LeedsUnited

“Marching On Together.” It is more than an anthem at Elland Road — it is a statement of identity, bellowed by 37,000 voices before every game, a reminder that Leeds United have always been at their best when the whole city marches as one. Founded in 1919 after Leeds City were expelled from the Football League, the Whites are one of England's biggest clubs by any measure that matters: support, history, noise, meaning. Three league titles, an FA Cup, a European Cup final, the Revie era, the Champions League nights of 2001, the financial implosion, the wilderness years, the Bielsa resurrection — no club in England has lived more football life. And now, after the 100-point champions of 2024-25 and a comfortable first season back, Leeds are doing something they have rarely done: building, calmly, on success.

The first golden age was Don Revie's. Appointed in 1961 with Leeds in the Second Division, Revie built a machine: league champions in 1969 and 1974, FA Cup winners in 1972 (Allan Clarke's goal beating Arsenal), League Cup winners in 1968, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup winners in 1968 and 1971, and European Cup finalists in 1975. Billy Bremner, the fiery Scottish captain; Jack Charlton, the World Cup winner; Peter Lorimer, whose shot was clocked at ferocious speed; Eddie Gray, the winger of impossible grace; Norman Hunter, Johnny Giles, Paul Madeley — the Revie side were brilliant, ruthless and famously unpopular with everyone else, which only made Leeds love them more.

The modern story is a saga. Howard Wilkinson's 1992 title — the last of the old First Division, with Eric Cantona, Gary McAllister and Gordon Strachan — gave way to David O'Leary's thrilling young side that reached the Champions League semi-final in 2001. Then came the implosion: Peter Ridsdale's overspending, debts of over £100 million, relegation in 2004, administration and a 15-point deduction in 2007, three seasons in League One. Sixteen years outside the top flight. The return, when it came, was pure romance: Marcelo Bielsa, the most revered coach of his generation, ending the exile in 2020 with a brand of football — man-to-man, all-action, murderball — that made Leeds everyone's second team, followed by a ninth-place finish that felt like a title.

Relegation in 2023 could have broken the club again. Instead, the 49ers Enterprises takeover brought stability, and Daniel Farke — appointed in the summer of 2023 — brought the most successful Championship management of the modern era. A play-off final defeat to Southampton in 2024 hurt, but the response was historic: the 2024-25 title with a club-record 100 points, 29 wins, 25 clean sheets and 95 goals — sealed, gloriously, by a 94th-minute winner at Plymouth on the final day. Farke, the first manager to win the Championship three times, had his vindication. And crucially, the board backed him: last season Leeds finished 14th with 47 points, safe with weeks to spare, playing confident, front-foot football. The yo-yo tag was dead.

The squad Farke has assembled is the strongest Leeds have had in the Premier League era. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, signed on a free, is the No. 9 and top scorer — a handful in the air, the focal point of everything. Behind him, James Trafford — the young goalkeeper signed from Burnley — already looks a future England regular. Ethan Ampadu, the Welsh captain, is the heartbeat: first name on the teamsheet, all grit and leadership. Ao Tanaka, Japan's metronome, leads the side in assists with his clever passing; Anton Stach brings German steel and a set-piece threat; Jayden Bogle flies up the right like a winger; and Noah Okafor, the Swiss forward, is the wildcard — pace, trickery, chaos. This is a team with a plan and the players to execute it.

The 2026-27 season has started like a statement of intent. Five games, nine points, unbeaten: a 1-0 opening-day win at Nottingham Forest, draws with Brentford (1-1) and at Brighton (1-1), a magnificent 4-1 demolition of Newcastle at Elland Road on 14 September — the kind of performance that makes the rest of the league take notice — and a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace. Farke's 4-2-3-1 is purring: controlled buildup, full-backs providing width, Tanaka and Ampadu dictating, Calvert-Lewin finishing. Elland Road, as ever, is a cauldron — and with expansion plans to take the ground past 53,000, the club is thinking big in every sense.

What happens next is the most exciting question at Leeds in decades — not “can we stay up?” but “how high can we go?” The 49ers' project is methodical: invest in the squad, grow the stadium, build a club that belongs in the top half. The Roses rivalry with Manchester United still crackles; the Yorkshire derbies still matter. But the bigger story is cultural: Leeds United, the sleeping giant that spent a generation hitting the snooze button, is finally awake — and marching on together, as always, toward something that feels like it could be special.