Dirties

[BuzzB]

So having watched Sunderland Till I Die, and managed two episodes of the Man City documentary (just didn't grip me in any way) I decided to give the dirty Leeds one a go, Take us Home.
Again its easy to relate to, long suffering fans, nearly 19 years or so out of the top League via the doldrums but I did get a sick kind of "ha ha" feeling when they ballsed it up (again!) last season.
An absolute massive club with huge support look to be really well drilled in every department and certainly geared up to one aim. The closeness of not just the players but the board who seem to all be on the same page, win together, lose together, surely meant for a deserved promotion this season.
A good watch of 6 episodes, just makes me miss my club and the game in these horrible times even more though

I want my Stoke back!!!

[PotterLog]

To nitpick, "absolutely massive" is pushing it, as is "huge support". They're a biggish club from a large one-club city with corresponding support and a couple of titles, couple of cups. They're no Villa or Newcastle. They're arguably no Sunderland. I lived in Leeds for years and never found it to be a particularly football-centric place at all to be honest. And this was when they were very good. They're as interested int' Rhinoooos as they are in the soccer.

[BuzzB]

Jun 5, 2020 22:39:39 GMT PotterLog said:

To nitpick, "absolutely massive" is pushing it, as is "huge support". They're a biggish club from a large one-club city with corresponding support and a couple of titles, couple of cups. They're no Villa or Newcastle. They're arguably no Sunderland. I lived in Leeds for years and never found it to be a particularly football-centric place at all to be honest. And this was when they were very good. They're as interested int' Rhinoooos as they are in the soccer.

Like you I was around for the Revie years, cocky arrogant but bloody good to go with it, oh and dirty. Without comparing trophies and just going from memory, Villa, and Newcastle especially on a par at best, though clouded by time I may be way off ha. Fan base wise the three clubs you mention all command 40,000 plus regularly. I get the impression when Leeds do go up next month, if they expanded the ground to 50,000 they would fill it. Then again West Ham thought that too when they moved

My point was it is a good watch during lockdown to lighten things for footy fans, the difference between Leeds at present and the shit storm in ST4 over the past 3 seasons is scary. (prior to MON that is)

[PotterLog]

Jun 5, 2020 22:53:43 GMT BuzzB said:

Jun 5, 2020 22:39:39 GMT PotterLog said:

To nitpick, "absolutely massive" is pushing it, as is "huge support". They're a biggish club from a large one-club city with corresponding support and a couple of titles, couple of cups. They're no Villa or Newcastle. They're arguably no Sunderland. I lived in Leeds for years and never found it to be a particularly football-centric place at all to be honest. And this was when they were very good. They're as interested int' Rhinoooos as they are in the soccer.

Like you I was around for the Revie years, cocky arrogant but bloody good to go with it, oh and dirty. Without comparing trophies and just going from memory, Villa, and Newcastle especially on a par at best, though clouded by time I may be way off ha. Fan base wise the three clubs you mention all command 40,000 plus regularly. I get the impression when Leeds do go up next month, if they expanded the ground to 50,000 they would fill it. Then again West Ham thought that too when they moved

My point was it is a good watch during lockdown to lighten things for footy fans, the difference between Leeds at present and the shit storm in ST4 over the past 3 seasons is scary. (prior to MON that is)

Haha Revie was well before my time I was on about the early 00s Champions League years.

After ManU and Liverpool, in terms of historical support I'd say the clubs that merit "huge" or "massive" are Arse, Spurs, Newcastle and Villa. After that you've got your "bigs" like your Chealseas, ManCs, Leedses, Evertons and Sunderlands. Then mediums like us, Boro, Bolton, all the midlands clubs etc. Then the rest.

[mrcoke]

I live in North Yorkshire and the spread of the Leeds fan base is indeed massive, although I accept their financial base is well below the big six clubs.

Take a look at the map. The Leeds fan base does not spread far south due to the pull of the Sheffield clubs, particularly Wednesday who hate Leeds with a vengeance. But the Leeds support spreads right across North Yorkshire to Teesside and the East Coast, clubs like Boro and Hull only pulling on their immediate locality, and up into the Dales. I have relatives in Whitby who are all Leeds fans. Leeds is the club a very large area of the country naturally gravitates to.

The only other club who command a massive following disproportionate to their actual success is Newcastle.

[bolders]

Kinda makes you think, if the fail hadn’t ever existed how many more fans we could of had. In there hay day, that year they were above us, they were getting nearly 15k. Without the Vale it wouldn’t be inconceivable that we could of had a fan base of 40k plus especially when we were in the prem

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2020 8:14:46 GMT bolders said:

Kinda makes you think, if the fail hadn’t ever existed how many more fans we could of had. In there hay day, that year they were above us, they were getting nearly 15k. Without the Vale it wouldn’t be inconceivable that we could of had a fan base of 40k plus especially when we were in the prem

Even in their heyday in the 90’s the most they averaged was just over 9,000.

Any crowds of 15,000 would have been because of the huge followings from the likes of Stoke, Wolves, West Brom etc.

Take your point though we perhaps would have regularly averaged 18,000-20,000 back in the day if we were a one club city.....

[bolders]

Jun 6, 2020 8:43:59 GMT prestwichpotter said:

Jun 6, 2020 8:14:46 GMT bolders said:

Kinda makes you think, if the fail hadn’t ever existed how many more fans we could of had. In there hay day, that year they were above us, they were getting nearly 15k. Without the Vale it wouldn’t be inconceivable that we could of had a fan base of 40k plus especially when we were in the prem

Even in their heyday in the 90’s the most they averaged was just over 9,000.

Any crowds of 15,000 would have been because of the huge followings from the likes of Stoke, Wolves, West Brom etc.

Take your point though we perhaps would have regularly averaged 18,000-20,000 back in the day if we were a one club city.....

Ok if its 9k we would be looking at 35k-37k of fans, with the away support we could of had a 40K seater stadium, this is in the prem.

[Deleted]

Jun 5, 2020 22:39:39 GMT PotterLog said:

To nitpick, "absolutely massive" is pushing it, as is "huge support". They're a biggish club from a large one-club city with corresponding support and a couple of titles, couple of cups. They're no Villa or Newcastle. They're arguably no Sunderland. I lived in Leeds for years and never found it to be a particularly football-centric place at all to be honest. And this was when they were very good. They're as interested int' Rhinoooos as they are in the soccer.

Really?


Leeds area massive club

[thevoid]

I don't see Sunderland as a "big" club, certainly not in the same bracket as Everton, Villa, Leeds, Chelsea or Citeh. Most of their major honours were won before WWII (well, WWI actually) and they've only played in Europe in one season.
To me they're on a par with Sheff Utd, albeit better supported due to not being hamstrung by having a city rival. And due to the rivalry between the two cities, you're not going to get Makems gravitating to Newcastle and vice versa.

[sheds1862]

Jun 6, 2020 8:14:46 GMT bolders said:

Kinda makes you think, if the fail hadn’t ever existed how many more fans we could of had. In there hay day, that year they were above us, they were getting nearly 15k. Without the Vale it wouldn’t be inconceivable that we could of had a fan base of 40k plus especially when we were in the prem

Seeing as they have existed since 1876 ( cheers Google ) that's a rather strange argument.
Isn't everything relative to stuff on the pitch too ?
Don't know your age but I was there against Norwich and Everton in the 80's .
4000 and 7000 at the Vic in the top flight.
Leeds are massive because of the 70's

[Deleted]

Jun 5, 2020 22:39:39 GMT PotterLog said:

To nitpick, "absolutely massive" is pushing it, as is "huge support". They're a biggish club from a large one-club city with corresponding support and a couple of titles, couple of cups. I lived in Leeds for years and never found it to be a particularly football-centric place at all to be honest. And this was when they were very good. They're as interested int' Rhinoooos as they are in the soccer.

Totally agree potterlog. I found myself getting pissed off at all the gimpy leeds fans infesting our official/unofficial youtube channels over the last few seasons and criticising our support, then talking about how big of a club leeds are and how much better and loyal leeds fans are compared to ours. My instinct was that it's easy to crow when the suns shining. So I did some research.





The perception and the reality don't align. Their crowds largely correlate with their situation. (although credit for some very strong average attendances in the 3rd tier) What stands out to me is if you look at the early 60s when they were averaging 13k in the 2nd tier, and then go not far past their early 70s heyday when their dominance was waning, and their crowds drop off completely again. There are some excellent showings too so I'm not going to argue that they're not a big club, but there's plenty here that you can point to that quashes their claims of unshakeable loyalty in shitty times.

Ultimately, yes Leeds are a "big" club, ("big" is a loose term with no clear definition) and they're for sure in a league above ours in terms of size - but the impressions I seem to get from their own fans and the media is that they're somehow a giant of English football and I think that's total bollocks. They're much closer to us than they are to Liverpool/Man United in terms of size. In fact, when you consider it's a large one club city and a club that has tasted some serious domestic success (champions in the early 90s, 5 consecutive top 5 finishes at the turn of the century), then they're not particularly impressive at all.

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2020 11:08:55 GMT sheds1862 said:

Jun 6, 2020 8:14:46 GMT bolders said:

Kinda makes you think, if the fail hadn’t ever existed how many more fans we could of had. In there hay day, that year they were above us, they were getting nearly 15k. Without the Vale it wouldn’t be inconceivable that we could of had a fan base of 40k plus especially when we were in the prem

Seeing as they have existed since 1876 ( cheers Google ) that's a rather strange argument.
Isn't everything relative to stuff on the pitch too ?
Don't know your age but I was there against Norwich and Everton in the 80's .
4000 and 7000 at the Vic in the top flight.
Leeds are massive because of the 70's

I was at both as a nipper, to put into context though crowds were pretty horrendous across the country in the 80’s which were a pretty bleak time for English football.....

[silsdenstokie]

They have a massive support base, which they should have given the size of the city and the fact they are the only team in it. Whilst the city of Leeds support is split with the rugby league fans they get huge support from places such as Wakefield, Cas, Ponte, Harrogate, Halifax, keighley, even as far up as Middlesbrough. Based on history and support I would put them ahead of Sunderland, slightly ahead of villa, on a par with Chelsea and man city and based on support alone, slightly behind Newcastle.

By the way, if you are wanting a good sports doc to watch, The Last Dance on Netflix is cracking viewing. I'm not particularly a basketball fan but it hooked me

[lordb]

Jun 6, 2020 11:52:27 GMT prestwichpotter said:

Jun 6, 2020 11:08:55 GMT sheds1862 said:

Seeing as they have existed since 1876 ( cheers Google ) that's a rather strange argument.
Isn't everything relative to stuff on the pitch too ?
Don't know your age but I was there against Norwich and Everton in the 80's .
4000 and 7000 at the Vic in the top flight.
Leeds are massive because of the 70's

I was at both as a nipper, to put into context though crowds were pretty horrendous across the country in the 80’s which were a pretty bleak time for English football.....

Any crowd anywhere above 20000 was big

[bolders]

Jun 6, 2020 11:08:55 GMT sheds1862 said:

Jun 6, 2020 8:14:46 GMT bolders said:

Kinda makes you think, if the fail hadn’t ever existed how many more fans we could of had. In there hay day, that year they were above us, they were getting nearly 15k. Without the Vale it wouldn’t be inconceivable that we could of had a fan base of 40k plus especially when we were in the prem

Seeing as they have existed since 1876 ( cheers Google ) that's a rather strange argument.
Isn't everything relative to stuff on the pitch too ?
Don't know your age but I was there against Norwich and Everton in the 80's .
4000 and 7000 at the Vic in the top flight.
Leeds are massive because of the 70's

im just saying if we were a 1 club city we could of attracted the fans who now go to the vale. not saying we would be a massive club but it couldnt of hurt us

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2020 13:55:20 GMT bolders said:

Jun 6, 2020 11:08:55 GMT sheds1862 said:

Seeing as they have existed since 1876 ( cheers Google ) that's a rather strange argument.
Isn't everything relative to stuff on the pitch too ?
Don't know your age but I was there against Norwich and Everton in the 80's .
4000 and 7000 at the Vic in the top flight.
Leeds are massive because of the 70's

im just saying if we were a 1 club city we could of attracted the fans who now go to the vale. not saying we would be a massive club but it couldnt of hurt us

I think we'd be slightly larger than we are for sure. If Vale didn't exist then our whole history would likely be different. In what way it's clearly impossible to predict, but who knows, maybe if those fuckers had never become professional then we might have had that little bit extra income to fully capitalise on our 70s heydeys, and maybe we'd have a few titles and FA cups to show for our troubles.

[bolders]

Jun 6, 2020 15:23:30 GMT @stokiepmre89 said:

Jun 6, 2020 13:55:20 GMT bolders said:

im just saying if we were a 1 club city we could of attracted the fans who now go to the vale. not saying we would be a massive club but it couldnt of hurt us

I think we'd be slightly larger than we are for sure. If Vale didn't exist then our whole history would likely be different. In what way it's clearly impossible to predict, but who knows, maybe if those fuckers had never become professional then we might have had that little bit extra income to fully capitalise on our 70s heydeys, and maybe we'd have a few titles and FA cups to show for our troubles.

Its just a frustrating thought exercise lol

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2020 15:32:16 GMT bolders said:

Jun 6, 2020 15:23:30 GMT @stokiepmre89 said:

I think we'd be slightly larger than we are for sure. If Vale didn't exist then our whole history would likely be different. In what way it's clearly impossible to predict, but who knows, maybe if those fuckers had never become professional then we might have had that little bit extra income to fully capitalise on our 70s heydeys, and maybe we'd have a few titles and FA cups to show for our troubles.

Its just a frustrating thought exercise lol

Ye it’s really not worth it. It bugs me sometimes when I see how close we got to some major honours in the 70s and I wasn’t even born until 89. Not worth it although it’s kind of fun to imagine reasons to dislike vale more.

[Godo]

What impressed me was the cohesion between the manager, chief exec and director of football. Bielsa wanted a left winger, they identified Matty James and were all ready to sign him until Swansea became incognito on transfer deadline day (obviously the Shit gazumped them). I am impressed by the youth set up and Bielsa's willingness to give these kids an opportunity. Meanwhile we had 3 seasons of signing misfits, bad characters, serial failures etc that resulted in a bloated squad on high wages but with very little re-sale value. Leeds appears to be a very professional set up now after years of being a basket case. For 3 seasons prior to the arrival of MON this club was also badly run. Hopefully MON can bring the same sort of focus to us but whether we can do that with the existing chief exec and scouting network who knows.

[boothenender]

I read some where that the Leeds support for the catchment area is actually quite poor.
I live in Doncaster and the town is split between Rovers, Wednesday and Leeds with a few Blades and Forest fans thrown in.
The majority of Leeds fans that I know are over 50, and they are living in the Revie era. Probably the same as Forest fans living in the Clough era.
Leeds is a rugby city and a lot of their support is from the surrounding area.
Like I said previously their support from the City of Leeds is quite poor.
When you look at the area in and around Leeds there is no real decent team to support.
Getting back to present day Leeds Coach Bielsa, he is very good Coach and he will leave if major investment is not made in the team when they go up.
Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country.
Sadly Leeds have a massive hooligan element and the Premiership elders will not let them drag the brand down in to the gutter again.
Expect massive points deductions and fines when these so called football fans roll in to town.

[bathstoke]

Jun 7, 2020 13:10:12 GMT boothenender said:

I read some where that the Leeds support for the catchment area is actually quite poor.
I live in Doncaster and the town is split between Rovers, Wednesday and Leeds with a few Blades and Forest fans thrown in.
The majority of Leeds fans that I know are over 50, and they are living in the Revie era. Probably the same as Forest fans living in the Clough era.
Leeds is a rugby city and a lot of their support is from the surrounding area.
Like I said previously their support from the City of Leeds is quite poor.
When you look at the area in and around Leeds there is no real decent team to support.
Getting back to present day Leeds Coach Bielsa, he is very good Coach and he will leave if major investment is not made in the team when they go up.
Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country.
Sadly Leeds have a massive hooligan element and the Premiership elders will not let them drag the brand down in to the gutter again.
Expect massive points deductions and fines when these so called football fans roll in to town.

Nearly got stabbed in the back by Leeds fans in the 80’s at their place. It was only the quick thinking of a mate that saved me. Cheers Hilly, you saved meXx

[thfc67]

Jun 7, 2020 13:10:12 GMT boothenender said:

I read some where that the Leeds support for the catchment area is actually quite poor.
I live in Doncaster and the town is split between Rovers, Wednesday and Leeds with a few Blades and Forest fans thrown in.
The majority of Leeds fans that I know are over 50, and they are living in the Revie era. Probably the same as Forest fans living in the Clough era.
Leeds is a rugby city and a lot of their support is from the surrounding area.
Like I said previously their support from the City of Leeds is quite poor.
When you look at the area in and around Leeds there is no real decent team to support.
Getting back to present day Leeds Coach Bielsa, he is very good Coach and he will leave if major investment is not made in the team when they go up.
Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country.
Sadly Leeds have a massive hooligan element and the Premiership elders will not let them drag the brand down in to the gutter again.
Expect massive points deductions and fines when these so called football fans roll in to town.

When did Leeds "drag the brand down in to the gutter". I remember vaguely some trouble with Man United, who were equally to blame. But that was historical bitter rivalry. Plenty of that still goes on among other Premier League clubs.

"Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country."

I don't get this. How are Leeds fans going to create chaos all over the country?

[silsdenstokie]

Jun 7, 2020 13:10:12 GMT boothenender said:

I read some where that the Leeds support for the catchment area is actually quite poor.
I live in Doncaster and the town is split between Rovers, Wednesday and Leeds with a few Blades and Forest fans thrown in.
The majority of Leeds fans that I know are over 50, and they are living in the Revie era. Probably the same as Forest fans living in the Clough era.
Leeds is a rugby city and a lot of their support is from the surrounding area.
Like I said previously their support from the City of Leeds is quite poor.
When you look at the area in and around Leeds there is no real decent team to support.
Getting back to present day Leeds Coach Bielsa, he is very good Coach and he will leave if major investment is not made in the team when they go up.
Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country.
Sadly Leeds have a massive hooligan element and the Premiership elders will not let them drag the brand down in to the gutter again.
Expect massive points deductions and fines when these so called football fans roll in to town.

Leeds hooligan element is no worse than anyone else's these days so oil don't see this having any effect on them going in to the premiership.
Also, I wouldn't say it was a rugby city, I'd say it was 50/50 with the north west of the city the rugby stronghold. LUFC have plenty of support within the city though would agree that the majority of their support comes from the surrounding areas.

One thing I would say about Leeds, you don't see anyone wandering around the city centre in man Utd or Liverpool tops

[Linx]

Jun 5, 2020 22:39:39 GMT PotterLog said:

To nitpick, "absolutely massive" is pushing it, as is "huge support". They're a biggish club from a large one-club city with corresponding support and a couple of titles, couple of cups. They're no Villa or Newcastle. They're arguably no Sunderland. I lived in Leeds for years and never found it to be a particularly football-centric place at all to be honest. And this was when they were very good. They're as interested int' Rhinoooos as they are in the soccer.

Agreed. And, historically, the whole city were all egg chasers during the first twenty years or more of the Football League’s existence and, as a football club, are nouveau arrivistes compared to ourselves, formed at least fifty years earlier. They had the Revie years, during which they changed their traditional blue and gold colours to establish overnight a new ‘tradition’ of an all-white kit, emulating Real Madrid, and then a little renaissance under Howard Wilkinson. Apart from that, not a lot else. But then, they do have a more prestigious trophy cabinet contents than us, which isn’t saying much since just about everyone else has as well. Except Vale, of course.

[Squeekster]

Really disappointed when I opened this thread!

[boothenender]

Jun 7, 2020 15:16:32 GMT thfc67 said:

Jun 7, 2020 13:10:12 GMT boothenender said:

I read some where that the Leeds support for the catchment area is actually quite poor.
I live in Doncaster and the town is split between Rovers, Wednesday and Leeds with a few Blades and Forest fans thrown in.
The majority of Leeds fans that I know are over 50, and they are living in the Revie era. Probably the same as Forest fans living in the Clough era.
Leeds is a rugby city and a lot of their support is from the surrounding area.
Like I said previously their support from the City of Leeds is quite poor.
When you look at the area in and around Leeds there is no real decent team to support.
Getting back to present day Leeds Coach Bielsa, he is very good Coach and he will leave if major investment is not made in the team when they go up.
Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country.
Sadly Leeds have a massive hooligan element and the Premiership elders will not let them drag the brand down in to the gutter again.
Expect massive points deductions and fines when these so called football fans roll in to town.

When did Leeds "drag the brand down in to the gutter". I remember vaguely some trouble with Man United, who were equally to blame. But that was historical bitter rivalry. Plenty of that still goes on among other Premier League clubs.

"Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country."

I don't get this. How are Leeds fans going to create chaos all over the country?

[boothenender]

Jun 8, 2020 23:34:16 GMT boothenender said:

Jun 7, 2020 15:16:32 GMT thfc67 said:

When did Leeds "drag the brand down in to the gutter". I remember vaguely some trouble with Man United, who were equally to blame. But that was historical bitter rivalry. Plenty of that still goes on among other Premier League clubs.
I meant it to read that the Premiership brand and the English FA will not allow Leeds hooligans to drag the Premiership as a brand in to the gutter.
The Premiership as we know is one of the richest sporting business' in the World
They with the FA will deduct points from Leeds Utd when and they will start trouble once they return to the Premiership.
This will in turn do one of two things
1 Make Leeds face up to the fact that they have a massive hooligan problem.
2 Relegate Leeds due to the FA deducted points from them
I have the " pleasure" of working with some of their top lads and they are licking their lips at the thought of creating trouble as soon as they return.


"Everyone knows that Leeds will self implode and their fans will create chaos all over the Country."

I don't get this. How are Leeds fans going to create chaos all over the country?