There have been some great English teams over the years, such as Manchester United, Arsenal but today we take a look at a different caliber of Football great. We are going to talk about a club with a great history but not much to boast off in modern day football, we take a look at Yorkshire based club Leeds United.
Leeds have won three English top flight titles, one FA Cup, one football league cup, Two FA Clarity Shield Cups, two FA Youth Cups, they’ve also made into the UEFA Champions League semifinals on one occasion.
The Yorkshire club is said to owe their current football predicament to their financial exploits that saw them build up massive debts that in turn caused a financial meltdown and saw them drop down into the League 1 before finding their way back into the football league where they are currently operating. Although most would say that 3-0 loss to Valencia started it all.
Leeds finished champions of the final English First Division season, a feat that saw them become one of the 22 teams to feature in the new English Premier League.
Leeds reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2000-2001 season but to do so they spent big which eventually led to debts after they failed to qualify for the 2002-2003 Champions League as they finished 5th in the Premier League. They had to make up for their debts by selling their top performers.
Leeds eventually suffered relegation in the 2004 season as they dropped down to the Football League Championship, they continued to experience the backlash of their expenditures in 2001. The club voluntarily opted for an administrative system, which led to a ten-point deduction that in turn meant relegation to the Football league one in 2007, it was the first time they had featured in the football league one.
Leeds United got relegated under the guidance of Dennis Wise and when his replacement came along in the form of an eccentric Gary McAllister.
Gary’s appointment brought about great optimism from fans of Leeds United as his arrival hinted at a premier league return, but he also failed which led to the appointment of club Hero Simon Grayson as the new Leeds boss.
It appeared Leeds had found their man at that point as he led Leeds to a fourth place finish in the 2008-2009 season, and he achieved an incredible home record that was 11 straight home wins going on par with Don Revie’s home record.
Leeds finished fourth and qualified for the playoffs, but they lost out to Millwall in the Semi-finals.
Grayson had full support from the board and the fans at Elland Road, and it didn’t take much time from then on before he guided the Whites out of the League One and into the Championship in the 2009-2010 season.
Grayson’s achievements have been Compared with Eddie Gray’s, a man who has been closely related with Leeds for a number of years.
Upon their promotion to the Championship, Leeds had a great start to the season as they maintained a top four position up until the last quarter of the season when they began to lose important games and drop key points.
The club finished just outside of a playoff spot in the seventh position with Becchio being their highest goal scorer of that season with 20 goals.
Leeds finished well below expectations in their second season back in the Championship as they finished at 14th place on the table.
It led to the sacking of Simon Grayson and the appointment of Neil Warnock.
In their third consecutive season in the Championship, they finished the season in the 13th position but they managed to get to the FA Cup semi-finals before getting knocked out by Chelsea.
Neil Warnock left the club in April after he couldn’t get Leeds back into the Premier League. Brian McDermott was appointed club’s eight managers in ten years.
Leeds being one of the greats of English football are still in the Championship, and it seems unlikely that they’ll be getting promoted anytime soon as they currently sit at 15th place on the table.
