No Leeds United player, manager or club figure is the club’s biggest hero of the last 20 years, according to the Telegraph.
The newspaper claim that not a single person is deserving of the accolade at Elland Road following two decades of mostly misery and under-performance and instead named the Leeds Fans Remembrance group as the most beneficial influence.
In the list compiled by the Telegraph for each of the 20 Premier League and 24 Championship clubs, Leeds are the only one not to have had a single hero.
“Twenty years of profligacy, penury and being exploited as a publicity vehicle by various blowhards – an era which may now, hopefully, have come to an end – Leeds supporters have no heroes but themselves and particularly Leeds Fans Remembrance, set up to honour the memories of Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight who were murdered in Istanbul in April 2000 on the eve of Leeds’ Uefa Cup semi-final tie.” the Telegraph report.
“The pain endures because more than 17 years on justice has not been served on the killers. Nonetheless this inspirational campaign has raised thousands for Candlelighters, the Leeds’ cancer charity, and helped to build a play pavilion for the children’s cancer ward at Leeds General Infirmary.”
OPINION
Leeds Fans Remembrance has been an inspiration in an era of penny-pinching, pain and endless controversy, and big names such as Ken Bates, David O’Leary, Harry Kewell, Alan Smith and company deservedly miss out. There is genuine hope that new sole owner Andrea Radrizzani can do what his predecessors could not and live up to his promises. He has made a solid start, providing optimism through some shrewd handling of the tiller, most notably securing a £20million deal to re-gain ownership of Elland Road. Recent results have been disappointing on the pitch, but the Italian tycoon is shaping up as a sensible owner with an eye on the medium term. How Leeds have longed for that.