Leeds United

Leeds United

Leeds United Football Club was formed in 1919 at Salem Chapel in Leeds, rising from the ashes of Leeds City, the club's predecessor that was forcibly disbanded by the Football League in October 1919 following allegations of illegal payments to players during the First World War. Leeds United were elected to the Football League on 31 May 1920 and acquired Elland Road — purchased by Yorkshire Amateurs for just £250 following City's dissolution — as their home. Elland Road, located in the Beeston district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, has a current capacity of 37,645, making it the 14th-largest football stadium in England. The club has ambitious plans approved in 2025 to expand the ground to approximately 53,000 seats, which would make it England's seventh-largest stadium, with construction on the West Stand redevelopment scheduled to begin in May 2026 ahead of the club's return to Premier League football. The defining era of Leeds United came under manager Don Revie between 1961 and 1974, when the club became one of Europe's most feared and ruthlessly effective sides. Revie built a team of exceptional quality and intense togetherness: Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, Norman Hunter, Jack Charlton, Peter Lorimer, Eddie Gray, Paul Madeley, and the brilliant Welsh striker John Charles — widely considered the most complete footballer England has ever produced. Under Revie, Leeds won two First Division titles (1968–69 and 1973–74), the FA Cup in 1972, the League Cup in 1968, and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups (1968 and 1971). They reached the European Cup final in 1975, losing controversially to Bayern Munich in Paris. Leeds' brand of football was often characterised as hard-edged and at times over-physical, but at its finest it was also technically sublime. The 1991–92 season delivered the club's third and most recent English league title, with Howard Wilkinson guiding a team featuring Gordon Strachan, Gary McAllister, Tony Dorigo, and a young Eric Cantona to the First Division championship — the final title before the formation of the Premier League. Since that 1992 triumph, Leeds have experienced an extraordinary and turbulent ride. They lived lavishly in the late 1990s and early 2000s under manager David O'Leary, reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2001 with a team featuring Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Rio Ferdinand, and Alan Smith. But the financial overextension that funded that ambition led to catastrophic collapse: relegation from the Premier League in 2004, financial administration, and further relegation to the third tier by 2007. A long road back eventually delivered promotion to the Premier League in 2020 under the passionate Argentine manager Marcelo Bielsa, whose commitment to a breathless, high-intensity brand of football created one of the most entertaining sides in the country and captured the hearts of fans globally. After Bielsa's departure, the club struggled to maintain Premier League status and was eventually relegated in 2023. Daniel Farke was appointed manager in July 2023 on a four-year contract, and in his second season wrote himself into Leeds legend — securing promotion to the Premier League with a 6–0 win over Stoke City in April 2025 and then clinching the Championship title on the final day with a total of 100 points, the first time in the club's history they had reached that landmark. Leeds United returned to the Premier League for the 2025–26 season, backed by their ferocious Elland Road support and a squad built for the top flight.