'Are you going to mug us?': How to fit in at Leeds

Last updated : 25 January 2009 By Dad of Dave the Shrimper

29th October 2006 Championship


LEEDS UNITED 2-0 SOUTHEND UNITED


I was again staying in Leicester, at my daughters for the weekend, but nobody told me there was engineering work between Nottingham and Sheffield. The result, it cost more and took longer for me, than it did for my son who was travelling from London to Leeds. Although their fans have a bad reputation the centre was quite lively and friendly as long as you stayed away from the back street pubs. Five of us got a taxi to the ground for £6 quite a bargain, we argued over who would be allowed to pay the extra quid.


A good turnout we virtually filled our allocation of 1,700 seats, a good atmosphere, but it all went wrong again we lost 0-2 which dropped us to bottom but one in the table.


We started to walk back to the station when my son asked a Leeds fan the way. He asked how many of us there were. "Why?", my son answered, "Are you going to mug us?" "No", he replied, "if there was only two or three I would have given you a lift". Sorry mate, I know give a dog a bad name etc. He gave us directions and we walked back to the station (quite a way) with no problems, but we weren't allowed admission to any pubs because we were wearing colours. I didn't have long till my train back to Leicester, so I left the others to it.


The train was late I had to stand, but it did take me to Derby which wasn't too far from Leicester, but it was slow. We eventually arrived in Derby at about 8.00 p.m. "what time is the next train for Leicester?" I innocently asked, "You've missed the last train" I was told. Can you believe it, at eight o'clock your stranded. However I had been in this situation before and knew I could get a train to Nottingham, and then one from there to Leicester, not that any of the Rail staff seemed to know or care.

This was clearly going to be a long haul, after a longish wait, the train came for Nottingham, full of course but I managed to find standing room, only to find I was surrounded by sixteen Nottm Forest thugs, who were mildly amused, and aggravated by the sight of my Southend shirt. I soon sweet talked them with tales of Sir Stanley C, but I did tell them off for showering us with "the Pier on Fire" leaflets. I was quite relieved when I got off the train.


Luckily my daughter and her husband picked me in Nottingham and drove me back to Leicester, it saved a considerable wait and another dubious train. I had a pleasant couple of days staying with her.


!8th August 2008 Division 1


LEEDS UNITED 4-1 SOUTHEND UNITED


We left London at 9.00, two and half hours later we would be in Leeds, it seemed ideal, however at Doncaster we were totally invaded by Leeds fans, no problems but you just felt uncomfortable being surrounded by so many of them. I don't have problems with Leeds fans, but you sensed that these individuals, who presumably lived in Doncaster where like the West Ham fans living in Southend, supporting the (former) glory club instead of their home club.


We drank in a couple of big chain pubs in the City centre, no problems and no atmosphere, as we walked back to the station to get a cab to the ground we walked over a bridge and we could see a couple of normal pubs which had Leeds fans oozing at the seams. We thought about a quick "Sea, Sea, Seasiders" chant, but decided on discretion and slipped silently into the cab queue.


The previous year we had filled our allocation of 1,700 but this year we had only 638 fans there, the gate though was over 24,000, 5,000 more than the last visit. Even so there must have been 10,000 empty seats mostly on the sides, but no area of segregation between the home and away. We found on both sides hundreds of Leeds fans trying to intimidate, bate and aggravate us, I personally was about three seats away from them, and with minimal amounts of stewards. However, if you just looked straight ahead and ignored them, rather than being intimidated, you just became bored and tired of the whole situation.


A goal down in the first minute, a good fight back to equalise after 70 minutes, only for late substitutions which didn't work in our favour, and three Leeds goals in the last five minutes. Oh dear! The result did not reflect the game. We found taxis and made our way back to the centre.


We were having a drink at the station waiting for our train home, when a rather unsavory person approached us with half a pint of lager, in a pint mug. "Here you are lads, you can have this, I haven't got time to drink it" "no thanks" we replied puzzled, "Suit yourself" he said and gave it to someone else. What a strange place, you might pass on things like parking tickets to a stranger, but not food or drink, despite its swanked up centre, clearly this was a poor place.


The good bit of the day, the train tickets where a bargain £22.50 return from London, we had bought them a couple of months earlier as soon as the fixtures came out.