Leeds promotion a tribute to legends

LEEDS UNITED’S return to the Premier League after an absence of 16 years is good news for English football.

There is something poignant but uplifting about their success this season: it feels as if it is a tribute to the great former players they have lost in past months, Jack Charlton, Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry. It feels as if their tradition demands a place in our top flight.

But Leeds’ return is also good news because of the football they play. Under Marcelo Bielsa they have become one of the best teams to watch in the English game. I watched them a few times last season when they narrowly missed out on promotion and they played a brand of passing football that took the breath away. That has not changed. The Premier League will be richer for their presence.

SINISTER drone footage that appeared to show Uighur men being loaded on to trains in China’s Xinjiang province last week was a reminder of Arsenal’s selective attitude to getting involved in politics. The club’s owner, Stan Kroenke, donated $1m (£795,000) to Donald Trump’s inauguration a few years ago but Arsenal ran a mile when Mesut Ozil highlighted China’s persecution of the Uighurs last December. ‘As a football club,’ they said in a hastily released statement, ‘Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics.’

Maybe now that their players are wearing Black Lives Matter badges on their sleeves, Arsenal will adopt a more enlightened attitude if Ozil speaks out again.

Or, given the club’s commercial interests in China, maybe not.