Leeds United v Ipswich Town
Wednesday 4th March 2015
Elland Road – 19:45
Opening Thought – Jamma
If I'm being honest, I probably hedged my bets a little bit ahead of the derby, when talking about the importance of the game in relation to any other. If we had come away with the win, I would have been reiterating my thoughts about the belief and momentum that we could take into the rest of the season. Instead, I'm naturally going to focus on the fact that, as disappointing as the defeat inevitably was, it was still only worth the 3 points. Of course it was painful to see our local rivals leapfrog us in the league standings but just as frustrating for me was our inability once again to capitalise on our fellow promotion contenders dropping points. Yes, we are still just a scarcely believable 3 points off the top 2 but you wonder just how many more chances we will be given, and how long it will be before the likes of Brentford and Wolves – and maybe a rapidly-improving Nottingham Forest – take advantage instead. There is no denying that our form has tailed off since the turn of the year. This is put into stark perspective by the statistic that it has taken us 10 matches in 2015 to pick up the same amount of points (13) as we did in the month of December. Norwich, on the other hand, are, rather ominously, the one side in the top six that seems to be getting stronger as the finishing line comes into view.
As has so often been the case in 2014/15, Sunday's match hinged on the finest of margins. Nine times out of ten, Freddie Sears would have capped off an excellent team move – and a fine individual performance – with a goal but was unlucky to be denied by a point-blank save from John Ruddy. Both of Norwich's goals had an element of fortune about them, with the ball breaking kindly for Bradley Johnson and then Cameron Jerome's shot taking a deflection off Tyrone Mings on its way into the bottom corner. There was the endeavour that we have come to expect of McCarthy's teams but Sears, Bru and Chaplow also provided the creativity that we have been accused of lacking. In many ways, it was a typical local derby, played at great intensity and with neither team allowing the other to settle. The Canaries were just able to find that composure when it counted to settle an otherwise even encounter. As after the setbacks against Rotherham and Reading, we have an instant opportunity to make amends, in the shape of a trip to Elland Road. With just two months of the campaign to go, the Blues are still very much in the mix. I'm sure we'd all rather beat Norwich home and away in the play-offs anyway, wouldn't we?
The Opposition – Leeds United
Leeds United's predecessor team, Leeds City FC, was formed in 1904, and they were elected League members in 1905, but were forcibly disbanded and forced to sell off all their players by The Football League in 1919 in response to allegations of illegal payments to players during the First World War.
In 1919, Leeds United was formed and they received an invitation to enter the Midland League. Following Leeds City's disbanding, Yorkshire Amateurs bought their stadium Elland Road and in turn offered to make way for the new team.
The chairman of Huddersfield Town, Hilton Crowther, loaned Leeds United £35,000, to be repaid when Leeds United won promotion to Division One.
On 31 May 1920, Leeds United were elected to the Football League. Over the following few years, they consolidated their position in the Second Division and in 1924 won the title and with it promotion to the First Division. They failed to establish themselves and were relegated in 1926–27. In the years up until the start of World War II, Leeds were twice relegated, both times being instantly re-promoted the following season.
In the 1946–47 season after the war, Leeds were relegated again with the worst league record in their history.
Leeds remained in the Second Division until 1955–56, when they once again won promotion to the First Division, before being relegated again in the 1959–60 season.
In March 1961, the club appointed former player Don Revie as manager. His stewardship began in adverse circumstances as the club was in financial difficulty and in 1961–62 only a win in the final game of the season saved the club from relegation to Division Three.
Revie implemented a youth policy and a change of kit colour to an all-white strip in the style of Real Madrid, and Leeds soon won promotion to the First Division, in 1963–64. In his thirteen years in charge, Revie guided Leeds to two Football League First Division titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one Football League Second Division title and one Charity Shield. He also guided them to three more FA Cup Finals, two more FA Cup Semi-Finals, one more Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Semi-Final, one European Cup Winners' Cup Final and one European Cup Semi-Final. The team also finished second in the Football League First Division five times, third once and fourth twice.
Following the 1973–74 season, Revie left Leeds and Elland Road in 1974, to manage the England national team, and, though they no longer dominated English football, they remained in the top ten for subsequent seasons before being relegated at the end of 1981–82.
In October 1988, Howard Wilkinson took over the manager’s role and oversaw their promotion back to the First Division in 1989–90. Under Wilkinson, Leeds finished 4th in 1990–91 and in the 1991–92 season Leeds won the title.
In October 1998, David O'Leary assumed the manager’s role at Leeds and under his guidance Leeds never finished outside the top 5 in the Premier League, and secured qualification for both the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, enjoying cup runs to the semi-finals of both competitions.
Under chairman Peter Ridsdale, Leeds had taken out large loans against the prospect of the share of the TV rights and sponsorship revenues from UEFA Champions League qualification and subsequent progress in the competition. However, Leeds narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League in two successive seasons, and as a consequence did not receive enough income to repay the loans. The net result was that Leeds’ best players were sold, O’Leary fell out with Ridsdale and was sacked before in turn being replaced by Terry Venables, who also ended up by being sacked after disagreeing with the Chairman. Ridsdale himself resigned from the Board soon after.
In the 2003-04 season, an insolvency specialist, Gerald Krasner, led a consortium of local businessmen which took over Leeds and oversaw the sale of the clubs' assets, including senior and emerging youth players of any value, which saw them relegated at the end of the season.
Following relegation to the Championship, Leeds were forced to sell both their training ground and stadium in the autumn of 2004.
The board finally sold the club for £10 million to Ken Bates, who appointed a number of managers until, with relegation virtually assured, Leeds entered administration on 4 May 2007, thus incurring a league-imposed 10-point deduction which officially relegated the club to the third tier of English football.
The club was put up for sale by KPMG, and again Ken Bates' bid was accepted. The league eventually sanctioned this under the "exceptional circumstances rule" but imposed a 15-point deduction.
Over the next two seasons, Leeds reached the playoffs but failed to achieve promotion.
In the 2009–10 season, under Simon Grayson, Leeds won their final game of the season to confirm automatic promotion to The Championship. However, Grayson was relieved of his duties after failing to challenge for promotion to the Premiership.
On 21 November 2012, Middle East-based private equity group GFH Capital finalised a deal for a protracted takeover of Leeds, gaining a 100% shareholding in the club.
On 7 January 2014, Leeds United's Managing Director David Haigh was involved in Sport Capital, a consortium involving the Managing Director of Leeds United's main sponsors, Enterprise Insurance, Andrew Flowers. Sports Capital came close to completing a transaction with GFH Capital that would have given them a 75% stakehold in the business. However, on 30 January, Sport Capital's takeover collapsed due to a lack of "financial backing".
On 31 January 2014, under controversial circumstances, a new buyer was found for the club in Massimo Cellino, the president of the Serie A club Cagliari Calcio and his Company Eleonora Sports Ltd. After weeks of speculation regarding the purchase of Leeds United, on 7 February 2014, it was announced that Cellino's family consortium had acquired a 75% ownership of the club subject to Football League Approval. At its meeting on 23 March 2014, the Board of the Football League decided unanimously that Cellino's conviction by an Italian Court meant that he did not meet their Owners and Directors’ Test, so could not take over Leeds United, which he immediately appealed. On 5 April, Cellino was successful in his appeal and the takeover was completed on 10 April, with Cellino's company, Eleonora Sport Limited, buying 75% of the clubs shares.
On 19 June 2014, Dave Hockaday was appointed head coach of Leeds on a two-year contract but this only lasted 70 days.
On 23 September 2014, Darko Milanič was appointed the new Head Coach of Leeds United but he only lasted 32 days, in turn being replaced by Neil Redfern.
One To Watch – Rodolph Austin
One of a number of players to have been linked with a move to Portman Road in recent weeks, Rodolph Austin is a key figure in the engine room of the Leeds midfield.
Having initially attempted to sign Austin for newly-promoted QPR ahead of the 2011/12 season, former manager Neil Warnock finally got his man the following summer, bringing him to Elland Road from Norwegian side SK Brann. In the three campaigns that have followed, the Jamaican international has become a fans’ favourite, with his typically combative displays and eye for the spectacular. The central midfielder, who can also play in defence, has lived up to his nickname of ‘The Beast’ since he arrived in this country, thanks to his no-nonsense approach. This level of commitment made him an obvious choice for the Whites’ captain, a role that he was given by Brian McDermott at the beginning of his second campaign. Following a discussion with McDermott last January, Austin has since relinquished this responsibility but his performances have continued to go from strength to strength. The 29-year-old has the ability to be a matchwinner on his day, as evidenced by his latest blockbuster strike, against Watford at the weekend:
The Gaffer – Neil Redfearn
Neil Redfearn played 790 matches in the Football League, the fifth highest total of all time, and more than a thousand first team games overall in a career that spanned 24 years.
Redfearn began his career at Bolton Wanderers in 1982, having previously been on the books of Nottingham Forest's youth team. He later made his name as a goalscoring midfielder at lower division sides Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers. In 1987, he was signed by Crystal Palace, and he later played for Watford, before moving again in 1989 to Oldham Athletic.
Redfearn's last season with Oldham constituted a career highlight as he was an ever-present in the team that won the Second Division title, taking Oldham to the top flight of English football after a gap of 68 years.
In September 1991, Redfearn joined Barnsley and, in his seven seasons at Oakwell, he hardly missed a single game, and was named club captain. In the 1996–97 season, Redfearn scored 17 goals as Barnsley won promotion to the FA Premier League for the first time in the club's history. Barnsley were immediately relegated the following season. However, Redfearn's performances had made him a wanted man and he was signed by Charlton Athletic in the summer of 1998. He left Barnsley having played 338 first team games, scoring 84 goals.
At the end of the 1998/99 season, Redfearn jumped at the chance of returning to his native Yorkshire and joined Bradford City. Redfearn did not make much impact at Bradford, and joined his 10th team, Wigan Athletic, after just nine months in Bradford. Despite a very good goalscoring record, Redfearn never became first choice at Wigan either, and he dropped down two divisions to join Halifax Town in 2001.
At Halifax, he also got his first taste of management, being appointed caretaker manager following the resignation of Paul Bracewell on 30 August. Redfearn started a second spell in caretaker charge on 4 March 2002. However, his contract with the club was terminated on 25 April after having been snubbed for the permanent manager's job so he joined Boston United as player-coach.
Redfearn spent the better part of two years at Boston, before finishing his Football League career at Rochdale in the spring of 2004.
Rochdale did not offer him a new contract at the end of the season, after which Redfearn dropped down to the Conference, where he became player-coach at Scarborough. On 24 October 2005, Redfearn was named caretaker manager, before being appointed permanently on 1 November, while remaining registered as a player. Redfearn resigned on 6 July 2006 and he subsequently signed with Northern Premier League First Division side Bradford Park Avenue later that month. He made his 1,000th competitive appearance on 4 November 2006, when Bradford Park Avenue faced Solihull Borough. Redfearn quit Bradford Park Avenue in March 2007, joining Northern Premier League First Division rivals Stocksbridge Park Steels, but left on 19 June to become manager of Conference side Northwich Victoria. He resigned on 17 September 2007, after the club only managed one point from their first nine games, leaving them bottom of the Conference National.
He joined Northern Premier Division club Frickley Athletic as a player in September 2007. He left the club over a month later to join Bridlington Town on 5 November. He left them in January 2008 and was appointed as York City's youth team coach in February. He joined Emley in July, where he would play when his commitments with York's youth team allowed. Redfearn moved onto Salford City of the Northern Premier League Division One North in October 2008. He took over as caretaker manager at York on 21 November 2008 and then took up the position of assistant manager at the club on the 24th.
Redfearn left York over a month later after being appointed coach of the Under 18 academy team at Leeds United on 30 December and he assumed this role on 1 January 2009. He took over as manager of the Leeds reserve team in December 2010 and was appointed caretaker manager at Leeds following the sacking of manager Simon Grayson on 1 February 2012. Redfearn was replaced by Neil Warnock as permanent manager on 18 February. In April 2012, Redfearn guided Leeds' Under 18s side to a 2nd place finish in the Under 18s League.
On 1 April, following the departure of Neil Warnock, Redfearn again took charge of the first team for one game.
In April 2013, manager Brian McDermott announced that Redfearn would become the new first team coach as well as combining his role as Reserve Team/Development Squad manager. When McDermott left in May 2014, Redfearn stood down from his role of first team coach to continue his role as reserve team/development squad manager, as well as his role of Academy Manager.
On 28 August 2014, Redfearn was appointed caretaker head coach after head coach Dave Hockaday was sacked by owner Massimo Cellino, having been in the job for only 70 days. This was the third time Redfearn had been appointed as a caretaker manager/head coach of Leeds. After recording a record of three wins and one draw in his latest stint as caretaker, Leeds announced that Redfearn would be stepping back down into a role described as "Academy manager and head of coaching", with Darko Milanič appointed the new Head Coach of Leeds United.
On 25 October, Milanič was sacked by the club after only 32 days in charge. Cellino confirmed that Redfearn would be appointed as Leeds' new head coach.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Trev's Trivia
Players to play for both teams
Richard Naylor ITFC 1995-2009 DIRTY LEEDS 2009-2011
David Norris ITFC 2008-2011 DIRTY LEEDS 2012-2015
Ian Westlake ITFC 2002-2006 DIRTY LEEDS 2006-2009
Media Watch - K L Blue
Christophe Berra feels derby frustration – but now Ipswich Town may do Norwich City a few favours
Even a derby is a game about opinions – and for Christophe Berra, Ipswich got unlucky at Carrow Road. The irony is Town may well do their arch rivals a few favours from here on in.
“A defeat’s a defeat,” said the Scottish centre-back. “We’re professionals, so whether it’s Norwich City, our local rivals, or Leeds, League One or a Premier League team, we don’t like getting beat.
“There definitely wasn’t a great deal between the two teams. The first goal was a cut back and a great strike by the lad, and we know he can do that. He caught it sweetly and it went right in the top corner.
“Five minutes later I think, we had a great chance and the keeper made a great save from Searsy.
“In the second half their second goal was a wee bit of misfortune – I don’t think it was the best of shots from Jerome and it spun up, so it was a wee bit lucky on their end.
“Don’t get me wrong, towards the end of the game they had a couple of counter-attacks, but that was because we were pushing for the game. If it was 1-1, that probably wouldn’t have happened. But I don’t think we came here and got run over. Obviously it was a great first strike.”
A trip to Leeds awaits Ipswich next – before having to take on Middlesbrough, Brentford, Bournemouth, Watford and Wolves between now and the season’s end.
“It’s a big two months to the end of the season so we’ve got to dust ourselves down and get ready for Leeds,” added Berra. “If at the start of the season you’d have looked at the table and seen us in this position now, three points off the top two, I’m sure the fans would’ve bitten your arm off. We can’t be greedy and we’ve got to keep ourselves grounded.
“This was a big game because it was a derby, but for us players it’s just another match.
“The atmosphere was different… The fans created a really good atmosphere but it would’ve been better if they’d been really quiet, because that would’ve meant we were doing well or winning.
“We’ve got to play a lot of teams around us and hopefully the luck is with us. No one is running away with the league. I don’t know if it’s going to be more points than Leicester got last season just to get into the play-offs – it’s going to be so tight. Most of the teams have got to play each other.”
Stat Time
Head To Head
Leeds Wins.........................28.....(42.42%)
Ipswich Wins.......................21.....(31.82%)
Draws...............................17.....(25.76%)
Leeds Goals........................97.....(Ave. 1.47 per Game)
Ipswich Goals......................87.....(Ave 1.32 Per Game)
Head To Head at Leeds
Leeds Wins..........................17.....(51.52%)
Ipswich Wins........................6.....(18.18%)
Draws................................10.....(30.30%)
Leeds Goals.........................56....(Ave. 1.70 Per Game)
Ipswich Goals.......................36....(Ave 1.09 Per Game)
The Predicted Teams
Leeds
01 Silvestri
15 Wootton
03 Bamba
32 Cooper
21 Taylor
07 Murphy
23 Cook
02 Byram
04 Austin
27 Mowatt
08 Sharp
Ipswich Town
33 Bialkowski
02 Parr
04 Chambers
06 Berra
03 Mings
11 Anderson
17 Bru
08 Skuse
18 Tabb
20 Sears
09 Murphy
Match Referee – Mark Brown
Final Thought - Frosty
Well that was an arse, however it’s time to get back on the Tractor and chug on up to Yorkshire to take 3 points off 16th placed Leeds United which is probably best response we could make after Sunday.
The only other thing worth mentioning after the Derby game is that Alex Neil will probably win ‘Manager of the Month’ award which should doom the Budgies for the rest of March!
I know Trev probably shares the same view as me, outside of Norwich, Leeds are probably my least favourite team in the division. There is something truly annoying about this club which I can’t quite put my finger on.
Leeds seem to have a bit of a problem playing at home at the moment, losses to Watford and Brentford at Elland Road recently, whilst they picked up valuable away wins at Middlesbrough and Reading ….. no easy feats. Their only away loss being a trip to Brighton within this period.
Some interesting mid-week matchups amongst our Promotion rivals, the pick of them being Wolves visit to Bournemouth. In other fixtures, Brentford host Huddersfield, Derby visit Brighton, Boro at home to Millwall, Fulham travel up the road to Watford and the Budgies face Wigan who hopefully put on one of their inconsistently good displays.
In previous years, the highlight would have been winning the fixtures against Norwich as quite frankly that was all there was bugger all else to look forward to in the dark days of seasons past where just remaining in the division had some doubtful moments. I would happily (well not completely happily in fairness) concede a match to Norwich, if in lieu of, we made it to the promised land which is what the remaining matches of the this season are all about.
For those travelling to the game, have a safe trip, and remember, according to the ‘World Cities Research Network’ Leeds is the ‘cultural, financial and commercial heart of the West Yorkshire Urban Area’, like Bradford was really competition for this title??
LEEDS UNITED 0 IPSWICH TOWN 1
