RETURN TO THE BIG TIME!
THEY’VE LOST LEGENDS JACK CHARLTON, HUNTER AND CHERRY IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS, BUT NOW LEEDS HAVE ENDED 16-YEAR WAIT FOR A...
IT was an hour after the final whistle when the commotion started. Leeds United had just secured their most significant victory in 16 years and all was quiet around Elland Road until Victor Orta appeared.
‘we’re top of the league! we’re Leeds United! we’re top of the league!’ a song that should have been sung by giddy supporters in the Don Revie stand was now being bellowed by Orta, the club’s exuberant director of football, while he gave a piggyback to a friend.
sometimes it is impossible to keep a lid on your emotions and this jubilant scene must have been recreated in houses and streets all over a city that has been stirred by the exploits of Marcelo Bielsa’s joyful team.
Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Barnsley may have been one of their most scruffy displays but the ramifications — at the end of an emotionally charged week — cannot be understated.
and last night, after 16 years in the wilderness, Leeds’ return to the top flight was confirmed after west Brom lost at Huddersfield.
To make sense of it all — the desperation for success, the desire to be mixing it with the biggest names — you simply had to spend time on Bremner square in recent days and talk to those supporters who came in their droves on personal pilgrimages.
Jack Charlton’s passing led to a shrine being created with replica shirts, cards, even flat caps and fishing paraphernalia left in honour of a man who gave his heart and soul to the club over 21 years and 773 appearances.
It has been sad — ‘devastating’ was the word captain and scotland defender Liam Cooper used to describe his feelings — but through it all, there has been a sense of purpose. Leeds used to be a club that was tripped up by bad fortune but the tone has changed. There is no longer room for pessimism.
‘Promotion is really something for the club, particularly with Jack in our minds and our hearts,’ said Professor Mahendra Patel, a long-time season-ticket holder who had taken time off work to pay his respects to Charlton. ‘Let’s say it now: we are going up.
‘I saw the emotion of Liverpool fans when they won the title, but for this city, Leeds going up is just as big — maybe even bigger for some. The last four months, with people in lockdown and going through such difficult times, have been so tough.
‘all the emotion is ready to come out. There will be euphoria, there will be noise. I don’t think it will be comparable to anything here before. You wonder sometimes if things happen for a reason and how fitting would it be if we were to go up in the week everyone was remembering Jack?’
The tributes, however, were not just for him.
The statue of Billy Bremner was festooned with scarves; letters had been penned to Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry, two other giants from that Revie team. They both died in april, Hunter as a result of coronavirus.
‘People like that, to me, were the best of the best,’ Dominic Matteo, who was part of Leeds’ last top-flight team, tells ‘Those guys are legends. Brilliant people. They renamed the south stand after Big Norm and that was a class touch.’
Leeds have been relentless since the campaign restarted, taking 16 points from the last 18.
There has also been symbolism, as they won at swansea last sunday for the first time since 1964 — another promotion campaign — and face Derby tomorrow, the team who broke their hearts in the play-offs 12 months ago.
‘some would say it’s written in the stars,’ said striker Patrick Bamford.
Few would disagree. since their relegation in 2004, they have been through the mill. There has been administration, three years in League One, play-off final losses, home defeats that led to ignominy and frustration.
There have been a staggering 18 changes of manager. Now it can be consigned to the past. a city and a football club are ready to celebrate again.