2 years, 1 month ago
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What is the recent history of Leeds United?
Looking for a summary of Leeds' history from around the time they were last a force in the English Premier League to the present day.
A nice concise summary will do, I'm not looking for every twist and turn, just the major points.
A nice concise summary will do, I'm not looking for every twist and turn, just the major points.
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M$1 Answer
In soccer, you'll often hear that a club is "too good to go down", suggesting that they are too big a club, or have too talented a squad, to be relegated. But despite similar sentiments being expressed about Leeds United, they were relegated from the English Premier League in 2004. A big change from just a year or two previously, when they were among the top four or five clubs in England, and had reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001.
They sold many of their best players (eg Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Paul Robinson), after relegation, and while they would probably have been expected to do better, new manager Kevin Blackwell guided them to a mid-table finish in 2005. Off the pitch though, the club's financial problems had worsened, and they had been forced to sell their training ground, and the Elland Road stadium, during the previous year. Former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates had purchased the club.
They were strong promotion contenders for most of the 2005-06 season, but in the end, lost the promotion play-off final 3-0 to Watford.
The 2006-07 season saw Leeds struggle in the league. Blackwell was sacked (wrongly, in the opinion of many) early in the season, and the club remained in the relegation zone under his replacement Dennis Wise. The team looked like they might pull off a great escape in the last few weeks, but rival clubs managed to stay ahead. Leeds were then docked 10 points as a result of going into financial administration, and this deduction confirmed their relegation to the third tier of English football.
Although the club almost got kicked out of the Football League during the close season, Dennis Wise remained in charge for the early months of the club's first season in "League One", and while the club won their first 11 games, a 15-point deduction for breaking league rules had them playing catch-up on all the other promotion-chasers. Former Leeds legend Gary McAllister replaced Wise as manager in January, and but for the 15-point deduction they would have won automatic promotion in second place, but they instead met fellow Yorkshire side Doncaster Rovers in a play-off final. Doncaster won, meaning they would play in a higher league than Leeds for the first time ever.
Despite a very promising start to the 2008-09 season, a poor run of results saw McAllister (and his assistant Steve Staunton) dismissed in December to be replaced by a Yorkshire native and former Leeds player Simon Grayson. Many saw the removal of McAllister as a mistake, but Grayson led the club into the play-offs. However, they lost to Millwall in the semi-finals.
Grayson remains in charge for the current season, and although Norwich City have gradually asserted themselves upon this season's promotion race, Leeds are in second place, a point ahead of Millwall with just two games to go. This season also saw a decent FA Cup run, the high point being a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owpnrxCXZJ4
They sold many of their best players (eg Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Paul Robinson), after relegation, and while they would probably have been expected to do better, new manager Kevin Blackwell guided them to a mid-table finish in 2005. Off the pitch though, the club's financial problems had worsened, and they had been forced to sell their training ground, and the Elland Road stadium, during the previous year. Former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates had purchased the club.
They were strong promotion contenders for most of the 2005-06 season, but in the end, lost the promotion play-off final 3-0 to Watford.
The 2006-07 season saw Leeds struggle in the league. Blackwell was sacked (wrongly, in the opinion of many) early in the season, and the club remained in the relegation zone under his replacement Dennis Wise. The team looked like they might pull off a great escape in the last few weeks, but rival clubs managed to stay ahead. Leeds were then docked 10 points as a result of going into financial administration, and this deduction confirmed their relegation to the third tier of English football.
Although the club almost got kicked out of the Football League during the close season, Dennis Wise remained in charge for the early months of the club's first season in "League One", and while the club won their first 11 games, a 15-point deduction for breaking league rules had them playing catch-up on all the other promotion-chasers. Former Leeds legend Gary McAllister replaced Wise as manager in January, and but for the 15-point deduction they would have won automatic promotion in second place, but they instead met fellow Yorkshire side Doncaster Rovers in a play-off final. Doncaster won, meaning they would play in a higher league than Leeds for the first time ever.
Despite a very promising start to the 2008-09 season, a poor run of results saw McAllister (and his assistant Steve Staunton) dismissed in December to be replaced by a Yorkshire native and former Leeds player Simon Grayson. Many saw the removal of McAllister as a mistake, but Grayson led the club into the play-offs. However, they lost to Millwall in the semi-finals.
Grayson remains in charge for the current season, and although Norwich City have gradually asserted themselves upon this season's promotion race, Leeds are in second place, a point ahead of Millwall with just two games to go. This season also saw a decent FA Cup run, the high point being a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owpnrxCXZJ4
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Bravo! A superb summary for those of us that have not been following events at Leeds since their relegation from the top flight.
EDIT:
Small question... you say they sold Elland Road. According to Wikipedia that is still where they play. What's the story with that, are they renting it back from someone?
Well I'm glad I'm not the only one that's confused about Elland Road. :)
It's hard to get to the bottom of the Elland Road issue. It seems to now be owned by the club again, but mystery surrounds who actually owns the club these days!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2009/sep/30/leeds-united-ken-bates-jersey
It looks like Ken Bates has been moving the club and its assets through a number of offshore companies since he took ownership. At some point the stadium and the training ground seem to have been restored to the club. It appears when the stadium was sold the club entered into a 25-year lease arrangement that included a buy-back option that has been availed of. Fans have been confused about the stadium issue for a long time but I guess the important thing is that the club are still playing there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elland_Road#Modern_redevelopment_plans