Leeds United v man u

Wednesday 12th August 2026 at Croak Park, Dublin

Pre-season - 2026/27 Season

Unlike when travelling to the USA, it was an easier trip to catch the coach at Elland Road thanks to my granddaughter Hannah, who gave me a lift to the park and ride. After a bacon and egg sarnie at the Elland Road cafe, calling at Billy’s statue to do a reel, it was over to the Don Revie statue to wait for the coach. The trip has once again been organised by Mick Hewitt from the LUSC South Kirkby branch. As we stood there, a man came up asking for interviews and immediately Keith said there was only one person to ask and that was me! So once again I put myself forward to speak to Stanley who has a YouTube channel @WhosGotTekkers. He was visiting all the Premier League grounds in 20 days. Luckily the interview didn’t have to be cut short before the coach arrived. I got on the coach to a chorus of happy birthday being sung by everyone which was a nice surprise. The first time I went on a preseason tour on my birthday was the one Mick organised to Molenbeek, Belgium in 1977. I shared some photos online from that trip, so they are great memories and it was also the first time I met my future husband Phillip/Captain from Halifax. 

It was a very slow journey to the airport as we crawled on the M62 until just before junction 22. It was a vehicle fire that had caused the holdup but also a second hold up due to sheep on the motorway were causing more problems. Despite that, we managed to get through security in time with the wheelchair assistance wacky races for four from our group. Having a single lift for each wheelchair took time but luckily there wasn’t a queue. It was pointed out to us by our helper that if you get a few planes arriving at once, you could have over 40 wheelchair users waiting for the lift. That is something that definitely needs to improve. 

We had a smooth and very quick flight, and as no announcement came for assistance I thought as I could walk, I’d better get off the plane and waited by the airport door for the wheelchairs. Well of course that didn’t happen and I should have realised seeing only one chair there. It was a Liverpool fan who told me they’d gone in a minibus. By that time I was behind everyone else so checked my text to see where we were heading. I’d read the part for everyone to wait in arrivals, but the next bit also said where the bus was picking us up, so I headed there, only to see no sign of those in wheelchairs or the coach so I failed at the first hurdle. Just as I was heading back to the terminal most of the group arrived and we’d been given the wrong place for the coach anyway. By that time I’d realised where the coaches picked us up last year so that intuition was right. Luckily everything ended up okay in the end, but I know to do things differently on our way back. 

After checking in to the hotel, we met in the bar downstairs before I went with Sue, Nikki, Danny and Keith to Wetherspoons for something to eat. I decided I wanted a coffee (I couldn’t have a latte as there was no milk), so left them there as I went for a wander, and I came to a crossroads with statues with the needle to the right. As it turned out, this was the way the bus brought us from the Camden to the ground the next day. 

It was great meeting up with many I already knew plus lots of new people. A big thank you Gerry Kenny and his wife May for coming to the hotel to pick me up and escort me to the Camden which was greatly appreciated. The camaraderie of the Leeds fans is second to none and this is what being Leeds is all about for me. As we walked into the Camden, the music being sung was the tune to; “His eyes they shone like diamonds, as they lifted the cup from the stand, and there stood Billy Bremner, stood there with the cup in his hand.” That was a bullseye to my heart straight away as I loved singing that one on the terraces and it is also one of the songs we sang for the CDs we created. 

I love the Camden, the vibe and the set up in an old picture house. The screens all around the bottom area have a big impact too. With a singer and later a band performing, it created a great atmosphere in there. After an appearance by Tony Dorigo, Simon Grayson and Stuart Dallas I was asked if I wanted to say something about our statue appeal so spoke to a member of the band.  When they were all set up, he called me to the front to speak to everyone in the Camden about our campaign to raise monies for a statue of Leeds United's greatest captain Billy Bremner, in his hometown of Raploch, Stirling. I want to say a big thank you to Gerry McDermott for giving me the chance to do this. Thank you also to Ian Hall author of Revie’s Boys: The Lost Hope of Glory Glory Leeds United. For every book that Ian gave out, fans were asked to donate to our statue fund and in total we raised £262.51. I really appreciate everything done for me today including being looked after by Gerry and May. They were part of the five founders starting the Camden up as a Leeds United meeting point and they have done a fantastic job. Thanks to everyone who came for selfies, chats, had photos taken, my Bergen Whites badge and most of all thank you to everyone who donated cash to the statue fund. It was also lovely to see little Riley who came and gave me a big hug. 

At 5pm, those who had paid for bus transfers to the ground (including me), got on a double decker bus. Everyone was in a good mood, singing and booing if they saw anyone in red. One man with his little lad took it all in a good spirit. As we passed a shop, I thought they were selling their kits only to see it was a group of children getting a photo. One young lad was already making hand gestures and swearing badly at a very young age! When we got off the bus, we had a 25-minute walk to the ground and eventually found the entrance needed. I was with Nikki in the Lower Cusack stand and by now there was red everywhere. As there were a lot of families there wasn’t a threatening atmosphere, but I was starting to feel a little wary. With my experiences of following Leeds in the 70s where you took your life in your hands to follow your team, even now after all those years, it doesn’t take long for the fears to come back for me. 

We got in a lift to the top of the stand and once Nikki was safe and seated, I went to get something to drink. As everyone was mingling with each other down under the stand, I began to relax more. The only issue in the stand was when a lad in the seats opposite us started chanting the referee’s a w**ker. One of their fans in front of him had a right go at him telling him there were kids there and under no circumstances to do it again. To be honest, I am glad that he nipped things in the bud as it could have got very uncomfortable in there as we were outnumbered. There were plenty of Leeds fans in this area, but all scattered about as we were surrounded by their fans. They scored first but we got an equaliser and that’s when I realised how many of ours were in there when stood up cheering.  At half time whilst we were queuing for the ladies, I had a lovely chat with Anne Marie, and it was refreshing to be able to talk to opposition fans in the same stand. It all started when she asked about the pins on my beret which once again caused a good topic of conversation for many people. At the end of the game, I was asked to have a photo with Noel who was 87 and in a wheelchair. I was happy to oblige and as he held my hand, it brought a lump to my throat. To give the traffic a chance to die down we headed to Clonliffe House to join some of the group before getting an Uber back to the hotel. 

As we were travelling home on Thursday, I decided to stay at the hotel and chill rather than join Sue and the others who went sightseeing, before the coach came to pick us up at 1pm. We went to find wheelchairs once we arrived at the airport, only this time I had to push one as there were no helpers. It was a long way to Ryan Air, and we headed to the gate entrance but hadn’t been sat there long when we were told the gate departure had been moved to 105 due to the plane running slightly late. They said it would be easier for all of us to use the airlift to get onto the plane which for me, was the first time of going on one. The only thing was that they didn’t pass the information on for when we arrived in Stockport, so we were stuck on the plane for approximately 20 minutes until they sorted the wheelchairs out. 

Eventually we were back on the coach where once again it was crawling all the way past junction 19, before I was dropped off at Ainley Top where my daughter picked me up. 10 minutes later I was back at home rather than having to travel to Leeds and back again. 

Thank you once again Mick Hewitt for everything you have done in organising another brilliant preseason tour for us. A great group of people to travel with and it was fantastic meeting up with so many of our fans. 

The game itself saw our new keeper James Trafford who we got from man city making his debut in the first half. 

Team: First half: Trafford, Bijol (captain), Bogle, Longstaff, Aaronson, Chadwick, Nmecha, Tanaka, James, Bornauw, Muharemovic. 

Second half: Cairns, Ampadu (captain), Rodon, Calvert-Lewin, Justin, Bornauw, Stach, Wilson, Okafor, Gnonto, Cresswell. 

The score after 90 minutes was 1-1 with Aaronson equalising for Leeds (29). 

Penalties for the cup saw Leeds lose 5-4. Our penalties were scored by Calvert-Lewin, Stach, Gnonto, Okafor with Wilson and Justin failing to convert theirs. 

Attendance: a sellout crowd of 82,300. 

Referee: Neil Doyle. 

man u scored first after getting the better of us down the wing and their man made no mistake to put the ball into our net with Trafford beaten. We equalised after a great run from James with his cross into the box met by Aaronson to score. At least he gave us something to cheer about. At that moment I didn’t see how we scored as the sun was blinding coming through the top of the stand. There had been an earlier eclipse, not that I saw anything of that either. In the second half, Gnonto had a great game for us playing right back. Stach had a freekick saved by their keeper and Calvert-Lewin got in a great position but took too long on the ball and couldn’t get a shot in. A long throw from Ampadu caused all sorts of problems again and Justin saw his shot saved by the keeper. They hit the crossbar and a few minutes from time looked to have got the winner but thankfully the offside flag was up. There were still a few minutes left when young man u fans got on the pitch for selfies. Eventually despite a couple of minutes being left of the game, the referee blew his whistle for time.  A draw was a good result though. 

To win the trophy meant a penalty shoot-out and I didn’t hold out much hope for that. When I heard Trafford’s name over the Tannoy, I thought it meant he’d come back onto the pitch and was surprised. I didn’t realise it was because he was man of the match and hadn’t come back on to replace Cairns. We did score four penalties so did better than I dared hope but lost overall. We have been looking stronger as a team and now have the Augsburg home game as our last preseason friendly before the Premier League restart when we head to Nottingham Forest for the first game in the Premier League with the second being the Carabao Cup game. LUFC, Marching on Together! 

I have just heard the sad news that Ottar Kvalheim one of our Norwegian fans has died after being in Dublin to watch Leeds, it brings home how fragile life can be and how we have to make the most of things. He was a loyal Leeds fan who I have known for many years, and my thoughts are with his family and friends.

Rest in peace my friend.