LEEDS FAITHFUL DID ME PROUD
IT is six years since Jonny Howson left Leeds United, the club he’d supported from childhood and represented 225 times. “I remember everything,” he says. “My first game, my first goal. People talk to me about things that happened there and it’s a shock when you realise it was seven, eight years ago. It honestly feels like two minutes! “When you’re coming through as a young lad, all the old pros say ‘make the most of this because it’ll soon be gone’. You think ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s years away yet’. But, all of a sudden you’re 29. It flies by.” Since then, he has played in the Premier League for Norwich, won a promotion from the Championship under Alex Neil and is now eyeing a second following a £6m summer switch to Middlesbrough. Remarkably, the midfielder has returned to Elland Road only twice in that period, though he ranks those visits among the highlights of his career. “First time I went back, I scored,” says Howson. “Second time was at the back end of last season, their last home game, when we drew 3-3. So I’ve got a 50 per cent success rate. “When I scored that first time, I made sure not to celebrate. After both games, I went round and applauded. I got a really nice response. “Sometimes, moments like that in football mean more to me than winning games or scoring goals. I grew up in Leeds and I was fortunate enough to play for the team I supported. So, to go back and get a reception from them, it really makes the hairs stand up.” The team Howson left was arguably the finest since Leeds’ Premier League days. Under Simon Grayson, a side featuring Robert Snodgrass, Kasper Schmeichel and Luciano Becchio rose to third in the Championship before former chairman Ken Bates embarked on a selling spree. Like many supporters, Howson shares a sense of missed opportunity. “As the years go by, you meet up with those lads again,” he adds. “Obviously, I played with Bradley Johnson and Snods at Norwich. And we all discuss what might have been. “The players who came through over five or six seasons – it was top, top talent. Myself, Snods, Bradley, Adam Clayton, who’s here now. Fabian Delph, Kasper Schmeichel. “You can’t help but look back and think that, if they’d been kept together, it would’ve been a Premiership side. I firmly believe that.” Boro certainly do have the talent to be a Premier League next season after a £50m outlay on the likes of Howson, Martin Braithwaite and Britt Assombalonga. After a stuttering start under Garry Monk – poached from Leeds in the summer – the Teessiders arrive at Elland Road on the back of three straight wins and are finally justifying their status as preseason favourites. “It’s been an up-and-down season, performances and results,” admits Howson. “But, when you take a step back, there was always the potential for that. The squad underwent a lot of change, with ten or 11 new players and a new manager. “But we always believed in our ability. We trusted that it would eventually come through. We probably didn’t need the international break, but now it’s about picking up where we left off.”