Burnley - 14th September - 24/25

September 15, 2024

Leeds United v Burnley

Saturday 14th September 2024 - Elland Road, Leeds

2024/25 Season


After the international break last week, my granddaughter and I headed to Elland Road for the lunchtime kick off. It took me a while to get going this morning as once again all the recent stresses caught up with me. My baby granddaughter came out of hospital for the third time last Saturday, but the Paediatricians informed her mum at the start of the week that she may have to go back in for further IV antibiotics. After more worries we found out that her latest samples were clear, but she may get ill again so we remain vigilant. In the meantime, in the middle of my middle daughter moving house on Wednesday, I came back home for a meeting at dinnertime which ended with another hospital visit and then admittance for my husband. He came back out of hospital yesterday after IV antibiotics and we are hoping the oral ones will clear his infection. It never rains but it pours.


We headed to Holbeck Working Men’s club before the game, and it was great to catch up with some friends from Wrexham who I haven’t seen for approx. 25 years.  As usual you catch up where you left off and I will have to share the photos from our trip to Wrexham to see Wales v Scotland in 1977 later. Friends for life though and one of the most important things of being a Leeds United fan, is the fantastic camaraderie from our worldwide fan base who get you through the tough times. Once again, thanks for all the support, hugs and kind words today as they mean a lot to me. With talking so much it meant we had to get a lift to the ground with the Shropshire Whites otherwise we may have missed kick off. Thanks for making me an honorary member for the day!


If anyone missed my appearance on the Clough Revie, The Damned Interview documentary by Chris Dawkes on ITV on Thursday, the link can be found here: https://www.itv.com/.../clough-vs-revie-50.../4x9f51x...


Going through the turnstile, I suddenly realised that it kept turning. I managed to scan the tickets (well I think I did) as it had clicked into place before the same thing happened again. After the club saying that you need to attend 80% of the games this season, this was very concerning as I couldn’t be sure that our tickets had been activated. Something I will pass on to my contact to take back to the club for their response. After catching up with my sister and friends we headed over to the opposite side of the Kop in readiness for the players coming out onto the pitch. After a minute’s applause for Sol Bamba (there will also be tributes at Cardiff next week), this was followed on six minutes for our young fan Bob as both died recently. Bob was a mascot at the start of the season, and it certainly brought a lump to the throat with the whole stadium joining in as well as both the teams stopping play.


Team: Meslier, Ampadu, Struijk, Rodon, Gnonto, Joseph, Gruev, Solomon, Firpo, Bogle, Aaronson

Subs: Rothwell for Ampadu (68), Piroe for Aaronson, (68), Byram for Firpo (78), Ramazani for Solomon (78), Tanaka for Rodon (87).

Subs not used: Darlow, Gelhardt, Schmidt, Debayo


Leeds lost the game 1-0


Attendance: 36,405, approx. 2,900 Burnley fans


Referee: James Bell

Booked: Firpo, Gnonto, Ampadu

Sent off: Humphreys (Burnley)


The game started with Leeds attacking the Kop in the first half having been turned around by Burnley. Leeds started off well with Joseph through on goal, but his shot went wide. Burnley took the lead against the run of play as Leeds lost the ball from an attacking position when Solomon slipped. The Burnley player ran the length of the pitch before putting the ball into the net as we had no answers. I always wondered why it is only our players that slip on wet pitches but also, why do we even wet them so much before the game starts? The atmosphere which had been good until then died a death for a while as the stuffing was knocked out of much of our support. We do need to get back to how we did it in the 80s, if the opposition scored, we were all there immediately chanting for Leeds. Honestly, it does make a difference. Gnonto had a shot saved by their keeper but with another chance not long before the break, Solomon was brought down in the penalty area. Not surprisingly, the linesman to our left had flagged continuously for us being offside yes neither him nor the referee saw the foul. With fans around us screaming for the penalty, it was proved by replays later that they were right. Sadly, for us, it was never given as we went in one down at the break.


The second half saw Leeds come out on the attack with Joseph seeing his shot saved by the keeper. Ampadu saw his great shot put over the bar by their keeper. With Burnley using professional fouls and time wasting, they started getting more bookings from the referee although in the first half it was us who got the first booking. Rodon got lengthy treatment alongside the Burnley player Brownhill after a clash of heads which left them both with bandaged heads. Rodon was subbed not long afterwards. We never looked like scoring to be honest and it felt like we had no one on the bench who could come on and take the game by the scruff of the neck. I do feel a draw would have been a fair result as Burnley made it hard for us to get through their defence, but we ended up with our first defeat of the season. The international break curse strikes again. It wasn’t to be, but we need to regroup as we head to Cardiff next week. Somehow, although I thought one of their players got a second booking which was the case, I failed to see their player sent off!!!


As the players applauded the crowd at the end, when Farke arrived there was a lot of loud booing on the Kop. It surprised me as I wasn’t sure if the booing was for him although, I know frustrations had already spilled over to some of the crowd during the second half. When Byram passed back to Meslier when we had been attacking, I had some sympathy for him as there was no one making room for him to pass to. My worries going forward after our sales was having a strong squad depth and whilst we have the personnel, that spark was missing once we went a goal behind. With decisions not going our way either, it was one of those days.


See you at Cardiff, LUFC – Marching on Together!

Promotion Party- 21st April - 24/25

April 22, 2025
Promotion Party! Monday 21st April 2025 - Elland Road 2024/25 Season At the end of the game, we went back to the Holbeck Working Men’s Club before heading back down to Elland Road to celebrate our promotion as Burnley were winning Sheffield United. Great scenes as we celebrated with the team and other fans although the flares let off stunk to high heaven. A nice gesture was my granddaughter being given a Leeds scarf to cover her face when the smoke was overpowering. The smoke lingered in my throat long into the night too. It was also very humbling to be told that I am an inspiration which were amongst some of the lovely words said to me by our fans today. With the hugs and thoughts about my late husband, I couldn’t ask for more support from so many of you which is why Leeds United supporters are second to none. Thank goodness we don’t have to go into the play offs as thousands of Leeds fans cancelled their hotel bookings including my daughter. To be able to go into the last two games knowing we are already up with no pressure on is immense. Saying that, I want to go up as Champions as we were robbed of celebrating properly last time due to covid. I had a film crew with me that night and now we’ve had a good result, I will be heading to Elland Road for 6pm tomorrow for an interview with ITV.  I’d like to dedicate this promotion to all those Leeds fans who have died this season and are unable to celebrate this with us including my husband Phillip/Captain, Halifax White. To everyone else, enjoy your celebrations as United Are back again, and we are promoted back to the Premier League. LUFC – Marching on Together!

Stoke City- 21st April - 24/25

April 22, 2025
Leeds United V Stoke City Monday 21st April 2025 - Elland Road 2024/25 Season I’d woke up at 3am and found I couldn’t sleep for hours. My mind had started racing thinking of all the permutations of what could happen at the game today. We could actually be promoted if things went our way and the excitement rising in me meant I’d gone into overdrive, which all contributed to the sleeplessness. Speaking to others at the game, I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. The worst thing was dropping asleep for an hour before getting up then feeling like I’d been hit by a bus and all my enthusiasm had waned so what would be, would be. Before heading to Elland Road, we went for our traditional bank holiday visit to Selby market and to get a Doubtfire’s ice cream. Leeds fans were out in force which was good to see. One a stall holder shouted to a Sheffield United fan who “wasn’t impressed” to see me, a Leeds United fan. There again we had a conversation, and he told me that we would win 4 or 5 nil today which I said I’d take. Never in a million years would we have expected to be 5-0 up at half time especially after being turned around at kick off. Team: Darlow, Ampadu, Rodon, Bogle, Firpo, Gnonto, Aaronson, Solomon, Piroe, Gruev, Tanaka. Subs: Ramazani for Gnonto (66), Bamford for Piroe (66), Byram for Firpo (77), Schmidt for Bogle (77), Harry Gray aged 16 making his first team debut for Aaronson (86). Subs not used: Meslier, Joseph, Guilavogui, Wöber. Leeds won the game 6-0 with Piroe getting four (6, 8, 20, 41), Firpo (26) and Gnonto (59). Attendance: 36,644, with approximately 1,900 Stoke fans. Referee: Darren Bond. Booked: Ampadu. Turning us round at the start of the game didn’t have the effect that Stoke thought there’d be. Leeds were on fire as Gnonto then Solomon with Piroe hitting the final ball into the net saw us take an early lead. Within two minutes we had doubled our lead when Bogle carried on running past the Stoke player taking the ball with him passed into the box for Piroe to score a second goal. Piroe then completed his hat trick after Tanaka sent a great ball into the box for Gnonto. He hit his shot at the second attempt which brought a save out of their keeper then Piroe came in at the far post and scored from a narrow angle. Wow, unbelievable scenes at Elland Road as the fans erupted hardly believing our eyes. We hadn’t finished yet as Bogle once again getting involved, got round their man in the penalty area and his pass saw Firpo hit a fourth into the net. Gnonto saw another shot saved by the keeper before Bogle once again saw his shot bounce back off the upright and Piroe hit the rebound into the net. It looked like a Stoke player and Aaronson tried getting a toe onto the ball, but it looks like Piroe was given the goal. It felt very surreal going into the break 5-0 up. Stoke had their first shot on goal but straight at Darlow just before the whistle blew. The second half saw Stoke bring on three subs and although we took a little while to settle, a fantastic cross by Solomon saw Gnonto head the ball into the net for a sixth goal on the day. There was no coming back for Stoke from the score then as we started to believe we were going up. They did have another shot on target on the 80th minute but in reality it was one way traffic for most of the game which was great for us fans too.  It was lovely to see the Gray family dynasty carry on when Harry Gray younger brother of Archie, came on as a sub at 16 years of age. A special moment especially for Eddie Gray who was extremely proud and full of emotion on seeing him come on to the pitch. LUFC – Marching on Together!

Oxford- 18th April - 24/25

April 19, 2025
Oxford United V Leeds United Friday 18th April 2025 - The Kassam Stadium 2024/25 Season After a couple of bad days, I’d felt more upbeat on my way to Elland Road when a lorry with a lest we forget cab, passed me with a big Leeds United badge on the side. I automatically gave it the Leeds salute as I go onto autopilot when I see other Leeds fans. Listening to music helped me so in my reel I said I wanted Leeds to go and enjoy the football, forget about our target of automatic promotion but to keep fighting. My thoughts were that it would take the pressure off us. After other results didn’t help again (not that I expected any to), winning the game had to be a priority. At our pub stop it was nice to talk to some Oxford fans who still wished us good luck despite wanting their team to win, as they’d be fighting for the points as they were near the relegation zone. The last time we’d come to this ground was for a pre-season friendly, but I couldn’t remember when but was reminded that it was for Bielsa’s first game. It’s still unique with only three stands in place but it gave some Leeds fans the chance to watch from the car park and others in the distant trees. This was another ground where we were treated well as far as I was concerned. The only issue was getting soaked before the game when I switched the tap on in the ladies sink only for a torrent of water to overflow everywhere. I wasn’t the only one to find that out the hard way. Team: Darlow, Ampadu, Rodon, Bogle, Solomon, Gnonto, Gruev, Tanaka, Aaronson, Firpo, Piroe. Subs: Bamford for Piroe (75), James for Gnonto (75), Schmidt for Solomon (87), Guilavogui for Aaronson (90). Subs not used: Meslier, Joseph, Byram, Ramazani, Wöber. Leeds won the game 1-0 with the goal scored by Solomon (32). Attendance: 11,537, 1,434 Leeds fans. Referee: Dean Whitestone. Booked: Gruev, Bogle. I knew it wouldn’t be an easy game which turned out to be the case and very tense for us Leeds fans. Oxford were the first on the attack which saw Darlow make a good save before their keeper was called into action to save a shot from Aaronson. Oxford were having plenty of possession, looking quite dangerous at times. Instead of the flying Leeds fan at an Oxford game in the past, it was a flying Leeds player when Tanaka was pushed in the back. After soaking up the pressure, Leeds took the lead when Rodon sent an excellent ball for Bogle to run onto who sent a great pass across the box for Solomon to race in and put the ball into the net. That was a welcome relief to take the lead and meant we were in control then as we went into the break. The second half still saw Oxford with a lot of possession, and we had to be really patient in our build ups (not that us fans were), but we did manage some good play down the wing. We started attacking more as Farke was looking to bring our first subs on and a Firpo shot went over the bar but was not that far away. Darlow threw a long ball out to Solomon on the wing, and he would have been away bearing down on goal only for the game to be stopped for a foul. Tanaka was so unlucky not to score as his long shot hit the bottom of the post and bounced away sadly not near a Leeds player. From a free kick their keeper was able to make the save from Gruev easily. Oxford tried getting back into the game, but we were standing firm in defence and there were plenty of sighs of relief that we were one step closer to automatic promotion when the final whistle blew. It is still all to play for, and Monday will have a big bearing on the outcome of the table positions, as Burnley and Sheffield United play each other after our game has finished. Keeping us in pole position will be vital and put even more pressure on those two. As long as the challengers implode and not us, I’d be happy. I’d have no problem us all going up to have local derby games, but we have to go up automatically whereas one of them can go up via the playoffs I’ve tried for exchange tickets for Monday without success so it will be just the three of us with season tickets being at the game. I’m looking forward to a bouncing Elland Road, but we must get behind the team for the full 90 minutes. On the way home, I had a few tears as my husband won’t be there to share the chance of Leeds going up. We first met at a pre-season friendly in Molenbeek in 1977 so go back a long way. There are many more Leeds fans who won’t be there to share this with us either so the emotions and nostalgia will be hitting many of us if we succeed. See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together!
Show More