Heidi's blog Leeds United v West Ham 24/10/25

[Lufcheidi]

Leeds United v West Ham, 24th October 2025 at Elland Road
Firstly, for anyone who is waiting for a Billy Bremner badge, sadly they didn’t arrive in time for the game tonight. I will update on social media once they have arrived but we have already got a list of over 100 names so they are proving very popular and will soon have limited availability. For information purposes, they are £5 each and all profits will go towards the Billy Bremner statue in his home town of Raploch, Stirling.
I was aiming for us to set off earlier than we did to the game, then traffic was very heavy so it took longer than expected. After a trip to the Holbeck, we went to the Peacock and it was great catching up with some of the Halifax lads. With one over from America with his wife who was attending her first Leeds game, I couldn’t believe it was 30 years ago that I was at his farewell in Halifax with my late husband. Sadly I didn’t get to see one of our Irish fans who was bringing his young son to his first game but hopefully he enjoyed it. I was introduced to a Leeds fan from Australia in the Kop and he was another fan attending his first game.
After the defeat at Burnley last week, it was imperative we got three points from the game today but wasn’t sure what to expect. Farke had made changes to the team so it seemed he had listened to what many fans had been saying since the defeat. With this game being the nearest one to Armistice Day, this became our Remembrance Day one with representatives from the Armed Forces lowering flags. There was also the poignant sound of the Last Post by the bugler as all fans in the ground paid their respects to our fallen soldiers.
I appreciate all the comments from those who have managed to see the documentary Paris 75. As one fan pointed out tonight, he went with his dad to see it as I had recommended it. He didn’t expect to see me in it! In all seriousness though, I do stand by what I’ve said as it proves we were right that we were robbed of our rightful trophy all those years ago. I’m heading back to the Showcase on Thursday to see it for the third time, but also to listen to the Q&A session with Paul Reaney and the producer Harvey Marcus.
Team: Perri, Ampadu, Gudmundsson, Bogle, Rodon, Longstaff, Aaronsson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor, Bijol (making his Premier League debut), Tanaka.
Subs: Justin for Gudmundsson (injured 44), Harrison for Okafor (46), Gruev for Tanaka (72), James for Aaronson (87), Nmecha for Calvert-Lewin (87).
Subs not used: Darlow, Stach, Struijk, Piroe.
Leeds won the game 2-1 with goals from Aaronson (3), Rodon (15).
Attendance: 36,788 with approx 2,900 West Ham fans.
Referee: Stuart Atwell.
Booked: Gruev, Perri, Justin.
Leeds got off to a fantastic start and were a goal up within the first five minutes when Aaronson was involved in the build up to the goal. Bogle sent in a great cross that saw Okafor’s header saved by their keeper then Aaronson hit the rebound into the net. That was just the response our fans were looking for. West Ham nearly got an immediate equaliser with an overhead kick that Perri parried, but then flung himself forward to push the loose ball away before the West Ham player got there. Things became even better when Rodon headed a second goal into the net from a Longstaff corner. Leeds were on fire with Tanaka’s shot going over the bar but then, it looked as if West Ham had equalised as everyone around me shouted he was offside. As the linesman put his flag up we had to wait for VAR to confirm this. What a waste of space VAR is as it took an absolute age for them to make a decision confirming this. I would happily stick VAR in the bin! Ampadu had a great solo run from our half only for his final shot to go well wide. Rodon sent a great ball out to Okafor on the wing only to see his shot go narrowly wide of the far post.
When a West Ham player went down on the edge of our box, play carried on as it definitely wasn’t a foul. Eventually play stopped and after a lengthy stoppage for treatment, a stretcher was called for. This was never brought on to the pitch though and I had decided as the player had fallen heavily it was either his shoulder or elbow that he had injured. Eventually he stood up and was helped off the pitch with his shirt used as a sling and sucking on “gas and air”. Obviously he was in a lot of pain. When play restarted, it felt like the “rest” had benefited West Ham as they became more of a threat. Just before the break we lost Gudmundsson who had to go off injured as 13 minutes injury time were put on the board. It wasn’t plain sailing keeping that two goal lead, but was glad when the whistle finally blew for half time as we couldn’t afford to let West Ham back into the game.
The second half saw Aaronson start in our half by beating two West Ham players before running the length of the pitch only to see his shot deflected onto the cross bar. He was very unlucky not to score, with our next chance an ontarget shot from Harrison saved by their keeper. Once Gruev came on, we started to play deeper inviting West Ham to attack, then further subs meant we lost our shape. West Ham pulled one back when the ball crossed into our box was flicked on by their player who although had his back to the goal, did enough to send the ball past Perri despite his efforts to stop it. It was a nervy ending to the game for me but thankfully we managed to see the game out and get those precious three points. It was a vital win that was certainly needed.
With two away games next at Brighton and then Forest, at least we have a bit of a recovery time after playing Friday night. With the clocks going back an hour this weekend, the dark nights are drawing in before we head into a heavy period of games heading up to Christmas and the end of the year. No game will be easy that’s for sure but as long as we try and never give up, we stand a chance. See what happens next, LUFC – Marching on Together!

[CW1972]

Nice read.