Watford - 11th February - 24/25

February 12, 2025

Leeds United v Watford

Tuesday 11th February 2025 - Vicarage Road

2024/25 Season



It took me a while to get going this morning then decided I would go to see Don Revie’s statue when I got to Elland Road. Whilst driving there, Top of the World by the Carpenters came on the radio which took me back to Hibernian in the 70s. As I was singing along to it, I remembered singing this at the top of my voice at half time at that game. Great memories which are what keep me going. I had no idea what to expect tonight and certainly didn’t expect a 4-0 win away from home to keep us at the top of the league with a great goal difference of +47. I don’t look at any other team apart from Leeds so had no idea where Watford were in the league or how they were playing which is a good way of coping for me. It means I go with an open mind and make by decisions by what I see happening on the pitch.



Team: Meslier, Ampadu, Rodon, Firpo, Bogle, Aaronson, Piroe, James, Solomon, Tanaka, Gruev.

Subs:   Ramazani for Solomon (76), Gnonto for James (77), Joseph for Piroe (81), Rothwell for Tanaka (81), Struijk for Ampadu (86).

Subs not used:  Darlow, Byram, Schmidt, Guilavogui.



Leeds won the game 4-0 with a brace from James (20, 28), Solomon (35), Piroe (62).



Attendance:   19,582, 2,084 Leeds fans.



Referee:  Oliver Langford.

Booked:  None.



Both teams came out of the starting blocks quickly with Watford winning a corner and Leeds having a shot which deflected wide. There was plenty of attacking with end-to-end football and Leeds came the closest to taking the lead after a fast move involving Solomon and Aaronson which saw a Piroe shot saved by the keeper. Shortly afterwards we took the lead after James picked up a bad back pass and ran forward, composed himself and smashed the ball into the net. James increased our lead eight minutes later after a great counterattack. Aaronson sent a great pass to Piroe on the wing whose precision pass to James in the middle saw his speed once again cause issues for their defence and smashed a second goal into the net to put us two up. Well, I never saw that coming!! Meslier then made an important save when the Watford player got through our defence with only him to beat. We took an even bigger lead when Solomon kept hold of the ball under pressure from a Watford player and shot from outside the area, only to see the ball deflected into the net for a third with their keeper rooted to the spot. Wow but I’ll take that, we hadn’t even got to half time and were three goals to the good already. James was so unlucky not to get a hattrick as Leeds came out from defence once again. He was well behind as the defender chested the ball down, but James’s speed took him past, and he hit a first time, long range shot with their keeper grasping fresh air, but the ball went wide. What a shame as he is my favourite player, is so lovely and it would have been so deserved.


Leeds attacked towards the Leeds fans in the second half and some fantastic play from Tanaka where he ran rings around Ince leaving him behind, got the ball to Solomon. He then found Piroe in the middle who beat the defender to get a clear shot of the goal to put the ball into the net to put us four up on the night. I was so happy at this minute celebrating with the rest of our fans only to look up at the sky, feel the tears coming and started sobbing for a good few minutes. These things will continue to happen for a long while no doubt and I will have to deal with these moments when they come out of the blue as they did then. The Leeds fans had been on form all evening and I enjoyed the singing with lots of old school songs.



James came close again but couldn’t add to his tally and although Watford had their best chance of the game, Meslier spread himself across the goal as they hit the crossbar. A very satisfying win, three points and another clean sheet.

Next Monday sees the visit of Sunderland to Elland Road. Many fans have complained about giving them nearly 3,000 tickets when they wouldn’t let us have more than 2,000 tickets at their ground. As it’s a key game, putting Leeds fans in the bottom with stewards in between would have been better!






See you there, LUFC – Marching on Together!


April 29, 2025
After Game Celebrations Monday 28th April 2025 - Elland Road 2024/25 Season What a night and it wasn’t finished there because at the final whistle, the fans carried on singing as the team came out to celebrate being promoted to the Premier League. This is how to celebrate as we stayed for a good hour after the end of the game enjoying the atmosphere and the moment and what a moment it was. This was the night that we were robbed of when we were promoted under Bielsa, and it shows how much we relished the chance to celebrate in style tonight. We even wore the microphone out at the end of the game! It still feels quite surreal that we have been promoted when we had two games still left to play. With one game left, we are back in pole position at the top of the league. I want nothing more than to get 100 points and win the league at Plymouth at the weekend. With both us and Burnley on 97 points it will go to the wire but make us even prouder Leeds by staying at the top.
April 29, 2025
Leeds United v Bristol City Monday 28th April 2025 - Elland Road 2024/25 Season First of all, I want to thank Leeds United and Joe Rodon for giving my granddaughter Alexis an amazing experience as a mascot tonight. Coming out to the sight of scarves waving all around the ground that had been donated by the club plus the tremendous noise of us singing Marching on Together is a moment she will never forget. After the last year we have had as a family culminating in my husband’s death and the subsequent grieving for him, I don’t think I can underestimate what this evening has meant to us all. Alexis was like a giddy kipper especially as she hadn’t got too much sleep last night as she was so excited. We headed to the ground very early to ensure we didn’t have any traffic issues. Luckily, we arrived in good time and after waiting with her at the West Stand main entrance, my granddaughter Hannah and I then headed into the ground although separately. I can’t remember the last game I’ve been into a home game so early, but it gave me a chance to catch up with other fans before kick-off. It was a proud moment seeing Alexis come on to the pitch with Rodon. A big thank you to everyone who told me they appreciate my posts today because as always they are gratefully received which makes it worth doing.
April 29, 2025
Leeds United v Bristol City Monday 28th April 2025 - Elland Road 2024/25 Season That'll teach me to take so many photos last night as it's taken until 9am to whittle them down. All photos will be on my website very shortly where I share my love of Leeds United with fans around the world. First of all, I want to thank Leeds United and Joe Rodon for giving my granddaughter Alexis an amazing experience as a mascot tonight. After the last year we have had as a family culminating in my husband’s death and the subsequent grieving for him, I don’t think I can underestimate what this evening has meant to us all. Team: Darlow, Ampadu, Rodon, Bogle, Gruev, Tanaka, Piroe, Gnonto, Solomon, Aaronson, Firpo. Subs: Bamford for Piroe (81), Ramazani for Gnonto (81), Joseph for Aaronson (86), Guilavogui for Tanaka (86), Byram for Firpo (89). Subs not used: Meslier, Gray, Cairns, Wöber. Leeds won the game 4-0 with Tanaka (21), Gnonto (55) and a Ramazani brace (82, 90) making it a convincing win. Attendance: 36,310. Approximately 1,900 Bristol fans. Referee: James Bell, Booked: Tanaka. Leeds started off well attacking the South Stand and could have taken the lead three times in the opening minutes. Their keeper made a couple of good saves then from a corner we caused problems in their area before Solomon sent a great cross into the box for Tanaka to put the ball into the net. Having had a goal by Solomon disallowed for offside shortly before (replays later showed this was a correct call), it was nothing more than Leeds deserved. When Solomon was put through again, their keeper managed to sit on the ball and catch it at the second attempt to prevent us taking a greater lead. From a corner, Tanaka headed into the side netting but despite al the pressure we went into the break with only the one goal in front. There was a great atmosphere below the stands and luckily it was only a beach ball that hit me in the face as someone said I should have headed it. At least it created a laugh. The second half saw Leeds batter their goal, but they somehow survived the onslaught when first Firpo then Gnonto were denied a goal and Bogle saw his shot hit the post and bounce back. Leeds saw a fantastic pass out of defence from Piroe that went straight into the path of Gnonto who ran forwards and put the ball into the net to increase our lead. Ramazani had only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes after replacing Gnonto, as another attack saw Bamford win the ball and set Firpo up to send a perfect pass into the centre for Ramazani to score. Now there was no way back for Bristol. To be honest there was only one time in the first half when Darlow did a kamikaze run off his line that Bristol came near, but we were able to thwart the attack. We hadn’t finished though as another perfect pass from Gruev set Ramazani on his way to score a second goal on the night and be the crowning glory which he celebrated with a somersault and back flip.  See you on Saturday for the last game of the season. LUFC – Marching on Together!
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