Leeds United fan pictured crying after heartbreaking play-off final loss reveals delight at promotion

Adam Scholey was at a golf driving range with a friend on Friday evening when he realised the 16-year exile from the top division of English football would soon be over for his beloved Leeds United.

Rushing to his home in Oxford, where he lives with his Wakefield-born dad Neil and mum Margot, he stopped off at a shop to get a bottle of wine to celebrate.

The tears of joy which came after the Whites' promotion was confirmed were the total opposite of the sadness he felt following Watford's 3-0 win in Cardiff, which saw him pictured on the front page of Yorkshire Evening Post.

The 24-year-old said: "We went to Cardiff with such high hopes and had shattered dreams coming away from it. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it now. We've had two or three play-off campaigns and unfortunately we've come away on the wrong side of them, and they have all been emotional.

"As I was driving home on Friday night, I thought I'd stop to get a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. I was driving with my windows open and had Marching On Together blasting through the speakers but I didn't really feel emotional.

"As I got home I saw my dad peeking through the window and as soon as we locked eyes on each other, I just burst into tears, just like I did at Millennium Stadium.

"I went straight out into the garden and started spraying the bottle all over me as if I was celebrating with the players. I have a few friends who support various teams and they were calling me and I just had to say 'I'll call you back in 20 or 30 minutes, because I need to celebrate'."

Mr Scholey, who works in marketing in Southampton, said his only memory of Leeds United in the top flight is a 4-3 win against Liverpool in 2000, in which Mark Viduka scored all four goals for the Whites.

He added: "As soon as we got Bielsa, I knew he was going to do the job for us. After the start we had in the first season, I knew we would go up. You could see something special was happening. After 16 years, it's been tough for sure.

"It's a shame I haven't been able to get up to Elland Road to celebrate with all the fans, but I have been following all the players posts on social media."

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Thank you

Laura Collins