The sharp glare of the floodlights beam down onto the 22 men who are there to provide a 36,000-strong crowd with entertainment that evening. Our colosseum. Spectators chat among themselves, relationships — forged by a devout loyalty for the same thing — reignite after a summer away from the arena. But as always, voices become muted as our champions emerge from the innards of the stadium.
Silence, a vacuum waiting to be filled, voices readying. Then the backing track to Marching On Together starts up, quickly drowned out by the roar of the faithful.
This is Elland Road on 14 September. The first night game of the footballing year and only the second home match of the new season. Leeds United in 11th host Newcastle United at 10th, who have defied expectations of capitulation after a summer of turmoil. On the contrary, Leeds’ summer was one of the best, including the arrival of club-record signing James Trafford for an initial £40 million (in theory solving a perennial problem position), alongside other shrewd transfers: Harry Wilson, Tarik Muharemovic and Nico Elvedi.
The seat folds down, I demolish a chicken tikka pie and a sharp “come on Leeds” leaves my throat as the referee blows the whistle. The Newcastle fans find their voice but the noise fades into obscurity at the hands of a pumped up Elland Road, energised by a scintillating start. We’re all over the Magpies.
There are 14 minutes of euphoria and delirium at the end of the first half, as Leeds put three past the floundering Lukas Hornicek. Another in the second half, with the celebratory atmosphere not even dampened by a late Newcastle consolation. It’s a triumph for Daniel Farke, Leeds’ boss since 2023.
I’m transported back to a fateful evening: 2 May 2001. My first ever Leeds United game, against Valencia in the Champions League Semi-Final, no less. At five years old, the result was less tangible to me than the emotion: sheer pride, joy and belonging that’s hard to describe to anyone outside this bubble, even though we were knocked out on aggregate, and that game is still the last time Leeds played in the Champions League.
Yet, if you believe some of the excited Leeds fans, our journey back to the Champions League — or at least to one of the European tournaments — is all but nailed on. “Get your fucking passports out for Daniel Farke” (to the tune of Low Rider by War) rings out around Elland Road, with one enthusiastic fan actually waving his passport aloft.
Before the season started, The Athletic published a surprising finding: Leeds fans were the most optimistic in the Premier League, with 99% expressing hope for the coming campaign. It’s early days, but that hope hasn’t yet turned out to be false. Leeds are unbeaten in the Premier League so far, but it’s the performances that have inspired confidence — knuckling down to drag out a point apiece against Brentford and then Brighton; not deterred by a bonker 6-3 loss to Chelsea in the EFL Cup just days before. The Square Ball’s Dan Moylan described it on a recent podcast episode as “disconcertingly sensible and joyful at the minute”. This isn’t the Leeds we know and love.
It’s largely down to the man the fans have finally taken to heart after three years in the job: Daniel Farke.
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