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Elliott Jackson

Championship play-off final could hand Leeds United opportunity to fix long-standing problem

Leeds United fans are on course for plenty of ground ticks next season as the country begins to open up again.

The Whites' fan base has been starved of Premier League football and the chance to watch their side compete shoulder to shoulder with England's elite.

The eerie silence that has filled stadia across the country will hopefully be replaced by raucous cheers on the opening day of 2021/22.

Full capacity crowd could be back for August 14, according to Premier League chief, Richards Masters, who's "optimistic" about the chances of sell-out crowds to usher in the new campaign.

"The fans are starting to come back next week and I hope on Aug. 14 they will be back in full," Masters said earlier this month.

"No one knows of course, but I feel really optimistic that we will be full.

"All the mood music and the messages coming out of government are positive, with the cautionary caveats and safety will always come first. Maybe the fan experience will be slightly different, but I'm optimistic and that's our objective.

"Whatever we have to do and put in place, we will and the clubs will step in and do it, so I am optimistic that's going to happen.

"Full capacity crowds [have been] the missing ingredient, so let's be optimistic about it."

Leeds could be one of the first sets of away supporters admitted into the Brentford Community Stadium, should the Bees triumph against Swansea in Saturday's play-off final and the fixture list falls kindly.

Thomas Frank's side have made it to Wembley again but will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's disappointing 2-1 reverse against Fulham.

If Brentford were to get over the line, it would offer Leeds a chance to end their Bees hoodoo in a brand new stadium.

The Whites' previous failings at Griffin Park will look to be rewritten, with the bank holiday weekend collapse of 2019 still a haunting memory.

In fact, Leeds didn't taste victory in their last 11 visits to the small, packed-in ground. You have to go back to 1950 for their last three-point haul in that part of West London.

The sinking feeling that followed Neal Maupay's opener on bank holiday Monday is a long distant memory but for the core of players still within the Leeds camp from 2019, it's a wrong they will want to rewrite if given the chance next season.

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