Leeds United can still win, even without kicking a ball - Graham Smyth

The Whites got on the front foot when the coronavirus pandemic first began to threaten the season.

They were quick to change tack when it became clear that training at Thorp Arch was not the best way to keep players, their families and the wider community safe, closing the facility and allowing only injured or rehabilitating players to attend, while observing strict social-distancing guidelines.

Leeds led the way for the Championship in deferring wages of the highest earners, to safeguard the employment of those earning the least.

The club have used their vast social media reach to spread important public health information, with owner Andrea Radrizzani and first-team stalwart Stuart Dallas both vocal proponents of government guidelines.

The playing squad have continued to do press, via weekly video calls with the local media, giving fans something to read, listen to or watch, as well as offering insight into how lockdown is treating them and their families.

It has, at times, evoked an ‘all in it together’ spirit, not least when Barry Douglas opened up about dealing with loss and grief after the passing of a loved one.

At a very basic level, the varying severity of lockdown haircuts have shown that we all face some of the same challenges, no matter our station in life.

Liam Cooper, whose burgeoning bouffant is very much the envy of those of us for whom such growth is now impossible, has continued to show the leadership and willingness to engage with worthy causes that has made a difference to many already in his career.

When he jumped aboard the Boot the Virus campaign, his team-mates followed and Leeds became the first full squad to offer their boots for auction to raise funds for the NHS.

Every Thursday at 8pm a clutch of famous Leeds United faces, from the club’s past and present, appear in a social media video applauding the health service and keyworker heroes in a clip that offers nostalgia and a feelgood factor, at a time when both are needed badly.

Elland Road, which turned blue one evening in honour of the NHS, hosted a dignified and fitting farewell for a club great who so sadly passed away.

The image of Norman Hunter’s coffin on the touchline, in the ground he and his team-mates filled with glorious memories, was as powerful as any captured since the stadium’s opening and the minimalist media the club broadcast enabled fans to share in their hero’s final Elland Road moment.

Amid all the likes, lumps in throats and Leeds salutes over the past several weeks, there has been a steady trickle of questions that, until this week, went unanswered.

The club’s public silence on compensation for the 2019/20 matches that fans will never be able to attend, concerned some and angered a few.

It is understandable that details would be scarce, when so much is still up in the air – we know fans won’t be in grounds, but we don’t yet know if games will even take place at all.

But Tuesday night’s brief statement, assuring the fanbase that they are ‘working on refund and club credit options’ for the remaining Championship fixtures, came at a good time.

Leeds, of course, have an obligation to do right by the fans who have given them incredible backing for so long but the good will the club have earned, largely through on-field success under Marcelo Bielsa, explained why so many on Twitter replied ‘shut up and keep my money’.

Many don’t expect or ask for a refund. Not everyone will be able to afford such a gesture.

The money fans have already paid for 2020/21 season tickets will be one of the next challenges for the club, once football decides what it is to do.

As well as obligations, Leeds have opportunities to continue winning, even when there are no games taking place. They’re in good form, long may it continue.