I have supported Leeds since I was old enough to understand what being a Leeds fan was all about – the highs and the lows – and have loved every second of it. What a rollercoaster?
It's what being a football fan should be all about. My father is also a Leeds fan but, unlike me, he has not had an opportunity to watch Leeds live. The Gillingham match will be his first time. With a full Elland Road it will be a great atmosphere. T
he place will be rocking for what I'm sure we're all hoping will be a promotion party.
To go with such a party atmosphere I was wondering how hard it would be to turn Elland Road into a sea of white, much like the Dutch do with their tango supporters at the world cups!
How great would that look with everybody wearing the white of Leeds?
How about the slogan: Saturday's all white by me!
Wouldn't it be great to see the Elland Road stands packed to rafters with fans wearing any visible white? Let's do it!
ADAM EVANS, via email****
Admiring what Leeds United have achieved this season and also looking at Derby County's woeful playing record in the Premiership brought back to mind the first time I was introduced to watching Leeds way back in the 1946/'47 football season.
That was a season when United also managed a, then, lowest-ever points total with a playing record, I seem to recall, of: played 42, won six, drawn six, lost 30, points 18!
As a 12-year-old my father introduced me to English football via Elland Road by attending just about every United match played in that disastrous season – home and away, rain, hail or shine! It was an unhappy introduction to Leeds United but one which has lasted to this day, albeit I don't get down to Elland Road much these days. There were only two points for a win in those far off days and, again, if I remember correctly, United's only point away from home was at Brentford – they lost the other 20 away games which even Derby cannot 'beat' this season!
United were, of course, relegated although about half the games they lost were by the only goal and the players they had in those days should have been good enough to keep United in Division One. They were skippered by Tom Holley – who went on to write for the YEP for many years after retiring – and they had several well-known internationals in their side. The likes of Aubrey Powell and David Cochrane stand out in memory, as do such as the goalkeeper Jim Twomey, Jimmy Milburn, Ken Gadsby, Gerald Henry, Eddie Bannister, Johnny Short, Bobby Browne, Ken Willingham and Con Martin. There were certainly a few others to turn out that season but squads were much smaller in those days and there were fewer injuries!
We watched some real old football stars that season just after the war – players of the calibre of Stanley Matthews, Raich Carter (who subsequently came to Leeds as manager), Peter Doherty, Tom Finney, Tommy Lawton, Wilf Mannion and Everton's Jack Dodds. All, or most, of them also had jobs to do outside of football and Tom Finney was well known as 'The Preston Plumber'!
There were more characters in the game and more fun around the grounds where all the spectators mixed. I can remember Tom Holley knocking out the referee's false teeth with a wild clearance at West Bromwich in a cup tie which United also lost and Con Martin making his debut at Sheffield United in a resounding 6-2 defeat. On being interviewed after the game, Martin was asked how he had enjoyed his taste of English football and he replied that he wished he'd stayed in dear "Ould Oireland"! Contrary to what some old timers say today – the old days were not always good old days, but they did seem happier times for sure.
ERIC VEVERS, Leeds ****
FOLLOWING the relegation of Leeds "Carnegie" I was saddened to read the comments from The Panel in the YEP (22/4) bemoaning the lack of established rugby union in the city.
Actually, it's not too long ago that top-class rugby union used to be alive and well in the city with the proud clubs of Headingley and Roundhay well to the fore.
Both clubs had regular international players and Headingley in particular had fixtures with all the top clubs in the country.
The merger of the two clubs in the early 1990s and the transfer to the Leeds rugby league ground has been an absolute disaster for the game of rugby union in the city.
In particular, we have lost the proud tradition of the Headingley club and its wonderful ground at the side of the River Aire in Kirkstall. This used to be the true epicentre of rugby union in the region and I can remenber so many big games which took place there.
All the top union teams at the time Wasps, Harlequins, Leicester, Bath, Gloucester, Bristol etc successfully made the transition to professional rugby and they are all still in the Premier Division today, so one wonders if Headingley could have done the same?
We now have a soulless rugby club, with a stupid name, playing on somebody else's rugby league ground with a few thousand spectators rattling around the stands. It just doesn't work and it neither sounds nor feels right.
Perhaps it could all have been so different, with a wonderfully developed Kirkstall ground and a Headingley club representing the region in the Guinness Premiership.
On a brighter note, however, let's hear some plaudits for the other rugby club in the district, Otley. They have had a magnificent season and are now back in National League One. Otley, of course, are a proper rugby union club run on traditional lines and with a wonderful, historic, ground at Cross Green. Let's hope they never go down the "Carnegie" route!
KEITH HANDLEY, Leeds (via email)****
PEOPLE in rugby league have been talking about the injury crisis at clubs in recent times and it does have a big bearing on getting out a strong side to compete in Super League every single week.
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats' in the last month have virtually been down to their last 17 fit players and produced four brilliant displays to beat Warrington, Huddersfield, Salford – in the Challenge Cup – and Harlequins on Saturday night to cap off a superb spell for the club. In my view John Kear is a fantastic coach. He seems to inspire his players and, for me, he is the best coach in the competition.
Younger players like Aaron Murphy, Jay Pitts and Kyle Bibb are gaining experience week-in, week-out. All three of them are doing a top job and will become quality players in the longer term. Danny Brough has been a masterstroke signing by Kear. Brough, for me, is one of the best scrum-halves in the game and I'm delighted he is playing for Wakefield. In addition, Sam Obst is playing some of the best rugby of his career and does cause problems for opposition defences.
I was so happy when Richard Moore, Ryan Atkins, Sean Gleeson and Dale Ferguson signed long- term deals to stay with the club. Wakefield are a club on the up and when some of the classy players – Danny Sculthorpe, Brett Ferres and Jason Demetriou – return they could be real dark horses for a place in the top six.
I've watched Wakefield for years now but this team can become a leading force. Up the Wildcats for the rest of the season.
STEPHEN CRAMM, Wakefield (via email)The full article contains 1292 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
