Leeds banter 3

10 Jan 2026 01:03:12
The Daily Telegraph obituary of the late Terry Yorath includes a great story about his first match for Leeds United. At 18 he was too young to live alone, and so lodged with a teammate. During his debut match against Burnley he floored an opponent with a trademark tackle, and the Burnley player asked the Leeds bench: “Who the hell is that, ” to which Les Cocker replied: “Believe it or not he’s Norman Hunter’s mother’s lodger. ”.

10 Jan 2026 09:32:50
There's also the tales of his bravery in the tragic Bradford fire, which I'd never even heard before.

10 Jan 2026 15:40:46
Lovely story JR. I was lucky enough to meet him in 1974, when we were the top team. I remember him putting souness in his place in a match in the early days too. Terry, Jordan and Gordon all came through together. Wonderful footballer and man.

10 Jan 2026 18:36:07
Ah yes, 1973/ 74, my favourite season, we were Div 1 champions, and also Man Utd were relegated. 🙂
Top scorer that season was Martin Chivers, who also passed away on Wednesday another great footballer.

10 Jan 2026 23:13:56
Great knowledge JR. Martin Chivers was a top class centre forward. What would he be worth nowadays?! Sad to hear of his passing too.

10 Jan 2026 00:09:57
Hopefully now cup and chaos of league games over, maybe some transfers, in and out.
OUT (if can) -
Piroe, Harrison, Mez byram
Even let gnoto and struijk go, may get backlash for this but I don’t think either good enough, gnoto inconsistent and if can get 20+ for him I’d take it and reinvest.
Again I think struijk is not a top level performer, slow and he wins lots of heads for attacking corners but rarely gets head on corners/ balls into box against us, I think Bournaw better
Still need a quality GK, but think it can wait till summer or I’d be tempted to try loan Trafford
INS-
Think we need 2-3 players depending on if release anyone, I think CMF/ 10, a striker and winger
My choices be Macatee on loan, or I’d even try tempt gunners to loan us Ethan Nwaneri, he no longer getting on bench, young very talented and would be great alongside DCL
Sterling also wants out of Chelsea, rumor of abroad or west ham, could we do a deal, think he still very good.

10 Jan 2026 07:33:16
100% Aussie sense mate. Agree agree agree.

10 Jan 2026 08:46:38
Good post Mel, I’d disagree on Sterling and Macatee.
Neither has the physicality we go for, Nwaneri is a decent shout.

I’d opt for
Gk- Trafford on loan with Option
LWB- Souffian El Karouani
CB - Dhokie
ST- is it worth a cheeky move for DUSAN VLAHOVIC out of contract in June?

10 Jan 2026 14:04:43
I could agree or at least accept most of these suggestions, but would not touch Sterling with a bargepole, now well past his best, and always was a lazy player. He's not getting games at Chelsea for a reason.

09 Jan 2026 23:25:01
good to see the foresters continue on their streak.

10 Jan 2026 07:34:08
I don’t like Wrexham hype. They need to get back to where they belong which is division 2.

10 Jan 2026 09:35:46
The legendary Mickey Thomas played for Wrexham, so I don't have a problem with 'em! 😄.

10 Jan 2026 14:06:42
In the heirarchy of Welsh teams I prefer Wrexham to Cardiff or Swansea or Newport.

10 Jan 2026 14:22:14
Swansea for me.

10 Jan 2026 15:37:31
We've certainly signed some great players from Swansea over the years, amongst them the greatest Welsh footballer of them all John Charles. I was lucky enough to see him in the last season before we sold him to Juventus for £65,000 - he'd probably be worth £250,000,000 now.

10 Jan 2026 16:50:02
I've got a framed shirt, signed by the big man himself. On the wall in my main entrance corridor, so it's the first thing you can see.

09 Jan 2026 18:34:41
I really need LUFC to stay up this season and maybe have a cup run as I am on a bit of a downer sport wise this evening after the Rugby Football League have announced in the last hour that they have kicked my team Featherstone Rovers out of the league.

We have been in administration after the season finished, but I never thought it would come to this a week before the first game of the season. After 60 years of following them along with LUFC, it is a sad night for the town and the supporters.

09 Jan 2026 19:22:59
Very sad news Feath. As much as i love the game of football, it just doesn't seem fair that all other sports in this country have to suffer through lack of money - and as a result great little clubs like Featherstone end up in this situation.

Fingers crossed that a solution can be found and quickly.

09 Jan 2026 19:47:19
Sad news Feath . could of happened to Trinity if it wasn't for Ellis. my niece her husband plays for Trinity . Max Jowitt. Do you know my mate from Feath Chris Tiddler Simpson . probably you would of known his Dad more your age!

09 Jan 2026 19:58:00
It will be a slog Cleggy as we will have to wait till 2027 now. I just hope especially with our history, League Champions once, Cup Winners 3 times, Championship winners 6 times and the list goes on. And supplying many GB internationals that we can make it. In 1973 we won the cup at Wembley beating Bradford which was a brilliant performance and then the week after at Wembley it was going to be a great double as me and all other Leeds fans round here expected an FA Cup win against Sunderland, and we all know what happened then! We copied Leeds in that final and played Bradford wearing stocking tabs.

09 Jan 2026 20:13:19
Very sad situation. I've been to watch Cougars play several times at Feathersone in times past and not always got the victory I'd hoped for. They were always full on affairs but unfortunately RL, particularly in the lower leagues, is going to struggle, just like teams in League 2.

09 Jan 2026 20:24:50
Yes 72, I knew his Dad. A big member of the successful Jubilee ARLFC.

09 Jan 2026 20:45:49
That’s so sad mate. I’m not a big fan of rugby league but have been to two finals and it’s a great game to watch live.
Hopefully there’s a way out of it for you and your fellow supporters?

09 Jan 2026 21:15:16
That’s so sad Feath, it’s the loss of that whole community, I’m so sorry pal that’s terrible news, hope our successes this year will help to soften the blow just a little.

09 Jan 2026 21:30:11
I didn't know that Feath, as a Cas fan I know what these clubs mean to the community and have had some fun watching us play you.
Sad day indeed.

09 Jan 2026 22:01:14
Thanks Gents. Your comments are much appreciated. I think our supporters won't see the Club die without a fight. We own our ground and some surrounding land, we just need some honesty from the Administrator as to the situation so we know what we are dealing with.

09 Jan 2026 23:11:33
Union man myself Feath, much prefer it. but echo what. lads are saying money and lack of is too often death knell of a lot of sport clubs.

10 Jan 2026 09:41:29
Im like Chris, and full Union, but I did take the opportunity to go watch Hunslet quite a bit when they were playing at ER. Featherstone a very historic club in a great area (and era) for that It's terrible to see this happen in sport.

10 Jan 2026 09:47:36
I too share your sadness fev. I was at Wembley in 83, and much earlier when we did mighty St Helens in a snow storm. From Normy at the time, and went to NGS in late 50s where we had lots of 'friendly banter' with Wakey fans.

10 Jan 2026 15:21:09
Great days Whitesee. My mate was captain in the 83 final. The Saints games were to early for me, but my late dad spoke fondly about them many times. 1965 was when I started, same as LUFC. I was lucky to see both teams have great success in the 60s and 70s, along with many heartbreakers too.

09 Jan 2026 07:39:29
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 20 - Quick Round Up

08 Jan 2026 18:41:23
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 20 - Quick Round Up

08 Jan 2026 23:05:05
Spot on about our game Ed and our two weaknesses. Agree re gnonto too. Add couple bits of quality this month and we will survive with ease.

09 Jan 2026 11:45:10
Aus please don't tempt fate like that.

08 Jan 2026 17:43:48
Planning permission granted!
Work to start at ER immediately upon the end of the season! Great news!

08 Jan 2026 23:58:05
Especially if we have kept our PL status.

09 Jan 2026 07:13:28
Indeed Feath. The 2 together have a massive impact on the future of the club, and getting both would be huge kudos for the 49ers!

09 Jan 2026 11:46:08
After years of false promises re ER it's great to see things moving forward. The area around ER will be unrecognisable when everything is done.

08 Jan 2026 14:10:12
What a great game last night. Pity about the result but the way we’re playing now is so encouraging for the rest of the season. You score 3 goals in any game and you don’t expect to lose. Firstly credit to everyone for the 3 goals scored but it’s reasonable to ask how and why we conceded 4. Looking at the chaos in our box on multiple occasions I think it’s easy to see why DF may feel he needs another CB. Difficult to assess the keeper fairly until the defence gets sorted but a pattern is emerging which isn’t positive.

We’re still light up front too when the starters need a break and we’re very exposed to injuries to key players. Hopefully we address a few of these in this window. After that we’re well placed to survive provided we win our games v Wolves and Burnley and pick up a few others along the way starting with Fulham. The West Ham game is on the final day by which time we’re hopefully safe.

08 Jan 2026 14:57:36
In my book, Newcastle take all the credit for creating that chaos, particularly from their set pieces. Their 4/ 5 at the back of the 6yd box, steaming in as one onto Perri and creating a melee is a well worked routine, and their early whipped crosses in open play were exceptional in my eyes.

Dunno if that's what they're delivering week in, week out, but it would cause problems for most defences.

{Ed025's Note - two decent teams going toe to toe it was a great game to watch i must say Brighty, but they have very high expectations and were no better than you, it says a lot about the commitment and desire you have and you should be very proud of the team...but you have to keep that standard up mate...i think you can..

08 Jan 2026 15:38:25
Fair points lads and nice to hear you say that Ed after saying post Leeds v Everton that we were 2 poor sides, we would struggle to avoid relegation and you would not be far behind 😁 fair play dude👍.

{Ed025's Note - i was a doubter Vid i admit that, both teams have done a little better than i expected but Leeds have come on leaps and bounds after what was a very shaky start, you are also good to watch mate which is more than i can say about Everton..

08 Jan 2026 17:12:12
Cheers Ed, and yes, very proud of the reaction of the lads to negativity and increased pressure, to really flip what looked like being a dismal season, right on its head! Brilliant from all of them, at every level imo.

{Ed025's Note - the players have really stepped up to the plate Brighty and you should be very proud of them, yes there will be losses but i can tell you that nobody fancies playing Leeds at the moment mate, if you can avoid injuries and keep suspensions to a minimum i have no doubt that you have easily enough to stay up..

08 Jan 2026 17:35:24
I think it’s right what Ed is saying, it is a testament to how we are playing and the desire to get something out of every game we play.

Newcastle this season aren’t great but they still have by far better quality players than us. To go to their ground and make the statement that we did says everything. You only have to look at the way they celebrated at the end of the game with relief that we came very close to taking all three points on their patch.

They are an attacking side like us and goals were on the menu, it’s got nothing to do with our defending or our keeper, this was just a out and out full on attacking game and a great spectacle for the fans.
We were on the losing end of this game, but we won’t be when we play them next season.

{Ed025's Note - you were easily as good as them OP and very unfortunate not to get at least a point, things are going very well at the moment mate..

08 Jan 2026 19:33:17
The result wasn't what we hoped for but the performance was good and if we maintain that level until the end of the season we'll be a Premiership club next season. We're stretching every team we play and nobody feels comfortable playing against us. Was there this level of optimism months ago? I don't think so.

09 Jan 2026 00:00:33
Nice positive words Ed, but we need to get back to winning against Fulham.

{Ed025's Note - Fulham are doing very well Feath and its yet another difficult game, i have that down for a draw but either side are good enough to win it..

08 Jan 2026 09:18:54
Terry Yorath first player I saw score at Elland Road 1st February 1975 against Coventry in a 2-0 win
A very reliable player like Mick Bates when Billy or Johnny couldn't play. RIP Terry and to Spurs legend Martin Chivers.

08 Jan 2026 10:28:27
RIP Terry an underrated cog in the legendary Leeds team.

08 Jan 2026 10:56:08
So very sad, cannot deny Gabby’s tribute to her dad has brought a tear to the eye this morning.

God bless you Terry, go take your rightful place amongst the legends and my sincere condolences to your family and loved ones.

Honoured to have seen you play.

08 Jan 2026 17:55:41
Well said guys.

Very sad news indeed, yet another of that legendary squad gone.

{Ed025's Note - i remember him well, RIP Terry..

08 Jan 2026 08:33:10
R. I. P TERRY YORATH💛🤍💙.

08 Jan 2026 09:17:20
Very sad news. Another one of Revie's boys who took no prisoners. Condolences to all his family. RIP Terry.

08 Jan 2026 09:41:37
Amen to that. One of my favourites back in the day. Makes me feel very old when I realise he was a year younger than me.

09 Jan 2026 07:17:17
Used to live down the road from me as a kid growing up! Great player, and as the likes of Eddie has said, a great bloke. Another very sad loss.