Leeds United: How supporters can be the twelfth man
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00:00 Well, yes, just on that, of course.
00:02 Elland Road is always famed for its noise and atmosphere,
00:06 and it was really one of those nights, wasn't it, at Elland Road against Norwich?
00:11 I think everyone sort of knew that the supporters could once again be the 12th man
00:16 in such an important game, and my God, were they!
00:19 So, just from your point of view, Lee, of course, you would have been sat in the press box,
00:24 taking it all in, just what was it like being at Elland Road on such a night?
00:29 Absolutely amazing, and it really is such a cliché, this whole 12th man thing,
00:33 and everything like that, or people think it is a cliché,
00:36 but I don't think it is really with Leeds.
00:38 If it works and when it's going right, it really is a 12th man,
00:41 and proof in the pudding is that it's obviously Patrick Bamford's out at the moment,
00:44 obviously, or has been out, and he was on my Mates of Footballer podcast at the weekend,
00:49 and he said after that game, when he was speaking,
00:51 he said basically he sort of knew, like with the atmosphere, when the players came out,
00:55 there was no way Leeds weren't going to win.
00:57 He just knew, that was the effect that the crowd had on the players,
01:01 clearly, that they were so fired up, and the atmosphere,
01:03 they just sort of knew that they had to go out and perform,
01:06 and had to do it for them, and everybody was just so revved up,
01:08 and that just speaks volumes, literally volumes, about what an impact that can have.
01:12 The thing we've always said on these shows is that it can work the other way,
01:15 and there is no doubt about that, and we did say that before the game,
01:18 that it should be an advantage that Leeds are at home, etc.,
01:21 but then obviously, if they go one nil down early, it can turn,
01:23 and obviously, the away side can feel the nerves, etc., etc.,
01:27 and that could happen at Wembley in a play-off final, hopefully not,
01:30 so it can work the other way, but when it clicks and it goes like that,
01:35 there's just no better support, and it was absolutely amazing to be there,
01:39 like some of the sights and stuff.
01:40 I mean, I did the 2019 play-off semi-final at Ellen Road against Derby,
01:44 and to be honest, it was that long ago now that I can't particularly remember
01:47 what the atmosphere was like, but it would have been amazing,
01:49 but it definitely wasn't like that.
01:50 That was literally like nothing I've experienced at Ellen Road.
01:52 There's been big games, obviously, in the Premier League as well,
01:55 when they played big teams, when they were fighting relegation,
01:57 there was big atmospheres then.
01:59 You know, obviously, when they went up, there was no crowd, unfortunately,
02:02 but that'll live long in the memory, that one.
02:06 I mean, I think you got into Ellen Road, and even when you got into Ellen Road,
02:09 you saw the scarves on the back of everybody's seats that the club had put on,
02:12 and you sort of thought, "Wow, this could be amazing,"
02:14 or, you know, "What will people think of it?"
02:15 And I think a few people thought, thinking, "Oh, it's not Derby again, is it?"
02:18 This, that, and the other, and Bamford said himself,
02:20 "It can sometimes look a bit gimmicky," things like that, but it didn't.
02:23 You know, it was absolutely amazing.
02:24 The sights of everybody swinging around their heads and stuff,
02:27 it was just a sea of white, and yeah, I mean, there's no doubt about it,
02:30 this club has got Premier League support, you know, times 1,000, it really has.
02:35 It must be amongst the best supporters in the country,
02:37 and deserve a Premier League team, and if they get back to the Premier League,
02:40 they will have been an absolutely huge part of that,
02:41 because there's no doubt about it, they spurred them on in that second leg.
02:45 So, yeah, all to Wembley now, and, you know, that was an amazing sight, Ellen Road,
02:49 but I mean, I can imagine it's going to be, you know, that with, you know,
02:53 times whatever at Wembley, it'd probably be an absolutely incredible sight.
02:57 Again, we'll come to that one in a minute, though, but yeah, fantastic fans,
02:59 and they do ultimately make the difference.
03:03 Yes, we'll come to the play-off final itself in a couple of minutes.