Leeds United Football Club

Leeds United History

2006-07 Season

24th, relegated from the Championship
League Cup: 3rd round: Southend United h. 1-3
FA Cup: 3rd round: West Bromwich Albion a. 1-3

Highlight:
3-2 win over Birmingham City, 23/9/06

Low Spot:
5-1 thrashing at Luton Town, 21/10/06

Good:
Eddie Lewis
Filled in at left back which didn't exactly solve the teams' defensive frailties but when operating in his proper left wing position Lewis showed the quality of his dribbling and crossing.
Jonathan Douglas
13 yellow cards were testament to his commitment to the cause. Kept running and tackling in adversity but needs to concentrate more on his end product if he is to make the most of his talent.

Bad:
Tresor Kandol
His signing from Barnet was one of the transfer windows' more surprising moves and the raw forward could do nothing to help his new sides' relegation fight. Might prove effective at a lower level but this was a chastening experience.
Tore Andre Flo
If you had told Dennis Wise that Flo would score a goal a game after his surprising move to Elland Road he would have been a happy chappy. If you had told him that Flo would only actually play one game, however, he would not have been so chuffed.
It was not his fault that he got injured but bad luck seems to follow him around.

In Brief:
After reaching the play off final the previous season nobody could have predicted the disastrous season that would follow at Elland Road.
It was quickly evident that there were problems both on and off the pitch and Kevin Blackwell's sacking, with the club already involved in a relegation battle, surprised nobody.
Ken Bates brought his adopted street urchin Dennis Wise from Swindon Town to be manager but the manic newcomer was unable to inspire a meaningful revival despite raiding the Premier League for a rash of loan signings.
Early performances had not just been poor, they had been demoralising, with goals leaking furiously and little semblance of any organisation whatsoever.
There was a spell of four straight defeats from the end of September that really set the tone for a season of stuggle and February was disastrous as only one point came from five matches.
The club managed to improve after that, especially at Elland Road, but when Ipswich Town scored a late equaliser in the penultimate game of the season the clubs' fate was sealed.
This led to an unsavoury pitch invasion and before the season was over the club entered itself into administration to incur the mandatory ten point penalty this season rather than next.
The ramifications of that decision rumble on with the Inland Revenue unwilling to accept the new owners' derisory and truly insulting offer to pay 1p in the pound on their millions of pounds worth of debts.
Oh yes, and the "new" owners are still headed by Bates. Lovely man, lovely club.

Leeds Utd - Club History Leeds United Football Club was formed in 1919 after the disbandment of the Leeds City club on the orders of the FA following allegations of illegal payments to players.

Although the new club joined the Midland League it was elected into Division Two of the Football League the very next season, 1920-21.

In 1924 Leeds United won the second division title to climb into Division One for the first time. The club failed to make much impression in the top flight but at least on the two occasions they were relegated they managed to return instantly in 1928 and 1932.

Leeds next suffered relegation immediately after World War II in 1947 and this time they had to wait longer for a return despite the presence in their line up of the legendary John Charles. Some judges believed that Charles was simultaneously the worlds' greatest centre half and centre forward.

It would be 1956 before Leeds could escape the second division as runners up behind Sheffield Wednesday but, with Charles leaving for Juventus, they returned to Division Two in 1960.

Leeds spent four seasons in the second division but when they returned to the top flight in 1964 the squad had been transformed by Don Revie from an ageing, faltering one into a young, vibrant outfit which was ready to form the basis of a side that would remain at the forefront of English football for over a decade.

Key players in this outstanding side were Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner, Paul Reaney, Norman Hunter, Johnny Giles and Paul Madeley.

It is fair to say that Leeds United were the top English side in the late 1960's and early 70's although they became noted as much for their near misses as for their triumphs.

This tendancy was emphasised immediately upon their return to the first division in 1964-65 when they missed out on the league championship on goal difference behind Manchester United as well as going down in the FA Cup final to Liverpool 2-1.

The following season Leeds were again runners up in the league, this time behind Liverpool, and they also made it through to the Fairs Cup semi finals before losing in a replay to Real Zaragosa.

In 1966-67 the club lost out to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi finals and made it to the final of the Fairs Cup only to miss out again, beaten 2-0 by Dynamo Zagreb.

1967-68 finally brought silverware. Leeds claimed the League Cup with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the final thanks to a goal by Terry Cooper and they also captured the Fairs Cup. They knocked out Spora Luxembourg, Partizan Belgrade, Hibernian, Glasgow Rangers and Dundee (unlucky Scotland) before winning the two legged final against Ferencvaros 1-0 with a Mick Jones goal.

The club did still suffer some disappointment after losing their FA Cup semi final with Everton 1-0.

1968-69 saw the club claim the prize they sought most, the league championship, finishing six points clear of Liverpool in second place.

It was back to the role of bridesmaid the following season, however, as they were runners up to Everton in the league and lost in the FA Cup final to Chelsea after a replay. There was massive disappointment in the European Cup also as they lost out in both legs of their semi final with Galsgow Celtic.

Leeds were again runners up in the league in 1970-71, this time to Arsenal, but they claimed another Fairs Cup after defeating Juventus on away goals in the final.

It was Derby County's turn to pip them to the league title in 1972 but they did have the consolation of lifting the FA Cup as Allan Clarke's diving header saw off Arsenal.

1973 saw the club suffer their most dramatic setback as they allowed second division Sunderland to snatch the FA Cup from under their noses at Wembley. Yet another opportunity went begging the same season as they lost to AC Milan 1-0 in the final of the Cup Winners Cup.

In 1973-74, however, Leeds stormed to an emphatic league championship, finishing five points clear of Liverpool.

This success saw the club again competing in the European Cup in 1975. Victories over Grasshoppers Zurich, Ujpest Dozsa, Anderlecht and Barcelona carried them to a final meeting with Bayern Munich in Paris.

This would prove to be the bitterest of all Leeds' disappointments. Bayern won by two goals to nil as a series of dreadful refereeing decisions went against the Yorkshire club, most notably the refusal of a cast iron penalty for a blatant foul on Clarke and the disallowal of what seemed a perfectly good goal by Peter Lorimer.

The game ended with Leeds fans rioting and the consequence of this was a ban from European football for the club. This punishment was one the club would struggle to recover from.

It became harder for Leeds to attract adequate replacements for their ageing stars and a gradual decline culminated in relegation to the second division in 1982.

In 1986-87 Leeds made it through to the FA Cup semi finals only to lose to Coventry City and they also made it into the play offs only to lose to Charlton Athletic in the final after a replay.

In 1990, however, the club finally returned to the top flight under the management of Howard Wilkinson. Two years later the club won the last ever Division One championship, pipping Manchester United in a frantic finale.

This side was built around the outstanding midfield quartet of Gordon Strachan, David Batty, Gary McAllister and Gary Speed.

There was disappointment in the following seasons' Champions League, however, as they were knocked out by Glasgow Rangers.

In 1996 Leeds reached the League Cup final only to lose heavily to Aston Villa, 3-0 at Wembley.

In 2000 the club made it through to the semi finals of the UEFA Cup only to lose out on aggregate to Galatasaray. The following year they made it through to the last four in the Champions League.

Leeds defeated 1860 Munich in the qualifying stage 3-1 on aggregate. In the first group stage they qualified as runners up behind AC Milan but ahead of Barcelona who had drubbed them 4-0 in the opening game. They progressed along with Real Madrid from the second group stage and defeated Deportivo La Coruna 3-2 on aggregate in the quarter finals. Valencia proved too strong in the semi finals, however, winning through 3-0 on aggregate.

Within a couple of seasons this bubble had burst with a vengeance as it became obvious that the heavy spending of David O'Leary, recklessly backed by the board, had left the club crippled with debt.

As players like Paul Robinson, Jonathan Woodgate, Rio Ferdinand, Olivier Dacourt, Lee Bowyer, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Alan Smith were all off loaded to reduce costs the club dropped into the Championship in 2004.

Last season was one of consolidation and the club will now be hoping to push back in the right direction under the chairmanship of Ken Bates.

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