Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa prove box office as Amazon documentary hopes to breed optimism

As the curtain falls on the premiere of Leeds United's brand new Amazon Prime docu-series, a sense of optimism sweeps the room.
Leeds United's documentary series is set for release on Friday.Leeds United's documentary series is set for release on Friday.
Leeds United's documentary series is set for release on Friday.

World-renowned head coach Marcelo Bielsa has arrived in West Yorkshire. Patrick Bamford has just become United's most expensive signing in 17 years and Stoke, Derby and Norwich have all been dispatched with relative ease.

It's mid-September and Leeds are sitting pretty at the top of the Championship.

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Sixty seconds later the lights have brightened and managing director Angus Kinnear has taken to the stage. It's the following August.

"I don't want to spoil the ending, but I have seen episode six," he said. "It's like watching a car crash in slow motion with no survivors."

To get from point A to point B is a complex story, and one that brought in Hollywood royalty and United fan Russell Crowe to tell it.

The six-part series 'Take Us Home: Leeds United' - filmed by local production company the City Talking in partnership with Eleven Studios - aims to tell the story of Bielsa's first assault on English football as he bids to end the club's 15-year exile from the Premier League.

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For Leeds fans the end will be painful upon its release on Friday but the story remains as compelling as it was the first time around. From the drama of late victories at Christmas over Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers to the Spygate saga and Easter disaster.

Without pain there is no joy in football, though for Leeds the former seems to be a feeling that comes around all too often.

The ups and downs, as they say at Elland Road.

Opposition supporters will point to the ultimate failure, and so will many Leeds fans who refuse to watch back an ending that still feels raw in West Yorkshire just three months on.

"It's sad, but it's beautifully filmed and the quality of it is fantastic," Kinnear continued.

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"Even at the end of that I felt an overwhelming sense of optimism. I think what the six episodes do is they showcase the commitment, the passion and unity that runs through our club.

"I think every supporter who is watching this and every supporter of every other club is going to look at this and see a team that are going to get it right and a team that is going to get promoted this season.

"There's a lot to look forward to when we do the second series."

From the lifeblood of the support on the terraces to sporting director Victor Orta and Kalvin Phillips' grandma, the series aims to shine a light into the beating heart of Elland Road. Though judgement on insight will be reserved for the full review.

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Optimism was the feeling after episode one, and optimism was the word Kinnear used to describe his own feeling after episode six.

Whether the series can banish the ghosts of Jack Marriott remains to be seen, but the retelling of a campaign under El Loco from behind the ropes looks set to provide entertainment for football fans across the globe.

Six episodes of drama, six episodes of Leeds United. A story that feels worth telling to the world.