Arriving back home in Leeds in 2015 after almost a decade in Cape Town, South Africa, was a culture shock.
I had been back home a few times, but hardly long enough during each visit to notice and soak in all the new developments.
Truth be told, my relationship with the city had been divested of all passion and I couldn’t wait to return to my new love, Cape Town.
Leeds stop gap
In fact, when I left Cape Town, Blighty was supposed to be a detour en route to Canada. The US was also an option.
The plan was to tie up loose ends in Leeds and then leave for pasture new to peruse my love sports digital publishing. Oh well, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
It seemed Leeds City Council and Marcelo Bielsa contrived to play Cupid and I found myself falling in love with an old flame again.
It was like rekindling an old romance. Old feelings were reawakened and before I knew it I was besotted, again, head over heels in love with the city and Leeds United.
Leeds Sports Digital
I returned to find Leeds transformed into a digital powerhouse with swanky modern glass buildings and digital powerhouse businesses transforming the landscape.
Leeds tech growth in the north of England wasn’t something you could ignore, with its digital sector employing more than 100,000 people and contributing £6.5 billion to the City Region economy.
Now home to organisations such Sky, Sportinglife, Channel 4, DAZN, Paddy Power, Will Hills, Pitch Hero, Football Co, Professional Squash Association and Hudl. The perfect place for Planet Sport to start life.
The Leeds Digital Festival highlighted that the City had morphed into collaborative place for like-minded companies and entrepreneurs.
I had been back home a few times, but hardly long enough during each visit to notice and soak in all the new developments.
Truth be told, my relationship with the city had been divested of all passion and I couldn’t wait to return to my new love, Cape Town.
Leeds stop gap
In fact, when I left Cape Town, Blighty was supposed to be a detour en route to Canada. The US was also an option.
The plan was to tie up loose ends in Leeds and then leave for pasture new to peruse my love sports digital publishing. Oh well, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
It seemed Leeds City Council and Marcelo Bielsa contrived to play Cupid and I found myself falling in love with an old flame again.
It was like rekindling an old romance. Old feelings were reawakened and before I knew it I was besotted, again, head over heels in love with the city and Leeds United.
Leeds Sports Digital
I returned to find Leeds transformed into a digital powerhouse with swanky modern glass buildings and digital powerhouse businesses transforming the landscape.
Leeds tech growth in the north of England wasn’t something you could ignore, with its digital sector employing more than 100,000 people and contributing £6.5 billion to the City Region economy.
Now home to organisations such Sky, Sportinglife, Channel 4, DAZN, Paddy Power, Will Hills, Pitch Hero, Football Co, Professional Squash Association and Hudl. The perfect place for Planet Sport to start life.
The Leeds Digital Festival highlighted that the City had morphed into collaborative place for like-minded companies and entrepreneurs.
Leeds murals
Walls were emblazoned with stunning murals of past and present Leeds United players – Pablo Hernandez on the side of the Duck and Drake pub, ‘United we Stand’ on hoardings at 85 Kirkgate, a mural of Kalvin Phillips and South Africans Lucas Radebe and Albert Johanneson at 28 The Calls.
An air pregnant with a newfound vibrancy and ambition pervaded a city on a mission to regenerate and rebrand itself.
Leeds City Council, Leeds Universities, Leeds Digital Festival and many other institutions had come together to create a fastest growing tech hub in the North, touted as the best place to start a tech company outside of London and tipped to rival San Francisco one day.
Although I was back home, at first, I felt like an outsider. A lot had changed.
But the one thing that came naturally was the reconnection with Leeds United.
Marcelo Bielsa heartbreak
Then began the rollercoaster ride; the ecstasy and the agony, the promotion near-misses, and finally… finally we were back in the Big Time and holding our own among English football’s elite clubs.
When Bielsa was sacked it felt like the club’s collective heart had been ripped out.
Yet the sacking did little to diminish Marcelo’s legacy and his status as a Leeds legend. His image is tattooed on the hearts of many of the city’s natives and itinerants.
He energized and galvanised not only the football community, but also the whole city. What Bielsa did for Leeds wasn’t too dissimilar to what Claudio Ranieri did for Leicester in terms of significance and bringing the feel-good factor to the city.
Following Leeds
There is a slight dampener though. With Leeds back in the top-flight, tickets are at a premium and in short supply.
So, opportunities to watch matches at Elland Road, a short walk from the offices where I earn my corn these days, are few and far between.
To compound the frustration, as a rule, there is no live TV broadcast of Premier League, Football League or FA Cup matches on Saturday between 2:45pm and 5:15pm.
Colleagues are sick and tired of hearing me say, “When we used to live in South Africa we would pick and choose the live matches to watch on TV.”
We were, and the folks over there still are, spoilt for choice. SuperSport has multiple channels showing all live Premier League matches.
So, these days I often find myself glued to my phone, sat in the car, listening to an old colleague Adam Pope’s colourful and insightful match commentary on BBC Radio.
My absolute favourite place though is the comfort, banter and camaraderie of the local pub on the rare occasions Sky Sports, BT or Amazon decide to stream games.
Sitting shoulder to shoulder with an army of boisterous fellow supporters (and watching the odd Man United and Liverpool fan hiding in the corner shouting at the TV and then sitting back to take a sip of IPA) is a very underrated social pastime.
The future
I want more of the same. I hope Jesse Marsch and his boys oblige and keep us in the Premier League. In fact, I hope we go further and gate-crash the top 6.
But I’m also a realist and know that to put ourselves in the top 6 reckoning requires significant investment.
I know I’m not the only Leeds fan casting an envious eye at moneybags Newcastle United, or looking covetously at Chelsea’s transfer dealings and thinking, “This could be us soon.”
Is a takeover of Leeds United needed?
Leeds are not exactly poor, but as talk of a complete takeover by the 49ers intensifies, fans will be waiting with bated breath and even allowing themselves to dream.
A takeover would mean significant injection of resources, exactly what Leeds need, not only to consolidate their place in the Premier League, but also to propel the club to the next level.
Can Leeds United reach the dizzy heights achieved under Peter Ridsdale’s regime, minus the financial mismanagement, when the club went on that Champions League odyssey under David O’Leary and established themselves as a top 6 side?
Relegation battle
These are both exciting and nervous times to be a Leeds fan. The clubs is in a relegation dogfight, a huge test of the players and the manager’s mettle.
For all the palpable passion he exudes, Marsch is no patch on Bielsa. And perhaps unfairly, the American will have to make peace with the fact that he will always have the Argentine’s long shadow hanging over him.
It will take achieving something quite spectacular for Marsch to merit favourable comparison with his predecessor. I fear guiding Leeds United to safety might not even be enough.
Rollercoaster
Time has quickly passed and I’m loving the highs and lows of Leeds both on the pitch and the digital landscape.
Planet Sport has gone from strength-to-strength with the introduction of Planet Sport Bet to accompany established sports brands Football365, TEAMtalk, PlanetFootball, Planet Rugby, Planet F1 and our other publications.
Meanwhile, Leeds United seem to have a love for the US, staring with the influence of the 49ers but it’s starting to look like an American invasion.
There isn’t another team in Europe’s top leagues with such American influence.
American Coach Jesse Marsch, followed by Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson and in recent days Weston McKennie.
For now, there is enough room for optimism but will Marsch and the American influence make it work?
