Pre-season 2025-26 Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Leeds United vs AC Milan
9th August 2025
The last of our preseason games was taking place in Dublin and I booked to travel with South Kirkby Supporters Club again. Getting up at 5am to travel to Leeds in plenty of time to catch the coach that was taking us over the Pennines to catch the plane to Dublin all fell into place with no issues. We arrived at our hotel the Skylon and most of us were allowed to book in at 2.30pm so after a quick cup of tea, I was on a bus heading down to the Camden Sports Bar. This was going to be the focal point as I was meeting friends there but also Gerry who I have known for many years had arranged a great welcome for Leeds fans there. It was great catching up with lots of fans there and as usual included a lot of photos. I decided to head back to the hotel around 9pm as the long day was starting to catch up with me and went to look for the number 16 bus. There was a sign outside the hotel with that bus number on, but the security guard said the bus wouldn’t stop there so I set off walking the way I’d come earlier but the opposite way to where I’d been dropped off. After bumping into the Shropshire Whites in the middle of the road, I carried on to the next stop but there was no sign of the bus number on show, so I panicked a bit and headed back the way I came. Luckily, I bumped into Alan one of our Irish fans so turned around and went to the next bus stop along which was the right one to catch the bus. That was a relief and thank you for the help.
After an early breakfast I headed off to the Camden bright and early at 9am on the day of the game even though it didn’t open until 10am. As the bus had taken ages the day before I expected the same but was down there very quickly so at 9.30am was queuing up and started taking photos of my flag and fans. There were big queues forming before the doors opened so got to the front to join Gerry and others and stayed there once it had opened. What can I say about the Camden but what an experience we were given. When Noel Whelan and Dominic Mateo arrived at 11am the massive screen at the front and all the tv screens around the edges had Leeds badges on them. The music with the DJ in control playing Leeds songs too made the atmosphere electric. It was packed out in there and the music had my feet tapping away giving off a holiday vibe where I wanted to jump onto the dance floor not that there was any room. I’ve never been a good dancer, so I’d have only been as stiff as a board but being in the company of Leeds supporters, we have that unique bond of following our team, and it was what being Leeds is all about. In fact, I nearly forgot we’d a football game to go to but eventually my friend Arnie and I went to get a taxi to the ground. We managed to catch one outside the Camden very quickly and as we headed to the ground, we were warned to beware of pickpockets as they were rife in Dublin. A woman on the bus on Friday who sat next to me said it wasn’t what it used to be there, so it wasn’t a surprise to hear some of our fans had found that out the hard way.
The turnstiles hadn’t opened when we got to the ground but after catching up with some of our fans and watching some drummers where I assumed the players would be arriving as crowds had gathered there, we went in as soon as the gates opened. Just then the sun came out and it was going to be very hot so after hanging my flag up at the back of the stand I was glad we were going to be sat in the shade near the back. The only issue I had sat at the back meant that I had to keep getting up and down with the crowd which played havoc with my knees!
Team: Perri, Ampadu, Rodon, Schmidt, Gnonto, Piroe, Struijk, Gudmundsson, James, Stach, Tanaka
Subs: Darlow for Perri (46), Gruev for Ampadu (67), Longstaff for Tanaka (67), Aaronson for James (67), Nmecha for Piroe (67), Byram for Schmidt (67), Bijol for Struijk (75), Harrison for Gudmundsson (75), Ramazani for Gnonto (75), Gray for Stach (89)
Subs not used: Cairns and Chadwick
Leeds drew the game 1-1 with a fantastic strike from Stach equalising for Leeds (68)
Attendance: A 51,711 sold out Aviva Stadium with most fans being Leeds and a smattering of AC Milan fans showed what incredible support we have in Ireland as well as a large contingent who had travelled there from the mainland and further afield. One lad had travelled from Thailand for the game, and I met some from Bergen, Norway who I hadn’t seen in a while too
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
Booked: Stach
As the team kicked off, it was thought that this would be our line up against Everton. We started off well and Stack had a shot come back off the crossbar, but AC Milan showed us what we are facing in the Premier League with going down easily. They scored after half an hour when they won a free kick with many saying it shouldn’t have been given in the first place. The game hadn’t set the place alight so far and at this point I felt so tired after my 5am start the day before, that I could have fallen asleep. AC Milan kept attacking down the left wing and that’s when I thought I may have to change my thoughts on where we would end up the following season. I have said that we won’t get relegated as far as I was concerned and although we won’t be challenging for promotion thought we’d do ok and decided we’d be 11th at the end of the season. The performance in the first half made me think that was a pie in the sky moment and 15th would be a more accurate prediction. Stach remained our most dangerous player bringing a save out of their keeper as we went into the break a goal down.
The second half saw Darlow come on to replace Perri as Leeds started on the attack with Piroe’s shot going past the wrong side of the post. The game changed for the better once our first lot of subs were made and had an instant impact when Stach hit a fantastic shot from our side of the pitch into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. What a strike that was and good to see us get back on level terms. When all the subs were on you could see that there would be tweaks to the lineup for our first Premier League game against Everton on Monday, as there was a definite difference on the pitch when they were made. As the last of the friendly games finished in a 1-1 draw, we remained unbeaten and had a following of at least 50,000 Leeds fans in the sold-out stadium. Seeing Leeds colours of blue, yellow and white everywhere was a sight to behold and it looked so much better than seeing all that red in the ground in Stockholm although our end there was sold out for us.
When Harrison came onto the pitch he was met with a lot of boos around the stadium. After being one of the players who activated the relegation clause in his contract, I know a lot of fans are still very angry about it plus his mother’s comments on social media at the time have not been forgotten. I’ll be honest I didn’t want any of those players back in the team but have had to accept some of those back like Aaronson. As far as I’m concerned once Farke decided he was going to use these players, they had to prove themselves on the pitch and play for the shirt. Only by actions of playing well would they get back into the good books of fans and as always, I always make my decisions by what I see on the pitch. Harrison put a lot of effort into the warming up before the game in front of me, interacted with fans at the side of the pitch and at half time signed autographs. When he came on for Schmidt, I thought he played well at left back and in my opinion looked better than Schmidt who was caught out a few times in the first half. He did a lone lap of the pitch at the end clapping the fans before Farke had a chat with him. Some Leeds fans had nearly come to blows when the booing happened but as I always say, you will never get everyone to agree to the same thing, so we have to agree to disagree.
A big shout out to our fans who had to overcome severe travel issues to the game when Aer Lingus cancelled flights from Edinburgh, Bristol and manchester to name a few. Some relocated to Luton and others tried to get to a new flight at Liverpool only to find that cancelled too once they had booked a train there. The latter eventually flew out at 12pm before the game, had to dump their cases at the airport to get to the game on time. Sadly, their two nights in their hotel were not used as they had to go straight back to the airport for their flight home. The sacrifices our fans make to attend games cannot be underestimated.
If I could bottle up the number of fans who said I was a legend whilst I was in Dublin it would be constantly overflowing. It is very humbling but to know that everything I do is greatly appreciated by our fans, it is the reason that I do what I do, sharing the love of supporting Leeds United with fans around the world. The selfies taken by others as well as the very many I have taken had my friend Arnie saying that he was going to start charging £10 for each one I asked him to take; this shows what fantastic fans we have, and it’s been a privilege meeting so many of you. I’m a walking advert for our club as I love wearing my colours and am comfortable in my second skin so to speak and the fact that wherever you go, there’s a Leeds United fan not far away has never been more apt than whilst we have been in Dublin. Fans approaching me or me being able to talk to or join up with others at a drop of a hat, is a priceless commodity and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Keep the faith and I look forward to catching up with many of our fans throughout the season.
Our flight home at the airport was delayed by 90 minutes but then we had the fun of musical gate numbers being changed four times before bingo being able to board. Even that last one was shrouded in mystery because they shouted the wrong gate number for us to board causing confusion, so we had to ignore that one! It was a quick flight home and very smooth and we went straight through customs with no passport checks. The only issue we had on the M62 was delays around Huddersfield so had a detour to Ainley top and got back to Leeds avoiding most of the hold up. If my car hadn’t been in Leeds, I could have been dropped off there! It has been a brilliant trip and being away from everything is a good way of getting through things. I was coming back to my birthday the next day and the anniversary of finding my husband collapsed in the shower. As soon as I drove onto my street, that was it the tears started to flow but I was able to have cuddles with my dog Mollie when I got in. Luckily the next morning I didn’t “see” my husband in the bottom of the shower when I went into the bathroom as I have done many of times since.
I can’t thank people enough for the good wishes sent for my birthday which was spent by doing two aquafit sessions in the morning with 10 lengths in between before going out for lunch with a friend. My family all came around to see me during the afternoon and evening although my grandson wasn’t a very happy lad and wouldn’t sing to me. As it’s my big party on Saturday which I’m looking forward to preparing for and meeting up with family and friends, they did bring me a couple of buns, one with a Leeds badge on it and candles with 69 + 1 which I said means 35!!! Well, I’ve pretended to be that age for so long that I’ll continue to do the same as it keeps me young in the head even if my body is telling me to get lost and two of my children are “older” than I am! The good thing is, that I am privileged to have been there to see the greatest team ever under Don Revie and my hero Billy Bremner. The loyalty and friendships built up ever since then are evident to this day and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Thank you to Mick and Alex for sorting out the trip for me which took away all the stress and look forward to going on the next trip with you.
LUFC – Marching on Together!