Leeds United bus parade attendance estimate as unforgettable sights and sounds greet Championship title winners

Leeds United's promotion bus parade lasted just two hours but will be remembered forever by the city and around 150,000 supporters..

The city was flooded by fans using every conceivable method of transport and lining the entire route sometimes hundreds deep as Daniel Farke and his squad made their way through the centre of Leeds on three open-top coaches.

Outside the Art Gallery on The Headrow fans clambered up trees and stood on top of bus shelters for a better vantage point, waiting four hours or more for a glimpse of their title-winning heroes. When the buses did finally make it to the final stretch of the parade the players disappeared in a cloud of yellow and blue smoke as hundreds of flares were set off. Through the smoke captain Ethan Ampadu, who had conducted most of the singing and led the city centre in renditions of numberous songs for his team-mates, could be seen dancing to the strains of Marching On Together.

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Supporters came from all over for a chance to celebrate with the Championship winners. Thomas, a Maltese fan, flew to England to be in Plymouth for the final game of the season, flew home and then returned to the UK to attend the parade.

Leeds United fans came from far and wide

Preet Bhogal, wearing his surname and the number 2 on his back in tribute to near namesake Jayden Bogle, got the train up from Birmingham on Monday morning with his nine-year-old son Arjan. They planned to meet friends and family on the bus route. Leeds-born Preet said his father taught some of the children of the Revie boys and he had his first pair of football boots fitted by Leeds United legend Paul Madeley. "You can buy your kids anything but there's nothing like these memories and experiences," he said as they got off the train at Leeds Station, which was awash with yellow, white and blue.

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Two-and-a-half hours before the parade was due to begin City Square was already packed with fans and only got busier in the lead up to the team's arrival. Entire families picnicked on the steps outside the Art Gallery as they waited. Flares, fireworks and fire extinguishers were set off as the party got underway. A group of youngsters took to crowd-diving off the top of a bus shelter and a police officer's hat somehow ended up in the hands of the crowd, who turned it into a frisbee. There was a football at one stage, being volleyed back and forth across The Headrow.

Paraag Marathe’s four-letter message to Leeds United fans

A big screen and public address system allowed supporters on the final stage of the route to follow the action as the bus first entered the city centre. Various players were asked for their thoughts on the scenes around them and they all struggled to put into words what they were seeing. Club chairman Paraag Marathe said it 'wasn't f***ing easy' to achieve on and off the pitch what had led to the city centre gathering.

When the bus eventually did pull into sight it was met by a wall of noise and a sea of smoke. The city saluted its team. And then they were gone. Las Vegas is one of the destinations for the 2024/25 Championship winners but nothing they see in Sin City will compare with what they experienced in the centre of Leeds.

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