Nowadays it seems hard to believe but in the 99/00 season they finished an impressive 3rd in the Premier League with a team consisting of heroes such as Harry Kewell, Michael Bridges, Jonathan Woodgate and local boy Alan Smith. With a few additions they would have another strong season the following year which included a Champions League semi final defeat to Valencia.
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| A young Alan Smith |
Things looked bright and thoughts of the Revie era of the 60's and 70's started flooding the dreams of the Leeds United faithful, but it wasn't to be. Then chairman Peter Ridsdale borrowed huge sums against potential lucrative sponsorship income from further Champions League appearances that never materialized. These huge debts caused the club to financially implode and start a free fall that involved a brief spell in the third tier of English football (The lowest level the club had ever been at) and a conveyor belt of managers.
Fast forward to the present day and current manager Gary Monk is already dealing with surely far fetched rumors that Chairman Massimo Cellino is considering giving another manager his marching orders after only four games of the new season.
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| How long will Garry Monk Last? |
But lets look at the current positives for a moment shall we? Gary Monk is a talented young manager who did a rather good job at Swansea before his time an out. The Whites secured an excellent 2-0 win in the Yorkshire derby at Hillsborough, over a Sheffield Wednesday team that only lost twice at home last season. Finally the fans are a supportive bunch and will follow Leeds through thick and thin and will make their voices heard at grounds up and down the country.
To be honest after reading that it does look bleak for Leeds. Its obvious that the fans are not keen on Cellino and its easy to see why. His regime at the club is fraught with madness such as banning the number seventeen from anywhere (including seats in the stadium and retiring the number seventeen shirt) and at one point being banned from being a club owner because of tax evasion in his native Italy.
It seems they need an owner that genuinely cares about making the club great again but finding one with enough money and a sound enough business mind to steady the ship is no easy task. Somebody needs to be able to tap into the rich talent of youth players in Yorkshire and build from the bottom up and bring the club back to competing with the very best.
In the end the answer to the question is yes. At the moment it seems a very long way away but they are still the biggest club in the biggest county and surely its only a matter of time till all the cogs line up and 'Marching On Together' will be heard echoing around Anfield, The Emirates and of course Old Trafford once more.
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