Eight years later, Sam Byram is the future again
The old guard are supposed to hand down to the people who came after them, but next season is a stage for younger lads with longer stories.
Moxcowhite • Daniel Chapman
Aaron Lennon ⭑ From A-Z since '92
Smith, Milner, Lennon. Twenty-three, seventeen, sixteen. Rothwell, Horsforth, Chapeltown. 2004 wasn't only a battle against relegation, and liquidation, but to save the future that the club's youth prospects still teased was possible.
Failure is inevitable when no one is allowed to fail
Marcelo Bielsa says football is getting worse because of the pressure and the scrutiny and the blame and the accusations. Or to put it another way, Lee Dixon's commentary.
Ian Rush and Tony Yeboah at the high point of optimism
As an image of pure optimism I don't think this can be bettered. It's a weird image. It's a great image. God, Ian Rush was rubbish though.
Aapo Halme ⭑ From A-Z since '92
Welcome to the start of a project that will take approximately (checks calculations), oh, only eight years, to write about every (*most) Leeds player since 1992. And it all begins with Aapo Halme.
Archie Gray, PSR, and saying goodbye to football's glorious delusions
To look at Archie Gray playing for Leeds was to see a golden era come back, to forget all the market forces crushing modern football and feel the glorious 1960s and 70s again. A smiley badge on the away kit next season won’t do that the way Archie Gray could do that.
Acting to imagine: Thomas Christiansen takes on Marcelo Bielsa
When Bielsa placed his hands on Christiansen's shoulders before this game began the moment passing between them contained multitudes, from Vurnon Anita to Jay-Roy Grot.
The history of Red Bull, and the history of Leeds United
The best argument for convincing ourselves that Red Bull won't change Leeds United's name or colours is the weight of our heritage, but it is also the danger.
Leeds United 0-1 Southampton: Turning up
The goal was the beginning of the end. A sinking feeling, a knowing glance. A resorting to hope — maybe it'll be different, this time — that was contradicted every time you looked at the players.
The Wembley Archie
A baton will be passed on Sunday, a family inheritance. But Andy Gray will be handing down a beginning, not a destiny.