8 2GS Saturday July 18 2020 | the times
Sport Sky Bet Championship
Leeds United’s players were serenaded
by thousands of celebrating fans as they
stood on the steps at Elland Road last
night following the club’s return to the
Premier League after a 16-year
absence.
Inside the famous old stadium, the
first-team squad celebrated together
after West Bromwich Albion’s 2-1 defeat
away to Huddersfield Town meant that
Leeds were assured of a top-two finish
with two games of the Sky Bet Champi-
onship season remaining.
The players emerged onto steps out-
side the stadium, cheering and draped
with Leeds United flags and scarves.
Marcelo Bielsa, the Leeds manager,
achieved the significant feat of guiding
Leeds back to the Premier League in his
second season in charge, having lost in
the play-offs to Derby County last year.
Bielsa came out of his home to meet
cheering supporters. He touched el-
bows, waved, posed for photographs
and said, “Thank you, thank you.”
The Argentinian coach is the 15th
permanent manager to take control of
the club since relegation in 2004 —
there have been four caretakers in the
chaotic period as well — and there have
been five prime ministers since the club
was last among the country’s elite.
The owner, Andrea Radrizanni, took
full control of the club in May 2017 and
bought back Elland Road the following
month. He now has a financial windfall
of about £175 million that promotion
guarantees — about £100 million from
their position in the Premier League
and £75 million in parachute payments
should they be relegated — to plot and
strengthen the side for next season. Bi-
elsa’s backroom staff watched the game
together in the club’s offices and were
seen jumping up and down together
shouting “Leeds, Leeds, Leeds”. Kalvin
Phillips, the central midfielder, hailed
the impact of Bielsa, 64, who had been
in charge of Lille, Lazio and Marseilles
before Leeds pulled off a coup with his
appointment in June 2018.
“Marcelo Bielsa is the best manager
in the world,” he said. “I’m lost for
words, a big thank you to Huddersfield
Town. All my family are buzzing with
my granny Val cheering us on.”Leeds United were promoted to the
Premier League, Huddersfield Town
and Brentford were given their own
reason to celebrate but for Slaven Bilic,
Emile Smith Rowe’s 86th-minute
winning goal last night was a shattering
blow.
His West Bromwich Albion side had
needed a victory to avoid handing
Leeds a guarantee of automatic
promotion and, after Dara O’Shea
equalised Chris Willock’s opening goal
late in the first half, looked capable of
achieving it.
But, with four minutes to go and West
Brom pressing, Lewis O’Brien slipped
through a precise ball for the on-loan
Arsenal midfielder Smith Rowe to
chase and slide a superb finish into the
far corner.
With that, Huddersfield are all but
safe from relegation, while Brentford,
who have won eight games in a row,
now have their promotion fate in their
own hands and can move into second
West Brom risk blowing it at the last
place with a point away to Stoke City
today. “I don’t expect Brentford to make
a mistake,” Bilic said. “So we’re ready for
QPR next week and then the play-offs.
“We simply weren’t good enough. We
were poor at everything from the start
until the finish.
“They also felt big pressure, a differ-
ent pressure, but they looked like they
were fighting for their lives. From the
outside it looked like we weren’t trying.
That wasn’t the case but we crumbled
under pressure.
“Why? I don’t know, I tried to help
them cope with the pressure but when
it mattered the most we didn’t turn up.
Thank God we have one more chance.”
West Brom’s patchy form since the
post-lockdown resumption had clearly
generated anxiety in Bilic’s dressing
room, something that the manager said
was perfectly acceptable.
But there was still more than a degree
of panic about the way O’Shea fouled
Juninho Bacuna after four minutes and
even more about the way Sam
Johnstone, the West Brom goalkeeper,
stuck out a boot and diverted the ball to
Willock to convert from six yards.
At least the away side ended the half
strongly and equalised after Jonas
Lossl, the home side’s goalkeeper, could
only push away Matheus Pereira’s free
kick and O’Shea headed in the re-bound. Replays suggested that Grady
Diangana had been offside and obscur-
ing the goalkeeper’s view, but at least
Huddersfield were spared trailing at the
interval after Hal Robson-Kanu slid in
and narrowly missed turning in
Diangana’s cross.
West Brom made two substitutions at
half-time, and two more before the
hour, and put Lossl under considerably
more pressure after the restart but
without genuinely looking like muting
the celebrations that were getting
under way 19 miles down the road.
“I don’t think you should celebrate
not getting relegated but I’m proud,”
Danny Cowley, the Huddersfield
manager, said. “There’s a lot of relief, a
lot of emotion, there are tears in our
dressing room. The players care.”HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
(4-2-3-1): J Lossl 5 — T Chalobah 7, R Stearman 8,
C Schindler 7, H Toffolo 7 — A King 6 (E Smith
Rowe 70min, 6), J Hogg 7 — C Willock 7
(E Kachunga 80), L O’Brien 9, J Bacuna 7 (K Grant
70, 6) — F Campbell 5 (S Mounie 62, 6). Booked
Lossl, Willock, Chalobah, Campbell.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION
(4-2-3-1): S Johnstone 5 — D O’Shea 8, S Ajayi 7,
A Hegazi 6, C Townsend 6 (D Furlong 59, 6) —
J Livermore 5 ( F Krovinovic 46, 6), R Sawyers 7
— M Phillips 6 (K Grosicki 46, 6), M Pereira 7,
G Diangana 7 (C Robinson 75) — H Robson-Kanu
6 (C Austin 59, 6). Booked Townsend, Furlong,
Phillips, Krovinovic, Robson-Kanu, Austin.
Referee J Brooks.Huddersfield Town
Willock 4, Smith Rowe 86 2
West Bromwich Albion
Ian Whittell
O Shea 42 1
“I don’t remember anyone saying
anything in that dressing room,” Steve
Caldwell says. “Eddie Gray was quiet,
devastated. You can’t describe the
feeling of relegation. You’ve let
everybody down.”
On May 2, 2004, at the then
Reebok Stadium, Leeds United were
effectively relegated from the Premier
League. There were still two games of
the season remaining but they had a
goal difference of minus 38 while
Manchester City, who were six points
above, were on minus four. The
numbers had stopped making sense
for Leeds some time before that
fateful day but still, they collided with
emotion during a brutal 4-1 defeat.
Exactly three years to the day that
Leeds United had drawn 0-0 with
Valencia in the first leg of a
Champions League semi-final, a
young child with no top on and‘Great players but
“Leeds til I die” written in face paint
on his stomach, sobbed.
Alan Smith, a symbol of that daring
period in the club’s history, was the
last to leave the field, wearing the
white of Bolton after swapping shirts.
He too was crying.
“We had gone to Man United in
February and Smithy had scored, we
got a great point,” Caldwell says.
“When I got there it was quite
fractured and dysfunctional. I was only- There was a lot of turmoil. The
players were all good guys but I could
feel the tension and the fact things had
been sliding for a long time.”
There were three games remaining
when Leeds arrived at Bolton and
they had to win. They had Smith,
Mark Viduka (who would be sent off),
Paul Robinson, Ian Harte (who would
score an own goal) and James Milner.
“At half-time we were winning,” he
says. “Eddie was going around the
dressing room saying, ‘This will be
tough, but just hang on in there.’
Unfortunately what happened a few
times in those months, we just
conceded bad goals at bad times. It is
unbelievable when you look at the
quality of the team. How did we get
relegated with so many great players?
I think it was just that feeling, you
know, when a club is on the slide.”
Relegation in 2004 was
start of long demise for
Leeds — but the players
could see it coming, as
they tell Martin Hardy
After 16 tough years
jubilant Leeds are
back in the big time
A banner was unfurled outside the
home of the Leeds midfielder Mateusz
Klich’s home in Tarnow, Poland, that
read: “Premier Klich.”
His team-mate, Ezgjan Alioski,
added: “The Whites are going up!”
Dominic Matteo, the former Leeds
captain, said: “I’ve had a little tear in my
eye today and that’s not like me. It’s an
emotional day. I did feel responsible as
captain when we got relegated all them
years ago. Today I can breathe easy,
16 years later, it’s taken a long time to
get back to that position but I’m so, so
happy for everyone concerned with
Leeds United.”
The former England goalkeeper Paul
Robinson, who was also a part of the
team relegated in 2004, said: “For the
first time in a long time you can use a
word like stability about Leeds United.
The chairman, the owner and the board
of directors have been united in one
goal, they have achieved it and now it is
up to them to kick onto the next level.
“Leeds with Bielsa at the helm are a
different animal in the transfer market.
He attracts top players because he’s a
top manager.”
James Milner, the Liverpool
midfielder who was also part of that
relegated side, sent his congratulations
to Bielsa’s team on Twitter.
It was a day to lift the spirit of sup-
porters who have this year mourned
the passing of legends Jack Charlton,
Norman Hunter and Trevor Cherry.
Leeds will be crowned champions
should third-placed Brentford fail to
win at Stoke City today or if they avoid
defeat themselves at Derby tomorrow.
Four more points for Brentford would
likely see them join Leeds in the
Premier League next season.Martin Hardy
PW D L F APts
Leeds (P).......... 442699703487
West Brom......45 22 16 7 75 43 82
Brentford.........44 24 9 11 79 35 81
Fulham.............44 22 11 11 58 44 77
Nottm For........44 18 16 10 57 45 70
Cardiff..............44 17 16 11 62 57 67
Millwall.............44 16 17 11 50 46 65
Swansea...........44 16 16 12 57 52 64
Preston.............44 17 11 16 56 53 62
Bristol City......44 17 11 16 59 63 62
Derby................44 16 13 15 58 60 61
Blackburn........44 16 12 16 60 57 60
Wigan...............44 15 12 17 54 53 57
Reading............44 15 11 18 55 50 56
Sheff Wed........44 15 11 18 54 59 56
QPR...................44 15 9 20 61 71 54
H’field...............45 13 12 20 51 66 51
Stoke.................44 14 8 22 57 67 50
Middlesbro.....44 12 14 18 45 57 50
B’ham................44 12 14 18 53 70 50
Charlton...........44 12 11 21 48 59 47
Hull....................44 12 9 23 57 83 45
Luton................44 12 9 23 50 80 45
Barnsley...........44 10 13 21 46 68 43How they stand