Pre-Leeds United Leeds United's predecessor,
Leeds City, was formed in 1904 and elected to League membership in 1905. and they received an invitation to enter the
Midland League, being voted into it on 31 October 1919, taking the place vacated by Leeds City Reserves. Following Leeds City's disbanding,
Yorkshire Amateurs bought their Elland Road stadium and then sold it to Leeds United for £250.
Huddersfield Town chairman
Hilton Crowther loaned Leeds United £
1920–1960: Beginnings On 31 May 1920, Leeds United were elected to the
Football League. In the years up until the start of World War II, Leeds were twice relegated; on both occasions, they were re-promoted the following season. On 5 March 1935, Dick Ray resigned after 8 years being manager, Leeds United were then relegated to the Second Division in
1959–60. and in
1961–62 only a win in the final game of the season saved the club from relegation to the
Third Division. Revie implemented a youth policy and a change of kit colour to an all-white strip in the style of Real Madrid, and Leeds United won promotion to the First Division in
1963–64. Leeds United again finished second in the league in
1965–66, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing on aggregate to Spanish side
Real Zaragoza. Leeds United finished fourth in the league in
1966–67, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing to
Chelsea and the
final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing to Croatian side
Dinamo Zagreb. Leeds United nearly doubled
their record transfer in
1967–68, buying
Sheffield United centre-forward
Mick Jones for £100,000. Leeds United won their first major trophy, the
League Cup, with
Terry Cooper's goal securing the win against
Arsenal in
the final. Leeds United finished fourth in the league and were beaten in the FA Cup semi-finals by Everton. They also reached a second successive Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
final and this time won the trophy, beating Hungarian side
Ferencváros over two legs; Leeds won the first leg 1–0, and a month later defended their lead with a 0–0 draw in
Budapest. Leeds United secured the title in
1968–69, after a draw with challengers Liverpool at
Anfield, whose supporters congratulated Leeds. Leeds United set a number of records including most points (67), most wins (27), fewest defeats (2), and most home points (39); a still-unbroken club record is their 34 match unbeaten run that extended into the following season. Leeds United broke the
British transfer record in
1969–70, by signing
Leicester City centre-forward
Allan Clarke for £165,000. Leeds United targeted
the treble and came close to achieving it, only to fail on all three fronts in a congested close season, finishing second in the league to Everton, losing the
FA Cup final to Chelsea (after a replay), and exiting the
European Cup with a semi-final defeat to
Celtic. Leeds United and Arsenal both challenged for the league title in
1970–71, though it would be Arsenal who would claim it, finishing one point ahead after the former lost to
West Bromwich Albion following a controversial "offside" goal. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup by
Fourth Division side
Colchester United, but did again find success in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, beating
Juventus in
the final over two legs. Leeds United again finished as runners-up in the league in
1971–72, but did win the FA Cup for the first time, beating Arsenal in
the final. Leeds United finished third in the league, never sustaining a convincing title challenge in
1972–73, lost the
FA Cup final to Second Division Sunderland against all expectations, and reached
the final of the
European Cup Winners' Cup against
AC Milan, where they were beaten following some controversial refereeing decisions by
Christos Michas who was later banned by UEFA for 'fixing' other matches. Leeds United finished first and won the league title for the second time in
1973–74, finishing the season with a five-point lead over second-placed Liverpool. Don Revie left at the end of the season to become
England manager. Don Revie guided Leeds United to two Football League First Division titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one Football League Second Division title and one Charity Shield. He also guided them to three more FA Cup Finals, two more FA Cup Semi-finals, one more Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Semi-final, one European Cup Winners' Cup Final and one European Cup Semi-final. Leeds also finished second in the Football League First Division five times, third once and fourth twice. In a survey of leading football writers, historians and academics by
Total Sport magazine, Revie's Leeds were voted as one of the 50 greatest football teams of all time.
1974–1988: Post-Revie and relegation Brian Clough was appointed as Don Revie's successor. Clough's tenure as manager started badly, with defeat in the
Charity Shield against Liverpool in which
Billy Bremner and
Kevin Keegan were sent off for fighting. Under Clough, the team performed poorly, and after only 44 days he was dismissed. Armfield continued to rebuild Revie's team, and though it no longer dominated English football, it remained in the top ten for subsequent seasons. Impatient for success the board dismissed Armfield in July 1978,
1988–2002: Wilkinson, Graham and O'Leary In October 1988, with Leeds United 21st in the Second Division, Bremner was dismissed to make way for
Howard Wilkinson. Leeds finished fourth in
1990–91, and in the
1991–92 season they became champions of England for the third time. During the close season Leeds were founder members of the new
Premier League, which became the top division of English football. However, the
1992–93 season saw Leeds exiting the
Champions League in the early stages, and eventually finishing 17th in the league (having won no away matches in the league), narrowly avoiding relegation. Wilkinson's Leeds were unable to provide any consistent challenge for honours, and his position was not helped by a poor display in the
1996 League Cup final losing to
Aston Villa. Leeds United could only finish thirteenth in
1995–96, and after a 4–0 home defeat by Manchester United early in
1996–97, Wilkinson had his contract terminated. Graham made some astute purchases and also helped blood youngsters from Leeds' youth cup winning side. By the end of the 1997–98 season, Leeds had qualified for the following season's
UEFA Cup. In October 1998, Graham left to become manager of
Tottenham Hotspur, and Leeds opted to replace him with assistant manager
David O'Leary.
2002–2010: Financial crisis and decline Under chairman
Peter Ridsdale, Leeds had taken out large loans against the prospect of the share of the TV rights and sponsorship revenues from Champions League qualification and subsequent progress in the competition. However, Leeds narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League in two successive seasons, and as a consequence did not receive enough income to repay the loans. The first indication that the club was in financial trouble was the sale of
Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United for approximately £30 million. Ridsdale and O'Leary publicly fell out over the sale, and O'Leary was dismissed on 27 June 2002, and replaced by former England manager
Terry Venables. Leeds performed woefully under Venables, and other players were sold to repay the loans, including Jonathan Woodgate, whom Ridsdale had promised Venables would not be sold. Tensions mounted between Ridsdale and Venables and, with the team underachieving, Venables was dismissed on 21 March 2003, and replaced by
Peter Reid. Ridsdale resigned from the Leeds board and was replaced by existing non-executive director Professor John McKenzie. At this time Leeds were in danger of relegation, but managed to avoid the drop in the penultimate game of the season, beating Arsenal 3–2 away with a late strike by
Mark Viduka. Leeds United gave Peter Reid a permanent contract the following summer and brought in several players on loan. An unsuccessful start to
2003–04 saw Reid dismissed, and Eddie Gray take over as
caretaker manager until the end of the season. An
insolvency specialist,
Gerald Krasner, led a consortium of local businessmen which took over Leeds and oversaw the sale of the club's assets, including senior and emerging youth players of any value. Leeds United were relegated during 2003–04. Following relegation to the
Championship,
Kevin Blackwell was appointed manager. Most of the remaining players were sold or released on free transfers to further reduce the high wage bill; Blackwell was forced to rebuild almost the entire squad through free transfers, and Leeds United were forced to sell both their training ground and stadium in November 2004. On 21 January 2005,
Ken Bates bought the club. Under Blackwell, Leeds United reached the
Championship play-off final, which they lost to
Watford. With the team performing poorly, Blackwell's contract was terminated, and hired
John Carver as caretaker manager, but his spell was not a success and he was relieved of his duties, with
Dennis Wise installed as his replacement on 24 October 2006. Wise was unable to lift the team out of the relegation zone for much of the season, despite bringing in a number of experienced loan players and free transfers on short-term deals. With relegation virtually assured, Leeds entered
administration on 4 May 2007, thus incurring a league-imposed 10-point deduction that officially relegated the club to the third tier of English football; the club had previously never played any lower than the second tier. On 3 July 2007,
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lodged a legal challenge to Leeds' Creditors' Voluntary Agreement (CVA). Under league rules, if the club were still in administration at the start of the following season, Leeds would have been prevented from starting their season by the Football League. Following the challenge by HMRC, the club was put up for sale by
KPMG, and again Ken Bates' bid was accepted. The League eventually sanctioned this under the "exceptional circumstances rule" but imposed a 15-point deduction due to the club failing to exit administration with a CVA, as the Football League rules required. On 31 August 2007, HMRC decided not to pursue its legal challenge any further. Wise and his assistant
Gus Poyet guided Leeds to a play-off position, only for Poyet to leave for Tottenham, and Wise quitting to take up a position at
Newcastle United. Wise was replaced by former club captain
Gary McAllister. Leeds went on to secure a place in the play-off final, but were beaten by
Doncaster Rovers. McAllister was dismissed after a run of five straight defeats on 21 December 2008. McAllister was replaced by
Simon Grayson, who resigned from his post as manager of
Blackpool to take the position. Under Grayson, Leeds made the play-offs once again, but were beaten over the two legs of the semi-finals by
Millwall. In
2009–10, Leeds United made their best ever start to a season, and caused a major upset in the third round of the FA Cup by beating Manchester United at
Old Trafford. After an impressive run in the FA Cup, Leeds' league form suffered, however the team rallied and won their final game of the season to confirm promotion to the Championship as runners-up to
Norwich City.
2010–2020: Return to the Championship Leeds United spent much of their first season back in the Championship in the play-off places, but eventually finished in seventh place, just missing out on the play-offs. In May 2011, it was announced that chairman Ken Bates had bought the club. Before the match against Middlesbrough, about 300 Leeds fans protested about what they saw as a lack of investment in the playing side, to which Bates responded by calling the protesters "morons". Despite securing promotion to the Championship, Grayson was dismissed on 1 February 2012 after failing to mount a consistent challenge for promotion to the Premier League.
Neil Warnock was appointed as the club's new manager, On 21 November 2012, Middle East-based private equity group GFH Capital finalised a deal for a protracted takeover of Leeds United, gaining a 100% shareholding in the club. It was also announced Ken Bates would remain as chairman until the end of the season, and then become club president. The takeover was officially completed on 21 December 2012. Despite runs to the quarter-finals of the League Cup and the fifth round of the FA Cup (albeit with both runs ending in five-goal thrashings, by Chelsea and Manchester City respectively), Leeds' league form was generally mediocre, with the club never making any real challenge for the play-off places. On 1 April 2013, Warnock resigned as manager.
Brian McDermott replaced Warnock, and the club won three of their final five games of the season, enough to avoid relegation. On 26 July 2013, Ken Bates stepped down as chairman, and ultimately left the club altogether following a dispute over expenses. On 7 January 2014, Sport Capital came close to completing a transaction with GFH Capital that would have given them a 75% stake in the business. On 30 January, Sport Capital's takeover collapsed due to a lack of "financial backing". Haigh released a statement conceding that it was unable to complete a deal despite two months ago agreeing to purchase a 75% stake in the club from the owners Gulf Finance House. Haigh said he and Sport Capital had "injected substantial sums into the club to ensure its viability" but earlier in the week fellow consortium member Andrew Flowers, the managing director of Leeds' shirt sponsor Enterprise Insurance, stated that GFH had "breached their covenant with us" after inviting a rival bid from
Massimo Cellino, the president of
Serie A side
Cagliari Calcio. Haigh's statement read: On 31 January 2014, under controversial circumstances, it was reported that manager Brian McDermott had been removed from his position as the club's manager following a string of poor results, while the controversy surrounding the club was resolved.
Ross McCormack expressed his support for the former manager. By 3 February, the BBC was reporting that McDermott had been called by a lawyer representing Massimo Cellino "and told he had been relieved of his duties". However, Cellino still did not own the club, as the Football League had not yet approved his purchase, so neither he nor his lawyer could dismiss the manager. McDermott, therefore, remained in his post. On 7 February, Leeds announced that they had exchanged contracts for the sale of the club to Cellino's family consortium Eleonora Sport Ltd. The deal saw the Cellino family acquire a 75% ownership of the club, subject to Football League Approval. On 23 March, the board of the Football League decided unanimously that Cellino's conviction by an Italian court meant that he did not meet its owners and directors test, so he could not take over. In the backdrop of Cellino's takeover, Leeds suffered an appalling second half of the season, dropping from the play-off places to the fringes of the relegation battle. In the end, the weak performances of the teams below meant that they were never in any real danger of going down, and a late run of wins put survival beyond doubt well before the end of the season. However, McDermott resigned as manager on 30 May 2014. On 5 April 2014, Cellino was successful in his appeal with independent
QC Tim Kerr to take over the club. The takeover was completed on 10 April, with Cellino's company, Eleonora Sport Limited, buying 75% of the club's shares.
Dave Hockaday was surprisingly appointed head coach, with
Junior Lewis hired as his assistant, the pair were dismissed two months later.
Darko Milanič was appointed head coach on 21 September 2014, becoming the club's first manager from outside the British isles and the first Slovene manager in English football, but left the club the following month.
Neil Redfearn was confirmed as his replacement on 1 November 2014. On 1 December 2014, Cellino was disqualified by the Football League after it obtained documents from an Italian court, where he was found guilty of tax evasion. Cellino was disqualified from running the club until 10 April 2015, and on 24 February 2015, Cellino announced he would not be returning to the club after his ban ended. Neil Redfearn was replaced by
Uwe Rösler on 20 May 2015, but he himself was replaced by
Steve Evans after a few months in the role. On 30 October 2015, Cellino agreed a deal in principle with
Leeds Fans Utd to sell a majority stake in the club. When asked to legally commit to an exclusivity period to allow
due diligence to commence, he reneged. On 2 June 2016,
Garry Monk was appointed as the club's new head coach, replacing Steve Evans. On 4 January 2017, Italian businessman
Andrea Radrizzani purchased a 50% stake in the club from Massimo Cellino. Leeds United narrowly missed out on the play-offs, having been in the play-off positions for the majority of the season before a poor run of form in the final four games of the season saw them drop into seventh place, they were also knocked out of the FA Cup by
National League side
Sutton United. On 23 May 2017, Radrizzani announced a 100% buyout of Leeds United, buying the remaining 50% shares from previous co-owner Massimo Cellino, with Radrizzani taking full ownership of the club. Garry Monk resigned as head coach two days after the takeover, after one season at the club in which he guided them to seventh place. On 15 June 2017, former
Spain international
Thomas Christiansen was announced as the new head coach. This was followed by Radrizzani introducing
Leeds United Women back to Leeds United ownership. Also, Radrizzani completed the purchase of Elland Road from Jacob Adler's company, Teak Commercial Limited for £20 million, using his own company Greenfield Investment Pte Ltd. Thomas Christiansen was dismissed and replaced with
Barnsley manager
Paul Heckingbottom on 6 February 2018. In May 2018,
49ers Enterprises, the business arm of the
San Francisco 49ers, bought shares in the club to become a minority investor. On 1 June 2018, Heckingbottom was dismissed after being at the club for four months and was replaced with
Marcelo Bielsa. Bielsa's first season in charge saw Leeds make an impressive start and remain in the top two with
Norwich City for the majority of the season, on course for automatic promotion to the Premier League. However, a poor end to the season saw the team lose out on automatic promotion to
Sheffield United. Leeds United entered the play-offs against
Derby County; despite winning the first leg 1–0, they ultimately lost 4–3 on aggregate which consigned them to another season in the Championship.
2020–present: Promotion and relegation On 17 July 2020, after sixteen years out of the Premier League, Leeds were promoted back to the top flight following West Bromwich Albion's loss to Huddersfield Town. Leeds had been in the top two for most of the season and had never dropped lower than fifth in the table, eventually going on to finish ten points clear of West Brom in second place. The club's first season back in the Premier League produced a top half finish, their points tally was the most by a newly promoted side since
Ipswich Town two decades earlier. However, the following season was not as successful and following a series of poor results, Bielsa was dismissed by the club in February 2022.
Jesse Marsch was appointed as Bielsa's replacement, and he successfully led the club to avoid relegation on the final day of the season. Marsch was dismissed by the club in February 2023, and was replaced by
Javi Gracia. Gracia was dismissed on 3 May 2023, However, he was unable to prevent relegation as Leeds dropped back into the Championship on the final day of the season. With Allardyce having left the club after relegation, On 18 July, 49ers Enterprises, then owning 44% of the shares in the club, reached agreement with Radrizzani to purchase the remaining 56% in a complete takeover. Leeds missed out on promotion in their first season back in the Championship after losing the
play-off final to
Southampton. While recording a pre-tax loss of £60.8million, the club recorded £43.2m in commercial income for the 2023–24 campaign, the highest recorded in the Championship and surpassing the club's own 2019–20 record of £33.8m. After a slow start to the
2024–25 season, Leeds moved into 2nd place in the table on 18 October when they beat Sheffield United 2–0 at Elland Road. They were not to leave the top 3 again that season; as early pace-setters Sunderland faltered, the race for promotion developed into a three-way battle with Sheffield United and
Burnley. After a loss to
Blackburn Rovers at the end of November, Leeds went on a three-month unbeaten run which included wins over rivals Sheffield United and Sunderland, and a 7–0 win over
Cardiff City at Elland Road. However, one victory in five games during March saw Leeds briefly drop to 3rd in the table, before a run of three wins, coupled with three unexpected defeats for Sheffield United, left them on the brink of promotion. On 21 April, Leeds beat Stoke City 6–0 at Elland Road, before Burnley beat Sheffield United in a later kick off, meaning that both were promoted automatically. A late win at
Plymouth Argyle on the last day of the season confirmed Leeds as winners of the Championship title. ==Colours==