you can watch the exact moment that Tomas Brolin’s football career ended, on November 16th, 1994. He was playing for Sweden that night, against Hungary, in a Euro ’96 qualifier in Stockholm. In other words, he was right at home. Parma was his club but he didn’t get top billing in Serie A. Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla occupied the forward positions and his job now was to be a deep playmaker. He was brilliant at it, and his career in Italy earned him winner’s medals in the Coppa Italia, European Cup Winners’ Cup, European Super Cup and the UEFA Cup. But he had to be productive without being exuberant. His runs from midfield with the ball and vibrating with possibilities always ended with a pass to Zola or Asprilla, who would set up themselves or each other and take the headlines. Playing for Sweden was dif...