Leeds United diehards investigate helicopter hire and write to Andrea Radrizzani as behind closed doors prospect looms

There are Leeds supporters who have not missed one for decades and fantatics who have travelled the world with the Whites at great financial – and sometimes personal – cost.

“I’ve missed family get togethers, weddings, you name it,” said John Higgison – known to most as Harrogate John.

“Even my daughter got married on a Friday so I was at the wedding.

“It’s cost me two wives, this club and I’ve nearly lost my house twice.

“It’s an obsession, it becomes your life. If has done that with me.

“I’m worse now than when I first started going when I was a schoolboy.”

Phil Beeton, 2014 Football League Supporter of the Year, hasn’t missed a league game, home or away, since 1967.

He interrupted the same family holiday in Tenerife, twice, to support Leeds.

“There was no way we were going to qualify when we booked it and then we went on a bit of a run,” he said.

“We beat Oldham in the semi-final over two legs and then the final was at Selhurst Park with the return leg at Elland Road, but it went to a third game on the Thursday night at St Andrews.

“I flew back twice. It didn’t go down very well but my wife was very, very understanding, although I did leave her with both sets of parents to look after.”

Mick Hewitt, secretary of the Vine Branch of the Supporters Club, was one of only three Whites in attendance when Leeds played a tournament against Barcelona SC and Benfica in Canada in the early 80s.

He last missed a match in 1981.

“It was a game at Sutton Albion that was never announced and we found out about it in the paper the next day,” he said.

“Four years ago I did my 2,000th consecutive game.”

Julie Trimble did a 20-year stint in the Elland Road souvenir shop and got into games for free, missing just the first two and last two minutes.

Her first game was in 1971 and her family are ‘Leeds mad’.

“Having my son Richard was one of the first games I missed,” she said.

“As he got older we started going to more away games.

“His wife works as a steward at Elland Road, they met at the match.”

Keith Gaunt’s first game was in the early 60s.

The last one he missed was the 2000 meeting with Galatasaray, because the flight was cancelled after the tragic violence in Istanbul the night before the game.

“The only game I’ve ever watched on tele’ was Galatasaray and every time the ball was in the box I felt like kicking the tele’,” he said. “You’re helpless, there’s nothing you can do, you can’t be there.”

Gary Shepherd, who named his son Lee Daniel Shepherd, or LeeDS, is on a 648-game streak.

“When I started my run I lived in Kettering and a home game was 280 miles round trip,” he said.

“It’s a passion, part of your DNA. The last game I missed as Cheltenham in 2007, I was driving down the A14 and got double vision and nausea and had to pull over.”

Author of six Leeds United books Gary Edwards has a streak that goes back even further, to February 1968. He said: “It was my granddad’s funeral. “I started watching them at the best time under Don Revie and I was blessed to be born into that.

“It transformed my life.”

Terje Hansen lives in Sandnes, Norway, but spends his time and his money on pilgrimages to Elland Road, costing around £10,000 per season.

“Since March 14, 2009 to date I missed one home match in the league,” he said.

“We played 253, I got 252 of those. I still get a buzz when locking the front door and I’m off to the airport.”

Their stories and experiences of Leeds United are all unique, but the prospect of missing games in person because the action has retreated behind locked gates has left them all feeling the same way.

“I would hate it; it’s just not the same at all,” said Julie.

“I think we all want to see it out; it’s been our best season for years. We want to see us promoted, it would be devastating if that was to happen.”

Devastating is a word Phil uses too.

“It would be be very regrettable,” he said. “It would be something new for me, certainly. You don’t want to miss games at all when you’re on this long run.”

“It’s heartwrenching,” adds Gary Shepherd.

“You can’t put words around it. It won’t be the same. I’ll watch it with my son but it’s not the same as being in the ground.”

Harrogate John agrees: “TV is just not the same.

“I shudder to think.”

But while dismay abounds, hope still lingers.

“I’m hoping there may be some way we can possibly get in,” continued John. “I’m too old to be a ballboy; they don’t have too many of those with walking sticks.”

“I’ve emailed the chairman to say I will pay whatever it is to be allowed to go in but, obviously, it’s not going to happen,” added Gary Shepherd.

“There’s a bigger picture.”

Mick plans to write to Leeds chief executive, Angus Kinnear, to plead for an invite to the behind-closed-doors fixtures and offer his services for any role.

If that fails, he’ll employ some helicopter thinking.

“I’m quite happy to be a ball boy,” he said. “Maybe they could have a box with just two people in it. I’m looking into hiring a helicopter.

“The helicopter would be about £200 an hour, I’d look at that for away games.

“If there was a partial end to the lockdown that might be an option.

“I’m hoping the club will be able to invite 50 or 60 guests and employ us in some role or other.

“I’m hoping it doesn’t happen behind closed doors, but I’m certain some games will be.”

Even if they do fail in their ‘hail Mary’ attempts to secure a seat at Elland Road or wherever the remaining nine games take place, there may be silver linings for the diehards.

They universally agree that any consecutive match-attendance streak should survive and continue.

“If no one one is able to go in and you wouldn’t have been able to go in the first place, it can’t count, can it?” said Phil.

Gary Shepherd, who was reassured to hear that other streak-holders felt the same regarding continuity, admits promotion is the one thing that would make missing a game worthwhile: “If someone said you would get to within nine games and get promotion but not see it, you’d have taken it, let’s be honest.”

“I’d take behind promotion before a void season,” added Terje.

And Keith is content, in attendance at the remaining games or not, to put his trust in Marcelo Bielsa.

“Bielsa always has everything covered, nothing is missed,” he said. “How will other teams cope?”