Back then, the answer was within the boundaries of Somerset. Today, a better description might be two stops from Wembley.

After a win at Huish Park last night and a pressure-free end to their league schedule next Saturday, a play-off semi-final will be all that stands between Leeds and the national stadium.

The two-legged obstacle has brought down many an optimistic team and the size of a semi-final – its importance, its pressure and its potential pay-out – will dawn on United with more severity when the formality of completing their 46th fixture is fulfilled in seven days' time.

But what fear can a hurdle the size of the play-offs create for a club whose season has been spent jumping tripwire?

At the top of the list of surmountable problems is a 15-point deduction – the cause of so much frustration and inspiration at Elland Road – closely followed by the loss of one manager, two assistants and a first-team coach.

No club suffers disruption like Leeds United, but few can claim to be more skilled at dealing with their lot. This season has seen to that.

With the proverbial lottery of the play-offs about to be drawn Gary McAllister would be justified in believing that his players are as well prepared as any others. The days of betting against Leeds are 12 months behind him and his club.

United required a win over Yeovil Town to ensure that the threat from Brighton to sixth position – already likely to go up in smoke – was permanently extinguished last night. A fourth-minute goal from Dougie Freedman freed his team-mates to take the long road home without a glance over their shoulders.

There was more than a slight chance that the remaining play-off contenders would be confirmed by today's fixtures – subject, of course, to the result of arbitration – but McAllister will care little about the positioning of the four clubs with one prize to fight over.

Nottingham Forest, Southend United or Doncaster Rovers? Even Carlisle United were in danger of being drawn into the contest before their game at Millwall this afternoon. They are names of repute, but not names to frighten McAllister or his team.

When a season starts like United's did in August all other challenges become relative, and a more intriguing question would be to ask who among their competitors would wish to meet a Leeds side with five wins from their last six games.

McAllister described qualification for the play-offs as a small step and that is accurate in the context of promotion.
But it is also a monumental one when set against the statistics of a season that, while galling in prospect, may come to be viewed with complete affection in hindsight.

In order to secure sixth position, Leeds have been required to uncover 88 points and 26 victories, all supported by a goal difference which has been at least 20 to the good for as long as anyone can remember.

United defined themselves as a top-six club months ago, but last night was a suitable time to stand back and marvel at the masterpiece in progress.

Those who have witnessed the season first-hand should feel privileged; second-hand accounts will never succeed in doing the term justice.

Leeds were good value for their narrow win at Huish Park, but it was in keeping with a club who never fly without turbulence that the evening was tarnished slightly by the second-half dismissal of Alan Sheehan.

The left-back ended a marauding run from inside his own half by hacking down Yeovil's Lee Peltier with a two-footed challenge, earning a straight red card from Keith Stroud once the crowd of jostling players around the referee had cleared.

Sheehan's raised studs were clear to see and McAllister's view of the tackle was unforgiving, as Stroud's is bound to be when his match report is submitted to the Football Association.

In Sheehan's defence, the game had been anything but fiery before his misjudgement and Stroud might have been inclined to show a touch more leniency. But with the red card will come a three-match ban for serious foul play, ensuring that Sheehan will play no further part in the season until the play-off final should Leeds be present at Wembley.

Given the extent of the competition in McAllister's squad – and the immediacy with which players are taking their chances – a role for Sheehan at that late stage is difficult to envisage.

It would be wrong to dwell on his dismissal, however, after a night when United received the first piece of recognition they are due for the durability and ambition shown over the past nine months.

Leeds scored at the end of their first attack and Freedman's easy finish was a goal too far for a Yeovil team who were half the side seen at Elland Road in October.

Russell Slade's players ran United close in Leeds – close enough, he felt, to deserve a victory – but this season has offered few favours to last year's beaten play-off finalists.

This time last year, Yeovil were on the road to Wembley. At present, Slade is merely glad that they are no longer on the road to perdition.
What a difference a year has made, in Yorkshire and in Somerset.

Freedman poked home his goal from all of six yards, left unmarked to poach the ball after Bradley Johnson had driven Frazer Richardson's cross against the body of Yeovil goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall.

United's apparent comfort was not translated into a flow of chances but they dictated the pace of the match and Freedman was denied a second goal when Mildenhall diverted his dipping shot over the crossbar eight minutes before half-time.

In between, Casper Ankergren produced an important save on his goalline to claw Marvin Williams' header clear – a rebound that Williams battered against the outside of the post – and an ageing Marcus Stewart drove a volley into Ankergren's arms following a poor headed clearance from Lubomir Michalik.

The chances proved that Yeovil's creative side had not deserted them, but both were the result of defensive slumber rather than attacking prowess.

Bradley Johnson's shot early in the second half which screamed over Mildenhall's crossbar was sent goalwards with more intent.

McAllister would have welcomed an improved lead but Sheehan's departure made a second strike unlikely.

It was, bizarrely, Michalik who came closest to providing it with a stinging free-kick in the 70th minute which Mildenhall parried with both hands.

Already a goal to the good, United committed themselves sensibly to protecting their advantage against a set of players who ran themselves to the final whistle.

McAllister constructed a five-man defence by plucking Andrew Hughes and Rui Marques from his bench and though Aidan Downes nearly salvaged a draw for Yeovil three minutes from time Ankergren's one-handed save at the foot of his near post was exceptional and enough to preserve the visitors' victory.

From the outset, there were signs of dissent in the ranks of Huish Park, with cries of 'You don't know what you're doing' apparently aimed at Slade.

United used to know that discord well, and for a while it was utterly endemic. There is no overstating how far Leeds have come, and how quickly.