Leeds United are Black

[simonwleeds]

I started this article on 30/12/19 the day after Leeds had beaten Birmingham City 5-4. In fact glancing at the time it is 2.06 on the Tuesday morning after that unforgettable game. I was brushing my teeth part of my bedtime routine and my thoughts, as they often do turned to leeds. Thinking of that game at Birmingham made me realise that Leeds United are black. This I guess will come as a surprise to many and the realisation came as a surprise to me. My father was black carribean and my mother white English. This not so unique heritage has given me a glimpse of both cultures eventually enabling me to forge my own identity both black and white. Almost ironically Leeds United happen to sometimes play in white. My surname is white and even if I see myself as neither black nor white, others see me as black. I have learned that To be black and to be successful you have to excel at what you do. You cannot be mediocre to succeed you must be excellent to rise above the mediocrety that have succeeded. In this respect I have chosen the perfect team.
To be successful Leeds United have to excel. Others can be good and somehow successful but for Leeds we have to be excellent. Don Revie's team was the best team in the country for 10 years, they excelled and yet somehow did not fully fulfil their potential. Howard Wilkinson's team had the 2nd best midfield 4 we have ever had, who drove us to success and yet somehow Howard did not know how to follow on. David O'leary's team won hearts but nothing else with a team of home grown kids. Think of those teams, even Simon Grayson's team, what they should or could have won. Being black means striving, excelling just to be ordinary, you cannot be good and hope to win. Like Leeds, like me, like black people, to have a chance to succeed we need to be exceptional. Good is not acceptable, Leeds United are black.

[Deleted User 3289]

Interesting take on things. As Brian Deane recently commented.. Playing for Leeds is not for the faint-hearted. When you have reached the heights that Leeds have i guess mediocre will never be enough.

[Another Northern Soul]

Welcome Simon W.

I'm not sure I agree with such comment that LU are black but it's an interesting theory

Leeds United are a team and club of varying races, faiths, nationalities and skin colour, we are a rich and diverse tapestry of a club, much like the city, and every individual who has succeeded here will probably have their own story of how they have overcome personal hardships in life and culture, regardless of the colour of their skin. IMHO

[Deleted User 728]

I don't agree.

I think almost every team could be described as black given the criteria you've laid out.
There's only three domestic trophies that the top two divisions can win - league, FA and League Cups - and then you have the Full Members Cup for the lower leagues too and even factoring in one more European trophy for the elite clubs in any given season, the overwhelmingly vast majority of sides will win diddly squat, most of those for DECADES, not just years.

It's even harder for players to come through too - making it as a pro marks you out as less than a tenth of a percent in terms of the numbers who have youth contracts in their teens.

Having said all that, the first thing I thought of was the old Chris Kamara story about when he took the Bradford job.
His chairman sat down and said "Before you start, there's something we need to get out in the open".
Kamara looked apprehensively back at his new boss and asked "Is it because I'm black ?"
The chairman snorted dismissively "No ! It's because you played for that lot down t'road ..."

[johnh]

I think the principle that simonwleeds suggests, has some merit, but I don't think 'black' is the correct term. I think the better term is 'hate'. On other football websites I have been into the term 'I hate Leeds' is probably the most common reference to any other club. 'Us against the world' is the key motivator.

[LAsouthcoast]

I think the principle that simonwleeds suggests, has some merit, but I don't think 'black' is the correct term. I think the better term is 'hate'. On other football websites I have been into the term 'I hate Leeds' is probably the most common reference to any other club. 'Us against the world' is the key motivator.

It still surprises me why we are so hated, obviously a hangover from the sixties and seventies when we were time wasting and committing professional fouls just as all teams do nowadays.

I give Xmas cards to my customers and one regular who is elderly and a Chelsea fan sends me a card back and addresses it to Dirty Leeds, all in fun.