This adulation of Leeds United

Where does it come from? Last night, following West Brom's defeat, Sky Sports Football dedicated what seemed like ages in getting opinion from Leeds stars past and present regarding their promotion. Talk that Leeds were now back where they belonged and the 16 years they have been absent was too long. Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City would be looking forward to having Leeds back at the top table. Not even Newcastle or Aston Villa, both bigger clubs than Leeds, had such adulation from the media on their recent promotions.

I thought I'd have a look and see how Leeds fared with regard how long they've spent in the top flight in their history. In terms of percentage, Leeds have spent 53.8% of their seasons in the top flight. 17 teams have spent more of their history (in terms of percentage) in the top flight than Leeds, including Sunderland, West Ham, West Brom, Bolton, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Sheff Wed and Stoke City. Even Derby and Wolves had an almost identical percentage to Leeds.

Leeds can hardly be described as a top table club. They're nowhere near it. In terms of their history they're another Derby County or Stoke City.

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Where does it come from?

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You really have to ask that question?

For the first twelve seasons of the Premier League, Leeds were among the ten best-supported clubs in the division. They were ranked as high as third at one point, behind only Manchester United and Liverpool. This season they were far and away the best-supported club in the Championship before the lockdown. They are a genuinely big club and it's daft to pretend otherwise.

Leeds' fall from grace was spectacular and it's taken them a long, long time to get back to the top flight. That's why there is a high level of media interest in them. Big club, very well-supported, major players during the first decade of the Premier League's history, a high-profile fall from grace, all sorts of problems since then, high-profile manager, etc. Basically, they are box office as far as Sky and the Premier League concerned, and that goes for fans of most other clubs too. You only have to look at City's crowds when Leeds come to town for evidence of that.

They’ve been out of the PL for 16 years. Both of Newcastle’s recent visits to the second tier were short and sweet. Bounced back straight away.

Villa took what? 3 or 4 seasons?

After their capitulation last year It’s hardly rocket science why there’s so much attention this year.

The EFL have lost their big club and will be hoping Villa come down I’m sure.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

You really have to ask that question?

For the first twelve seasons of the Premier League, Leeds were among the ten best-supported clubs in the division. They were ranked as high as third at one point, behind only Manchester United and Liverpool. This season they were far and away the best-supported club in the Championship before the lockdown. They are a genuinely big club and it's daft to pretend otherwise.

Leeds' fall from grace was spectacular and it's taken them a long, long time to get back to the top flight. That's why there is a high level of media interest in them. Big club, very well-supported, major players during the first decade of the Premier League's history, a high-profile fall from grace, all sorts of problems since then, high-profile manager, etc. Basically, they are box office as far as Sky and the Premier League concerned, and that goes for fans of most other clubs too. You only have to look at City's crowds when Leeds come to town for evidence of that.

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Where does this thing about Leeds being a genuinely big club come from? What from their history puts them on a par with any of the big 6, Villa, Newcastle, even Sunderland or West Brom?

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Where does this thing about Leeds being a genuinely big club come from? What from their history puts them on a par with any of the big 6, Villa, Newcastle, even Sunderland or West Brom?

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You'd have had to have lived through the 60s and 70s to understand their appeal, they had a fabulous side, it all stems from that

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Where does this thing about Leeds being a genuinely big club come from?

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Forget it. It's a dumb conversation.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Forget it. It's a dumb conversation.

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Well it is when you are involved

Apart from the review years they have been a yo yo club

I remember going up to watch city v leeds at elland road in 1983

We had about 1500 fans there in a crowd of ....


Under 13000

Bigger club than us .....no doubt about it .........bigger than villa , everton , spurs , man city ?

Not a chance

Feck em , hope they go down

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Originally Posted by Joe Gillis

You'd have had to have lived through the 60s and 70s to understand their appeal, they had a fabulous side, it all stems from that

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For all their supposed superiority, they ‘only’ won two League titles in that era, in fact they bottled it many a time in major competitions. A dirty, cynical side who, maybe, if their dodgy manager had concentrated more on getting the best out of his undoubtably talented players rather than attempting, a lot of the time unlawfully, to nobble the opposition they may have achieved more.

Leeds were not a big club in their glory years but Revie built the Legend and it all stems from there, now they are a big club, massive away support everywhere they go and they will probably sell out every home game (covid permitting) example they played Chelsea in the 1970 fa cup final replay at Old trafford and their fans were outnumbered heavily by Chelsea despite only 40 miles distance from Leeds.
However plastics and glory hunters slowly latched on during the halcyon days and the support base grew, once a team has a history and a cache they will always attract fans and they do from all over the country, not forgetting Leeds is the biggest single club football city in the uk

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Originally Posted by splott parker

For all their supposed superiority, they ‘only’ won two League titles in that era, in fact they bottled it many a time in major competitions. A dirty, cynical side who, maybe, if their dodgy manager had concentrated more on getting the best out of his undoubtably talented players rather than attempting, a lot of the time unlawfully, to nobble the opposition they may have achieved more.

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In the 60s and 70s they had 12 successive seasons where they finished in the top 5 as part of a run of 18 consecutive top flight seasons. Since the relegation that ended that in 1982 they have spent 24 out of 38 seasons outside the top flight, more than the likes of Middlesbrough, Coventry, Sunderland, Leicester, Blackburn, Forest, Charlton, Fulham, Norwich, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday.

Wolves had a similar run in the 50s to the one Leeds enjoyed a decade or so later. They've endured lengthy spells outside the top flight over the last few decades. They don't get the same level of adulation that the media affords Leeds. Both clubs best days are generations ago.

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

In the 60s and 70s they had 12 successive seasons where they finished in the top 5 as part of a run of 18 consecutive top flight seasons. Since the relegation that ended that in 1982 they have spent 24 out of 38 seasons outside the top flight, more than the likes of Middlesbrough, Coventry, Sunderland, Leicester, Blackburn, Forest, Charlton, Fulham, Norwich, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday.

Wolves had a similar run in the 50s to the one Leeds enjoyed a decade or so later. They've endured lengthy spells outside the top flight over the last few decades. They don't get the same level of adulation that the media affords Leeds. Both clubs best days are generations ago.

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that ten year difference brought us match of the day and greater football coverage, that's the difference more plastic appeal also Leeds did win div 1 in 1992 and had a good european run

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Originally Posted by Packerman

that ten year difference brought us match of the day and greater football coverage, that's the difference more plastic appeal also Leeds did win div 1 in 1992 and had a good european run

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Forest and Villa did that in the 80s. They don't get the same level of interest as Leeds.

It was those poxy little flags on their sock tie ups that attracted the impressionable!

Sky are deeply in love with Leeds. The commentators and pundits are total sycophants when Leeds games are being covered.

Kalvin Phillips "The Yorkshire Pirlo" ........."my arse".

Naff em , hope they get leathered in every game

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Forest and Villa did that in the 80s. They don't get the same level of interest as Leeds.

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Forest and Villa didn’t win the top division in the 90s or compete In the champions league and challenge for the league title in the 2000’s.

Leeds have challenged at the top table in the Sky TV era. None of the others you mention have except for Newcastle who get plenty of media attention and also only spent 1 season out of the PL and did what was expected and bounced back straight away.

Leeds also have a bitter rivalry with Manchester United the biggest club in the country.

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Forest and Villa didn’t win the top division in the 90s or compete In the champions league and challenge for the league title in the 2000s

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Ok. Blackburn haven't received the same adulation as Leeds, then.

My point is that, for every scenario and reason given for this adulation of Leeds, there are other teams with similar scenarios who don't get that adulation.

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

Naff em , hope they get leathered in every game

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This, with bells on.

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Ok. Blackburn haven't received the same adulation as Leeds, then.

My point is that, for every scenario and reason given for this adulation of Leeds, there are other teams with similar scenarios who don't get that adulation.

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We have given a multitude of reasons for Leeds and one or two of those reasons might apply to individual clubs but not all of them. Blackburn have got nowhere near the fan base of Leeds. The worst comparison of the lot.

Where is Chris?? :sherlock:

Come on Chris, let's have your view on the subject for a bit of "balance".

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

Where does it come from? Last night, following West Brom's defeat, Sky Sports Football dedicated what seemed like ages in getting opinion from Leeds stars past and present regarding their promotion. Talk that Leeds were now back where they belonged and the 16 years they have been absent was too long. Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City would be looking forward to having Leeds back at the top table. Not even Newcastle or Aston Villa, both bigger clubs than Leeds, had such adulation from the media on their recent promotions.

I thought I'd have a look and see how Leeds fared with regard how long they've spent in the top flight in their history. In terms of percentage, Leeds have spent 53.8% of their seasons in the top flight. 17 teams have spent more of their history (in terms of percentage) in the top flight than Leeds, including Sunderland, West Ham, West Brom, Bolton, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Sheff Wed and Stoke City. Even Derby and Wolves had an almost identical percentage to Leeds.

Leeds can hardly be described as a top table club. They're nowhere near it. In terms of their history they're another Derby County or Stoke City.

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Don Revie days I suspect ,they were the Man U of the age ,bloody winning machine , in Newport there are hundreds of Leeds fans so many of my Gwenty mates love them .

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Originally Posted by life on mars

Don Revie days I suspect ,they were the Man U of the age ,bloody winning machine , in Newport there are hundreds of Leeds fans so many of my Gwenty mates love them .

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It was all about Leeds and Man United when I were a lad.

I'm sure there must be some nice Leeds fans, by the law of averages.

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Originally Posted by Seabird

Sky are deeply in love with Leeds. The commentators and pundits are total sycophants when Leeds games are being covered.

Kalvin Phillips "The Yorkshire Pirlo" ........."my arse".

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that's more about attracting new Sky subscribers Leeds globally like it or not are massive .

The City well they are not really big anywhere , even worse for us , in the CF area we have more plastic settee fans watching and supporting Premier clubs that the City .

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Originally Posted by life on mars

more about attracting new Sky subscribers Leeds globally like it or not are massive .

The City well they are not really big anywhere , even worse for us , in the CF area we have more plastic settee fans watching and supporting Premier clubs that the City .

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So true and the main answer to the original poser.

Leeds is the biggest one club city in the UK, and most people over 20 support Leeds. You do see Man Utd and Chelsea shirts which you'd never see 8/10 years ago but 90% of people in Leeds support Leeds. They've also got massive support in North Yorkshire in York, Harrogate, Pickering etc.

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Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa

Leeds is the biggest one club city in the UK, and most people over 20 support Leeds. You do see Man Utd and Chelsea shirts which you'd never see 8/10 years ago but 90% of people in Leeds support Leeds. They've also got massive support in North Yorkshire in York, Harrogate, Pickering etc.

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But, but, but what about Blackburn?

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Originally Posted by MacAdder

So true and the main answer to the original poser.

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Correct and the EFL has lost its cash cow. Hopefully Villa will come down to replace Leeds. The Championship needs a massive club to retain Sky’s interest.

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

Naff em , hope they get leathered in every game

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Amen.

When I was in school, back in the seventies, Leeds were certainly one of the big teams. I seem to recall that this all started after they lost the epic 1970 FA Cup Final to Chelsea. The game went to a replay at Old Trafford, and Chelsea eventually emerged as winners, but emerged Leeds as the hard-fighting underdog. Leeds were there or there-about for years after that, and they were robbed by some dreadful decisions in the 1975 European Cup Final, and this just seemed to cement the 'legend'.

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Originally Posted by tforturton

When I was in school, back in the seventies, Leeds were certainly one of the big teams. I seem to recall that this all started after they lost the epic 1970 FA Cup Final to Chelsea. The game went to a replay at Old Trafford, and Chelsea eventually emerged as winners, but emerged Leeds as the DIRTY, CHEATING, hard-fighting underdog. Leeds were there or there-about for years after that, and they were robbed by some dreadful decisions in the 1975 European Cup Final, and this just seemed to cement the 'legend'.

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You left out a few words !!!!

Im 33 so most of their glory period is well before my time, but even from what I remember their fall from grace was pretty spectacular. One minute they were in the champions league semis with a young team, the next minute financial crisis, and relegation followed a couple of seasons later.

People tend to forget that play off final aswell. In their 2nd season in the championship they got to within 90 minutes of going back up. Next season they got relegated 😂😂. They then hit the league 1 playoffs twice in 2 years and failed again both times!!

Talking about percentage of time in the top flight is a bit misleading . Because this 16 years they've been out skews the stats. Before that they were certainly one of the big boys. I'd imagine the stats would reflect that

Leeds has a population of almost 800,000 and there's only one club. That's why they average ~35,000 fans at home. Its a huge city.

They also achieved success at the perfect time (Early Premier League) and have the history of Revie. What's quite funny is how massively overstated Leeds' history seems to be, they've won 9 major honours (and that's counting the Fairs Cup and Charity Shield, without which they've only won 5 major domestic honours). In terms of number of honours that's less than Wednesday, Sunderland, Blackburn, Forest and Newcastle and the same amount as West Brom.

The spectacular fall from grace helps aswell, a bit of a hard luck story always helps ratings

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Forest and Villa didn’t win the top division in the 90s or compete In the champions league and challenge for the league title in the 2000’s.

Leeds have challenged at the top table in the Sky TV era. None of the others you mention have except for Newcastle who get plenty of media attention and also only spent 1 season out of the PL and did what was expected and bounced back straight away.

Leeds also have a bitter rivalry with Manchester United the biggest club in the country.

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Leeds think they have a bitter rivalry with united but it's all in leeds eyes . Uniteds rivals are and always will be liverpool

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Originally Posted by City123

Leeds has a population of almost 800,000 and there's only one club. That's why they average ~35,000 fans at home. Its a huge city.

They also achieved success at the perfect time (Early Premier League) and have the history of Revie. What's quite funny is how massively overstated Leeds' history seems to be, they've won 9 major honours (and that's counting the Fairs Cup and Charity Shield, without which they've only won 5 major domestic honours). In terms of number of honours that's less than Wednesday, Sunderland, Blackburn, Forest and Newcastle and the same amount as West Brom.

The spectacular fall from grace helps aswell, a bit of a hard luck story always helps ratings

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Tyneside is a huge urban area and has one club , newcastle , who average 50000

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Originally Posted by chrisp_1927

Im 33 so most of their glory period is well before my time, but even from what I remember their fall from grace was pretty spectacular. One minute they were in the champions league semis with a young team, the next minute financial crisis, and relegation followed a couple of seasons later.

People tend to forget that play off final aswell. In their 2nd season in the championship they got to within 90 minutes of going back up. Next season they got relegated ����. They then hit the league 1 playoffs twice in 2 years and failed again both times!!

Talking about percentage of time in the top flight is a bit misleading . Because this 16 years they've been out skews the stats. Before that they were certainly one of the big boys. I'd imagine the stats would reflect that

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Why should we ignore the 16 years Leeds have been out of the top flight? How do those 16 years skew the stats? The stats are the stats! They are all part of the picture, and for the current Leeds United the last 16 years are more relevant than earlier periods.

Leeds are clearly a big club - with a large fan base in a big one-club city (although attendance at their home games in recent years has been a smaller % of the city population than Cardiff!), a lot of 'plastic' fans around the world, a golden age (whether that is part myth or not....) only two generations ago, a catastrophic fall from grace that makes them a constant source of interest, and a level of loathing from fans of other clubs around the country based equally on the 'dirty Leeds' legacy of Don Revie and their continuing sense of entitlement that pisses everyone else off. For good or bad they are box office!

They deserve to be back in the Premier League because they have earned it this season. No other reason. They may well deserve to be relegated again in a years time.

They are another glory seekers club , except their glory was long time ago and what has happened is that in places like south Wales sad cases who supported leeds in the revie years have passed on that support onto sons and grandchildren

Like liverpool , united , chelsea , arsenal etc leeds have buses going to take brain dead morons from south wales , the west country , norfolk etc up to leeds to see " their " team

But it isnt their team , leeds true fans hate cardiff as anyone who went up to see city in the past will know

They are glory seekers , they are welsh and should be supporting cardiff , swansea or newport or in the case of out west country cousins , plymouth , bristol citysuck etc

These clubs suck dry the support of traditional football clubs and that's why I hate SKY and hate Liverpool , United , Leeds , Chelsea , Arsenal etc

I have nothing but contempt for them

Sheffield Wednesday, United , Derby , Sunderland ........great clubs

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Originally Posted by jon1959

Why should we ignore the 16 years Leeds have been out of the top flight? How do those 16 years skew the stats? The stats are the stats! They are all part of the picture, and for the current Leeds United the last 16 years are more relevant than earlier periods.

Leeds are clearly a big club - with a large fan base in a big one-club city (although attendance at their home games in recent years has been a smaller % of the city population than Cardiff!), a lot of 'plastic' fans around the world, a golden age (whether that is part myth or not....) only two generations ago, a catastrophic fall from grace that makes them a constant source of interest, and a level of loathing from fans of other clubs around the country based equally on the 'dirty Leeds' legacy of Don Revie and their continuing sense of entitlement that pisses everyone else off. For good or bad they are box office!

They deserve to be back in the Premier League because they have earned it this season. No other reason. They may well deserve to be relegated again in a years time.

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I hope they are relegated as soon as possible

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Originally Posted by tforturton

When I was in school, back in the seventies, Leeds were certainly one of the big teams. I seem to recall that this all started after they lost the epic 1970 FA Cup Final to Chelsea. The game went to a replay at Old Trafford, and Chelsea eventually emerged as winners, but emerged Leeds as the hard-fighting underdog. Leeds were there or there-about for years after that, and they were robbed by some dreadful decisions in the 1975 European Cup Final, and this just seemed to cement the 'legend'.

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I seem to remember the Leeds fans not taking the loss very well.

No doubt Europe top brass disliking Revie's style of play.

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Originally Posted by MacAdder

I seem to remember the Leeds fans not taking the loss very well.

No doubt Europe top brass disliking Revie's style of play.

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Aggro

A lot of plastic hooligans from all over the country hung onto leeds , millwall and chelsea for the violent reputation