Back by popular demand so on to the 2007-08 season when rightly or wrongly we started the season on -15 points a certain Ken Bates owned the club & none other than Dennis Wise was the manager a scenario you couldn't have made up.
First game of the season was away at Tranmere & despite everything tickets were like gold dust. Myself & 4 mates travelled to the Wirral not knowing what to expect. In the pub before the game there was a special buzz, one I'd not felt before it was us against them. The away end was packed but despite everything we were UNITED. Players that day were Beckford, Prutton, Douglas, Westlake et al but they felt the special atmosphere & duly reduced the deficit to -12 with a 2-1 win.
My next trip was an easy trip to Nottingham Forest where a group of over 50 Nottingham Whites met in a pub on the outskirts of the city. Myself & a guy called Graham Swift started this members club in September 2006 & this was our first venture onto " home turf " A goal apiece from Beckford & Kandol saw us grab a 2-1 win & a night in the pub where the beer flowed.
Games at home to Hartlepool & a Friday fixture away to Bristol Rovers followed giving us 4 victories on the trot & a huge 2 fingers to the authorities ensued. I didn't go to the Swansea game because of illness but did travel to Kent to see us play Gillingham where conspiracy theories were raised as both Beckford & Kandol were red carded for very soft fouls. As the referee & his officials went off the pitch coins & bottles were hurled at them by the angry away fans, still we kept the unbeaten run going with a 1-1 draw.
I missed the away game at Oldham due to work commitments but travelled to ER for the games against Yeovil & Orient, unbeaten run still in tact & the fans becoming more UNITED each game. God it felt good being a Leeds fan & at times we even forgot about Bates & Wise
My next trip was to probably one of the worst grounds I've done this was the athletic stadium known as the Withdean home to Brighton what a proverbial &*$* hole. A home game to Millwall followed seeing us come out on top 4-2. I missed the next 2 away games at Carlisle & Bournemouth but went to Cheltenham where we dominated the game & must have had 20+ attempts at goal but still got beat 1-0. Our next game was a home game against local rivals Huddersfield where we played our best football to date winning 4-0.
The next game was away to Walsall where I managed to obtain 10 tickets from a London based fan & agreed to meet him at a local rugby club to pick them up & give him the money I owed him. I told everyone to stay on the coach whilst I picked up the tickets but the coach emptied bar 5 as another drink was on the cards. The coach driver took the 5 to the ground in a 49 seater. The police approached the driver & asked where the other passengers were to which he told them. Police cars were dispatched unbeknown to us to the rugby club & we left the club & started walking to the ground chanting & singing the police went to action & nicked one of our lads. Our lads turned nasty & another 7 arrests were made before we arrived at the ground. I saw little of the game as I protested against the arrests. The chief copper was a arrogant buggas but said once the game was over the lads would be released. They weren't they were all charged & by the time everything was done we arrived back in Nottingham at 23:00, though we did have an off licence stop much to the pleasure of the owner
To be continued
To go out of the cup was a disaster.
