General Chat • 2nd May 2004, Going down, but we'll be back!
That blame lay squarely at the feet of the previous board which simply couldn't say no. Three years previous, Leeds had taken on Spanish giants Valencia in the first leg of the semi-final of the Champions League. Chairman, Peter Ridsdale, and his fellow directors were living the high life, buzzing around the world in private jets, and the players were handed money like it was going out of fashion. Ridsdale said “we were living the dream”, but that day at Bolton the fans he left behind were living their worst nightmare. The ninety minutes at the Reebok were the most painful spent watching Leeds.
It wasn't that United were mind-numbingly bad, it was difficult to expect much from a team which had spent the entire campaign lying on the canvas, it was just that there was an air of inevitability about the whole proceedings. Right from the moment Manchester City scored their winner against Newcastle on the Saturday, one just knew that United's time was finally up. It was easy to look back on where it had all gone wrong that season.
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The simple truth was that Leeds had not been good enough to compete at the highest level and, week after week, the level of performance had been unacceptable. For all there have been times when the endeavour couldn't be questioned, you could not hide the lack of quality. The commitment shown by the likes of Alan Smith, Dominic Matteo and Paul Robinson could not be faulted and their attitude was summed up to perfection at the final whistle when they lingered long in front of the devastated travelling supporters. Their tears at the whistle were contagious.
What was most galling on that Sunday was that Bolton appeared to want it more than a team which simply had to win to stand any chance of remaining among the elite. That was despite the backing of almost 4,000 fans who never stopped singing throughout. “Going down, but we'll be back” was the defiant salute from a group of fans who deserved far more than they had had from their team that season. They had been shafted from all angles, by all and sundry, yet come Crewe and Plymouth next season, they would be there in numbers again.
It was a painful day to be a Leeds fan, a day most would like to forget but we must remember it. The chant sung by the travelling Leeds fans that day, “Going down, but we'll be back”, will come true. We have a great opportunity to secure promotion in this years play-offs, all the wrongs of 15 years ago have been righted; we have the best owners we have had for years, we have a truly inspirational manager and a bunch of players who have worked harder and committed more than any I have seen for a long time.
We will be back!