Logo of Leeds United
Leeds United are a professional association football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club's home ground is Elland Road.
The club's most common nicknames are "The Whites" and "The Peacocks". The latter stems from the former name of the Elland Road, The Old Peacock Ground, which was in turn named after The Old Peacock pub opposite Elland Road's South Stand and The New Peacock pub which stood behind the North stand (where the M621 now runs) Although the club name bears the "AFC" suffix, the current badge displays "LUFC". However, previous badges have included the official suffix in its entirety.
The club have competed at the top level of English football for the majority of their existence, following the disbanding of predecessor Leeds City. Under the management of Don Revie during the 1960s and 1970s, Leeds won two First Division titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup twice. After Revie's departure to manage the England team, Leeds were relegated to the Second Division in 1982, not returning to the top flight until 1990, when they were managed by Howard Wilkinson. Leeds were league champions two seasons later, in 1992. During the 1990s and early 2000s Leeds competed for places in Europe, reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons. However, after severe financial difficulties and a mass sale of players, Leeds were relegated from the Premier League and subsequently from The Championship three years later. After three seasons in League One they were promoted back to the Championship on the last day of the 2009-10 season.
Over the following few years, Leeds consolidated their position in the Second Division and in 1924 won the title and with it promotion to the First Division. However, they failed to establish themselves and were relegated in 1926–27. After being relegated Fairclough resigned which paved the way for Ray to return as manager. In the years up until the start of World War II Leeds were twice relegated, both times being instantly re-promoted the following season.
On 5 March 1935 Ray resigned and he was replaced by Billy Hampson, who remained in charge for 12 years. In the 1946–47 season after the war, Leeds were relegated again with the worst league record in their history. After this season, Hampson resigned (he stayed with Leeds as their chief scout albeit for only 8 months) and was replaced in April 1947 by Willis Edwards.
In 1948 Sam Bolton replaced Ernest Pullan as the chairman of Leeds United. Edwards was moved to assistant trainer in April 1948 after just one year as manager. He was replaced by Major Frank Buckley.
They remained in the Second Division until 1955–56, when Leeds once again won promotion to the First Division, inspired by Welsh legend John Charles. However, Charles was hungry for success at the highest level, and manager Raich Carter was unable to convince him that Leeds could satisfy his ambitions. Charles was sold to Juventus for a then world record of £65,000; the loss of such a key player led to Leeds' decline, and the team was relegated to the Second Division in 1959–60.
Leeds appointed George Graham as Wilkinson's replacement. The appointment was controversial as Graham had previously received a one year ban from The Football Association for receiving illegal payments from a Football Agent. Graham made some astute purchases such as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and also helped blood in some youngsters from Leeds' successful youth cup winning side, and by the end of the season Leeds had qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup.
In October 1998 Graham moved on to become manager of Tottenham Hotspur, and Leeds opted to replace him with assistant manager David O'Leary. Star striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left Leeds for Atletico Madrid after a new contract couldn't be agreed with chairman Peter Ridsdale. O'Leary introduced promising youngsters, and signed Mark Viduka as Hasselbaink's replacement and also French midfielder Olivier Dacourt who broke Leeds' transfer record at the time.
O'Leary was assisted by Leeds legend Eddie Gray and Leeds secured 3rd place in the league, sending the club into the UEFA Champions League. Leeds' image was tarnished when players Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer were involved in an incident which left an Asian student in hospital with severe injuries. The resulting court case took nearly two years to resolve; Bowyer was cleared, and Woodgate convicted of affray and sentenced to community service.
In the UEFA Cup during that season, Leeds reached their first European semi-final in 25 years and were paired against Turkish champions Galatasaray in Istanbul. Leeds lost the game, but the result was overshadowed by the death of two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, who were stabbed to death before the game. Leeds were only able to draw the return leg at Elland Road, thus going out of the competition. A minute's silence is held every year at the match closest to the anniversary of the incident to remember Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight.
O'Leary's Leeds never finished outside of the top five, but following their defeat in the UEFA Champions League 2001 semi-final against Valencia their fortunes began to change. Under chairman Peter Ridsdale, Leeds had taken out large loans against the prospect of the share of the TV rights and sponsorship revenues that come with UEFA Champions League qualification and any subsequent progress in the competition. Leeds signed Robbie Fowler and Seth Johnson for large fees and big wages. However, Leeds narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League losing out to 4th place to Newcastle United, and as a consequence did not receive enough income to repay the loans. The first indication that the club was in financial trouble was the sale of Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United for approximately £30 million. Ridsdale and O'Leary publicly fell out over the sale, and O'Leary was sacked and replaced by former England manager Terry Venables.
Leeds performed badly under Venables, and other players were sold to repay the loans, including Jonathan Woodgate, who Ridsdale had promised Venables would not be sold. Other star players such as Lee Bowyer, Nigel Martyn, Robbie Fowler, Robbie Keane and Harry Kewell were also sold over time, with Kewell's departure under rather acrimonious circumstances.
Tensions mounted between Ridsdale and Venables. Although some players had left, the team was still underachieving given the quality of players remaining. Venables chose to leave out the likes of Olivier Dacourt and David Batty, who had been two of Leeds' star players in the years prior. After a string of poor results and Leeds in the bottom half of the table, and with relations between chairman and manager still strained, Venables was eventually sacked and replaced by Peter Reid. During this time Ridsdale had resigned from the Leeds board, and was replaced by existing non-executive director Professor John McKenzie. By this time Leeds were in danger of relegation, but Reid saved Leeds from the drop in the penultimate game of the season.
0 Komentar untuk "Leeds United Football Club is English Football Club"