August 2024 monthly update as follows:

Thank God that transfer window’s shut. The January window will be here before we know it, but at least Gnonto is still here. And, after all that mega whingeing from all the superfans about how much the Club were letting the fans down, it looks like we have got some cracking signings in Soloman, A O – let’s go Tanake et al.

I’m still griping as I thought Rutter would have stayed. But, the lure of the PL and the massive agent bonus fee, was obviously a bridge too far. By all accounts, had Archie not gone when he did, the EFL was going to hit the Club hard with a points deduction for not balancing the books by the 1st of July. FFP – if you put money in, something has to come out. It’s not called balancing the books for nothing!

After a not so brilliant start to the season, it has improved. August 2024 had at least one Cup game at home, woo hoo! Though, to be honest, if that is how we play at home in the Cup, we’re probably better off not getting a home tie! The less said about the drivel that was that Boro game the better.

Maybe that was the straw that broke the back when Georghi was deciding whether to stay or go. Perhaps he’d had enough of passing sideways and dead ball, set pieces in the oppositions half going back to Meslier. I don’t hold a grudge against him. He took so much stick when he arrived and at the start of his first proper season, I’m surprised he lasted that long. No doubt at all he was playing with an injury at the end of the season. Hernias don’t heal that quick, and stop / start / turns aren’t going to help in any recovery.

If he’d been allowed to just run at goal and shoot, rather than stopping to pass to that mardy git Summerville, so he’d look good in the shop window, he’d have got back to fitness much quicker. We might have actually gone up. However, Summerville needed to be paraded about so we’d get maximum profit. It’s funny how the relatively inexperienced Gray netted us more up front, than the Elite EFL Player of the Season. You can guess who I have a grudge against.

Back to August 2024.

Monthly branch meeting.

The monthly branch meeting is held on 1st Sunday of the month at the Londesborough Club, Bower road, Harrogate at 8pm, unless we are playing that day. All members are welcome.

Memberships.

Most people have renewed, thank you. If you haven’t yet because you are having problems with printing it out etc. please get in touch as soon as. You’ve got another 4 weeks tops.

Bookings.

Please get in touch if you want a seat on the bus or you’d like us to try order you tickets. Genuinely, we do not have psychic powers. If I hold messenger up to my head, there is no osmotic type transference. You need to tell me and I need to confirm it. Booking on but failing to turn up without a decent excuse, results in one strike and then  you are out. As of August 2024 Cardiff bookings currently being taken.

The rule is that paid up branch members get first dibs. Given the fuel rises and the subsequent increase in coach prices, we will take new members to fill the coach.

We won’t be running a bus to Plymouth, as voted on at the meeting. There won’t be that many tickets, it’s an early kick off and it’s a bloody long way. Please feel free to start looking into alternatives like train fares and accommodation. The likelihood will be that it will be moved to 12.30pm kick off.

Mailing list / facebook closed group.

The new 2024/5 season email list has been updated. If you find that you have renewed but are not on the mailing list, please get in touch. Those of you on facebook, you will be added to the closed group once the form has been processed. Currently anyone can post on the closed group, but if you start sharing rubbish which isn’t related to the branch, that will be changed. The public facebook page is open to all. No friend requests are routinely accepted as the AI / WEF / globalist bots keep trying to hack the page. Until this stops, I won’t be clicking anything.

Player of the Month vote.

Each branch member has a vote in the LUSC Player of The Month at the start of the next month. There will be a mail out or facebook post with a deadline for replies. Please reply to get your say. At the end of the season, the player with the most points will be awarded the trophy, provided he is still at the Club. Given most recent winners have been Kalvin, Harrison and Summerville, it’s not exactly a glowing recommendation. At least we are consistent.

Fundraising.

The Fundraising Officer is still continuing with his efforts. Please make sure you renew so you can be included in all the events. All events will be advertised as and when.

Leeds United Sponsored Player.

As usual we have to wait until the end of the August 2024 transfer window. Our last season’s sponsored player was Charlie Cresswell, who is currently doing well at Toulouse. When I get more info on who our potential sponsored player will be I will be in touch. More importantly, if the price is amenable, and we are given a choice, there will be an update.

Website.

This website is very difficult to keep up to date. If anyone is good at wordpress and has more time than me, please step forward. The blog is out of bounds, but any other news or events or photos are appreciated. It is hoped that once the Chairman retires, he can do his own Chairman Charley bit. I am sure he would appreciate any offers to be his Secretary.

LUSC Programme page.

If any branch member does anything spectacular and would like it to be in the programme, please get in touch. I need a decent quality photo / jpeg > 1mB and some (140 or so) words please. It doesn’t need to be spectacular, as God loves a trier – JOKING! Just something that you may be proud of or a group photo at a game. Nothing illegal / disreputable please! Any articles will be heavily vetted before they go to print.

A.O.B

Any other business, as opposed to A O Tanake.

There is a face to face LUSC exec meeting at ER once a month. Any branch member is welcome and you can come and hear / see what the LUSC do. Only Exec committee members can vote, but anyone can chip in and ask questions and contribute. The LUSC are the reason we are here and we do what we do. If you have any suggestions or if there are any issues that you think need to be raised, come along.

The season has begun in earnest. 1st, 2nd or 7th again. Wembley and it’s £7 pints can do one.

The Sea is like a cruel mistress. You can love her, you can hate her, but you can never trust her. Always taking but never giving. This is quote from a film called Maidentrip made in 2013, but you can imagine Johhny Depp saying it as Captain Jack Sparrow in discussions with Mr Gibbs, so here is the gratuitous Pirates photo from Yahoo

She is a thing of beauty, offering you mystery, hope and longing. Drawing you towards her, tempting you. There is a strange enchantment, you just cannot keep away. It cannot be explained but once seen, you watch and you keep coming back. She can give you the comfort of a lapping peaceful wave, but turn into a torrential tidal wave that will thrash you to smithereens.

Much like the sea, Leeds United is too, a cruel cruel mistress.

I’ve never had a mistress, but I have had Leeds United for decades, when would I have the time? I shower my club with  love and devotion. I lavish most of my money and precious hours, days and months on Leeds. And what do I get in return? Last season – that’s what I get!

Yet here I am! Back for more.

Happy New Season everyone.

It’s back. 9 more months of being kept prisoner to the actions of 11 men running up and down a bit of (sprayed) green, heavily watered pitch. With the added bonus of all the shenanigans of those in the Ivory Tower that is Fortess Elland Road and it’s keep, Thorp Arch. Stockholm Syndrome every week (twice a week if we are lucky!) for the next 36 weeks.

We are likes slaves, chained to the fortunes of these few. And like anyone under the spell of a cruel mistress – we will want it. We will want it so badly, that we will pay whatever it takes to be able to bask in it’s aura. Blood, sweat and tears. And depending on how desperate you are to watch us at an away game – a kidney or some other body organ which is spare. Whatever it takes to be there. Unless you are one of these lucky ones. If you can count forking out £850 lucky.

https://www.leedsunited.com/en/news/202324-away-season-tickets

I know this is from last season, but there isn’t a link to this seasons info, so it will have to make do.

Some of you won’t understand why I use the phrase “cruel mistress” to describe what some of you believe to be the love of your life. Who am I to call your first love “cruel”?

I am the one who sat through the dross of the start of the season hoping to God that we would have a full clear out of the legacy of SkinnyJeans’s and the 3 amigos X2 madness. I oohed and aahed over our unbeaten form after the losses at Preston etc. after Christmas / New Year. Then I sat through the last 10 games post Internationals, where we just seemed to pass backwards and sideways for eternity. I sat by helplessly whilst we lost our ground, when we were finally top after that Leicester game. The seemingly undaunting task of simply equalling the form of those below us, was that bridge too far.

Then THAT Norwich game away. THE Masterplan. Hold them at Carrow Road and beat them at Fortress ER. Even at 3 -0 up, (free) scarves awaving, I was still worried that we’d play it out from the back and get caught. But we didn’t. 4 -0. A resounding win of epic proportions. Then Wemberley, Wemberley. No comment, besides good day out before the game. Then torture.

Leeds United, she’s a cruel, cruel mistress. That – nobody can deny. Aaargh Captain Jack.

It is true to say that I have fallen in and out of love with Leeds United many, many times. Far too many times of late. Yet however cruel the mistress she is, I have repeatedly come back for more. Many of you are the same as I. Even though many won’t admit it. As I have got older, I have failed to get any wiser to her charms.

Progress

Football’s changed and continues to change. For the sake of “progress” ? We are told, we need to keep evolving and keep up with the times.

Whilst I agree the game thankfully has not changed, in as much it is still 22 men chasing a round thing, trying to get it in between two sticks for 90 minutes. The game has changed with “rounder” (can that actually be a thing?) balls, goal line technology / VAR and extra subs. The concerns round concussion and “elf and safety” have added more protection. Unlike football boots, which are a far cry from what we had in PE in the 70s! These new boots are as light as a feather. If I had these when I was a kid, I wouldn’t have any ankles left against the studs we used to play in.

I accept that in the old days, the only time millions used to watch a game live on the telly was 3pm on F A Cup Final day on the BBC. Now, everyone can watch every game all day, every day. In the old days, football was for the masses. Modern football is for the whole world, which is a good thing, I know. Tales of old, tell of people struggling to find out the results in Australia. Ah, the old days of listening to the results on the transistor radio. Or at least walking round the house with the radio, waving your arm in the air, trying to get reception. AM / FM. We were wired for sound.

The actual format of the game hasn’t changed. Or at least it hasn’t yet, from two halves of 45 minutes. But who knows? I have no doubt that in the future, it may become four quarters of the game, interdispersed with flamethrowers, cheerleaders and musical breaks. The way in which football has changed however, is that it is much more of a business.

We laughed at B*tes when he said that football was about more than 23 games (in relation to ER). Flipping ‘eck – he could see into the future and he was right! I never thought I would say that!

Football as we know it has changed. It IS a business now. Gone are the days of Jack Walker etc. buying Blackburn the league for the love of the game. Small Sovereign states are now buying the PL for the wealth that football generates from advertising, gambling, selling rights and all the rest that the consumeristic greed that ensues from a global brand. Football IS more than 23 games. It is football agents and fees, FFP, European (current) and Global (planned) leagues. Our modern game is the belittling of our domestic cups and winter breaks to “rest” players (play abroad for £££).

In 1888, none of the original 12 would / could have ever dreamt that over a century later, this is what it has become.

What to do?

As fans, and matchgoing fans at that (so far anyway), what can we do?

Nothing really. We just have to sit by and hope to God that we can still be that which we have been – matchgoing fans. But how long for? How long before £££ becomes more important than fans at games?

There’s talk that some of the PL clubs have already done away with concession prices for matches. Most will remember the days when Leeds had dynamic pricing. Reasoning? To encourage us to buy tickets early, cos we were a bit sh*t, and no one was going in those days. Yes – that DID happen. Leeds were rubbish and no one really wanted to go. You could walk up to the gates, well ticket office at least, at ER and pay on the day! Although it cost you more than if you’d bought it a week earlier. Yes – the ticket office WAS open most days of the week. Honest!

Leeds have already given up the under 11s prices. So, as far as I know, they will have to pay the same as under 16s? How long before they get rid of the over 65s concessions?

Complain and explain

As fans we are a bit like the Royal Family, never complain , never explain. I’m JOKING! We do complain, but we rarely get an explanation.

However, we don’t complain, we MOAN. We daren’t complain.

Who complains at a cruel mistress? No one. Lest they withdraw their favours and your privileges. We fear the repercussions and consequences of complaining. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Although I don’t think Newton was talking about football when he said that.

It’s now been a fair while since we had someone purporting to be the “voice” of the fans slating our players and demanding the removal / resignation of the Board. Whilst we know, these social media campaigns etc. are ephemeral, I fear that this was the start of the end of constructive dialogue and any discussions with those in power at Leeds United. It feels to me that information is just being dispersed not discussed.

I don’t know who / if anyone representing fans is actually having any discussions with Leeds United.  Certainly there have been decisions / changes at Leeds of late which don’t look like there has been fan involvement, but I could be wrong. Although, we have FINALLY got a yellow away shirt – hurrah!

The decision way back when of making the Pavilion corporate only was a poor one. NE corner fanzone is a poor substitute, especially for families and when it’s cold and peeing it down. This season better facilities have been promised though. Don’t even get me started on the digital tickets! I can only hope that the turnstile queues are better this season.

But it seems more and more that things are simply being announced. Increases in season ticket prices (twice in succession, and again next season), removal of under 11 pricing, removal of superaway category, games behind closed doors pre season etc. And then, last night, they announced that Sheff Weds tickets will go on sale today, at 1pm. 16 hours notice to get time off work, to try for a £45 (plus £1.50 booking fee) Sheff Weds ticket. Fantastic!

Things happening behind closed doors that we don’t know about, without a doubt. I’d  hasten to say that had we got promoted, things might have been a bit different. Probably? No, definitely. But we didn’t get promoted. We are still here. This must have been our Plan B? Surely?

It’s difficult though. You’d like to think that during the closed season, there might have been some discussion at least. Possibly may well have been, but I haven’t seen anything official on the website. It would be nice to know who / if anyone representing fans is involved.

My feelings personally are that it is up to the Club what they spend their money on and what they are going to do. After all, it’s their money. I don’t want any fan sat on the board inputting into that. Most of us can’t agree on what went on in the game we just watched, so there is no hope whatsoever that one person can speak on behalf of all fans.

However, anything that actually affects us, like facilities, pricing etc. I would like there to be at least some discussion or email survey or something. Not like the whole Swillington fix that Ridsdale did. No one I knew voted for us to move away from ER. Absolutely no one. That was rigged. Thankfully it never went through. I mean a proper survey, or just some feedback. All electronic unfortunately, so the digitally excluded would be – well – excluded. Just something. Anything.

Hopefully there is a Parliamentary Act in the offing, which does enable at least some dialogue. That’s a big job though. Undoubtedly, the views of the millions of fans who will never get an opportunity to go to ER and are happy to watch it on the telly, will outweigh the views of the 36,750 who can actually watch it live. There is no doubt about that. But it doesn’t mean that matchgoing fans don’t count. No one likes to feel that they are being ignored. The club know we will be back for more, every season, no matter what happens. We will forego our friends and family just to be at her mercy.

So, you see, Leeds United is a cruel mistress. Happy new season everyone! Let the fun commence!

They call me Mellow Yellow – classic 60’s Donovan.

I wish!

You younger readers will have to look Donovan up. Mellow Yellow wasn’t his best work. Catch The Wind is my personal favourite. But back in the day it was just a song about being – well – mellow. Cool and chilled.

As is the won’t of the newer generations, people want to know what the song “actually” meant. Was it that smoking banana skins made him high? Like most songs penned in the 60s, it could have been about anything. It was a good tune. We should just leave it at that. He was a singer in the 60s, he probably was mellow. Unlike most of us right now. We are certainly not mellow and neither are we yellow.

Yellow

None of us are yellow, even if we wanted to be. Definitely not a fortnight last Sunday at Carrow Road. It would have been an interesting conundrum if we did have a yellow away strip, wouldn’t it? We would have been clashing with all those flags in their end behind the goal. Flags that looked great, but all were gathered in at half time. Not like the scarves we were all given at ER the other night. Master stroke? At least the freebies weren’t a few hundred short, like the Stuey dallas T shirts at Highbury.

But we don’t have a yellow strip. Why? Borussia Dortmund wear yellow. They have a very famous yellow wall, don’t they? What’s wrong with yellow? Leeds is actually twinned with Dortmund too.

I, like many others want, and have been wanting us, to go back to the “blue, yellow and white, football in a Yorkshire Rose” for ages. It’s iconic. The YEP and Top Man shirts take us back to happier times, when football was for the fans and SkyTVisf**kings**t did not exist.

It was the days when football was played at 3pm on a Saturday, before big money meant you could buy the league and before you needed to spend money on a smartphone / technology to just get a ticket. Simpler times, happier times.

But, our Club stopped doing a yellow kit in the late 2000s after our brief foray into Europe, and then briefly revived it in 2015/16, when were weren’t happy nor iconic.

This probably wasn’t the most memorable season of football ever, though.

Back to the now. Are we mellow yellow?

This weekend at Wembley we are the “home” team, so we are playing in white and can’t be  mellow yellow. Even if we wanted to be, which we aren’t.

Mellow.

I am that.

I’ve decided if we win and get promoted that’s fine. But even if we lose and stay in the 2nd tier, it is still ok. It’s a bit like the character Ivan from the Mary Whitehouse Experience. Yes! It’s okay! See below

https://youtu.be/02i5GfKiVrQ

The Mary Whitehouse Experience –  the days when David Baddiel and Rob Newman were funny. Any of you under the age of 50 will have absolutely NO idea what I am on about, but just watch the clip. It’s the bit at the end, it’s immature, adolescent and juvenile, but funny.

In a nutshell

Given our situation at the end of last season where we had the three amigos (twice over) trying to keep us up, nothing could compare to THAT. The 1st trio of Michael Skubala, Paco Gallardo and Chris Armas were followed by the 2nd unholy triumvate of Big Sam, Robbie Keane and Karl Robinson, all vying to undo the wrongs of SkinnyJeans. Too little , too late my friends.

So low was the bar to our April / Mays of late, only managing 2 victories out of the last 8 games of this season proper, still wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of the loyal. This is technically relegation form in any other book. We were flying high at the top of the league. Leicester were a laughing stock in Leeds after their “it’s just another game to us” quip. We had the title in our hands, no one can deny it.

All we needed to do was win or at least get better results than Leicester and we would have won the league. Sadly not to be. Blackburn, Coventry and QPR! We only beat Boro because their two best players, Ayling and Greenwood weren’t able to play, thank God. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

Yet STILL, all we could think about was the miserable start to the season where the legacy of SkinnyJeans and his wayward player purchases inflicted more damage than anyone could have ever imagined. And, anyone who still thinks that the dismissal of Bielsa and subsequent appointment of SkinnyJeans was a good idea, might as well just ….. go forth and multiply ….. to Canada!

Bielsa will never come back, but like the song goes, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. He was wronged. WRONG WRONG WRONG. But he has gone, and that is that. At some point, the truth might out. But like the conundrum of “who owns the ground?” in the B*tes and Weasel Shaun Harvey era, we may NEVER find out what went on.

Was it Radrizzani who couldn’t stand being constantly in the shadow of Bielsa? Was it Orta who wanted to be the main man? Orta was certainly the Fall Guy for it all. Or, was it the players who thought they didn’t need Marcelo making them train all the time to be PL superstars? Was it because the board wanted more control which Bielsa did not want to relinquish? Was Jean Paul Augustin the catalyst to our demise? No one knows, and probably no one will ever know.

At the end of the day, we had a record breaking unbeaten run at home this season. Until the international break, we WERE Fortress Elland Road. Could the damage inflicted in the Wales penalty defeat really have hampered us so much? Have we been far too reliant on Ampadu (du, du), Rodon, Roberts and James? In no uncertain terms we have missed Dan James, and much to the chagrin of the Bamford haters, we have also missed Patrick. How much were Gnonto, Summerville and Piroe affected? Was Archie being played too much? Was Summerville’s head turned (like Kalv’s was) during the Internationals? ps look how well that turned out for Kalvin.

Or was it simply that we have been found out? It took two and a bit years for Bielsa to be found out. Have advances in pitchside surveillance technology made it easier to work out Farke’s game plan? It’s not really that hard though, is it? We play out from the back. All the time. Apart from Norwich at home, when Meslier played more long balls in the first 45 minutes than he had all season.

We play out from the back and try to get the ball to Summerville. Summerville will run down the wing and try to cut in and score (like his song). So, put two on Summerville and that cuts that avenue out straight away. The other option is to give it to Rutter, who will get the ball, run with it, then stop and turn clockwise (left like Zoolander) and fend off two before passing it to Summerville or Gnonto. Put two on him and that shuts another door. Too easy?

I am a bit sick of watching us pass the ball backwards, even from free kicks in the opposition’s half. I fret at how uneasy Meslier is on the ball before he tries to decide whether to give it to Rodon or Ampadu (du,du). If the opposition is clever, and run onto him, we risk giving the ball away. Suicide football. How much I miss the days of an old fashioned centre half foisting the ball into the East Stand! As much as people berate Cooper, and to some small extent, Struijk, how much pressure would have been taken off Meslier if we’d have just cleared it? Folk still moan about Meslier, the goalie who has kept the most clean sheets this season. Yes, Meslier.

Holding onto a one or two nil freaks me out too. Skinnyjeans did that. Remember Southampton in his honeymoon period? In fact his first game against Leicester when we should have won. Holding onto a draw, we were. It used to and still does put the hee bee gee bees up me. Whatever happened to going one nil up and going in for a second , then going for the kill with a third?

Norwich at home was a classic example. I genuinely didn’t stop worrying until we were four up. Although, Norwich in the semis was an uncertainty all in itself. After the first game at Carrow Road, where we had two shots on goal all game, I honestly thought the plan was to hold out for penalty shoot out at home with the crowd behind us. Even then, I couldn’t help thinking we would lose 5-4 on pens.

The mantra at the start of any season is, 1st, 2nd or 7th once relegation has been ruled out.

Play Offs

Once it looked like we weren’t going up as champions or second, play offs were a foregone conclusion with so few teams of any real PL worth apart from us and Southampton. All the talk about it being no shame that we didn’t get promoted on 90+ points, didn’t hold water for me. The other teams in the league are pants. Honestly, they are. Which is why it annoys me so much that we didn’t just get automatic promotion.

Coventry loss, Sunderland a mere draw which saw the ball not stray to our right side at all in the first 25 minutes. Blackburn FFS. Then a round thrashing by QPR. One win out of Coventry, Blackburn or QPR would have seen us go into the Southampton game either already up or just needing a draw.  Southampton who would have been saving their players for the play offs. But, we just couldn’t do it. And that is the disappointment and frustration of today. We needn’t have been doing this.

Needless

We needn’t have been spending money and time on tomorrow.

We could have been spared hours of trying to get on line to buy a ticket, only to be sat staring at a screen wondering why the page was taking us to another page saying error. Seriously, how many of you reading this were fit to burst for two hours trying to figure out what was going on? How many of you just wanted to sit with your mates but couldn’t get four seats together, even though they looked available when you added them all into your basket? Why was that so difficult? And, how many of the digitally excluded struggled to get a ticket?

We needn’t have been putting ourselves through £10 – £15 pints of crap beer and tenner on something outside the ground that looks like it has been reconstituted from insects and fungi, tomorrow. We could have been spared hours on trainline trying to get a good deal on train fares and travel. Oh the excitement of Wembley! Not really. We haven’t done well in play offs for decades. Yes, some of you won’t remember the epic fails of previous play offs and Cup finals. I do. If only we’d have beaten bloody Blackburn! I would be on holiday right now! I’d be looking forward to fixtures in June and maybe even preseason.

Plus, this is all before the gossip about season ticket holders selling their tickets on for profit. That really isn’t on. But, there’s nothing like a play off final for the skankers to all come crawling out of the woodwork. Should you ever skank a fellow Leeds fan? If you have any decency, no.

Still, I am mellow about tomorrow.

Win, we go up. This means fewer games and cheaper tickets. But many long Southern and London trips with smaller allocations – and Bournemouth.

We lose. More shorter trips, larger allocations (apart from Luton), more expensive tickets but some cracking pub stops.

So, yeah. Mellow yellow.

As the song goes, whatever will be, will be. And as a final flourish, just because I know this annoys some, win, lose or draw Always Leeds Always Loyal

Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma Chameleon, you come and go, you come and go.

I always thought the song Karma Chameleon was about the proverbial, “what comes around, goes around”. As in, someone screws you over and eventually all that s**t will come back and smack them in the face. Karma.

Not so, according to Boy George in some interview he did decades ago. It’s about the feeling of alienation. About being fearful of standing up for what you believe in. The changing colours signifying the desperation for some to fit with the vox populi.

So it’s nearly two years since the Deed was done. And, yes, I’m still fuming. My last years blog spells most of it out. My blog remains my own unpopular opinion and my feelings have not changed. But there’s been some revelations since Orta, the fall guy, got ditched and a bit more since Leeds United’s equivalent of Silas Greenback – “Si, Barone”, has departed.

Am I actually bothered about any of these revelations? Not really. Nothing any of them can ever say will make any difference in my mind. I won’t sit through any interviews or podcasts or whatever youtube things come up. SkinnyJeans was on SkyTVisf**kings**t the other day. Purporting / pretending to be doing a bit of punditry apparently. Not bothered.

If they ever want to piss Leeds fans off even more, they WILL resort to sticking him into the hasbeen pundit line up that does the commentary. Although which one of the acceptable categories of punditry personnel classification he will fit into is anyone’s guess. He’s never played football in the English leagues. I wouldn’t call his Leeds United tenure as a situation where he acquired any knowledge of the English leagues. On account of the fact I don’t think he knew what he was doing through any of it. He certainly isn’t female or non white. I suppose the only criteria he fulfils is that his is middle aged and wears ill fitting trousers?

However, back to Karma Chameleon.

Many moons ago, I wrote in the blog about how much the World in general, not just Leeds United, likes to put us into little boxes. To Leeds United, we are customers or rather “consumers”. They like to know what we consume. So luckily, AI and the Gen Z / 21st Century propensity for “wanting to do everything on your phone” means that tracking cookies and buying history gives them all that info. Armed with that info, they aim to give us our “best experience” in order for us to consume more product. Their own product and the products of their associated partners.

The more info they have, the more of a little box they can steer us to. Eventually they want all Leeds fans to fit into one box. One box which will subject us to everything they want us to see, hear, read about and ultimately, copy and buy. If we all think the same because we are Leeds fans, we will all behave the same, and more importantly buy the same. Consumerism – what’s wrong with that?

What is wrong, is that humans are all individuals and all think differently. Leeds United fans are NOT all the same. We aren’t all lucky enough to be born in Leeds. We don’t all live in Leeds, and we are not all from Yorkshire. This has peeved a few people lately with the whole distance travelled to away games “facts”.

Some clever Richard has added up his little trip computer and put the results on social media to brag about what he has completed. Not realising that some people at Cardiff, Bristol, Plymouth x 2 and Swansea travelled from elsewhere. Some (like us) travelled further, some less. Lots of Leeds fans live elsewhere, that is what is so good about supporting Leeds. You don’t have to be from Leeds, to be Leeds. In fact, we pride ourselves that we can go almost anywhere in the world, and we can find a fellow Leeds fan.

Yes, many people on those long distance games travelled from Leeds, but not all. Leeds fans are NOT all the same. Looking at the photos of the crowds, one could think that we are all either 50+ something, follically challenged males or 20 something Stone Island wearing alcoholics. Luckily, we are not all like that. But sadly, pictures don’t lie. There weren’t many young ones at Plymouth on that rainy Tuesday night, I can tell you.

Leeds supporters are all Leeds. ALAW, or so the saying goes. But we all have different origins and addresses and different lives outside of football. So ultimately, we all see things differently and have different opinions. And, as I have said so many times before, each opinion is valid, and no one has a right to shout it down.

Karma Chameleon and Alienation

The clever skill of a chameleon is that it changes to fit in with its background. In the main, to hide from predators, but also to sneak up on prey before going in for the kill. So, not just one reason why it wants to fit in.

Leeds United want all fans to be the same. They want us all to fit it. Not just because of the reasons above, but also because it can give people with little direction in their lives, a purpose. Some good can come of being in a group of similar people. Friendship, company and all of that sort of stuff. Football gives us freedom from our normal lives, a bit of an escape if your job is particularly taxing or boring. Football is a chance to be with like minded people, enjoying the 90 minutes on the pitch and all the pre / post match stuff. But it can go the other way.

Like we saw with the removal of Bielsa, there was massive fan base polarisation. Similarly SkinnyJeans’s bizarre narrowness of play and (lack of ) tactics was steadfastly defended just because we stayed up that season. The season after, he still had his supporters clinging onto his ankles in an effort to keep him here. It took mass defections and departures on loan to acknowledge that Aaronson, Adams, Roca and Kristensen probably weren’t that good. Some still think that SkinnyJeans did a good job. Oh dear. Oh well. How sad. Never mind.

Much of this though, I’m afraid, was down to social media and shouting down from the shouty people.

Leeds fans have been known to be fickle. Fickle, fickle, fickle. For decades. I remember Paul Hart saying that even Billy was scared to come out at ER some times because he was worried about fans turning on him.

Forums, podcasts, whatever people use nowadays to influence opinions have taken centre stage these last two years. The indecisive have been flip flopping like a fish on the deck, not able to make their own minds up. Some have been going from one extreme to another within the space of weeks. Some because they can’t make their minds up, but some out of fear for being alienated. Those just go along with the shouty vox populi, like a chameleon, so they fit in.

For example, take that barren spell we had Christmas / New Year. There were people calling for Farke’s head and already putting polls up on who our next manager would be. A loss at Preston away, which should have been an easy win, sparked off massive debate. Losing to West Brom saw every jobless manager was seemingly touted as a replacement. Even Warnock was mentioned at one point, God help us.

Good job we didn’t sack him eh? Or we wouldn’t be 2nd in the league right now.

From feast to famine. The inconsistencies of opinion have now reached the dizzy heights of drawing a comparison to Don Revie. Seriously you say? Nope. Truth. He’s barely done a full season and already he’s being compared to The Don. People need to put some perspectables on. As sure as eggs are eggs, this is down to Karma Chameleon. Because the loudest people are saying it, the indecisive feel the need to fit in.

Honestly, the fickleness of fans is impulsively temperamental at times. Mercurial and Quixotic fantastical at others. Don Quixote thinks the windmills are dragons, Leeds fans think the guy who made us have a cup replay at Plymouth because he didn’t sub quicker is the New Messiah.

The team is playing brilliantly, don’t get me wrong. But I think it is due to Georgi’s childish exuberance and infectious confident camaraderie to his fellow youngsters that is making the difference. Especially when we are winning. I think Rodon has been exceptional of late, and the move to a defensive back four to secure the points late in the game helps Meslier hold his nerve. Bamford intermittently coming back from injury helps because there is now a fight for the number 9 and 10 positions up front.  Four at the back and two up front. Fancy that in the modern game?

The healthy competition for places in the starting line up is something we haven’t seen for a while. We have been lucky with injuries and this season other teams haven’t kicked us to death as much at all. Things are going our way up to press.

Because we are doing well, there aren’t as many shouty people telling us how to think. Most are happy clapping along with everyone else and it is all good. So good that when the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army came blasting out at pre match at Plymouth on that rainy Tuesday night, guess what we all sang?

I am not saying it is right or wrong to sing Bielsa’s name. He was Farke’s adversary not long since. What I’m saying is, there wasn’t the usual shouty people whingeing that we were singing it. Refreshing to say the least, considering how much bickering consternation there was last time.

Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon. You come and go, you come and go.

Monthly update January 2024 including minutes from monthly branch meeting held Sunday January 14th 2024.

Apologies for being incognito since last year, it’s been a bit hectic.

January 2024 update.

It’s freezing!

Ray Fell

Very sad news that former LUSC Chairman Ray Fell sadly passed away in December after a long illness. Ray was a great friend and until he stepped down as Chair in 2016, was a very active, hard working and loyal servant to Leeds United Supporters Club. Even after he stepped down, Ray was still keen to attend exec meetings (health permitting) and always happy to have a quick pint and chat in The Peacock afterwards. Ray was given Honorary Vice President after stepping down from his 31 year tenure. But hestill attended the AGM and the odd exec even after lockdown. He probably saw more Leeds United Chairmen and owners than anyone I know. He met them dignity and humility. But always representing the LUSC with honour and pride. He always fought for our voice to be heard as representatives of season ticket holders, members and travelling fans both home and away.

Ray led us through our darkest hours when B*tes did his very best to destroy the Supporters Club and replace it with his very own “Regional Members Clubs” . RMCs who took the B*tes shilling. K*n’s masterplan of taking the LUSC down failed. We said at the time, “we were here before you, we are still here now and we will be here long after you are gone”. B*tes has gone from our Club at least. Thankfully Cellino did what needed to be done – cheers Massimo – I always liked you! (However, given K*n has made a pact with Old Nick and sold his soul, gone may be a long time coming.)

The LUSC is still growing, despite football changing “progressing” into what it is now. It is nothing like what it used to be when I started going, but time and tide stop for no man.

The fact that the LUSC is still going is testimony to Ray and Eric Carlisle before him. These two laid the groundwork. Building on the foundations of those before them, who founded Leeds United itself in 1919. It is something that we should never forget. Rest In Peace my friend.

Monthly Branch Meeting

The meeting was a week late due to us playing away (no surprise there then!) in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup the week before. Good job too, as we won at Peterborough. Woo hoo! And we are now proudly through to the 4th Round – yes – 4th round of the FA Cup. At home – yes – at HOME – to Plymouth.

Minutes from the four execs were read through and discussed.

1)There were lengthy discussions re the thieving charlatans at Sunderland who forced unsuspecting Leeds fans to part with their coinage, lighters, phone chargers etc. in order to gain entry into the Stadium of Light. Our branch feel that this is an outrage, and things need to be taken further. The buckets outside taking the coinage were allegedly going to be given to charity. Given that any legal charity collecting should be done in sealed buckets and clear signage of said charity should be clearly displayed, we don’t think that this is the actual case. We will await further discussions.  2)Turnstile problems were also discussed. There have been ongoing issues at the Captains Corner since the start of the season with many fans not being able to get in because the turnstile has jammed. These fans who have not been able to get in, have been forced to walk round to the ticket office to get a replacement. Some have had to go through Fullerton Car Park as an alternative to doing a 3/4 lap and back round the ground. Some fans have managed to fight through the away fans in the West Stand car park. Either way, it is not satisfactory at all, that in this day and age of electronic ticketing, the ageing turnstiles and infrastructure simply cannot cope. Luckily the ticket office staff were there to help out at the Ipswich game and then a man from the turnstile company was there at the Birmingham game. Some fans still did not get in, and were forced to go to the ticket office. If there are any other parts of the ground where people struggle to gain access, this may need to be noted and Leeds United informed of the issues. If they don’t know, they cannot improve. It was noted that when we had season ticket cards this was never an issue.

Memberships

The Membership Secretary is still very active. We are continuing to get more enquiries via the website, all forms with self addressed stamped envelopes will be returned with the 2023/4 season membership cards. No envelopes will mean you take your chances with getting to an away game or seeing us in the pub if we remember to bring the cards along.

Away travel

We have said we will try to run buses to every away again (tickets permitting). We have so far, and will be hoping to run to Plymouth, tickets permitting. All members are reminded and encouraged to buy their own away tickets if at all possible to save work for the rest of us. Bookings currently being taken for Bristol. Members are also reminded to keep an eye on the Leeds website for sale dates.

Treasurers Report

Despite running buses to every game this season we are still breaking even thanks to more new members joining and travelling. Long may this continue.

Fund Raising and Events

Andy Yates would like to thank everyone who participates in the football cards. Draw tonight for the Big Card was won by Mick Pratt. We will aim to do a raffle at the Spring event, anyone who wishes to donate a prize, please get in touch with Andy

Rowsey and Andy have spoken to The Londesborough. The plan is for the Spring event to be held there on Saturday March 23rd from 1pm to 7pm approx. Paul Wilson will be providing the music later on in the day. We are hoping to have special guest(s) to do a Q and A session and hopefully help to draw the raffle prizes out. No decision made yet re tickets etc. but we will expect either pay on the door or some donation, if no formal tickets organised. Once costs paid out, there will be a donation as usual to St Michaels Hospice, Harrogate.

A. O. B

The Annual LUSC quiz night will be held in April. Format will be the same, 4 people per team and pie and peas supper (bring your own mint sauce). We had 6 teams last year. We still didn’t win. Come on people – let’s at least try to give Fullerton and Griffin a run for their money this year. Please try to revise. 1st goal scorer is good bet and some random question about soaps (not the stuff you use to wash with).

We have put a request in for Millwall to be the chosen game for our Hospitality tickets as part of the sponsorship package. Still awaiting confirmation.

Anyone who has any experience on wordpress is welcome to help with the website. It is hard work to keep everything going. Anyone who thinks they can help out with any aspect of running the branch is very welcome to get in touch.