- 05/06/2025
A special documentary charting Leeds United's return to the Premier League, featuring fans, Yorkshire Evening Post staff and more.
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00:0050 years of Leeds fan, this is one of my proudest days. Absolutely brilliant. We have the ups and downs, we sing about that all the time. This is the best.
00:20The 21st of April 2025, just one memorable day from an unforgettable season for Leeds United Football Club.
00:32From the highs and lows of the EFL Championship to an open-top bus parade in Leeds City's centre, Joseph Keith, Graham Smith, Joe Donoghue and Laura Collins have been reflecting on Leeds United returning to the Premier League.
00:50I'm Joseph Keith, the editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post. We were coming off a particularly disappointing close to the previous campaign.
01:03I'm a lifelong Leeds fan, so I was down there at Wembley for the play-off final against Southampton. Everyone obviously knows the result. It's been a bit of a thorn in our side as play-off finals at Wembley.
01:16It was a case of the club having to be picked up by the bootstraps again after the latest in a long line of Wembley disappointments. They didn't get promotion at the first time of asking that they so badly wanted and they came incredibly close.
01:30That's where I think a lot of people went, OK, right, we're just going to have to pull up our bootstraps and say we're going to have to go again.
01:36You know, none more so than Daniel Farker. You know, he pretty much said exactly the same in his post-match press conference at Wembley.
01:44During the pre-season and in the build-up, I think there was still that, not quite hangover, but just the feeling of, OK, we really do not want to go through those emotions again.
01:54They lost Archie Gray, they lost Jorginho Ruter, they lost Crescencio Somerville. Three unbelievable individual talents and the idea that they would be able to get automatic promotion without those players was quite a daunting one.
02:08They did some really, really good recruitment in the summer. You know, they got some bargains in who turned out to be incredibly good players.
02:14Got Jadon Bogle from Sheffield United, got Al Tanaka from Germany, the second tier of Germany.
02:18By the time the first game against Portsmouth kicked off, there was a bit more optimism around, you know, what Leeds were capable of doing in the 24-25 season.
02:27That ended 3-3 and was a mess, a frantic mess, and quite frankly was concerning to quite a few fans. We had a good chat, me and a few fans, after the game.
02:39A lot of the supporters were a little bit concerned about potential defensive frailties.
02:42Around the mid-winter stage, the halfway mark in Farka's first season, the team started to take on an inevitability.
02:49You felt like they were going to win, you felt like they were going to win the next game and the next game.
02:55And they did that again. You know, he managed to build a team that was just as capable of going on a run as the first team he built.
03:04Most of the teams that they went up against in the Championship, you could see that Leeds would dominate possession. They would, you know, have the lion's share of chances.
03:13They go on this incredible unbeaten run where you just think there's no way it's not going to happen.
03:19You know, they get the wins over Sunderland and Sheffield United where they really had to dig out those results.
03:24And they weren't playing their absolute best, but they were getting incredible results and wins.
03:27And at that point, I think we all had them largely promoted as champions and perhaps got slightly carried away.
03:34I mean, they were trending in the right direction, but at the same time, it wasn't done yet.
03:39And the thing about Daniel Farka is that he's never too high, never too low.
03:42And in that moment, he wasn't too high and didn't get carried away so that when the low came and it did come, he didn't get carried away then either when everyone else was losing their head.
03:52I think what really made me think, OK, they might be, you know, on for top two here was when Ethan Ampadu, the captain, and Ilya Gurev, his central midfield partner, were both injured in consecutive games, both ruled out for long periods with knee injuries.
04:10And Autenaka, the Japanese international, but was very much an unknown quantity at this point.
04:15And Joe Rothwell on loan from Bournemouth came in and it felt as though they didn't really miss a beat.
04:21And I thought, OK, that's a great reflection of the squad depth that they have.
04:26And they were just very entertaining, very good to watch.
04:28Elan Melier made a few errors and ultimately was then dropped from the side.
04:33The decision to bring in Karl Darlow as the backup goalkeeper had to be absolutely spot on, but ultimately it proved to be the right decision.
04:40I was at Preston, which felt must win at that time.
04:44I think we went from in the space of two weeks, we've blown the championship, it's definitely playoffs, to I remember a Fark press conference where Daniel Farker said, if Burnley and Sheffield win all of their last, I can't remember what it was, six or seven fixtures, congratulations to them for, you know, winning the championship.
05:04I would say it has been a very tense season in the Collins household.
05:10So as the former editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, if you don't support Leeds United, you may as well probably just leave Leeds altogether.
05:18But my husband, dare I say it, is from the wrong side of the Pennines.
05:22And he is a hardened, seasoned Burnley fan, so has supported Burnley all of his life, had a season ticket, and needless to say, the last few matches were particularly almost divorce-inducing, I would say, in our house.
05:38It's been quite tense.
05:40Right up until the last, there were teams changing places, you know, all the teams not playing at the same time, meaning that one team would go top, one team would drop out of the automatic promotion.
05:51So there was different levels of pressure and external stresses on the team.
05:56But they stood up to it really well.
05:57And, I mean, they proved it by winning the last six on the bounce, which was the biggest run that they'd been on throughout the entire season.
06:06The day that they won promotion was a strange one because, in typical Leeds United fashion, they weren't allowed to celebrate on the pitch.
06:13You know, they weren't allowed to do it the perfect way.
06:16Winning 6-0 at home, you know, it would have been absolutely perfect for them.
06:21To finish that game and to be crowned, promoted right there and then, and have a pitch invasion and have great scenes with the fans.
06:28But they had to all stick around and wait and watch on their phones or go to the Peacock or go back into town and then try and race back to Elland Road.
06:36But they were all getting round screen so they could watch Burnley's game against Sheffield United.
06:40The Peacock went in there to try and get some shots of fans, you know, celebrating or watching the game.
06:45And it just so happened that there was a penalty given in Burnley's favour at the time that I was in there.
06:52And I thought, you know, it's a great opportunity to sort of canvas what the feeling is.
06:57Because it's such a strange thing to sort of be cheering on another team from the one that you support because it benefits your team.
07:05I think one of the weirdest moments of the day was when Daniel Farker was sat with us doing his press conference after Leeds win.
07:11And the Burnley game was on a screen to his right and you could see him checking it and looking at it.
07:17And Burnley went ahead and Farker was mid-answer as that goal went in and he didn't skip a beat.
07:23You know, he just continued on in this very measured way.
07:26Whereas inside, I would imagine that his stomach was probably doing somersaults.
07:32And then, of course, Burnley win that game and then that's it.
07:35They're promoted and they were able to go out to the East End steps and have those celebrations with fans
07:40that they didn't get properly back in 2020.
07:44It's manic down there, absolutely manic.
07:45But we're happy we did it, aren't we, lads?
07:47We're there.
07:48We're back where we should be.
07:49Yeah, we are.
07:49Back where we belong.
07:50The big club is back, aren't we?
07:52Yeah, it is.
07:53I've been a Leeds United fan since I can remember.
07:55As long as I can remember.
07:57And then just seeing these, these are my mate's kids, but seeing these enjoy it as well.
08:00That's the main thing.
08:01Aren't you, lads?
08:02Yeah.
08:03You enjoyed it?
08:03Come on, Leeds.
08:04Go on, Leeds.
08:04I've been a Leeds fan all my life.
08:06And when it really counts, sometimes we don't deliver.
08:12And tonight we delivered.
08:13Unbelievable.
08:14To win 6-0 against Stoke, who are a team who are still fighting for relegation.
08:21We've done really well.
08:22We've done really well.
08:23It was amazing to see sort of everybody convene on the East End at Elland Road
08:28or just outside Elland Road after everything was confirmed.
08:31You know, flares being set off and the team coming out to the steps and leading chants.
08:38Get to it!
08:39Top of the league!
08:40We're Leeds United!
08:41We're Top of the League!
08:43That's the most un-Leeds United thing that's ever happened in the world.
08:46For the other results to go our way just doesn't happen as far as Leeds United are concerned.
08:50We couldn't wait to travel here to celebrate with everybody else.
08:54They were excellent.
08:54It felt like the Norwich game from last year, but then it just got better and better.
08:58It was unbelievable.
08:59The atmosphere was rocking right before the start of the game.
09:01All the way through.
09:02Brilliant.
09:03Absolutely ace.
09:04What do you think, girls?
09:05Carly!
09:07It's been absolutely fantastic.
09:09We're up first thing, weren't we?
09:10Yeah, first thing this morning.
09:11Could hardly move dead and talk.
09:13And then keeping ourselves busy all day long.
09:16Trying to get closer to kick-off time.
09:18Then all of a sudden it's there.
09:20And the nerves are there.
09:22And then all of a sudden you score.
09:24P-R-O gets far.
09:24And all the nerves have gone.
09:25Live your life.
09:27Yeah, P-R-O.
09:27Come on.
09:28We are the leagues.
09:29We are the leagues.
09:30We are the leagues.
09:31We are the leagues.
09:32We are the leagues.
09:32We are the leagues.
09:34What was really nice was that individuals in the squad all each had their moment.
09:39You know, the captain, Ethan Ampadu, was very insistent on each player getting their individual
09:43moment with the fans and moments of appreciation.
09:46And supporters being able to let off fireworks and flares and do it properly in a way that they
09:50didn't do in 2020 was was really really special to see i think that bristol city home game last
09:57home game of the season uh that i think that's the best atmosphere football atmosphere um certainly
10:02ellen road atmosphere that i've ever ever experienced seeing with the yellow scarves
10:07on the seat seen so much yellow um probably worth a mention for the kits this season as well which
10:12i think were outstanding towards the end of the season um in terms of the final game at plymouth
10:17um there was a very much a party atmosphere down there on the south coast the weather was good
10:22you know leeds were already promoted um fans could really enjoy the enjoy the the spectacle of it
10:28but there was still that lingering hope of okay we've been promoted but we really want to go up
10:34as champions it felt very very leads that they made hard work of it you know that plymouth gave
10:39them a game and then at one stage the title was going to burnley you know burnley were winning
10:42the league at that stage um because they were ahead in their game and leads were not winning
10:47their game and it was quite difficult actually to see a goal coming at that stage because
10:53plymouth were doing a really good job and then just a moment of magic absolute magic from manor solomon
10:58the away end i don't think i've ever seen a kind of an explosion of body parts and limbs uh and human
11:06beings quite like that and that just sort of kick-started the rest of that weekend you know
11:12it was it was absolutely incredible to watch there was a large large portion of that squad who
11:16um who hadn't won a league title before you know they might have been experienced but they hadn't
11:20physically won a league title and i think that was really special to a lot of them even though
11:24daniel farker was really clear this season the main objective is promotion it's not a title it's
11:28promotion first and foremost everyone at leeds united including him really wanted the title they
11:33really wanted to finish it properly and to finish ahead of burnley and to say that they were the
11:37best team in the championship this season and they deserve to the players came back and had an
11:41after party at ellen road and uh then they had their awards on the sunday night and and again they
11:47were quite reserved you know behavior was was uh impeccable but on the monday you know i don't think
11:53anyone who was in leeds on that monday will will ever forget what they saw
11:57i was the editor of the yorkshire evening post at the time during the previous promotion and
12:09it was fair to say you know the city had spent 16 years waiting for this moment so when this moment
12:16happened it was just an incredible reaction we had people from across the world getting in touch with
12:24us wanting to get copies of the yorkshire evening post covid was in the throes we had lockdown
12:29you know the first matches were held behind closed doors what was really different this time around
12:35was actually the city could celebrate and be part of that celebration so many people out and about
12:41celebrating sort of like almost recouping that lost moment that we never quite got last time i got off
12:47the the train into leeds and there was just a sea of yellow you know people getting off trains from
12:54all over i talked to a couple of guys uh outside the train station who'd got out of a taxi because
12:59they couldn't get on a train at uh castleford and um they came from all over there was a guy on my
13:06train when this kid from birmingham who said he just couldn't miss it and it kind of builds this
13:10sense that this is something very very special indeed and certainly something unlike anything i've
13:15ever covered in 20 seasons covering football from four hours before the parade people started to
13:21pack city square and line the route and by the time the bus actually hit the city center it was
13:26bedlam everybody you saw was just in such a great great mood um and then when the bus went past i
13:33mean it's it's a a very very short period you actually get to sort of see the players um we were
13:39obviously as press very fortunate to sort of be you know following along behind um next to the sort of
13:47the escort um and yeah it was it was interesting to see just how much again it meant to the to those on
13:55the buses you know they they'd been on them for the best part of two hours and yet their enthusiasm
14:00hadn't dampened
14:01i was stood at the corn exchange view wasn't great i'll be honest despite i'm six foot one but
14:13even on my tip tiptoes i uh i struggled the whole perimeter around the city center was rammed uh crowded
14:19with people obviously all all decked out in leeds united kit and memorabilia white yellow and blue
14:25uh smoke everywhere that you could see party vibe everywhere children children cheering hugging
14:32their parents with with their names on their back grandparents with you know tears in their eyes
14:38fighting back tears for the occasion
14:40we were very lucky that um the council opened the uh art gallery uh balcony for us so uh on the head row
14:53on the kind of the last stretch of the parade we were able to to get a really good vantage point
14:58the issue with it was that as the amassed photographers from the nation's press trained their cameras on the
15:04bus uh someone let off i think it was 34 smoke flares directly beneath us and so the bus disappeared
15:09for about two minutes into the smoke i walked across from east gate so i walked up east gate i could see
15:15the the bottom end of the head row which was already full by that point and then along all the way
15:21along uh vicar lane in front of the market down new market street was quite a spectacle i abandoned
15:26going to city square because i just couldn't make it through through the crowds of people
15:30but yeah it's just lovely to see city center so vibrant so excited everyone enjoying themselves that
15:36leeds pride coming through city pride it just sort of came together as an amalgamation of uh of city
15:42pride that we'll all remember for for decades i'm sure i'd like to say that i was surprised by the
15:48turnout for the parade but i genuinely wasn't i think you know everyone came out the city came out
15:54it really celebrated it was just a fantastic celebration and sea of sort of like yellow and
16:01blue across the city you know the flares were let off there were flags and what was really striking was
16:07it was just people of all ages coming together you know there's hardened leeds united fans who've been
16:13through it all they're bringing their children their grandchildren the council have estimated 150 000
16:19but i think that's probably on the conservative side i think most who were there would agree
16:23i spoke to a guy who'd flown from malta gone to plymouth to the game flown back to malta and then
16:29flown back to leeds for the parade and it just sums up perfectly the adoration and dedication that
16:37leeds found out kids will they will never forget a day like that and it it was exactly as you would
16:42imagine that 1992 must have been you know just a just a celebration really a city coming together
16:48with its football club certain members of the squad were keen to keep the party going um and they put a
16:54call in um to uh the city center bar katie o'bryans they were told yes we can accommodate you and make
17:01sure that everything's comfortable um but i don't think they would have cared that much for sort of the vip
17:05treatment because they they all piled in and before long there were 40 50 of them uh in there uh from
17:13from leeds united uh there was patrick bamford on the guitar uh there was um jaden bogle and junior
17:19furpo leading chants um at one end of the bar there was you know largey ramazani was front and center
17:27the fact that leeds weren't able to have that type of celebration with was uh you know a revered coach and
17:33bielsa and a much loved team um five years ago was a real tragedy so it felt as though it was two
17:39parades in one or two celebrations in one even though there were as there always will be with
17:44leeds united some moments of drama and some moments of trauma and ups and downs you know they got there
17:49in the end when leeds united win leeds is a city win in general so you know it has a real impact on the
17:58city i think it's fair to say that the two have a real special relationship um leeds united is part
18:05of the fabric of leeds we are a one club city you know the city gets behind the club um it's been
18:10behind the club through thick and thin as the song marching on together says ups and downs and there
18:15has been a lot of ups and downs over the years i think you know the promotion will have a brilliant
18:21impact on leeds you know it's all about putting the city on the map even further it's about getting more
18:26people in and out of the city you know business will benefit hostelries will benefit you know the
18:32whole trade will benefit and again it's just a brilliant time to be a leeds fan isn't it we've
18:37already started seeing impact and at the yorkshire evening post my team's been been working really
18:42hard on a series of special reports called the promotion effect taking a bit of a deeper dive into
18:47the impact of promotion and what that means for people that live here people that come here people
18:51that visit here people that work here culture and sport are so intertwined you literally no script
18:59writer could write what this season was going to look like i don't think any songwriter or any play
19:05could probably encapsulate what next season's going to look like to say it's a roller coaster
19:10would be an understatement it is very much hard to survive it's not let's go and attack the premier
19:15league and let's finish top 10. the last couple of seasons have shown just how arduous it is how
19:20difficult it is to stay in the premier league as a newly promoted team even teams spending 100
19:25million haven't got close to the the standard that they need the consistency they need the points
19:30tally they need so everyone knows all of that and no one needs to remind the owners of leeds united
19:37what exactly it is they need to do because the premier league table for the last couple of seasons
19:41has shown it very starkly but there's also an excitement to that as well because they will start
19:47to see new faces and if they get the recruitment right then i think leeds fans will will rightly
19:52start to get excited about the chance of having a go there are leagues within leagues in the premier
19:56league it feels like um where you are essentially competing in a mini competition of the teams around
20:03you and and leads will have to navigate that next season um as well as you know hopefully targeting
20:09maybe one or two big scalps along the way um but i think most fans are very realistic that it's going
20:14to be a real hard slog to stay in the division but ultimately that that would represent success
20:19the last 10 years have been very rollercoastery uh ups and downs i think not making it back to the
20:25premier league following relegation at the first attempt was disappointing as i've talked a little
20:30bit about the playoff final so there was there was a disappointment there but yeah it's potentially
20:35it's made it all the more sweeter to go up as champions this year in a in potentially a better
20:40position as well the more a strong spine to the squad uh it'll be a tough ask obviously to uh to
20:48stay up there uh and and you know and become a fixture of the league trying to to to eke into that
20:55that top half of the table the club has a has a tall tall task ahead over the summer they have to
21:00get pre-season right i know there are there are plans for a camp in germany which is great with uh with
21:05farc's background uh i know we've got some some sort of glamour fixtures up there as well ac milan
21:11uh i think i think are on the list manchester united up at up at sweden so yeah some some some good uh
21:17good fixtures to put us to our paces recruitment's key so the club absolutely have to get recruitment
21:22right we've seen you know uh clubs like nottingham forest coming up a few years ago they got recruitment
21:29right and you know they they've put themselves in a really good position this season uh you know at
21:35one point with third for for for a good period of time i think so yeah it just shows that if you
21:40spend wisely with that large pot of money it's it doesn't go as far as it used to i'm afraid but
21:46if you spend wisely and recruit recruit wisely you can you can have a real impact and and create
21:51something something really special the city of leeds is incredibly proud of its club uh the city of
21:58leeds really gets behind its club i think what we're going to see you know from those first home
22:03games is going to be a real atmosphere and a real treat for any leeds united fan and i think you know
22:09looking ahead to next season and the seasons thereafter you know there's some really exciting
22:13plans about what the club wants to do with the grounds behind us you know there's the huge expansion
22:19which is essentially going to transform this corner of leeds there are more than 20 000 people on
22:24a waiting list to get a season ticket you know just to get to games that's the appetite that there
22:28is for leeds right now and i don't see that dwindling anytime soon it ever since marcelo bielsa came in and
22:35lit a fire under the club again that appetite has has grown and grown and and it stayed there being a
22:40leeds fan is a roller coaster but is the best thing in the world there is no other club that does it like
22:48leeds for better or for worse not making it back to the premier league at the first attempt was
22:53disappointing but going up as champions this year has made that so much sweeter since the 49ers came
23:00in it's felt a little bit more sensible in terms of their approach it's felt at times like the adults
23:08entered the room and took charge and maybe that's something that leeds fans can put their hope in
23:13they've got owners that will do it sensibly and do the right thing and also have the the pockets deep
23:18enough to resource the manager um but it's just such an unknown you know nobody can really predict
23:25what it's going to look like in the premier league for leeds but you just know that it won't be boring
23:43so
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