The seven year period since Leeds United appeared in the Champions League semi-final against Valencia is notorious throughout football.
The disastrous downward spiral which saw the club plumb new depth after new depth, hemorrhaging money in an unprecedented financial meltdown, saw a new phrase emerge in the language of football. 'Doing a Leeds' was about as negative as things could get for a football club. The whole footballing community looked on as events unfolded thinking 'thank goodness that's not our club.'
However, the season of 2007/08 will go down in history as the year that Leeds United fought back, and began the rise of the phoenix from the flames. Beginning their first ever season in the third tier of English football was only half the story, the Football League and it's members decreed that the club should begin the campaign on minus fifteen points, with one foot firmly in League Two.
A remarkable show of strength of character, both on the pitch and amongst the thousands of die-hard supporters off it, saw the Whites rampage through the season. Despite seeing Gus Poyet and Dennis Wise jump ship, an inspired appointment of Leeds legend Gary McAllister as manager saw the club gatecrash the end of season play-offs. The first team in history to avoid relegation after incurring a 10+ point deduction came within a whisker of promotion, but alas it was not meant to be.
So it is little wonder that the term 'doing a Leeds' is no longer banded about in a derogatory fashion. Luton manager Mick Harford, his own team facing a further fifteen point handicap at the start of next season, is looking at United as a source of inspiration. 'Leeds were a credit last season, they did fantastically well and were unfortunate not to get promotion and that's the mark we'll have to start with next season and they'll be an example to everyone,' proclaimed Harford.
Many rival 'fans' up and down the country believed that 'doing a Leeds' would lead to the end of our great club. It very nearly did, but now the very same term signifies a club coming back from the dead. Leeds United are very much alive and kicking, and the clubs supporters cannot wait for next season's battle to commence.
