Dawn til dusk in Leeds on the day of their spectacular Premier League return (2024)

At long, long last, a new dawn. For the first time in 16 painful years, the city of Leeds wakes up to the prospect of Premier League football. The message is writ large on the front page of the Yorkshire Evening Post. “Our time,” it says. “Leeds United— a sleeping giant no more.”

Looking down from the top of Beeston Hill, the skyline is dominated by Elland Road and its towering East Stand. It strengthens the view of a fortress, home to a giant that has finally been roused from its slumber. “Dormant for 16 years,” that front-page editorial says. “But not forever.”

The plan was to get a photograph of the stadium bathed in the first rays of morning sunshine, but it doesn’t work out because this is one of those West Yorkshire days when the sun doesn’t announce itself until much later. Perhaps wary of upstaging Leeds on their big day, it hides behind the clouds. But still, even under grey skies, Elland Road looks magnificent from up here.

Following the path down, through the overgrowth, past the junior football pitch to the right and the houses to the left, across the road, the first thing that greets you is Billy. The statue of the late Billy Bremner, Leeds’ brilliant, tough-tackling, flame-haired captain during their glory years from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, has stood there for 21 years. On the plinth is Bremner’s mantra, “Side before self, every time”.

His triumphant pose, arms aloft, grinning from ear to ear, has often served as a sharp contrast with a club in hard times or indeed a state of what sometimes felt like a perpetual crisis. Not today. Every Leeds fan wakes up feeling like Billy, ready to tackle anything.

Bremner Square consists of thousands of granite tiles, most of them bearing the names of fans who have paid for the privilege. Among them are tributes to 13 other club legends — ranging from John Charles, their “Gentle Giant” of the 1950s, to David Batty, their tenacious midfielder of the 1990s. It is striking that two of them, Norman Hunter and Jack Charlton, have died since Leeds last played in front of a crowd here on March 7. So has Trevor Cherry, another much-loved former captain. All of them would have loved to have seen Leeds back in the big time.

The East Stand was once the largest cantilever stand in the world, a statement of Leeds’ ambition in the early 1990s. Even now, draped in a banner advertising a logistics company, it is an impressive structure, but so much else around Elland Road looks tired and in desperate need of renovation after years of vague, unfulfilled plans under successive owners. For those away fans who will — eventually — visit for the first time since 2004, it will feel like stepping into the 20th century, even if the decade might be hard to pinpoint.

History confronts you at every turn, with a timeline stretching the length of the South Stand and another on Lowfields Road, which commemorates the club’s centenary last year. Both exhibits underline just how much Leeds owe to the great Don Revie, who led them from the second tier in 1964 and made them such a powerful force over the next decade, winning two league titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups and missing out narrowly — at times, harshly — on further successes.

Beyond that, there was a spectacular and unexpected league success under Howard Wilkinson in 1992 and, in terms of meaningful trophies, that’s the lot, though there was also a European Cup final defeat under Jimmy Armfield in 1975, in highly controversial circ*mstances, and semi-final defeat in 2001.

Tellingly, the timeline at the back of the South Stand mentions the phrase “turbulent period” not just once but twice. It only takes you as far as a decade ago, when “after a turbulent period in its history, where the club is relegated twice, a famous FA Cup win at Old Trafford in 2010 marks the turning of the tide and precedes a dramatic final day of the season at Elland Road, where the team defies the odds to climb back into the Championship”.

Few would have imagined back then that it would take another decade — so much turmoil at boardroom level, so many managerial changes, so much mediocrity — for Leeds to return to the Premier League. Finally, under the studious ownership of Andrea Radrizzani and the eccentric, inspirational and highly astute management of Marcelo Bielsa, they secured promotion back to the top flight on July 17.

There is another sense in which Elland Road feels like it has been frozen in time. There is a billboard advertising a charity match between Leeds and Bayern Munich legends nearly six months ago, which didn’t take place. The West Stand ticket office still has a sign in the window saying it will close at 5pm on Monday, March 23, 2020, until further notice. The persistent regret surrounding Leeds’ promotion is that, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fans were not allowed in to witness the final stages of the journey last season and that life back in the Premier League, starting away to Liverpool at Anfield, also begins behind closed doors.

Excitement is still in the air, though. Another billboard, advertising the new kit, declares, “A new journey begins. Tomorrow is ours. Keep the faith”.

If they have kept the faith through the turmoil of the past 16 years, they can certainly do so while being kept at a distance, however much that hurts.

“Two thousand, two hundred and seventy-consecutive games,” says Phil Beeton, who was named supporter of the year at the Football League Awards in 2014. “I must stress that that’s league games. I did miss a couple of FA Cup ties in that period, but in terms of league games, it was 2,278, dating back to March 1967. And that came to an abrupt end with COVID.

“Getting promoted was great, fantastic. I was so happy. But it hurt, missing the games. It has been my life for a long, long time. I’ve been supporting Leeds for 62 years since I was five years old. It’s the usual thing. Your father takes you and you either rebel against it or it stays in your bloodstream for the rest of your life. That first game after lockdown, away to Cardiff, it hurt not being there. It’s something I’ve always looked forward to after a long hard week. It’s not just the match. It’s the whole day out, the camaraderie with people you’ve been going with for years. There are people I’ve not seen since March.

“It will hurt again, missing this game at Anfield. But I’m one of the lucky ones because I’ve been to Anfield and all these places so many times before. The ones I feel sorry for are the younger ones who have been looking forward to this for 16 years, looking forward to playing the top clubs again. That’s what we’ve been spent a generation striving for.”

Beeton remembers Leeds returning to the top flight after an eight-year absence in 1990, also visiting Merseyside on the opening day of the campaign. “That was Everton, wasn’t it?” he says. “We were 2-0 up at half-time and I remember Neville Southall (the Everton goalkeeper) spending half-time sitting on his own in the goalmouth. And we won the title two years after that.”

Josh Warrington, the IBF featherweight boxing champion, was born in Leeds in 1990. “I was just getting to the stage of really feeling and understanding what it is to be a fan when we were relegated in 2004,” he tells The Athletic. “I was absolutely gutted. I remember asking my old fella, ‘What happens now?’ He said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ve seen this before. We’ll be back before you know it’. Little did we know it was going to be 16 years.

“We’ve been waiting for so long. We’ve had some tough times and I know some people felt we were never going to get back. There was so much heartache, they thought they would never see Leeds back in the Premier League.”

Leeds is a proud sporting city, home to Yorkshire Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos rugby league club as well as so many other high-achieving individuals over recent years. The Brownlee brothers have dominated Olympic and world championship triathlon events in the past decade, while Nicola Adams won boxing gold in 2012 and 2016. The 2014 Tour de France started in Leeds, prompting the introduction of the Tour de Yorkshire, which is now part of the UCI ProSeries circuit.

“What Leeds Rhinos have done and what we have all done has been brilliant,” Warrington says. “But let’s have it right. England is a football nation and Leeds is a football city. And it’s different from most cities. You look at our neighbouring cities, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool. They’ve all got two big clubs. Leeds has got one and I think that makes it more special. And it means that when the club is flying, the whole city flies with it.

“That’s what Bielsa has tapped into. He has brought energy to the whole city. It’s that buzz. It starts in the estates and it goes right through the city, into the centre. Growing up, you could always feel that buzz in the city when there was a massive game, when Man United or Liverpool or Chelsea or Arsenal were coming to town. That’s what we’re going to have again now.”

Leeds city centre bears no resemblance to the “beastly place” of Charles Dickens’ description. Walking around the Civic Quarter on a Saturday afternoon, from Park Square along The Headrow, past the majestic Town Hall, and then up Cookridge Street towards Millennium Square and the Civic Hall, below, you cannot help but be struck by the splendour of the architecture.

There is a European feel to the city, even if that short-lived “Barcelona of the north” label never took off. There is a belief among locals that it was dreamt up by a marketing guy in a moment of weakness or written by a journalist who had never set foot in the city. Leeds has enthusiastically embraced European-style cafe culture and urban living, but it takes itself and its identity far too seriously to want to model itself on anywhere else.

The city council’s “Vision for Leeds: 2011 to 2030” set out an ambition to become “the best city in the UK”. This was news to those who already presumed this to be the case, but it has also meant improving national transport infrastructure, strengthening the city’s cultural appeal and investing in buildings, jobs and people. The success of the government’s once-trumpeted “Northern Powerhouse” strategy, particularly when it comes to regional and national transport links, is crucial.

Nobody can put a number on the added value that comes from having a Premier League football club, but it is a huge boost both in terms of civic pride and more tangible benefits. “While this is an incredible achievement for everyone associated with the club, it will also provide a real boost to the Leeds economy,” said councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, when promotion was secured. “The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. Being part of that brand will clearly provide economic benefits to the city and put us on the global stage, and will also help to support our economic recovery from COVID-19.”

Like all major British cities, particularly those with a thriving university scene, Leeds has had an extensive and continuing facelift over the past couple of decades. The number of swanky apartments and bars reflect a desire to appeal to young professionals and students. One by one, the old inner-city pubs have made way for shiny new bars. Some of them have queues outside at 1pm, groups of lads and girls already out for the night. It is that kind of city, attracting stag dos and hen parties even in these socially distanced times.

Some of the bars look extremely unappealing. Others almost irresistible, but it is the alluring sound of commentary from Craven Cottage, in the opening game of the Premier League season, that ultimately draws me in. A mistake. Sitting alone, sipping a disappointing pint, during one of the match’s less eventful periods, feels like a pretty flat way to start the new campaign. It’s one of those bars where you could easily forget where you are; it really could be anywhere.

Walking out, blinking into the daylight, a thought occurs. Nobody else in that bar, with the big screen and the booming commentary, was watching the football. And then another related thought. Since leaving Beeston, I haven’t seen a single Leeds shirt. And, yes, they’re playing 75 miles away in about four hours, but it’s still striking. If this was Liverpool or indeed Newcastle, it would be a different matter.

That changes, though, on approach to the main shopping areas. A Kalvin Phillips No 23 shirt, a Pablo Hernandez No 19 shirt, a vintage jersey bearing Bremner’s No 4.

On the first floor of the Merrion Centre is the city-centre branch of the club’s official shop. Customers come in asking if the new away kit is available. “Monday,” comes the answer. Demand is high.

“It’s the busiest I’ve ever seen it,” says Cameron Connolly, who, when not working in the club shop, doubles as the Leeds mascot Lucas the Kop Kat. “We’ve had this shop for four years. The first year we still had hundreds of kits left at the end of the season. Last year we over-ordered and we still ran out. This year the demand has been crazy.”

It will be busier still, he says, when fans are allowed back into the grounds again and when shopping trips are a matter of routine rather than socially distanced unease. On match days, there is usually a flow of fans and customers from beyond the city or much further field — “Norway, Sweden, Ireland,” he says. Leeds might be a one-club city, but it is not a one-city club.

Like every Leeds fan, Connolly puts the resurgence down to Bielsa. “I had heard of him when we appointed him, but I didn’t know much about him,” he says. “When I looked at his stats, I thought, ‘Well, he hasn’t won a right lot’. But he’s been amazing. The first season: building the foundations, heartbreak, missing out in the play-offs. Last season we walked it, winning the Championship by 10 points.

“It still feels surreal. I don’t think it will feel real until the game kicks off. Can’t wait.”

When it came down to it, Tom Hibbert decided there was only one place to be to watch Leeds’ first top-flight game in 16 years. “I live in Kent, but if I couldn’t be at Anfield, I wanted to be here,” the 29-year-old says. “It was a four-and-a-half-hour journey, but that’s what it means to be a Leeds fan and to be back in the Premier League.”

We’re in the Old Peaco*ck, the pub just across from the South Stand. It is as full as it is allowed to be under current restrictions. The number of customers was severely restricted and tables had to be reserved in advance. Each one is taken, including in the Spiced Mango, at the back, where curry is served.

“We would have loved to have 1,000 people here today, but the restrictions are in place and we have to abide by them,” says Tahid Mahmood, who manages the restaurant. “It’s hard for pubs, restaurants and all businesses, but it’s good for us and for the whole city to have Leeds back where they are. We look forward to when we can open up fully again when the crowds go back to the matches.”

There is a roar when Bielsa appears on the big screen. There is optimism in the air. On an adjacent table, one Leeds fan looks unimpressed as he scrutinises the Liverpool line-up and calculates, contrary toall evidence over the last two seasons, that Liverpool will get nervous if they don’t score within the first half-hour. Another insists Leeds are going to win. “Two-one,” he says. “I don’t think we’ll keep a clean sheet, but I’m certain we’re going to win.”

The whistle goes (“COME ON, LEEDS!”). Inside the second minute, Naby Keita picks out Roberto Firmino in the penalty area (“Oh no!”) but Illan Meslier rushes out quickly to save, to enthusiastic applause. There is another roar when Luke Ayling, making his Premier League debut at 29, nutmegs Sadio Mane. Leeds briefly hint at settling into their rhythm, but then Mohamed Salah’s shot hits Robin Koch’s arm for a penalty. Salah scores. Barely three minutes have gone. (“Well that was fun while it lasted.”)

It isfun, though. Bielsa’s Leeds are fun. There were various times over the previous 16 years when Leeds, under different managers, were no fun at all, but this team, built around youthful energy and creativity, is going to win plaudits. On 12 minutes Jack Harrison cuts inside from the left wing, away from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s challenge, and beats Alisson with a low shot inside the near post. Cue wild celebrations.

It’s a ding-dong, an absolute basket-case of a game. It takes a least a couple of seconds for everyone in the pub to see that the ball has crossed the line for Virgil van Dijk to put Liverpool 2-1 up, but then Leeds hit back again, with Patrick Bamford equalising after pouncing on Van Dijk’s mistake. And suddenly it’s all “Doo doo doo-doo, Patrick Bamford” to the tune of Pigbag. There are cheers for a close-up of Radrizzani — Ken Bates never used to get that — and for a crunching challenge from Phillips on Alexander-Arnold. Salah scores again to make it 3-2, but still, there is thunderous applause from Leeds’ fans when the first half comes to a close.

Bielsa’s double substitution just after the hour mark, bringing on Tyler Roberts and new signing Rodrigo in place of Hernandez and Bamford, is applauded with certainty that the coach knows what he’s doing. Of course, he does. Within four minutes it is 3-3, Mateusz Klich ghosting into the penalty area and firing the ball past Alisson. “Blow the whistle, ref!” shouts one fan. “Time for Mark Viduka,” shouts another, recalling the Australian’s hat-trick in a 4-3 victory over Liverpool at Elland Road 20 years ago.

The beer is flowing and spirits are soaring higher and higher. Klich’s song, to the tune of Rotterdam by The Beautiful South, is getting a good airing. Salah shanks a first-time shot over the crossbar — “You’re just a sh*t Patrick Bamford”. Van Dijk sees a goal disallowed for offside — “You’re just a sh*t Liam Cooper”. There is a growing air of certainty on the next table that Leeds are going to win this.

Then, on 88 minutes, Rodrigo leaves his leg out in the penalty and brings down Fabinho. A second penalty for Liverpool, a third goal for Salah and, at this late stage, it is hard for even the most optimistic Leeds fan to imagine they will equalise for a fourth time. Stoppage time passes by without incident, but still, when the final whistle blows, there is a standing ovation for Leeds’ performance. Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, is seen mouthing the word “Wow!” Inside the Old Peaco*ck, there is no doubt it is Bielsa’s team that has wowed him.

“It was amazing,” Hibbert says. “How many teams went to Anfield last season and gave Liverpool a game like that? It was our first game back in the Premier League and, no, we didn’t get the result, but we were ourselves and we showed what we are. This is our stage now. We’re back.”

Jake Jordan, from Wakefield, agrees. “I know we lost, but we’re happy,” he says. “We’ve proved that we’re back and we’re here to stay. I remember I was at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats the day we got relegated in 2004. I was gutted. For years after that, the club and the whole city felt broken up. Marcelo Bielsa has brought it back together.”

For once, the result doesn’t seem to matter. “They play great football,” Beeton says. “It’s the best football I’ve seen from a Leeds team for donkey’s years. What this guy Bielsa has done, transforming what was an ordinary squad three seasons ago, is nothing short of a miracle. He’s a god, really.

“We can surprise a few people this season, especially if we can get the fans back into Elland Road. I don’t know when that will be. I was looking at the Man City game (scheduled for October 3) and wondering whether that would be the first one with fans allowed in again, but I’m not sure what’s happening now. It will be special when it happens, whenever it might be.”

There is regret, of course, that this new dawn has unfolded behind closed doors. For many, it will not truly feel real until the stands are full and Elland Road is a throbbing mass of humanity once more. But after the long road back to the big time, this felt like a bold first step on a new journey. And now it is all about marching on. Together.

(Top image: a celebratory mural outside Elland Road, pictures by Oliver Kay)