..we learn to live again.
It’s times like these that being a Leeds fan has it’s ups, downs and all arounds!
It was with bated breath that we watched Alan McInally stick his hand in that pot that night. I was desperately hoping that he would draw Ball 3 out, desperate for that precious home draw which just might, yes, just might give us a semi-final that we deserve. However, it was just not to be, and of all the teams we could have picked to be away at, Liverpool was our reward. The first away team to be drawn out in fact. I suppose it put me out of my usual misery of waiting until the end at least, and it could have been a lot worse. It could have been West Ham away or Southampton away. The tie is win-able, Liverpool have much more to lose should they be defeated by a Championship side. We, on the other hand, have nothing to lose and everything to gain. To some, actually most of the team, this will be the first time they have been to Anfield as a player. We will be going in to that game having been unbeaten at home in 7 games, having qualified despite going down to 10 men and on penalties and, and this is a big factor, we will fill the end that they give us. To press, the allocation is 5,300, which is probably only what the Police will allow them to give us anyway. There has been talk that they gave Carlisle 10,000 once in a cup game, but realistically, Liverpool do not need the gate receipts from us and we wouldn’t want a crime wave on Merseyside during the game, would we?
We had the small matter of Burton at home last weekend. After the excitement of the Cup, we came down to earth with a bang against the newly promoted Brewers. It was a hard fought first half and the second looked like we were going to hold out for a perfectly acceptable draw, given the midweek heroics. Roofe still hasn’t perfected his finishing skills and Wood is doomed to be fouled continuously without ever getting a free kick, for the rest of the season. However, just when it seemed like we were running out of ideas, on came The Duke. What a difference a Duke makes! There was some good link up play in the midfield, resulting in a beautifully weighted pass to The Duke from Pablo. At the time, I didn’t think it was a penalty, it looked to me like he had tripped over his own feet, but nevertheless, the power that Chris Wood put in that penalty, summed up what we have finally – a team. From Mowatt hurling himself to block those two shots, to prevent the equaliser, to Wood just managing to draw players away, giving The Duke the space to run down the middle, to The Duke, just not giving up until that ball went in. I thought Ayling had a cracker of a game as well, whilst Jansson gets the plaudits, Ayling and Captain Bartley just quietly get on with it. Garry and his coaching team are proving that Leeds United can be united. It’s still only the start of November, but if we carry on like this, we will be unstoppable. It looks like the Newcastle home game will be a sell out, yes there will be Newcastle fans not in the away end, but realistically, we would only reciprocate anyway when we go up there. It will be nice to have a full crowd again at Elland Road, it’s just a shame it may only be for one game. But who knows? I am all for getting more fans to come back to us. It is a refreshing change that football is being discussed rather than the off field antics between certain fan groups.
One major problem of the increase in popularity, however, is the effect on ticket supply and demand. This has already reared it’s ugly head on social media, with the Club condemned by all sections of fans. The fact is that Leeds United are in a no win situation, the saying is you can’t please all of the people, all of the time. The truth is Leeds United cannot please anyone, at any time at all, full stop.
This branch has always tried to get enough tickets in order to be able to run a bus to as many away games as possible. In the old days, when the LUSC were still recognised for being the best way to run the away support, tickets were never much of an issue. Eric Carlile just sorted branches out with as many tickets as was needed. Then, Sad Santa came along, and basically told us it was his way or no way. The rest is history, now we need to start a different chapter, but we can’t go back as too many bridges have been burned, we need to go forward. In order to do that, there needs to be a starting place. At the moment, this starting place is what Leeds call the “loyalty tracker system”.
For me, and some (if not most ) other branches, this is a good idea. It ensures that those who travel regularly to away games, from season to season, get tickets whether they are a season ticket holder or gold member. Their loyalty is built up over the season by attending as many away games as possible, and then at the start of the next season, should the allocation be low, these people still get a ticket. I know the only way to absolutely ensure you get an away ticket is to buy an away season ticket, but it is a lot of money on top of your season ticket, to splash out on up front. Not everyone is as lucky as some to have that facility. Equally, not everyone can afford to splash the cash on a season ticket. Therefore a gold membership is the only option, and a large amount of perseverance, patience and luck.
Supporting Leeds United takes time and money. In fact, it takes up most of your life, and by default therefore, your family, friends, pets, relationships, work and holidays are all affected by football. They should be paying us for all our dedication, but unfortunately, we are the ones shelling out. The Liverpool ticket allocation is clearly not sufficient for our needs. I can see the argument that those who can’t afford to go often, would want to go to this game. I can also see the argument that if you were one of the paltry 8,500 who turned up for the Blackburn game, you should get the priority for your loyalty. But there simply isn’t the volume of tickets available to do that. So, the Club have decided to go with rewarding the people who have attended the most away games so far, as the majority of those people probably do have season tickets and probably did turn up to the earlier rounds.
Heaven knows what will happen should we get through to the semis!
