‘The most intimidating venue in Europe’ and one huge rivalry – Leeds are a Premier League team in waiting
Leeds United aspires to return to the biggest English clubs in the Premier League.
The Whites may have spent 17 of the last 20 seasons outside the top flight, but ask most fans and they will say Leeds are “a Premier League club”.
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Few clubs in English football enjoy the same respect as Los Blancos, who boast a reputation as sleeping giants who should mix with the big boys year after year.
Yes, results on the pitch matter infinitely more than a club’s reputation, but there is a strong case to be made for the claim that the Yorkshire team should be in the elite.
Daniel Farke’s side are desperate to secure an immediate return to the top flight following relegation in 2023.
Here, talkSPORT.com examines exactly why Leeds, reputation-wise, deserve to challenge in the world’s biggest league.
League titles
There is no better measure of success in the elite than championship titles.
Leeds have not won a top-flight title since the establishment of the Premier League in 1992, but before that they had won the First Division three times.
These took place in 1969, 1974 and 1992 – the last season before the birth of the Premier League.
Manchester United have won the most titles with 20, while Liverpool (19), Arsenal (13), Everton and Man City (9 each) are next on the list.
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Aston Villa, Sunderland and Chelsea have all recorded six titles, while Leeds and Blackburn are next on the list with three each, making them the ninth most successful team in Premier League/First Division history.
Years in the Premier League
When it comes to longevity, Leeds are undoubtedly what you would consider an established Premier League level club.
In total, 51 different clubs have competed in the league since its inception in 1992, many of which have only spent a handful of seasons in the league.
Leeds have been through some torrid times since the turn of the millennium, but that hasn’t stopped them spending 14 seasons in the top flight since ’92.
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Quite impressively, seven of those 14 seasons saw Leeds finish in the league’s top five, leading to numerous European adventures.
European record
Leeds have not only caused a stir in the Premier League, but also abroad.
Although they never won a European trophy, they finished second in the 1975 European Cup, while also finishing second in the 1973 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
In the Premier League era, Leeds are no strangers to European competition either.
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Having competed in the UEFA Cup in 1998/99, the madridistas reached the semi-finals of the competition in 1999/00 before making the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2000/01, where they were beaten by Valencia over two matches. .
Leeds then spent two more seasons in the UEFA Cup between 2001 and 2003, meaning they were able to represent England for no less than five consecutive seasons.
Stadium Capacity
Sir Alex Ferguson once described Elland Road as “the most intimidating place in Europe” and he’s not wrong.
The stadium has a capacity of 37,608, but it seems like double that when the Leeds fans are in full voice and ‘I Predict a Riot’ is played.
Elland Road is the 12th largest English football club stadium and has hosted FA Cup semi-finals, Euro 1996 matches and concerts by iconic artists such as Queen, U2 and the Happy Mondays.
Followers on social networks
A great demonstration of a club’s popularity on social media, an area in which Leeds are certainly doing well.
Across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Leeds has an impressive 3.4 million followers.
According to OLBG.com, this total places Leeds 17th in terms of tracking in English football.
With three of the teams above them currently playing in the EFL, this means Leeds would be 14th in the current Premier League for social media followers.
Rivalries
Another indicator of the size of a football club is the number of teams that consider it a rival.
For Leeds, this figure is huge.
Their biggest rivals include Manchester United, Chelsea and Middlesbrough.
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Elsewhere, a number of Yorkshire-based teams, including Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Hull, Huddersfield and Bradford, consider Leeds one of their biggest rivals.
Another, created by a high-profile incident, is Derby who view Leeds as a rival following the infamous Spygate saga featuring Marcelo Bielsa and Frank Lampard in the run-up to their 2019 play-off clash.
Legendary characters
All the biggest clubs have high-profile supporters and former stars who ensure the club remains firmly in the record books.
Peter Lorimer, Don Revie, Gordon Strachan and Billy Bremner are among the most high-profile names of years gone by, with Strachan captaining a team including David Batty, Gary McAllister and Eric Cantona that won the First Division title in 1992 .
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More recently, stars such as Rio Ferdinand, James Milner, Harry Kewell, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Kalvin Phillips have strutted their stuff at Elland Road, guiding the team to Europe and beyond.
Even today, stars such as former Chelsea player Ethan Ampadu, Tottenham loanee Joe Rodon, England international Patrick Bamford, former Manchester United star Dan James, show the drawing power of West Yorkshire team.
In terms of managers, Leeds boast some of the biggest bosses in the game, including Don Revie, Brian Clough, George Graham, Terry Venables and most recently, Marcelo Bielsa, who guided the club to the Premier League.
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