Leeds United U20

17 Aug 2027
Tuesday
Process
55 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Largie Ramazani out for 14 days

14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leeds United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Leeds United tear Reading apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Reading, and it could have been more.

Market

Ethan Ampadu hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leeds United can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Joe Rodon: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leeds United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Harry Wilson scores twice — 8.34

Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Leeds United turn down Luton Town for Joe Rodon

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

At last: Leeds United win one

11 matches without a win, and then this, against Reading. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Market

Only the photograph left for Sean Longstaff

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sean Longstaff will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leeds United the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Thiago Almada and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

Back issues
54 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Largie Ramazani

22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Leeds United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Dominic Calvert-Lewin puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leeds United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Terms done: James Justin is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Middlesbrough waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leeds United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Only the photograph left for Joe Rodon

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joe Rodon will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leeds United the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Thomas McGill comes home

The shirt still fits. Thomas McGill is back at Leeds United, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Mateo Joseph is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Thiago Almada in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Lucas Perri signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lucas Perri commits to Leeds United for another 4 years.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the Leeds United dugout

8 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Harry Wilson
  • The dugout Thiago Almada is playing like a man with something to prove
  • The dugout Ethan Ampadu asks for a word with the manager
53 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Anthony Cook is out at Leeds United

Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.

The terraces

Anger at Leeds United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

The knee: Largie Ramazani out for 30 days

30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leeds United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Anton Stach puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leeds United, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Noah Okafor keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leeds United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Jayden Bogle agrees terms with Luton Town

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Leeds United people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Boardroom

The Leeds United board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

Boardroom

Jacob Ellis minds the shop at Leeds United

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Jacob Ellis recited it perfectly.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Thiago Almada was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief

52 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Terms done: Joe Rodon is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Luton Town waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leeds United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Transfer targets

Leeds United rebuffed over Carl Rushworth

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Coventry City have kept their man, and Leeds United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

James Justin has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leeds United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

An offer of $1.5M for Daniel Bentley

Leeds United have gone to Coventry City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Bolton Wanderers expected to open talks for Jayden Bogle

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Leeds United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Market

Issa Kaboré has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leeds United can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

The dugout

Ao Tanaka knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leeds United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

51 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Sean Longstaff has said yes to Middlesbrough

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Leeds United have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Leeds United turn down Olympiacos for Harry Wilson

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

An offer of $9.5M for Carl Rushworth

Leeds United have gone to Coventry City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Market

Renan Guedes asks to leave Leeds United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

The Joe Rodon conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Luton Town will make the call about Joe Rodon this week. Leeds United have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Squad

Nico Elvedi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Joe Rodon

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joe Rodon, and the manager let it.

Squad

Renan Guedes wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leeds United know it.

In brief

50 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Jayden Bogle agrees terms with Bolton Wanderers

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Leeds United people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Leeds United say no — this time

The offer from Birmingham for James Trafford was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

The dugout

Brenden Aaronson says Leeds United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Business is business: Michael Zetterer goes

Middlesbrough paid $5.1M and Leeds United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Amos Nondi puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leeds United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Noah Okafor in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jayden Bogle signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jayden Bogle and Leeds United agree another 4 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jayden Bogle

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

49 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Leeds United board

A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Leeds United boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Boardroom

Leeds United put Anthony Cook on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Transfer targets

Middlesbrough tell Leeds United: Sol Brynn is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Ryan Trevitt puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Leeds United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Anton Stach has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leeds United can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Thiago Almada was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Jason Lawrence is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Market

Lucas Perri comes home with the gloves

34 games away and 9 of them without conceding. Leeds United sent a goalkeeper out to find him some football and have been handed a selection problem instead: the man in possession of the shirt now has somebody behind him who has spent a season being picked.

In brief

48 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Terms done: Joe Rodon is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Luton Town waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Leeds United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Michael Zetterer asks to leave Leeds United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Jayden Bogle has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leeds United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Leeds United sell Pedro Augusto for $2.4M

Pedro Augusto has left for Gillingham in a $2.4M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Real improvement from Jean-Mattéo Bahoya at Leeds United

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Loan watch

Mateo Joseph keeps scoring at Mallorca

38 appearances away from home and 17 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

A late step up for James Trafford

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

47 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Leeds United turn down Luton Town for Joe Rodon

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Leeds United walk away from Bright Osayi-Samuel

$6.2M was the most the club would pay and Birmingham were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Market

Pedro Augusto asks to leave Leeds United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Carl Rushworth

Leeds United asked and Coventry City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout

Kortney Hause keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leeds United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Antonio Kasala is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Stach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Late improvement for Brenden Aaronson

At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

In brief

46 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Leeds United get their man

The chase for Thiago Almada ended with $36.5M changing hands and River Plate out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Market

Jayden Bogle has said yes to Bolton Wanderers

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Leeds United have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Derensili Sanches Fernandes

Leeds United asked and Huddersfield Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

An offer of $6.2M for Bright Osayi-Samuel

Leeds United have gone to Birmingham with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Market

Jayden Bogle hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Leeds United can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Issa Kaboré keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leeds United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Cardiff City come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Leeds United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Thiago Almada arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Thiago Almada has, at Leeds United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

45 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

It is over: Leeds United are relegated

The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.

The terraces

Anger at Leeds United spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Transfer targets

Leeds United bid $36.5M for Thiago Almada

The offer went to River Plate this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Roberto Fernández

Leeds United asked and Braga said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Joe Rodon asks to leave Leeds United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Leeds United

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leeds United is running low.

Market

Anton Stach wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Leeds United hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Noah Okafor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Stach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

44 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Mateo Joseph’s exile

17 goals in 38 games at Mallorca — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Leeds United updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Charlie Crew returns a better player

39 games and 2 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.

The dugout

No hiding place for Brenden Aaronson

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brenden Aaronson, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

9 clean sheets on loan for Lucas Perri

34 appearances at Torino and the goals have stopped going in. Leeds United lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.

Squad

A smaller club would suit Jayden Bogle now

He has had enough of the noise. Whether Leeds United can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.

Squad

Young player of the week: Harry Gray

At 18 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.

Market

The Dominic Calvert-Lewin question follows Leeds United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

43 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Harry Gray’s exile

13 goals in 39 games at Sheffield Wednesday — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Leeds United updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Harry Wilson is playing like a man with something to prove

The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Harry Wilson is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.

Market

No place for Kortney Hause in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kortney Hause has his answer from Leeds United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Market

The Noah Okafor story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Noah Okafor signs something — a contract at Leeds United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Brenden Aaronson knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Leeds United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

A door opens for Lukas Nmecha

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

The dugout

The manager comes out for Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.

In brief

42 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The caretaker keeps it: Anthony Cook confirmed

A month of looking elsewhere ended where it started. He already knows every name in the building; the rest of it he now has to prove in public.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Stach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jayden Bogle

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

A clean slate for Harry Wilson

A new manager did not pick last season’s side and does not care what it looked like. Harry Wilson has taken that personally, in the best sense, and Leeds United are seeing a version of him the last regime had stopped seeing.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Freddie Lane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Loan watch

Largie Ramazani keeps scoring at Burnley

37 appearances away from home and 9 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Market

The Anton Stach talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leeds United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Brenden Aaronson knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brenden Aaronson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

A door opens for Joe Rodon

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

41 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Leeds United

11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

9 saves: James Trafford was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Leeds United

Position 18 and 31 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Match

Full time on the season at Leeds United

Position 18 on 31 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the Leeds United dugout

39 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Noah Okafor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Leeds United beat the market to Matty Godden from Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Matty Godden has pre-agreed a move to Leeds United, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Match

Leeds United come up short against Liverpool

Liverpool left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

40 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

10 matches without a win for Leeds United

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Leeds United are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Gabriel Gudmundsson delivers — 7.82

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Gabriel Gudmundsson scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Loan watch

17 goals on loan for Mateo Joseph

37 appearances at Mallorca and the goals keep coming. Leeds United are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Market

Ao Tanaka wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Wilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Renan Guedes wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leeds United know it.

Match

Gabriel Gudmundsson rescues a point for Leeds United

It needed Gabriel Gudmundsson to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Manchester United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Loan watch

9 clean sheets on loan for Lucas Perri

34 appearances at Torino and the goals have stopped going in. Leeds United lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.

In brief

39 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Leeds United

9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Michael Zetterer keeps Leeds United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Anton Stach has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Leeds United can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Player ratings

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

The goals have deserted Leeds United

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Leeds United can tell you which week it ends in.

Match

A bad afternoon for Leeds United against Nottingham Forest

0‑1 to Nottingham Forest, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Jayden Bogle

200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.

Squad

Nico Elvedi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

38 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Leeds United

Beaten 0‑4 by Tottenham, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Match

The wait goes on for Leeds United

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

James Trafford keeps Leeds United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Leeds United leaking at the back

6 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Ao Tanaka gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Leeds United

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Loan watch

Harry Gray keeps scoring at Sheffield Wednesday

34 appearances away from home and 10 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

37 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Daniel James runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Leeds United leaking at the back

5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the Leeds United dugout

11 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.

Match

Wolverhampton take the points off Leeds United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Joe Rodon

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joe Rodon, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Joshua Murphy: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

36 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Leeds United part company with Nicholas Allen

The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.

Boardroom

Emergency meeting at Leeds United

The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.

Boardroom

Joshua Murphy takes charge at Leeds United

“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.

Match

6 matches without a win for Leeds United

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Leeds United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Noah Okafor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Mateo Joseph keeps scoring at Mallorca

33 appearances away from home and 17 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Wilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Leeds United are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Player ratings

Daniel James was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

35 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Leeds United

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leeds United is running low.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jean-Mattéo Bahoya

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Leeds United against Brighton

0‑2 to Brighton, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Brenden Aaronson gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Nicholas Allen left the room before anybody could ask which.

Loan watch

9 clean sheets on loan for Lucas Perri

31 appearances at Torino and the goals have stopped going in. Leeds United lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.

In brief

34 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Pedro Augusto says Leeds United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Harry Wilson’s goal not enough for Leeds United

Harry Wilson scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Chelsea, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jean-Mattéo Bahoya

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for James Trafford

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Trafford, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

10 goals on loan for Harry Gray

31 appearances at Sheffield Wednesday and the goals keep coming. Leeds United are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Nicholas Allen left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

33 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Kortney Hause keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leeds United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Wilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal not enough for Leeds United

Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Everton, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jayden Bogle

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jayden Bogle, and the manager let it.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Freddie Lane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Nobody is scoring past Lucas Perri at Torino

8 shut-outs in 29 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Lucas Perri has been having a lot of them.

The dugout

Issa Kaboré dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Market

The Noah Okafor question follows Leeds United around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Noah Okafor’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

32 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Nicholas Allen has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Leeds United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

The dugout

Jayden Bogle says Leeds United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Loan watch

Mateo Joseph keeps scoring at Mallorca

29 appearances away from home and 17 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Stach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Brenden Aaronson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Issa Kaboré wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Player ratings

Harry Wilson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

Issa Kaboré gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The manager's exit leaves Harry Wilson exposed

Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Harry Wilson is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.

In brief

31 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Leeds United

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Leeds United is running low.

Squad

James Trafford stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Noah Okafor in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Leeds United may not be able to give Ao Tanaka what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ao Tanaka wants continental football; whether Leeds United can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Leeds United and Manchester City in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Match

A bad afternoon for Leeds United against Manchester City

2‑4 to Manchester City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

Leeds United beat the market to Marlon Pack from Portsmouth

Portsmouth will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Marlon Pack has pre-agreed a move to Leeds United, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

The dugout

Lukas Nmecha gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

30 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Anton Stach wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Leeds United make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Leeds United have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Wilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Leeds United find a way past Newcastle United

Newcastle United made Leeds United work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Player ratings

Dominic Calvert-Lewin stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.87 on the card, and the Leeds United support went home talking about one name.

Loan watch

Harry Gray keeps scoring at Sheffield Wednesday

28 appearances away from home and 10 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Market

Jayden Bogle told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Jayden Bogle has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leeds United.

In brief

29 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Dominic Calvert-Lewin leads the rout of Sunderland

3‑0, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Leeds United tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin takes the afternoon — 9.01

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dominic Calvert-Lewin provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Leeds United — 7.55

1 for Trai Hume, marked 7.55, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Loan watch

Mateo Joseph keeps scoring at Mallorca

26 appearances away from home and 16 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ao Tanaka

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Luis Donaldo Hernández wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leeds United know it.

In brief

28 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Both of them Noah Okafor's — 9.11

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.11, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Ao Tanaka wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Leeds United hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Noah Okafor sends Leeds United past West Ham United

It finished 2‑0, and it was Noah Okafor’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leeds United.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Pedro Augusto and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Daniel James beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Nicholas Allen on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

27 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from James Trafford

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

Leeds United taken apart

0‑6 to Arsenal, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Leeds United

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

Leeds United close the window on a squad of their own making

1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Market

Anton Stach raises the bar for Leeds United

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leeds United heard it as anything else.

Squad

Noah Okafor in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Leeds United and Arsenal in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

No hiding place for Anton Stach

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Stach, and the manager let it.

In brief

26 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

RC Lens come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Leeds United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Daniel James

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Daniel James

200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.

Match

Leeds United rescue it on 89 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Brentford had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Loan watch

12 goals on loan for Mateo Joseph

23 appearances at Mallorca and the goals keep coming. Leeds United are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

No hiding place for Pedro Augusto

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pedro Augusto, and the manager let it.

Match

Leeds United and Brentford take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

25 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Leeds United run riot against Burnley

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Noah Okafor's — 8.80

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.80, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

James Trafford keeps Leeds United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

The drought breaks for Leeds United

6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Burnley were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Andrey Santos

Leeds United asked and Manchester United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Noah Okafor reaches 50 goals

50 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.

Player ratings

One of those days for Dominic Calvert-Lewin

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

24 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Leeds United

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

James Trafford keeps Leeds United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Noah Okafor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

No deal for John Egan at that price

Leeds United offered $150.0K; Hull City said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Leeds United

4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Match

Leeds United come up short against Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Tarik Muharemović signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tarik Muharemović commits to Leeds United for another 5 years.

The dugout

Joe Rodon gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

23 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

A brace, and Noah Okafor takes the afternoon — 8.87

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Noah Okafor provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

The wait goes on for Leeds United

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Anton Stach was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ethan Ampadu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Leeds United rebuffed over Caleb Yirenkyi

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Coventry City have kept their man, and Leeds United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Issa Kaboré wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Loan watch

Robert Cook has seen enough of Crewe Alexandra

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leeds United, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.

Loan watch

10 goals on loan for Mateo Joseph

20 appearances at Mallorca and the goals keep coming. Leeds United are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

22 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Leeds United

Beaten 1‑5 by Liverpool, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

James Trafford keeps Leeds United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Harry Wilson for 14 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Leeds United will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Match

4 matches without a win for Leeds United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Leeds United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Ao Tanaka wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Daniel James among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Daniel James on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Leeds United and Liverpool.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ethan Ampadu

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ethan Ampadu, and the manager let it.

In brief

21 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Leeds United

A 0‑3 beating by Manchester United was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

Leeds United may not be able to give Anton Stach what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Anton Stach wants continental football; whether Leeds United can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Stach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

The goals have deserted Leeds United

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Leeds United can tell you which week it ends in.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of James Trafford

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

200 appearances for Ao Tanaka

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Leeds United dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

20 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Noah Okafor was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nicholas Allen was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Leeds United dressing room was either.

Loan watch

8 goals on loan for Mateo Joseph

17 appearances at Mallorca and the goals keep coming. Leeds United are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Harry Wilson

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Jayden Bogle has had enough of the noise

The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Issa Kaboré

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

Loan watch

Harry Gray keeps scoring at Sheffield Wednesday

18 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Market

Anton Stach linked with a move away

The name of Anton Stach keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leeds United say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

19 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Leeds United sink to position 18

13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from James Trafford

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Wilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Tottenham take the points off Leeds United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Nico Elvedi stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nico Elvedi and Leeds United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Jayden Bogle gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Freddie Lane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Jamie Shackleton

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

18 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

James Trafford signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” James Trafford and Leeds United agree another 5 years.

Match

The drought breaks for Leeds United

7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Wolverhampton were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Harry Wilson sends Leeds United past Wolverhampton

It finished 3‑1, and it was Harry Wilson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leeds United.

Player ratings

Harry Wilson was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.26. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Loan watch

Robert Cook wants to come home

“I did not go to Crewe Alexandra to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leeds United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jamie Shackleton

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.

In brief

17 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

6 saves: James Trafford was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

The goals have deserted Leeds United

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Leeds United can tell you which week it ends in.

Match

Aston Villa take the points off Leeds United

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Joe Rodon gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicholas Allen to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

16 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

6 matches without a win for Leeds United

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Leeds United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Anton Stach in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Brighton take the points off Leeds United

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Harry Wilson

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Squad

Amos Nondi stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Amos Nondi and Leeds United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Pedro Augusto gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Jayden Bogle dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

15 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Leeds United

A 0‑3 beating by Chelsea was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

James Trafford stands alone

8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Leeds United sink to position 18

10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Match

No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Harry Wilson in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Ao Tanaka wants more than Leeds United are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Anton Stach

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Stach, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Leeds United dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

14 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The cup run ends for Leeds United

0‑0 against Reading, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from James Trafford

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Anton Stach raises the bar for Leeds United

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Leeds United heard it as anything else.

Match

No end in sight to Leeds United's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leeds United has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Stach was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ethan Ampadu

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Jason Lawrence fails from the spot

Twelve yards and the whole ground holding its breath, and it did not go in. He will put his name down for the next one, which is the only thing to do.

Squad

7 new faces, and Leeds United are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

In brief

13 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Leeds United taken apart

0‑6 to Bournemouth, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Market

Leeds United may not be able to give Anton Stach what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Anton Stach wants continental football; whether Leeds United can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Player ratings

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Leeds United and Bournemouth in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

A long afternoon for James Trafford

Beaten 6 times, with 0 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Leeds United

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑6, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

12 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Leeds United come up short against Manchester City

Manchester City left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Joe Rodon

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joe Rodon, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Brenden Aaronson beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

The formation has left Luis Donaldo Hernández behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Leeds United will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Harry Wilson

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Bournemouth in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

The dugout

Joe Rodon does not fit this one

Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.

In brief

11 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Leeds United — 7.91

1 for Gabriel Gudmundsson, marked 7.91, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Player ratings

Daniel James was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Anton Stach falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Leeds United see off Newcastle United

Three points for Leeds United, 2‑0 the final word against Newcastle United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nicholas Allen kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

Leeds United pick somebody else ahead of Jayden Bogle

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Market

The Anton Stach talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leeds United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Looking ahead

James Trafford goes back to face Manchester City

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is James Trafford’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Leeds United needing him to play as if none of it matters.

In brief

10 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A falling-out at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

James Trafford has improved at 24, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Stach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Lukas Nmecha’s goal not enough for Leeds United

Lukas Nmecha scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Sunderland, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of James Trafford

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Robert Cook has seen enough of Crewe Alexandra

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Leeds United, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Leeds United

11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Nicholas Allen: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

9 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Noah Okafor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A move Renan Guedes would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Renan Guedes is living that version at Leeds United, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

West Ham United take the points off Leeds United

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Anton Stach reaches 200 appearances

200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Nicholas Allen left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Sean Longstaff gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

No place in the plan for Harry Wilson

The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

8 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Chastening afternoon for Leeds United

A 0‑6 beating by Arsenal was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

9 saves: James Trafford was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Tempers go at Leeds United

Harry Wilson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

6 goals as Leeds United and Arsenal go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Leeds United and Arsenal, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ethan Ampadu

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Leeds United dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Kaboré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Anton Stach's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑6 defeat, delivered by Nicholas Allen to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

7 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

James Trafford keeps Leeds United in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Transfer targets

Derby County tell Leeds United: Bobby Clark is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Leeds United — 7.72

1 for Ao Tanaka, marked 7.72, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Brenden Aaronson sends Leeds United past Brentford

It finished 3‑1, and it was Brenden Aaronson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Leeds United.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Nicholas Allen, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

Looking ahead

A test against the best for Leeds United

The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Arsenal.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Jamie Shackleton

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

6 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Leeds United rebuffed over Roberto Alvarado

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Guadalajara have kept their man, and Leeds United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Player ratings

Gabriel Gudmundsson pops up at the right end — 7.97

7.97, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 10 signed and 6 gone

That is the business done at Leeds United until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Market

Leeds United turn down Leicester City for Iliya Gruev

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ao Tanaka runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Leeds United find a way past Burnley

Burnley made Leeds United work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Harry Wilson was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.46. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Freddie Lane in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

5 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Leeds United

Beaten 0‑3 by Crystal Palace, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Leeds United sign Issa Kaboré for $15.5M

The paperwork is done: Issa Kaboré joins from Wrexham in a deal worth $15.5M. Now comes the harder part.

Transfer targets

Leeds United rebuffed over Anatolii Trubin

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benfica have kept their man, and Leeds United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jean-Mattéo Bahoya

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacob Render was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for James Trafford

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Trafford, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Inquest at Leeds United

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Squad

Leeds United are still strangers to each other

10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

4 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jørgen Strand Larsen

Leeds United asked and Crystal Palace said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Leeds United taken apart

0‑3 to Fulham, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Transfer targets

Leeds United make their move for Issa Kaboré

$15.5M on the table at Wrexham. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Market

Jonny Howson asks to leave Leeds United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Ryan Trevitt gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ryan Trevitt has just signed for Leeds United, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words at Leeds United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Wilson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Leicester City join the queue for Iliya Gruev

Add another name to the list: Leicester City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Iliya Gruev. The answer from Leeds United has not changed — yet.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ao Tanaka

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Freddie Lane and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

3 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Leeds United rebuffed over Micky van de Ven

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tottenham have kept their man, and Leeds United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Business is business: Jaka Bijol goes

Tottenham paid $43.3M and Leeds United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Middlesbrough come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Leeds United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

The terraces

A $43.3M sale, and a town that did not want it

Jaka Bijol has gone, the accounts have $43.3M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Squad

Noah Okafor in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Harry Wilson falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Leeds United

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Market

Harry Morris steps up from the Leeds United academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Harry Morris has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Leeds United promote Jason Lawrence from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jason Lawrence has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

2 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Leeds United bid $62.9M for Micky van de Ven

The offer went to Tottenham this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Transfer targets

Brentford tell Leeds United: Dango Ouattara is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

The DC United deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Brenden Aaronson reports back to Leeds United with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

Market

Arsenal watching Jaka Bijol

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Leeds United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

As if he never left: Jamie Shackleton returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jamie Shackleton is a Leeds United player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

A move Jamie Shackleton would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jamie Shackleton is living that version at Leeds United, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Jaka Bijol signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jaka Bijol and Leeds United agree another 4 years.

Squad

Jaka Bijol in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leeds United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Ao Tanaka wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Leeds United hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

In brief

1 Edition

The Leeds United Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Door shut on Dominic Solanke

Leeds United asked and Tottenham said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Leeds United say no — this time

The offer from Twente for Lukas Nmecha was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Anton Stach wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Leeds United hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Harry Wilson stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Harry Wilson and Leeds United agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Leeds United

Anton Stach and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Leeds United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaka Bijol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Mansfield Town watching Sam Chambers

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Leeds United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Still no ink between Leeds United and Jacob Render

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Leeds United, another week without a signature from Jacob Render.

Squad

5 new faces, and Leeds United are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

In brief

  • The dugout Jaka Bijol knocks on the manager’s door
  • The terraces The Jaka Bijol rumours reach the terraces