Watford - 22nd October - 24/25

October 23, 2024

Leeds United v Watford

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 - Elland Road, Leeds

2024/25 Season


Due to traffic issues, we were late getting parked up, so it meant we didn’t get to visit the usual places before the game. I’ll blame it on not realising it was a 7.45pm kick off too, but by the time we got in the stand the teams were all ready to start the game so had missed the mascots coming out. With my head still being all over the place I’d not given any thought to the game facing us.


Team: Meslier, Struijk, Rodon, Firpo, Bogle, Tanaka, Aaronson, Piroe, Gnonto, Ramazani, Rothwell

Subs: Solomon for Ramazani (injured 14), James for Gnonto (72), Joseph for Piroe (72), Byram for Solomon (90+6)

Subs not used: Darlow, Bamford, Crew, Debayo, Schmidt


Leeds won the game 2-1 with Ramazani (4) and Aaronson (7) scoring the early goals


Attendance: 34,968, approx. 900 Watford fans

Referee: Anthony Backhouse

Booked: Firpo, Tanaka


No sooner had I got to my seat before Leeds scored our first goal. The ball looked to have been caught by their keeper as he scooped it back out, but the ball was deemed to have been over the line. Gnonto saw his shot go past the wrong side of the post but before we knew it, we were two goals up with our second goal scored three minutes later. A run by Gnonto on the wing saw a great cross pushed out from their keeper which Aaronson followed up and put into the net. Their keeper made another save from Gnonto but then we took our feet off the pedal when maybe we should have gone for the jugular. Watford saw Meslier make a great save with one of their first attacks not long before the break to deny them a goal.


It was great to see Paul Reaney on the pitch at half time getting a great reception from the fans. He was 80 years old today and part of the legends from the greatest team I have ever seen under Don Revie. It made me realise how many years have passed since then when it doesn’t seem that long ago.


The second half saw Watford get straight back into the game when they scored more or less straight from the kick off. Their man got the better of Struijk and Firpo but there were still plenty of our players in the area as he got the ball into the net to pull one back. Even on watching the replays I still couldn’t make out how the ball hit the back of the net. We really need to change the ball from white as it’s so much harder to follow the ball for me. My granddaughter’s team played with a fluorescent orange ball at the weekend which was so much better. Watford then went on the attack as we seemed at sixes and sevens with our heads still in the dressing room as their shot went narrowly over the bar. It took quite a while I feel to get back onto the attack, but I still wasn’t too worried. We started getting back into the game and Bogle saw his shot canon back off the post and Piroe hit the rebound, but the keeper caught the ball at the second attempt. James put a great cross into the box which saw Joseph in space head the ball only to see it go straight to their keeper. James then saw his shot saved by the keeper. We had decided there would be nine minutes of injury time due to Watford players throwing themselves to the floor and time wasting so many times. Although eight minutes was put up on the board, we played nearly 10 minutes more but at least we got the win and another welcome three points despite making it harder for ourselves than it needed to be.


We head to Bristol on Saturday which will be an early start for us as we leave at 5.30am from Leeds. It’s a good job people are just telling me what time to be there etc as I didn’t even realise it’s an early kick off either. It’s not surprising really as sorting everything out in the background takes over. We are still overwhelmed as a family by all the support with cards and flowers received as well as all the hugs and condolences coming our way. These are all gratefully received so when I saw someone before the game who lost his dad just before we lost Phillip, I made sure he got a hug too. Leeds fans will always look after each other and that is why they are special. We are having a celebration of Phillip’s life the day before we head to Swansea and we know with the amount of people who have already said they will be coming, that he will get a great send off.


See you on Saturday, LUFC – Marching on Together!

Leeds United, We'll Support you ever more, We've only got one song!

June 6, 2025
A selection of Leeds United Songs from 1960 to the present day, sung by Leeds United fans Friday 6th June 2025 On 2nd September 2023, I was lucky to be invited into the director’s box at Elland Road to watch the game against Sheffield Wednesday alongside Mick Hewitt, Gary Edwards and Tony Winstanley. We had finally achieved our ambition of recording Leeds United Chants and Songs from the terraces, that had to overcome the hurdles of being curtailed during the covid pandemic and many other challenges. Both the Leeds United Foundation and the Leeds United Academy received equal shares of the £6,605.16 proceeds of our CD sales after costs had been taken, and we were extremely proud to hand this amount over to officials at Leeds United. As always, none of us were gaining anything personally from sales, it was always going to be for the good of our club. The good news is that 99 of these songs and chants are now available on Spotify HERE for anyone who prefers to download their music. Again, any money raised will be shared between the Leeds United Foundation and the Leeds United Academy so please continue to support the club. Below is the introduction for the songs to give some context to the recordings plus the thank you to all those Leeds United fans who took part. Sadly, we have lost some of those who were there for the recordings since then.

Paris 1975 - 50th Anniversary

May 28, 2025
Paris 1975 – 50th Anniversary 28th May 2025 I cannot believe it is 50 years to the day that I set off for Paris for the European Cup Final. Initially I didn’t get one of the 8,000 tickets for the game despite it being my 70th game of the season but ended up with two. I was going with or without a ticket and got mine through my friend Carole’s season ticket as she got one with her programme tokens as well. By travelling with the club to the final it meant I got a further ticket as we’d travelled to Barcelona in the previous round with them. One lucky Leeds fan who I knew was the recipient of the second ticket for face value outside the ground. Sadly, when we finally got to our hotel, we had to wait to be allocated our rooms before heading to the ground which took ages. I always regretted not going with the Harrogate trip as we did to Anderlecht earlier in the competition as I felt we missed out on the build up to the game by getting there late. We did manage to walk around the ground to soak up the atmosphere once we arrived and it was good to get photos and have our photos taken by loads of Leeds and German fans before going into the ground. I had a fantastic view behind the goal on the front row of the upper tier next to the clock. The whole night was magical from the start, and it had been perfect, with Leeds fans singing na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, Leeds United for the first time. It was an incredible feeling being in the stadium and when Peter Lorimer smashed the ball into the net in front of us, I immediately looked at the linesman and referee only to see them both award a goal before celebrating. It was only when Beckenbauer went over to the referee that things started to change and we couldn’t believe it when the goal was disallowed. I’ll never forget being cheated out of our rightful trophy and we will always be Champions of Europe. WACCOE. My first book Follow Me and Leeds United includes all my recollections from this game and the previous rounds for those interested. Watch out for the Paris 75 documentary which I’ve been interviewed for with the official trailer released at 8.30pm, Wednesday night - PARIS 75 - Official Trailer  . The finished film is now coming out end of August/early Sept by independent filmmaker Harvey Marcus. PARIS 75 Official Trailer out May 28. My new independent documentary, PARIS 75 - the final football tried to forget. A film about a season, that match, and those fans that shaped the identity of what it means to be a Leeds supporter. Please join/share the PARIS 75 - The documentary FB group for more info and cinema dates and a chance to win a PARIS 75 print signed by Allan Clarke. WACCOE.

Elland Road - Redevelopment Plans Pt.1

May 22, 2025
Elland Road Redevelopment - 2025 Wednesday 21st May 2025 Now that things have settled down with our promotion to the Premier League, I’ve had a chance to look at the plans for the development of Elland Road into a 53,000/56,000 stadium. This has been a long time coming and it’s not before time. With Elland Road being sold out every week and I know personally that I haven’t been lucky in getting any extra tickets for family all last season despite trying online unsuccessfully, the capacity increase must be done. As well as the West Stand deteriorating every year and the facilities in the Kop leaving a lot to be desired, I‘m looking forward to what will be done to replace these stands. I was given the chance to look at the stadium video that was released and I can honestly say that it looks impressive. Although I would have liked a one stand Kop, I can understand why it was done the way they designed it as there will be disabled places available in front of more boxes. The lower part of the Kop remains the same size as it is now which I feel is a good thing. The one thing that is needed is space on the concourses which looks to have been taken into account plus improved toilet facilities. I would love to see the south stand seats put back in once the boxes can be relocated with the development. A stand like the Kop design would be a good way forward in future but obviously we need to concentrate on the West first then the Kop. It’s exciting times going forward and I’m looking forward to capturing the developments with my regular photos when attending games at Elland Road.  The one thing going forward is to ensure that the loyal every day fan is not priced out of attending games there. We have a fantastic loyal worldwide fanbase which needs to be nurtured. When things are good as they are now, you have no need to encourage fans to come back as they will always try to get there when they are able. I’ve been there through the good and bad times and only a few years ago, you couldn’t give a ticket away for love nor money so the club can never take anything for granted on that basis. I’m looking forward to seeing the development get off the ground and although there has been a fans’ representation group, I am look forward to the wider fan base given a chance to air their views. LUFC – Marching on Together!" LUFC – Marching on Together!
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