Leeds United v Liverpool

Sunday 2nd August 2026 at Soldier Fields, Chicago

Pre-season - 2026/27 Season

I woke up the next day to find the 20000+ steps from the day before plus 16,000 before that, had taken its toll on my foot. It was very painful but after ibugel and paracetamol this improved. We headed into New York and thought it was a good idea not to do too much walking. Helen and I made a mistake of going on the hop on hop off bus tour. As we were upstairs and it was very hot, we got off and found somewhere to eat. We realised it was a mistake when trying to get back on the bus saw problems. Despite the bus stop saying it was for the tour, the bus driver indicated we couldn’t get on there but had to go further down. Obviously, he didn’t wait for us so we missed that one and despite their advertisement saying buses every 10 minutes, we waited at least 45 minutes before another turned up. We felt the tour was a letdown and were turfed off the bus when we thought we could carry on for another couple of stops. Although I’d been to Times Square by daylight when I went to the JD Store, it looked so different that I hardly recognised it. I did have a quick look in the Disney Store before we decided to have a ride from there to the Madison Square Gardens in a yellow taxi. That turned out to be the highlight of our day, and we were glad to get that chance. As we went for our train we had two minutes so had a rush to get there but made it. After sitting there and not moving, an announcement came saying we had to get a different train due to police removing a trespasser from the track. I was confused when told to get a blue track train but once I saw the train signage, I realised it was the trains showing up blue on the tv screen that were the ones to catch. At least we made it back before going to Bello’s for a final meal as we were leaving for Chicago in the morning. 

We had an early start leaving the hotel and we were not impressed with the state of the roads on the way to JFK International airport for our flight to Chicago O’Hare airport. Too much bouncing around for us made it an uncomfortable journey but we made it, although later than intended due to the bus being late and then getting stuck in traffic. We were told we could stay in the queue with some of our disabled fans only to be then told we had to go to another queue. It took a while to drop our suitcases off and then there was a long queue for security. I was in the last few to get through there and for me it was too stressful as I had visions of missing the flight. Once through I managed to get down to the gate which was a long walk away but at least we all made it in time. After less than a couple of hours we arrived in Chicago and this time we had a luxury bus to take us to our hotels. What a difference to the last one. There were six of us in Chicago Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown /Magnificent mile with the rest of the group nearer the ground at the Hampton Hill by Hilton McCormick place. 

As our rooms were not ready Helen and I decided to go for something to eat as well as finding a shop for water. We ended up in a diner which had a DJ, staff dancing on the tables and was typically American. It was great fun and everyone in there had smiles on there faces plus the food was nice. We eventually got in our room but two of the lads had to wait until after 6pm which was two hours after the start of the fan event at Fado’s Irish bar. By the time we arrived at Fados we didn’t see any of the players there, but I stayed talking with the Selby and Sherburn Whites some who had been part of the LUSC Selby branch I ran in the 80s/90s as well as talking to many others. Eventually as they were all getting ready to leave, I was trying to get onto the Wi-Fi to call an Uber when one of the Americans Chris, ordered one for me. Thank you for the help which was appreciated. Even though I had tried to sort out my phone network for whilst I was in the USA, it only seemed to work whilst on Wi-Fi so that’s all I tried to use in the end.   

After breakfast Helen and I headed to The Embassy for the pre-game meeting despite all the yellow buses being full that were transferring fans to and from the ground. As usual it was important to go meet and mingle with our fans. It was good to meet up with everyone and have photos and selfies. We found out that we could go on a provisional list for the buses so put our names down. As soon as the first one arrived, I had to go and get a photo of it and then we were very lucky to be given a place on it, so it was great to travel in a yellow bus too. After seeing all the Scotland fans at the recent World Cup enjoying going to games via these buses, I really wanted to do that too. 

As we walked to the ground from the drop off point, even though we were following others, we were making a mental note of where it was. We arrived at the ground after 10 minutes and headed to the fan zone first to look around. We headed to the Leeds part but didn’t queue up as we had already met the players and Lucas the Kop cat. I just made small videos and took photos before we headed into the ground. I had my flag under my arm and got it in then hung it at the front of the top tier of seats where my seat was located. I did end up in the wrong one and had to move! I’m not sure how many Liverpool fans travelled from the UK as it seemed to be more Americans, but I know we had a great following from both the UK, Americans, Canadians and many who had moved over there. 

A big thank you to Juliusz from Poland who now lives in the USA for his donation of $100 towards the Billy Bremner statue in Raploch, Stirling. This will form the first donation in the Go Fund Me page I was to create, plus we were having a bucket collection at the Leipzig game which the club gave us permission to hold. We put out a message saying if they are going to the game, please bring cash with but there will also be a QR code available too for any donations. If we can get every Leeds fan to donate something, however big or small, this would be a big boost to the statue funds. 

Team: 

First half: Alex Cairns, Ethan Ampadu (captain), Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Tarik Muharemović, Lukas Nmecha, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Ao Tanaka, Anton Stach, James Justin. 

Second half: Alex Cairns, Ethan Ampadu (captain), Tarik Muharemović, Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle, Sebastiaan Bornauw, James Justin, Daniel James, Harry Wilson, Sean Longstaff, Brenden Aaronson. 

Subs: Sebastiaan Bornauw for Gudmundsson (injured 34), Willy Gnonto for Bogle (83), Jayden Lienou for Justin (83), 

Subs not used: Joël Piroe, Callum Mills, Alfie Cresswell, Lucas Perri, 

Leeds won the game 4-2 Aaronson 60, Calvert-Lewin with a brace (71, 84), Longstaff (73). 

Attendance: 49,128 

Referee: Alexis Da Silva 

Booked: Tanaka, Aaronson. 

Marching on Together was played for the fans before the teams came out and I was expecting the same with You’ll never walk alone. None of us expected both teams to come out to that instead and it was met with a chorus of boos from many Leeds fans as it wasn’t impartial. It was all geared up for the Liverpool show. 

It was great watching the game amongst many of our fans who ensured we had a good time. After going two goals down before half time, things looked ominous for us. I’m aware of how strong a squad Liverpool have but I didn’t have a clue who played for them anyway. That said, they brought Gudmundsson down with a bad tackle very early on and it looked like the referee wasn’t even going to stop the game. Their player didn’t even receive a booking but didn’t think twice to book two of our players that looked innocuous in comparison. It was no surprise when Gudmundsson went off injured though. 

I sent a message home at half time saying that not to worry as we would comeback in the second half and win. Well win we did by scoring four goals in the second half to come top of the table (not that we won a trophy for coming top, apparently like they did in other years). 

Aaronson pulled one back for us scoring in his home country before an equaliser from Calvert-Lewin gave us hope. Two minutes later we were in the lead with Longstaff’s goal sending everyone into raptures in our end and getting the fourth was the icing on the cake to ensure it was the Leeds fans on top of the world and very happy. The long throws from Ampadu were brilliant, causing havoc in the penalty area reminding me of Vinnie Jones doing the same. I love them and cannot understand why I’ve seen opposition fans asking for them to be banned. All the goals were scored by the half time substitutes. 

On the whole there weren’t any issues between the fans apart from one Liverpool fan shouting about what have we won when everyone was singing on the way back to the yellow buses. Some of our disabled fans were verbally abused by a man u fan (yes there were fans of other clubs in attendance although I expect they were American), on their way out. There was no need for that because why would you have a go at disabled fans? I just wish we were playing another team in Dublin rather than them. It was great last year seeing Leeds colours all around the ground instead of having to look at red this time. 

We caught the yellow bus back to the Embassy before getting an Uber back to the hotel to drop my flag and some other things off. We then went to Quartino restaurant for something to eat and it was packed. As we finished eating our waiter came over and told us there was a dessert on the house as someone behind us had paid for them. Obviously, it was a couple of Leeds fans and I was able to chat with them and thank them for the gesture which was appreciated. I also caught up with a group of Leeds fans upstairs thanks to Helen telling them I was a famous Leeds fan! Again it was lovely chatting with them all and I’ve told everyone to keep up with my website

where they are able to see my reports from games and my photos, especially from the USA trip. 

We were picked up at 1030am from our hotel, flying first from Chicago to Atlanta then onward to Stockport International Airport. I was hoping to get some sleep on the way back for the final leg but didn’t manage it and got very uncomfortable in the seat. Despite it taking nine hours going out to Atlanta it was 7.5 hours coming back although it was still a long flight. More importantly, we made it back safely, got through security and picked up our luggage relatively quickly. This time I was dropped off at Ainley Top instead of going to Leeds and my daughter and granddaughter picked me up so was home in 10 minutes which was lovely. Funnily enough, once they left, I sat down and immediately fell asleep! I wish it had been that easy on the plane but had to force myself awake after a while to ensure I could sleep later that night. The jet lag did hit me though, but it was a relief to be back home. 

I want to say a big thank you to the following: 

Mick Hewitt from LUSC South Kirkby branch for organising the trip and ensuring everything went smoothly. It was no mean feat what he had to do, and I know I wouldn’t have attempted the without his help as there is no way I could have done this on my own. Being able to turn up with everything done for me was invaluable. 

To everyone for their constant help in any way including talking to me, taking selfies, donations of badges, buying badges and t-shirts plus the generosity of many of you. 

Leeds United for finishing the tour strongly ensuring we had something to cheer about and everyone who contributed to making this an enjoyable experience. 

This trip has been amazing, and the fans have made this even better. They’ve drunk copious amounts of alcohol and how they ended up still standing I’ll never know. But even though only two of us weren’t drinking alcohol, it didn’t matter because we all had a fantastic time.

We have the best fans in the world, and I look forward to catching up with many in the future if at a Leeds game.



 LUFC – Marching on Together!