Can the visit to West Ham finally break Leeds United’s fabled London curse?

Last week’s game against Villa was one of the most tightly contested games we’ve seen this season.

The game was Villa’s first trip back to Elland since the infamous “give the goal” incident which caused much debate a few seasons ago, especially when – to the annoyance of many other sets of supporters – it won us a FIFA Fair Play award.

Although admittedly nothing like the magnitude of the chaos on that day, there did seem to be a lasting tension hanging over the game as things occasionally got slightly prickly between players.

The only goal of the game came as a result of a fortunate slip from Ollie Watkins which meant his shot landed at the feet of El Ghazi, allowing Villa to open the scoring early on.

The chance mirrored a very similar one that occurred moments earlier between Bamford and Raphina at the opposite end of the pitch which didn’t quite fall into Raphina’s path, a fairly good indication early on of what our luck was going to be like on the night. In the end Villa stood firm and walked away with the three points but it was far from a showcase performance for either side.

Our next fixture against West Ham gives us another chance to break that fabled London curse in what looks likely to be a tough game. Moyes’ side are in good form and will be fighting to hold onto their European qualification spot going into the match.

This week also saw the return of everyone’s favourite Swiss gladiator as Gaetano Berardi got his first minutes back with the under 23s after a long absence as a result of a knee ligament injury.

Berardi played the full first half against Crystal Palace’s 23s before coming off at half time as part of his planned progression back to match fitness.

Unfortunately his return came in a frustrating game for our under 23s as a first half sending off for Crysencio Summerville left them on the back foot and eventually led to their considerable winning streak coming to an end.

Additionally, this week it was made public that as a result of long-term illness Leeds’ all time record goal scorer Peter Lorimer is currently in a hospice.

All of us at the Trust are saddened by this news and would like to extend our support and best wishes to Peter and his family.

Yesterday evening we met with the club’s chief executive Angus Kinnear to discuss issues ranging from the season ticket renewal process for this year to the plans for Elland Road’s redevelopment and the potential for a safe standing area.

A detailed overview of the outcome of these discussions will be sent out in an email to Trust members in the next couple of days.

Adding your own voice to the Trust’s work is easy.

Visit our new website at www.lufctrust.com and you can become a member for just £10 per year.

Marching on together.