'Show a bit of respect' - Leeds United academy graduate learned of Elland Road exit via YEP headline

But that's exactly how Thorp Arch academy graduate Simon Johnson discovered he was surplus to requirements at Leeds United - via a YEP headline.

The retired attacker, the son of a Leeds fan, was picked up as a 14-year-old by the Whites at the second time of asking.

"After my first trial they told me to go back and work on a few things, which I did," said Johnson on the Non League Nosh podcast.

"It was my speed that they weren't happy with, which is ironic because that was my main attribute further down the line.

"Luckily for me Mark Lewis-Francis, who ran for Great Britain, lived a couple of doors away from me. I started training with him and never looked back from there.

"The second trial was three or four months later, I was a lot more relaxed, I knew what the process was. I was confident and I think that showed in the performance because they took me on pretty quickly."

The budding footballer was one of seven kids, yet his parents would drive him from their Midlands home for training sessions in Leeds three times a week.

Johnson came close to departing Elland Road when Manchester City offered a deal but Leeds got wind of the talks and ensured he stayed put.

He signed a professional deal in 2000 and Terry Venables was the first manager to include him in a first team matchday squad, but it wasn't until April 2003 that he made his senior debut, coming off the bench to replace Alan Smith in a 6-1 rout of Charlton Athletic.

The presence of forwards like Smith, Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell kept Johnson down the pecking order, but he believes all the managers who passed through Elland Road during his time there rated him, bar one - Kevin Blackwell.

"I thought I'd done too well [in training] for him not to include me, his hand's forced here," said Johnson.

"You live and learn, I got that one wrong.

"My confidence just got drained out of me.

"We were doing finishing once, the first two shots were in the bottom corner, the third one I went for the top corner and I couldn't have hit it any further wide if I tried. The geezer just started laughing at me. I just wanted to knock him out. It really did have an impact on my performance. I thought a proper manager at that point gets the best out of someone like me.

"I was a good option, like some of the other lads he binned off.

"He was the only one that didn't rate me."

It was during Blackwell's reign, after a 2004/05 season that saw Leeds finish midtable in the Championship, that Johnson's time at the club came to an end.

He was informed by a friend, who had read the YEP.

"I was in the final year of my contract and it was in the last three months of the season," he recalled.

"I had a phone call, I can't remember from who and they said have you seen the paper Si? I said no, I went and got the local paper, the Yorkshire Evening Post and there was a big heading saying something along the lines of 'Surplus to Requirements' with a retained list and a released list. I was under the released list.

"That was the first I heard, there was no conversation.

"I knew there would never be a contract offer, but just show a bit of respect. I'd been at the club since I was 14 and that's the way I was told."

Johnson admits he was 'gutted' by the manner of his release, having spent his formative years at Leeds United.

But he remains a fan of the Whites, alongside the other side currently sitting in the Championship automatic promotion places.

"I was born and bred West Brom," he said.

"I've always followed them since I remember.

"Leeds was the club that gave me my dream, I can't not support them.

"People keep asking me to choose and I can't."