Apologies for the delay for the April update. There have been a couple of busy aways to sort out and of course Easter is always a busy time. So there will be the usual updates and then the blog will continue as per the norm.

Just a quick note though, yesterday was Palm Sunday, celebrating the day Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. Called Palm Sunday as the people of Jerusalem lined the streets, waving Palm branches. Maundy Thursday is of course, the day of Last Supper and then obviously Good Friday is a very solemn day of Easter reflection. The branch will be of course be en route to Newcastle, so we shall be ensuring that the day is duly recognised by all the branch members, thus in keeping with the spirit of the Easter message, in true Harrogate Whites fashion.

Monthly Branch meeting

The meeting was held on Sunday April 2nd at the Londesborough Club. A quick mention for Middy, nice to see him again, in the company of Dave ( the gardeners ear) Jewitt who supplied us with an interesting update on one of our former players and some juicy goss about Peter Beagrie.

The EFL meeting that the LUSC exec went to, was as stated on our facebook page just a propaganda exercise for Sky. Apparently there were 85 new rules / modifications of the rules this new season for the referees to take in. I wonder how many of them were instructions on what to do if Leeds United have the upper hand in the game? That was the interesting part, the rest of it was just how brilliant Sky are and how they have to give at least 5 weeks notice if they want to change a fixture for the benefit of their viewing figures. Hahahahaha

Two new branches have been accepted into the LUSC fold, the Lincolnshire Whites and the reformed Pontefract Branch. There is also a proposed new Parliamentary LUSC Branch led by John Mann MP Bassettlaw. We believe this is the first LUSC, or any football supporters club of it’s kind in Westminster. So there is hope for the Houses Of Parliament yet!

Lastly, we have had a message from Terry Rankine’s widow. She has thanked the branch for the tribute to Terry and said the flowers were so beautiful that she took them home.

Away Games

Newcastle bus was full up til last night. There are now two places available. There are still places available on the Burton bus for anyone lucky enough to have their own tickets.

Memberships

Memberships have closed for the year. Memberships are up from last year.

Website

The Media and Publicity Officer is doing as much as possible to keep up with the website and the facebook page as often as possible. We will also try to keep putting articles up for the Leeds United programme. Any contributions are welcome.

Today marks one of the saddest moments in the history of Leeds United, it is exactly not what football should be all about.

Many, many of us were looking forward to the first leg of our semi final clash in Istanbul. We were on a roll.  We had played in Partizan Belgrade in Heerenveen (for security reasons – war that is!), been to Moscow twice, although the 2nd visit was always going to be doomed to failure given how cold it had been the first time round. We had been on some damn good trips to Rome and Prague, and now were looking at two games to take us to the final against Arsenal. It was within our reach.

Most of us were already in Istanbul, having travelled with Big Fat Tony from UF Tours. Some of us were waiting at Leeds Bradford airport for the early morning flight with The Travel Club. None of us could have foreseen the events that took place.

For whatever reason, to this day, no one will know the full truth of what happened, two fans didn’t come home from a football game. Much has already been written about this, I do not need to and will not add anything further. I repeat, not what football should be about.

In previous posts, I have already highlighted the prejudice that Leeds United has been subject to. This season it has been the Football League and Sky joining the long list of other institutions that just cannot hide their dislike of us. UEFA has been a long standing perpetrator ( Paris, Salonika etc.etc.) and the wholly unjustified 15 point deduction in 2007 from the collective Football League Clubs to make sure we could not get near promotion, is another classic example of the disparity. Not that we all need reminding, but every year there is the constant reinforcement of the “us v them”.

Our continental cousins have always had much more hooliganism problems than us. Yes England can boast about The Service Crew, The HeadHunters, The InterCity Crew, The Herd etc. but quite frankly some of the European Ultras don’t actually have issues will killing each other, let alone have a fight. UEFA can’t deny that the problems exist, but they are happy to focus their attention on the English clubs, well, because they can, I suppose. Leeds is the equivalent in England. Whatever we do is twice as bad as any other club / player of a club doing it.

Whether it be the recent treatment of Mr Cellino ( incidentally CLEARED of all charges) by the Football League or the corrupt referees in the 1970s, the phenomenon perpetuates year on year. Liam Cooper has got a 6 match ban for something that I scarcely noticed in the ground. Yet that elbow to Chris Wood’s face was looked at, and no action needed apparently. Hmmm.

However, whatever “they” throw at us, we just keep going. Do you remember when the team used to come out to Tubthumping by Chumbawumba? I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down. This is what our football is all about. This is Leeds United.

This day however, we will not forget.

RIP lads

Give them nothing, take from them everything – this is what I want to see plastered on the changing room walls at Elland Road from now till the end of the season.

After the QPR game on Saturday, the minutia of the 90 minutes was picked over, like a seasoned lobster picker armed with a titanium toothpick. The fact that we had no shots on goal let alone on target, justified the ” a point gained not two points lost” thinking. The fact that this was infuriating, is testament to how the team has grown in the last 8 months.

The defence has been the cornerstone of our team. At the start of the season, who knew anything about Luke Ayling, Captain Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jansson? Beradi, we already know from his spat with Leon Best in November 2015, has a particular set of skills and he has been perfection as a  stand in for that left back position in Charlie Taylors injury induced absence. Even though our history of playing players out of position, is not exactly glowing, our little Swiss right back has been outstanding so far and a real unsung hero. The commitment he shows epitomises the fighting team spirit our defence shows.

Chris Wood remains on fire. When he gets the ball, he takes a shot. So far he has racked up 22 goals in the League and 3 in the Cup. He is the top goal scorer as it stands in the league this season. When was the last time Leeds United could claim those bragging rights? Certainly not in the last decade in my memory anyway.

So comes the contentious issue of our midfield. Regular readers of this page will know how much I am in favour of the Phillips & O Kane partnership utilised to such good effect at the beginning of the season before O Kane got injured. To me, the physical presence of those two in the middle winning and then  holding the ball up, made those two my first choice picks. However, O Kane struggled after his injury and young Kalvin’s love affair with red cards so far this season, means that this dynamic duo may not reprise their roles again this season. I still think this is where we are lacking, a Luke Murphy or Big Dave ( aka your modern day Vinnys and Kamaras – thanks Dave), would make a huge difference. Unlike most Leeds fans, I don’t think we needed to get a striker in January, we have Roofe and The Duke. Garry with two Rs just needs to play them up front if and when the need arises. Whilst I cannot fault the effort that Vieira and Bridcutt put in, both their displays on Saturday ( and other games recently) were woefully lacking. Bridcutt is playing far too deep and bartley and Co certainly do not need any cover, thank you. The substitutions made a massive difference, but too little too late. The Duke should have come on a lot sooner, really the changes should have all been made within ten minutes of the second half, as we did not look like we were going to score at all. Pablo still looks like he is struggling to get fit. Again, I like him, but he still doesn’t look like he can last the full 90 minutes. Starting with Dallas would be a better option at home, with Sacko coming on as sub. Our two new wingers have potential, but realistically Luke Ayling proved more effective at getting forward than any of our other players.

We still have a chance at second. I am not bothered about going up as Champions. Newcastle and Brighton are not invincible, if anything Fulham are playing well and are a worry. We need to maintain our defensive capabilities, and with Ayling out for a couple of games, it may be time to play Taylor, Jansson, Capt Bartley and Beradi in front of Green. Wood is on International Duty again next weekend. He is one of our hardest working players and by far, he is the one who racks up the most air miles when it comes to “weekends off”.

Like it says at the top of the page, we need to give them nothing and take everything we can get in the run up to the end of the season.

Come on, let’s do this.

For those of you who never did O level Latin, viribus unitis means with united forces or with all ones might. Thanks to a bit of opportunistic photography at a half term stadium tour by a certain former Branch Secretary, this is what appears on the changing room walls at Leeds United.

Now you could be forgiven thinking that this has always been there, after all, we are Leeds United, but given it is emblazoned on a poster of our current team ( Wood, O Kane and Ayling), somehow I think not. Coincidentally, it was also the name of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s favourite Dreadnought Class battleship which was commissioned in 1911. Despite spurious attempts to link the Austro-Hungarian ruler to anyone in the current squad or management team, I can only conclude that this is mere coincidence.

So what is the relevance of this?

To me (and as usual PLEASE read The Disclaimer), this sums up where we are and what we are. United. Finally.

Today, pre match in the pub, there was a palpable air of uncertainty. For the first time in ages, it was brought up that we may be getting our 25% return on our season tickets, and it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Come on! Its not even March yet! There are still 12 games to go, that’s a quarter of a season, everything to play for. It’s not as if the teams above us are runaway leaders. As it stands right now, we are 9 points off 2nd place, 3 games basically. The only game this season where I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say that we were outplayed throughout the whole 90 minutes was QPR, the first game of the season. Oh yes, and Sutton, f***ing disgrace, yes I am still very annoyed…… But in the league, QPR,  7 months ago, when Garry with two Rs was just finding his feet, and yes, people were already calling for his head.

Look where we are now. Remember this?

https://www.leedsunited.com/news/team-news/56/2016-17-season-tickets-now-available

After the first few games, this was all people could talk about and the main discussion was how Mr Cellino was planning on getting out of paying this, as there was clearly no way we would ever achieve this and he would probably do a runner and leg it before he had to pay up anyway. There’s no point denying it, you all thought it, and yes, there are probably some who still think it now. Unfortunately if you follow the link, the watermarked poster boys are Lewis Cook and Alex Mowatt…oops!

So back to today. Everywhere you go (not just the Golden Lion pub), you hear how Cellino’s lack of spending in the transfer window has let us down. How we are never going to amount to anything with all these loan players. How we should have got Nugent or Fletcher and jumped at the chance of signing Rhodes. I am sick of hearing how much we need a proper striker and how much the midfield is lacking.

Today the team exemplified the word united. A sterling team effort by all. We do not play attractive football, but today, like we were doing in October and November, the result was ground out. Wood poked in his goal after his first controlling touch from a beautiful Beradi cross and even I couldn’t knock Green’s save from that “penalty”, which realistically was 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Beradi, who has been playing out of position since Charlie Taylor got injured, has been outstanding. He is clearly a right back, but he has slotted in so well, and unlike Sacko today, clearly can use his right and his left foot equally. O Kane, another unsung hero also put in an excellent shift. As for The Duke, when he has a good game, he does have a good game. I still think Bridcutt is playing too deep and gave the ball away a bit too much for my liking, but where the gaps appeared, someone came in to fill in, and again, Luke Ayling had another class effort in defence and going forward, apart from that poor clearance which he should have left, which led to the corner from which they got the penalty.

Come On Leeds!

ps thanks to former Branch Secretary for the photo