Cardiff - 1st February - 24/25

February 2, 2025

Leeds United v Cardiff City

Saturday 1st February 2025 - Elland Road, Leeds

2024/25 Season


Well, the best laid plans didn’t work out today as my aim was to get to Leeds early enough to first go to the Holbeck Club and then to the Peacock. Despite all that, mum’s taxi rolled up at Elland Road at 2.15pm so everything went out of the window. Sorry I didn’t get to see some of our Irish Whites who I was hoping to see at the Peacock. I did see some others though outside the club shop although they weren’t planned. A big thank you to Nikki for passing on my complaint once again about the ladies’ toilets in the Kop via the Supporters Advisory Board. After 2½ years we have finally got a light changed in there! On the 19th minute there was a minute’s applause for young Daniel Grace who was sadly killed in a car crash last week. His family were here today as they are season ticket holders, and I hope they felt some comfort from the tribute he received.


Team:  Meslier, Ampadu, Rodon, Bogle, Firpo, James, Aaronson, Piroe, Solomon, Tanaka, Rothwell.

Subs: Byram for Bogle (66), Gnonto for James (66), Joseph for Aaronson (71), Ramazani for Solomon (71), Struijk for Tanaka (78).

Subs not used:  Darlow, Guilavogui, Gruev, Wöber.


Leeds won the game 7-0 with goals from Aaronson (6), Solomon (13), James (50), a brace for Piroe (65 penalty) (90+5), Joseph (88).


Attendance:   35,810, 1,214 Cardiff fans.

Referee:  Michael Salisbury.

Booked: None from Leeds.


It was another game where we started off on the upper foot with an early goal. Piroe sent a great pass to James and his speed meant he got to the ball before the keeper, rounded him and sent a short pass in to Aaronson to score in front of the south stand. What a great start again. It didn’t take long for us to get a second goal and James was involved in this move once again although from the opposite wing. His pace once again told once he received the ball from Piroe, and as he crossed the ball to the far post, Solomon was there to put the ball into the net to increase our lead. That was a great start, and the first half continued in the same vein with lots of Leeds possession and we were unlucky not get any more goals in this half when James saw his shot saved by the keeper. After both Firpo and Piroe saw their shots go narrowly wide, it was James once again that saw the keeper save his shot. The closer we got to half time, the harder it was becoming for me to keep enjoying the football as the fatigue I’d been feeling in the morning came back with a vengeance. I was wishing for the half time whistle to go and luckily there was only a minute of injury time so was relieved to see us go in 2-0 to the good. When I was asked if I was okay, I was told I looked shattered. As I didn’t have any energy to swing a cat as the saying goes, it was a true reflection of how I was feeling.


After being given some chocolate at half time, I started to come round and luckily for me this half brought a great performance from the team. Within five minutes of the restart James got his just reward for being involved in the first two goals by getting the third himself. Once again, his speed to getting to the far post after a great pass across the box from Firpo saw him in a perfect position to put the ball into the net. That was well deserved.  I’ve always maintained the best form of defence is attack, something I learned well watching the great Don Revie side. Today we were on fire and our attacking down the wings kept creating problems for Cardiff and when James was brought down in the area, Piroe stepped up to take the penalty making it 4-0. Any thoughts of not feeling well had disappeared by now as the chocolate and the goals had made a great impact luckily. James was replaced by Gnonto and immediately he picked the ball up on the left wing and ran towards goal before eventually hitting a low shot into the corner of the net to give us a 5th goal. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen so many goals in a game from us, but it was good to see. We hadn’t stopped by then though as things got even better! As my granddaughter wanted to go to her mum, we made our way down the stairs and someone on our row said, “You aren’t going are you as you’ll miss two more goals?” Well, I’d no intention of leaving but when Joseph put the ball into the net for our sixth, I couldn’t see a thing as I wasn’t on the stairs so had to be content watching the replay. When the fans started chanting for seven, I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to see a 7-0 score again at Elland Road. This time I was in the perfect position to see Piroe score his second goal of the game to give us that scoreline. I was going to say no one could have predicted that score but my daughter and friend had predicted this exact scoreline before the game kicked off.


On the whole it was total dominant performance from Leeds United for most of the game and although Meslier made a great save to keep them out, Cardiff were rarely in the game. Another win, three points and a clean sheet to keep us top of the league including a great boost to our goal difference.


I was privileged to have been here the last time we scored 7-0 at home to Southampton in 1972 when I saw a magnificent performance by my hero Billy Bremner and the rest of the greatest Leeds United team ever. They made me the loyal Leeds fan I am today.

With our rearranged game to Coventry mid-week before being back in FA Cup action next Saturday I am looking for favourable scores for both.




 See you then, 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!
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