As Leeds United reach Championship promotion shootout, are you having fun? - Graham Smyth

Are you having a nice time in the run-in? Do Leeds’ 90-minute sporting contests bring you happiness? For a large number of Whites, the answer to those questions is, ‘no’. They are enduring, not enjoying games that bring sheer terror and stress, not happiness and joy.

We’ve got to that point in the season that feels like a penalty shootout, watched or not watched through hands clamped tightly over the eyes, with the heart making its way towards the mouth and the gut churning. But this shootout could last weeks, yet.

There are next-to-no positives about football taking place in an empty stadium rather than a full one, but the level to which Marcelo Bielsa is becoming animated as games go on might do little to decrease the anxiety and calm the nerves of supporters, were they sitting behind his dugout during the run-in.

Sitting near Victor Orta is sports entertainment in its own right, but the sound of his voice hitting a high note and cracking as he disputes the awarding of a goal-kick doesn’t just suggest that tension is in the air, it transmits it loud and clear.

If you stripped away the significance of Saturday’s game in Blackburn and the need to pick up three points to keep a rampant Brentford side at arms’ length, there was plenty to enjoy in the performance. Had the away end been packed, then Ben White’s eight interceptions and Barry Douglas’ pinpoint passing would have been moments of satisfaction, they would have brought bursts of applause and a sense of satisfaction. Patrick Bamford’s clinical finish would have injected an elixir of adrenaline and relief. Kalvin Phillips’ free-kick would have sparked pandemonium, but then allowed reassurance to settle as thousands sang: “...Ben White at the back, Bamford in attack, Leeds are going to the Premier League.”

There is safety in numbers and when you’re stood among thousands of converts, belief comes a lot easier than when you’re sitting at home, alone. Shouts of ecstacy sound hollow when they bounce off four walls, without the open-air choir, its arms outstretched, chorus ascending heavenward. Football, for most of us, is best enjoyed in a crowd.

Of course, for some, this period of time would still be closer to torture than pleasure were fans inside stadiums.

As the proximity to the prize increases, it takes shape and is no longer just an imagined outcome or a faint hope – the Premier League is now just 10 points away for Leeds United.

They can almost reach out and touch Old Trafford, Anfield, Turf Moor, even. Glory is tangible, which only heightens the fear of it vanishing, again. Last season the Whites reached out and were bitten, by Rams. This season the Bees could inflict the pain, but the suffering would be far greater, a second time around.

Leeds have had a destination in mind for years and it’s coming into sight, but with no certainty of arrival, it is little wonder the cries of ‘are we nearly there yet?’ are growing more impatient and shrill. Perhaps, if Leeds do arrive, the journey will be enjoyed retrospectively, the football played in the games that signposted the path to the promised land will be remembered and not simply the mathematical consequence of the result.

Right now, however, if offered a chance to close the eyes and open them again at the very moment promotion is confirmed, the uptake from Leeds fans would be significant.

It does beg the question though, when will you allow yourself to enjoy football, if not now, top of the Championship, playing with an exhilarating style thanks to a head coach with whom you share a mutual love?

Will the Premier League be fun? Or is happiness just the refuge you take between the tension of trying to achieve one goal and the next?

Can you enjoy it against Stoke on a cloudy Thursday in July? Leeds are playing football tonight, try and have fun.