Firstly, thanks need to go to Big Mark (Mark Byrne) for all his efforts sorting out the website in the early stages and in the last month or so. Regular readers may have noticed that the website had disappeared for  a few weeks in April. Unbeknowingly, we had forgot to do the necessaries regarding renewing the website etc. All sorted now though, thanks to Mark and the MPO.

May Update as follows:

Monthly Branch Meeting

Due to our failure to achieve play offs – let alone promotion, there was no monthly branch meeting in May.

Away Games

Our last away game at Norwich at the end of April was attended by a decent number of our usual travellers, despite our poor form. The rain did not dampen our spirits and I would personally like to thank everyone who contributed to the whip round. Our plans seemed to be thwarted initially, but the pub we ended up in was the much better option.

Memberships

Memberships will reopen soon. The branch would like to save on costs by emailing the renewal forms out, however, if you would like a renewal form in the post, please can you let The Secretary know in good time. Alternatively, renewal forms will be available at the AGM on Sunday July 8th. The membership fee remains at £7 for adults, free for over 65s and under 18s. New members, as always, are welcome but you must fill in a new membership form, sign it and provide us with two passport sized photographs for your LUSC ID card. When the forms are processed by The Membership Secretary, you will either receive your card through the post if you have given us a stamped addressed envelope, or your card can be retrieved at an away game or a monthly branch meeting.

A.O.B

LUSC Annual Quiz

The Annual LUSC quiz was held in the Eddie Gray Suite at Elland Road on Thursday April 19th. The branch was represented by just two teams this year. Deputy Yates’s team consisting of The Deputy, Dave Rowson, James Proctor and Ricky Greenwood. The Chairman, The Secretary, The MPO and Dave Poole made up the other team. The quiz was a hard fought affair, not involving us though. It was neck and neck between the Griffin branch (usual suspects) and the team from Leeds United. I have to point out that the team from Leeds United included James Mooney, the Leeds press officer Mr Owen (font of all Leeds United knowledge), Eunan O Kane, young Bailey Peacock Farrell, as well as Jamie from the ticket office and Fiona Hanley the SLO. 6 brains are better than 4! The branch came a very respectable 4th and 8th ( I think) . Well done to everyone and thanks to the LUSC exec for organising the event. The pork pies were excellent!

Branch BBQ

The inaugural branch BBQ was held on Saturday May 12th at The Londesborough Club. Our thanks go to The Deputy for volunteering to organise the event in the first place, Dave Poole and Callum Ashworth for their assistance, and Callum Ashworths stepmum for the delicious cake.  Thanks also to the LUSC exec for coming along and Fiona Hanley , Leeds United Supporters Liaison Officer. The pictures are available on the facebook page, however, they will be posted on the Gallery section here at some point in the summer. Once again, thanks to Tony Murray for giving his prize to young Jack Pedel, well done Steve “Wilko” Wilkinson for winning the killer pool tournament. Your trophy is still at The Londesborough Club, safe and sound. A mention has to go out to John (The Ringer) Farrell who beat everyone at ping pong – sorry- table tennis, before he finally fessed up to previously playing in a table tennis league of some sort. Probably not unlike the scenario in the film Balls Of Fury, albeit without Christopher Walken, a team of triad heavies and all the grasshopper jokes.

Branch AGM

The branch AGM will be held on Sunday July 8th at the Londesborough Club, Bower Road, Harrogate. Prospective members are welcome. Come along and find out what the branch is all about. Or at least meet some of the branch members in person. As per usual, any agenda items are welcome and any suggestions, resolutions, proposals etc. MUST be received in writing within 4 weeks of the date of the AGM. This means that if anyone wishes to submit any of the above, you have less than a week to send these requests in, in writing, to The Secretary.

March 2018 monthly branch meeting updates for those who don’t have an e mail address.

Monthly branch meeting

A minutes silence was held before the start of the meeting for long standing member Derek Yates. We all have very fond memories of Derek and his humour and his warm smile will be sadly missed by the branch. Despite the severe weather that day there was a good turn out for his service. Derek always said he would be late for his funeral and surely enough he was. The heavy snow meant the hearse got stuck on the hill and when the car took the family down to Crimple Hall, the car got stuck in the snow on the way out of the car park as well.

The Secretary confirmed that £100 from branch funds had been donated to the Eric Carlile Memorial Fund. The branch has some money in the kitty. This money can be used to help with branch events like the LUSC Annual Quiz, The Annual Dinner and any other events. Dave Poole brought up an idea for an end of season barbecue, details below.

Away Games

Currently taking bookings for Preston and Villa. Given that these games are now midweek thanks to SkyTVisf**kings**talloneword, this means that many branch members will either not be able to attend or not travel on the bus. The branch will still be running buses to these fixtures. Preston is generally a large allocation, Villa is not and hopefully will be on the loyalty tracker. Please book on via the usual channels if you have not done so already. Andy Yates is sorting a minibus to Fulham for people not going on the train, I think the trip is full.

Memberships

The Membership Secretary was MIA as per usual, but has been spotted in Harrogate this week and last.

A.O.B

Branch Barbeque on the afternoon of Saturday May 12th at the Londesborough Club. Branch members all welcome to celebrate the end of the season with a stiff drink or two.

LUSC Annual Quiz is Thursday April 19th 7.00 for prompt 8.00pm start. Pie and peas supper. The branch will pay for the entrance fee and also drinks. The branch will also look to arranging transport for anyone coming over from Harrogate and taxis contributions for those coming from other parts of the district. We had three teams last year and although we didn’t win any trophies, it was a good evening out and we did well considering how hard the questions were. May need to brush up on those squad numbers before the day before the quiz though.

Monthly Branch Meeting

Meeting was held on February 4th 2018 at the Londesborough Club. There was much discussion regarding Eric Carlile, which will be covered in AOB. There was also discussion regarding the (failed) launch of the new badge and badgers. There was no discussion regarding the new manager, as it wasn’t until after the meeting that Thomas Christiansen was sacked. We would like to point out that his sacking was nothing to do with us.

Away Games

The bus for T’Blades is currently full with a waiting list. We are still taking bookings for Derby on Weds 20th for anyone wanting a nice afternoon out. The branch will be running a bus to the Boro game on the Friday, ticket details have yet to be released by Leeds United.

Memberships

The Membership Secretary was last seen out at the funeral of Guy Bernard.

A.O.B

The Eric Carlile Memorial Fund

The LUSC have agreed to start the Eric Carlile Memorial Fund. There was much discussion regarding how this fund should be used, whether it be on a trophy to be awarded at the LUSC Annual Dinner or some other award. The branch have suggested a memorial plaque at Elland Road, but this needs to be agreed at the LUSC exec meeting and there needs to be discussion with Leeds United to see if this is possible in the first instance. The branch has agreed to donate £100 of branch funds towards this and any other personal contributions will be most welcome.

R2 Football Special Buses

Dave Poole reported that the shuttle bus service after the home games has improved immensely. Dave first raised this issue two home games ago when the queue in the compound to get back into Leeds post match was horrendous. Glen had also previously raised this issue as well. This was taken to the LUSC exec meeting in January and a reply was received from Fiona Hanley (Supporters Liaison Officer) in the form of an email from First Buses saying that they (First Buses) thought the service was fine and would only change it if the police advised them or if we got promoted. The MPO sent Fiona an email and also raised it as an issue for the next Supporters Advisory Board (SAB) meeting, which was due to be held at the Cardiff game. The SAB meeting did not happen, due to badges/badgers/change.org however, it seems that the message did get through and since then the R2 Football special bus service has improved. The MPO would like to point out that Dave Poole has now had his TV fixed in the North East Corner and his bus service sorted, so given the 3 times a charm rule, his next request should be automatic promotion and a Champions League place.

This is possibly one of the hardest things I will ever have to write, but it is impossible for the branch not to pay tribute to this fine gentleman. I hope these few words will do him justice. There have already been many tributes to this true Leeds United legend, with many more undoubtedly to come in the next few days. I thought the radio interview with Adam Pope on Radio Leeds with LUSC Co Chair Phil Beeton and friend Dave Gaertner was brilliant. It just shows the high regard that BBC Radio Leeds held for Eric, and acknowledges how important Eric was to Leeds United. Thank you Adam Pope. The photo below is the last one I took of him at the LUSC Annual Dinner last year, where he was more popular than most of the guests that had been invited, such was the respect that he commanded.

Eric Carlile was the loyalest Leeds United fan I have ever met in my entire life.

It was a honour to meet him and a priviledge to call him my friend.

He was one of the most unassuming, friendly, amenable, affable and down to earth people you could ever meet. He worked relentlessly on behalf of his fellow Leeds United fans, to make sure that we could follow our beloved club, at least until the world stops going round.

He would literally bend over backwards for any fellow Leeds fan who wanted to see a game. He was happy to have a constant stream of people at his flat picking up away tickets in the good old days when the Club respected the efforts of the LUSC. In the days of landline phones attached to the wall and relying on Royal Mail, if you desperately wanted a Leeds United ticket, Eric was The Man Who Can. He managed to maintain contacts with our famous world wide fan base (mostly by hand written letters), and was instrumental in helping Leeds United fans truly unite in all four corners of the globe.

Even when he gave up his post as LUSC Secretary, he was still a veritable feast of knowledge and would happily spend time reminiscing about the old days and commenting on the new. He was a sharp as tack and could remember virtually every game he saw and every manager, Chairman and branch secretary that he had ever met. He never had a bad word to say about anybody, even when I tried to draw him over our old Ex Owner Ken, and that takes some doing. I also had some fine conversations with him about Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

He will probably be up there now, with The Don and Billy, propping up the bar with a crafty cig and a pint in one hand and dropping his walking stick on the floor with the other, wondering what the fuss is all about.

Words fail me!

After what could have been the greatest come back of the new millenium, TC thought it fit to sit back with 10 men playing against 11 thugs. After that rousing team talk at half time, we must have been playing so well, that he must have thought we still had 11 men on the pitch! Pre game everyone was whining about Lassogga and Roofe being rubbish, and even after the game people were still whining, despite three goals between them and, as I said, being down to 10 men.

The long and short of it was that TC made the wrong decisions. When Cooper got sent off, we should have instantly replaced him with another defender, we may only have gone in one goal down. But leaving Pontus, Beradi and the new guy on their own ( given the new guy, De Bock hadn’t played properly in the first team yet) was like going to a gun fight with a water pistol. Only ever going to end in tears. Apparently Millwall had said they were going to kick us out of the game. No change there then for the EFL Family Club of The Year. So just what TC was expecting was anyone’s guess.

After losing Cooper, who if I say it once, I will say it a million times, is just NOT Captain material ( bring back Bartley) for that rash challenge, it looked like game over. He was having an absolute nightmare before he went off anyway, and frankly we actually played better without him. The Secretary informs me that this will be a four match ban as this is his second red of the season, unless Leeds United try to overturn the decision, of course. It has been pointed out that if we appeal and it still stands, the ban may increase to 5 games, lucky us!

For Lassogga and Roofe to do what they did, was pretty darned good! They answered their critics, and I may be wrong, but had the crowd not been on their backs from the off, Lassogga may have had a couple more. When we hit back at Millwall they were rubbish. All we had to do was keep running at them, their defence wasn’t up to much. All our midfield had to do was hold the ball up to give time for Lassogga, Roofe and a.n other to get into space. As it transpired, all they succeeded in doing was hacking the ball out or giving it away whilst trying to pass it back to Felix. Credit where credit is due, Felix had a good game too. He pulled off some brilliant saves and he couldn’t be blamed for Millwall’s last deflected goal.

So 10th it is, bring on the cod heads!

According to the internet, seeing as the team don’t have an FA Cup game next week ( hmmmm), they are going for some warm weather training. Great preparation for coming back to a league game on Tuesday night in Hull in January! Who thinks these things up? They would be better off going to Greenland to gear themselves up for a trip to the East Coast. Since when was it ever warm in Hull? This City of Culture gubbings is clearly completely misleading some people. Off to sunny Spain, fantastic to get rewarded for losing to lower league opposition and three red cards in a month. I wonder where they would have gone if we had won? Oh wait, if we had won, it would have been a money spinning tie at home to Spurs instead and FA Cup glory. Easy choice then.

Branch Meeting

Meeting was held on Sunday January 14th. There was a minutes silence in honour of our friend and the most loyalest Leeds United fan I have ever met in my entire life, Mr Eric Carlile.

Away Games

We are currently taking bookings for Hull on Tuesday Jan 30th 7.45pm kick off and T’Blades on Saturday 10th February 12.30pm kick off.

Memberships

The Membership Secretary was last seen in The Blues Bar with ex Secretary Rowson and Mr Reaveley.

A.O.B

The raffle draw was (finally) done for the Eddie Gray signed memorabilia. The branch have also been given a framed Leeds United shield autographed by Eddie Gray.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS!

Apologies for the absence for the last few months. Ill health and all of that. Let’s hope 2018 is a better year for us all, on and off the pitch.

Monthly branch meeting

The first branch meeting of the year will be held on Sunday 14th January 2018. This is due to the fact that we are (properly) playing Newport away in the FA Cup, as opposed to just pretending to play them in away in the League Cup last year at Elland Road. What are the chances of getting the same team drawn in both cups in one season? So, only for the second time in quite a few years, the meeting has been moved. The branch meeting in December was unfortunately cancelled due to ill health of both The Secretary and The MPO. The much delayed draw for the Eddie Gray memorabilia will be done on Sunday 14th January.

Away games

The branch is not running a coach to the Newport game due to the lack of tickets acquired as the ground is tiny. Deputy Yates is running a minibus, please contact Mr Yates directly for info.

The branch is running a bus to Ipswich, there is currently a very limited number of seats left for members. If these seats are not taken up by branch members by the end of the week, these will be opened up to non members ( of which we have a wait list).

The next away game could be Hull or the 4th round of the FA Cup depending on what team is put out by TC on Sunday. I am seriously hoping that TC and Mr Radrizzani are sticking by their words that they will put out a team to win every game. They said this at the start of the season as part of the new era at Leeds United. At the time, I quoted the words of Billy, side before self, and reiterated how dedicated our great side were in the days where it wasn’t unheard of to play 4 games in 7 days. In the good old days of the replays, The Secretary says you could be playing a replay on the Tuesday and if you needed another replay, you could be playing on the Thursday. None of this penalty shoot out rubbish! You played until you properly won a game! Fixture congestion? My rear end! You played for the love of the  game and the pride of the shirt.

Memberships

The Membership Secretary has been out on manouvres since his misfortune. It doesn’t mean he will show up at the next branch meeting, but the branch is pleased to know he is functioning in some way, shape or form. There will be an update on memberships imminently.

A.O.B

We will ask Brian and Trish how much money was raised for the British Heart Foundation event before Christmas.

Mick Husband is somewhere in the Pacific on Dare to Lead in the Clipper Race For Life. Look out for his photo in the programme soon.

The MPO has some ideas for the LUSC Centenary and if anyone else has any ideas, please can they get in touch?

The latest edition of the blog will be coming soon.

The branch has bought a stone on the Bremner Square, albeit smaller than the one planned, but the larger sizes sold out pretty quickly.