If there’s one lesson the Marcelo Bielsa era taught me, it’s to savour every moment. The magic, the intensity, the joy. It doesn’t last forever, but while it does, it can be everything. What Bielsa achieved at Elland Road was incredible, he didn’t just win promotion, he changed Leeds United for the better. He gave us a team to believe in, a style to admire, and a connection to the club we hadn’t felt in years. It was a once in a generation journey, but did I truly enjoy it as much as I should have at the time?
Looking back now, I can say those were three of the greatest seasons I’ve ever experienced as a Leeds United fan. But at the time, I was too wrapped up in the ever-present sense of doom that comes with following this club. That first season, by any standard, was incredible, the football was joyous, the best we’d seen in decades. And yet, the weight of expectation was suffocating. That QPR game, that Wigan collapse, we felt every second of it. And then the Derby play-off second leg... that was enough to finish us all off.
The next season, the expectations were even greater and so were the stakes. Miss out again, and it felt like we’d never make it back to the Premier League. Worse still, Bielsa would surely be gone from our lives forever. But once again, Leeds delivered. We hit the top two, the dream was alive… and then, lockdown. Just our luck. After 16 years in the wilderness, Leeds United were finally on the verge of promotion only for a global pandemic to bring football to a standstill.
We prayed the season wouldn’t be cancelled, prayed for football’s return. And when it finally did, there were no fans in the stadium, but our team was back. Surely, this time, it was happening. And then we lost to Cardiff! Cue another meltdown, the paranoia setting in as we kept looking over our shoulders. But in truth, promotion was never in doubt. Looking back, it was easy. We should have enjoyed it more!
Looking back, I don’t think I truly appreciated our first season back in the Premier League either. Newly promoted teams usually struggle, just look at the past two seasons. But we belonged. Yes, we lost on the opening day, but we gave Liverpool something to think about. And after that, we rarely dropped below twelfth, sitting comfortably in mid-table, finishing ninth with dreams of Europe. And yet, for most of the season, I couldn’t shake the fear, constantly looking over my shoulder, half-convinced that Fulham were going to catch us at any minute.
There were incredible moments, the 5-2 against Newcastle, the smash-and-grab at the Etihad, but that underlying anxiety from the promotion campaign never really left. Instead of enjoying the ride, I was bracing for the fall. The next two seasons were nothing to write home about, ending in capitulation and, some might say, a deserved relegation having failed to back the genius who got us there in the first place. Looking back now, I find myself that I never truly stopped to enjoy the moments that were there to be savoured.
And here we are with Farke, in the midst of another fantastic season, whatever the outcome. Last year ended on a sour note, but it was still a remarkable campaign, a freak of a season where, in any other year, we would have gone up. Now, we’re on course to earn that promotion outright. There have been frustrations along the way, but the 7-0 demolition of Cardiff felt like a release. It reminded us that this is a season to savour, not endure.
And yet, even on Monday, at half-time, fans were proclaiming Farke was useless, that we were no better than a relegation-battling side, that our push for automatic promotion was collapsing. Fifty minutes later, Rothwell swung in a cross, Pascal fired it home, and the roof came off Elland Road. The anxiety vanished. Even Daniel Farke, normally the calmest man in the stadium, lost his composure, sprinting onto the pitch in celebration.
We should all be a bit more Daniel. Don’t panic when things aren’t going our way, enjoy the good times when they are there to be enjoyed. There are thirteen games left. Let’s embrace it. Whatever happens, these past two seasons have been a hell of a ride. And really, if you can’t enjoy the journey as a football fan, what’s the point of it all?
