In Leeds We Trust: It must never be forgotten that football would be nothing without the fans.

The international break is finally over. Gladly there won’t be another one until March 2021. Our commiserations go to Stuart Dallas and his Northern Ireland team, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the European Championships. But it was a successful period for Liam Cooper and Scotland, who qualified for a major competition for the first time since 1998.

And our favourite little bundle of craziness, Gjanni Alioski, also qualified with North Macedonia. The thought of him shaking tunnels and saying random stuff down camera lenses across the continent will have Leeds fans watching out for his games for sure.

Leeds United now focus on the Premier League, starting with tomorrow’s match against Arsenal. The last time we played them was in the FA Cup last season. It was that match, live on BBC, that brought Bielsaball to a nation of viewers. They may not have been aware of how exciting our football can be, but now they definitely know.

Talking of live TV matches, the Trust are delighted that the controversial pay-per-view (PPV) model was scrapped last week by broadcasters. All Premier League matches will now be shown live on TV.

The Trust has continually opposed the ill-judged PPV model, noting that the £14.95 charge per game was ludicrously expensive and unfair on so many levels.

Scrapping the PPV model, so soon after it was launched, was purely down to the considerable pressure exerted on the broadcasters, clubs and Premier League by all the Trusts and other supporters’ groups across the country, and through the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA). It really showed the difference fan groups can make when we unite our efforts.

We played our part in that pressure and we are also very proud of how Leeds United fans reacted to it.

The continued support fans showed to the #CharitynotPPV campaign was incredible, boycotting each PPV game and instead donating £14.95 to foodbank charities. In a two week period our fanbase donated over £60,000 through Leeds Fans Foodbank fundraising page.

This was equivalent to donating over 72,000 meals to families across the city. The total fundraising amount is now well over £96,000 across the last two years. To think, the Trust’s original target was £10,000 – it’s amazing to see how Leeds United fans smashed that! Very pleased, but also not surprised.

One of the Trust’s main objectives is to give a voice to our members and the wider fanbase.

The co-ordinated action across the country by supporters’ groups definitely made the broadcasters stand up and take notice of that voice.

This clearly shows that together we are stronger and it also provides a very timely reminder to the footballing authorities, and the government, that they need to listen to the concerns of millions of football fans. It must never be forgotten that football would be nothing without the fans.

They are key to the future of the game and must be involved in major decisions, both at individual clubs and on the national stage.

Marching on together.