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Right, I’m going to leave Leeds fans to enjoy their celebrations now. Sixteen years after being relegated they are back in the Premier League. Only 10 years ago they were promoted from League One into the Championship. It’s been a long, painful journey but hopefully all the sweeter for it now. Good night.
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Marcelo Bielsa might not have been watching the West Brom match but his players certainly were. Here they are celebrating hard behind a window at Elland Road as fans watch on:
Elland Road as Leeds United are celebrating promotion. Spot the squad at the window celebrating with fans outside. #LUFC #CapitalReports pic.twitter.com/q3JAv7zu9T
— Capital Yorks News (@CapitalYORKNews) July 17, 2020
Of course, Leeds also bring some A-list support into the Premier League with them:
Leeds United.
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) July 17, 2020
If you’re wondering what the Premier League expect from Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds, then this video should help. Jonathan Liew gives you the lowdown:
An email from a happy man: “So strange to win in this year of plague,” writes Joe Bolser. “A big, bright, beautiful ray of Northern sunshine in a very tough year. Everything is improved by this. The city, the people, the Premier League. We all win! Marching On Together.”
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Jack Charlton would have loved this, wouldn’t he? Leeds fans are certainly enjoying the moment. They have gathered in numbers at Elland Road.
‘He’s an oddball, a scientist, a professor of the game'
Former Leeds keeper Paul Robinson has more quotable things to say too:
The biggest thing Leeds did at the end of last season was keep the manager. We’ve heard plaudits from many managers, Pep Guardiola to name one, that name him as a mentor or guru. He’s an oddball, he’s a scientist, he’s a professor of the game. We’ve seen that with spygate and everything else that comes with him, but it just all adds to the Leeds United history. Love them or loathe them, they’re back.”
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Dominic Matteo must feel like he hasn’t already given Bielsa enough praise because he’s back with more to say about the man who took them back into the big time: “Every player who plays for Leeds United, he’s made better,” he told Sky Sports. “There’s not many managers you can say that about anywhere in the world. There’s nobody happier than me tonight. He’s been an incredible character. I love him. Every time he speaks we want to listen. The Klopps and the Guardiolas – he’s at that kind of level. People love to hear what he has to say, even though we can’t understand him sometimes!”
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Martin Banks, who got in touch earlier, is back for round two. He’s a very happy Leeds fan. “I am quite emotional right now, much to the bemusement/amusement of my Belgian wife and Belgian kids,” he begins on email. “They just do not get it! It has been a nightmare 16 years ... I was at our last Premier League game, away to Chelsea, a heavy defeat. Us Leeds fans sang the Vera Lynn song to the Chelsea lot: We’ll meet again, Don’t know when, don’t know how, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day. Well, that sunny day has, finally, arrived tonight. Little did I/we think as we trudged home that sunny sat afternoon it would take THIS long to get back. Under the slightly strange but rather good Bielsa, we seem to have found how to dig deep and grind results out. This is a very odd way to celebrate ... sat at a PC keyboard but, then again, these are very odd times and, right now, who cares?!”
Former Leeds manager Simon Grayson has been basking in the promotion. “Leeds United back in the Premier League is one of the best things that can happen to the Premier League,” he tells the BBC. “It is a worldwide football club, a massive massive club. I used to go to places and even now into Europe and beyond and all of sudden you’re walking across the road, and you’re getting beeped at and [seeing] the Leeds salute. It is going to be a mouthwatering experience for Leeds United.”
Mateusz Klich says Leeds “will not change” in the Premier League. Speaking to the BBC, he says: “I can say for myself that he [Marcelo Bielsa] has changed me as a player 180 degrees. He is a big coach, everyone can tell that, and the only thing he was lacking was success. I hope he is happy right now because he deserves it because he has changed this team and for the past two seasons we dominated the Championship.”
One of the giants of English football is back and, in returning to the top flight, it is the first time Yorkshire have had two Premier League clubs in the top tier since 2001, when Bradford and Leeds were riding high. Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich has been savouring the achievement. “I’m very proud of my team-mates, myself and I’m just very happy but we want to be champions,” he tells the BBC. “I can’t tell you how happy I am right now. Leeds weren’t in the Premier League for 16 years and you could feel it. We wanted to do better this season. The pressure was big.”
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Leeds fans, drink it all in:
Paul Robinson, the former Leeds goalkeeper, is understandably delighted at his former club heading back to the top. “You never envisaged that Leeds United would be out of the top flight for so long, and even dropping into the third tier of English football,” he tells Sky Sports. “It has been incredible. It’s a one-club city and a Premier League with Leeds United in it is a much more attractive fixture.”
“It’s all in Brentfords’s hands now,” emails Simon Lea. “Two winnable fixtures to come ...” Very much so. They take on Stoke on Saturday lunchtime before hosting bottom club Barnsley on the final day. Looking good, eh?
Love them or loathe them, Leeds are back! “I had a little tear in my eye today,” confesses Dominic Matteo, the former Leeds skipper. “I did feel responsible as captain when we got relegated all of them years ago but today I can breathe easy, 16 years later. I’m so, so happy for everyone at Leeds United. They’ve got such a good ethic throughout the club. They are such a huge club. People will want to be watching Bielsa’s team all the way across the world.”
Leeds have only gone and done it! “I am a 60-year-old old Leeds Utd nut ... I am from Manchester (the “enemy”) but have lived and worked in Brussels since 2001,” emails Martin Banks. “My devotion and unbridled love for my club has never dimmed and could never dim though I have wondered many times if I would ever see my dear club back where it so much deserves. Tonight that has happened and that will bring utter and untold pleasure to the many tens of thousands of Leeds fans all over the world, me included! This club has such incredibly loyal and dedicated fans and, for them (as well as our true greats like Billy, Norman and Jack) I am so utterly delighted right now. Look out Premier League: we are back!”
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Leeds have ended their 16-year wait for a return to the Premier League, the longest gap a side has endured between relegation and promotion to the top-flight since the formation of the competition. “I’m sure he’ll be having a nice glass of red somewhere in Wetherby,” says Dominic Matteo of Bielsa. “Everything they have done from start to finish. I’m absolutely delighted for everybody associated with Leeds United.”
The Marcelo Bielsa is going to grace the Premier League next season. He has won 54 of his 98 matches in charge of Leeds, which translates into a winning ratio of 55% – the largest of any manager the club has had in its history.
Goes without saying, but Marcelo Bielsa is the first Leeds manager to earn promotion from the second-tier since Howard Wilkinson in 1990. It’s going to be some night in Leeds, who return to action against Derby on Sunday. That will be a victory dance, for a combination of Huddersfield’s might and West Brom’s mettle has provided passage to the Premier League without them even kicking a ball.
That victory secures Huddersfield’s Championship status, but it is inevitably all about Leeds, who are back at the top table after 16 years away. Brentford can pile the misery on West Brom on Saturday, when they take on Stoke. West Brom appear to have blown it at the crucial time. Not that Leeds will mind ...
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Leeds promoted to the Premier League!
They are back in the big time, ladies and gentleman.
Full-time: Huddersfield 2-1 West Brom
A big win, a killer defeat ... but Leeds are promoted!
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90+5 min: Austin concedes another foul.
90+4 min: ... Huddersfield defend it stoutly.
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90+4 min: West Brom win a corner ...
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90+1 min: Semi Ajayi and Hegazi have gone up front as unorthodox strikers. West Brom need one goal, but probably two to resuscitate their hopes of automatic promotion. And now O’Brien lures a silly foul from Charlie Austin.
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90 min: Pereira wins a corner ... there will be SIX minutes of added time.
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89 min: Leeds United are one minute from the Premier League.
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88 min: Darnell Furlong is booked.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 2-1 West Brom (Smith Rowe, 86)
Well, then ... Emile Smith Rowe slots home with a beautiful finish after latching on to a fine through ball by Lewis O’Brien, who did magnificently to surge forward through the spine of the West Brom midfield. That is an enormous goal not just for Huddersfield and their survival hopes, but Leeds, who are heading up, and Brentford, who now have everything in their own hands ...
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85 min: Lossl is booked for time-wasting.
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83 min: A massive chance goes begging for West Brom! Robinson fails to properly connect with the ball after carving an opening – and Lossl gathers. It was a powder-puff finish, much to the frustration of Slaven Bilic. Huddersfield are living dangerously but West Brom are guilty of getting jittery in the final third.
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82 min: Grosicki slips in Robinson but, instead of taking aim, he looks for Austin and Huddersfield intercept! It is getting a bit dicey back there for the Terriers. How are you feeling, Leeds fans? Leeds are eight minutes from the Premier League ...
80 min: Krovinovic is booked for a painful dive 30 yards from goal! Meanwhile, Elias Kachunga replaces Chris Willock.
79 min: Lossl gather after Grosicki attempts a cheeky shot with the outside of his right boot! In the end it is a simple save. It stemmed from Krovinovic fetching a cross at the back post, bamboozling Chalobah, who tried to rake the ball away.
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78 min: Pereira, West Brom’s go-to player, swivels just inside the Huddersfield box and takes aim – but Huddersfield get another body in the way. They’re attempting to turn the screw but they are making life difficult.
77 min: West Brom seem to be losing their rag a little, and understandably so. Bilic is urging calm on the touchline but it’s easier said than done. They have had little to shout about. At least Brentford and Leeds will be enjoying this.
75 min: Callum Robinson replaces Diangana, who has flitted in and out of the game. West Brom are not short of guile and attacking ability – but they desperately need one of them to stick the ball in the back of the net.
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74 min: West Brom are heading for a third successive draw, while Brentford have won seven on the bounce since the restart.
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72 min: Pereira is penalised for pulling Hogg down to the ground. Bilic looks supremely anxious. West Brom are struggling to penetrate Huddersfield, despite the hosts’ seeming to give up the ghost in terms of winning the game.
71 min: Pereira jinks inside Jonathan Hogg and has a pop from 25 yards – it sails over. Meanwhile, Huddersfield freshen things up, with top scorer Karlan Grant and Arsenal loanee Emile Smith Rowe arriving off the bench.
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70 min: Bilic is pacing the technical area. He is not exactly calming any West Brom nerves. Leeds, as it stands, are 20 minutes from the top flight.
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68 min: Drinks break II!
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67 min: ... it skims over the head of Ajayi and West Brom cannot keep it alive at the back post. Huddersfield look to counter but Mounie is painfully isolated and just about everyone else is entrenched inside the Huddersfield half.
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67 min: Pereira earns a free-kick 30 yards out ...
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65 min: Grosicki crosses from the left but Huddersfield cut it out to prevent the ball running through for the lurking Austin. Then Ajayi makes a marvellous intervention to kickstart another attack. West Brom are probing. But they need something more tangible.
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64 min: If things stay like this, Leeds will be a Premier League side in 30 minutes’ time. West Brom have found it tough to trouble Huddersfield.
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63 min: Mounie replaces Fraizer Campbell.
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62 min: Lossl repels Pereira! He smashes a volley at goal but it is struck right at him, to give the Huddersfield goalkeeper a helping hand. Pereira then heads over the rebound, overcooking it.
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61 min: No Championship player has scored more goals as a substitute this season than Charlie Austin, who has six off the bench. Oh how West Brom would welcome another one, which would surely be his most important one yet.
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60 min: And now Fraizer Campbell is booked. John Brooks has been very busy popping his cards in and out of his pocket.
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60 min: Charlie Austin replaces Robson-Kanu and Darnell Furlong is on for Conor Townsend, who recently picked up a booking.
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59 min: ... Huddersfield make a mess of it clear but clear their lines. Meanwhile, West Brom are readying changes.
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58 min: Campbell fouls Ajayi, just inside the Huddersfield half. West Brom will launch the free-kick into box. Pereira to take ...
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56 min: West Brom go close! Diangana’s teasing ball lures Lossl out of goal, with Stearman also diving to meet it. Panic ensues and the ball drops to Pereira, but his volley is blocked by a flurry of blue-and-white shirts. The corner comes to nothing. A whiff of goal, but West Brom require more.
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55 min: Sawyers is penalised for a shove on O’Brien on halfway. The second half has been very stop-start thus far.
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54 min: ... it is a gorgeous ball in; it arcs into the six-yard box but none of Campbell and co can latch on it on the stretch.
53 min: Bacuna will whip a free-kick in from the right ...
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52 min: Bilic is geeing his team up. They have fallen a little flat after rousing towards the end of the first half. Campbell has bought a couple of cheap fouls out West Brom defenders, with Conor Townsend the latest to go into the book. The referee John Brooks does seem quite card-happy.
50 min: Grosicki fouls Toffolo after failing to make the move of an incisive break down the right. It stemmed from good work by Pereira but West Brom are packed full of flair players, and not too many who want to put their foot in, Sawyers aside. Huddersfield are attempting to suffocate West Brom’s creative threats before they get chance to wreak havoc.
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49 min: ... West Brom clear but fail to counter.
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48 min: Huddersfield win a corner after another raiding run by Chris Willock, whose cross is cut out by a West Brom block ...
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47 min: Surely West Brom cannot start this half as badly as they did the first? Krovinovic and Grosicki should ensure plenty of craft.
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46 min: Krovinovic and Grosicki replace Matt Phillips and Jake Livermore, both of whom were off-colour in a first half which seemed to pass them by. It’s a positive step by Slaven Bilic, taking off his defensive-minded captain.
West Brom are making a double substitution, with Filip Krovinovic and Kamil Grosicki entering at the break. Second half up next.
Leeds fans, you are 45 minutes away ...
Jude Bellingham is heading to Dortmund:
Half-time: Huddersfield 1-1 West Brom
Leeds are going up as it stands. Meanwhile, Danny Cowley leads away Andy King and Bacuna from the officials as the referee, John Brooks, blows for half-time. They’re not happy about something.
45+3 min: West Brom are finally playing some nice stuff. But they surely need to win to keep Brentford, who face Stoke on Saturday, at bay.
45+1 min: We are into the first of five minutes of stoppage time.
45 min: Diangana surges towards the six-yard box but Robson-Kanu cannot latch on to his cross. A golden opportunity. A penny for the thoughts of Charlie Austin, who is warming the bench. That goal has done West Brom wonders because Huddersfield are suddenly on the ropes.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 1-1 West Brom (O'Shea, 42)
Dara O’Shea heads in the rebound! Pereira whips in a delicious left-footed cross, it bounces in front of Lossl, who can only palm it into the path of the West Brom defender, who piles in at the back post. O’Shea heads in, though Huddersfield believe he was offside.
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41 min: O’Brien upends Pereira. West Brom earn another free-kick, this time more centrally, 25 yards from goal. Pereira and Phillips fancy it ..
40 min: West Brom scream for a penalty – but the officials are having none of it! Robson-Kanu stands up a neat cross for Townsend, who arrives late at the back post. As the ball comes back into the box from the left, Stearman appears to send Diangana tumbling, but John Brooks waves play on. Diangana did seem to make the most of the contact, but it was clumsy on Stearman’s part.
38 min: Slaven Bilic is tapping his knee and checking his watch – his body language does not exude confidence. Meanwhile an off-the-ball coming together between Robson-Kanu and Richard Stearman results in the former being booked. It is a petulant shove by Robson-Kanu, who should know better.
37 min: Huddersfield break on the counterattack but they fail to make the most of it and O’Shea ends up chesting the ball back to a grateful Johnstone. Something has to change if West Brom are to get anything out of this.
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36 min: ... poor delivery by Pereira.
33 min: Sam Johnstone is screaming at his team-mates to switch on as Huddersfield carve out another half-chance, with Toffolo fizzing a low ball into the box. West Brom are yet to penetrate the Huddersfield defence but they win a free-kick 30 yards out ...
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31 min: Matt Phillips going into the book was his first real involvement. With half-hour gone, he has mustered just five touches. Says a lot. West Brom are struggling.
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29 min: Matt Phillips is booked for a crude challenge on Andy King. West Brom attempt to switch into gear but this time Robson-Kanu loses his footing. They are yet to test Jonas Lossl in goal.
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26 min: Fraizer Campbell pickpockets Romaine Sawyers on the edge of the West Brom box but, just as he shapes to shoot, he loses his footing. Another sloppy piece of play by West Brom, who are not exactly relishing the pressure.
24 min: Drinks break! Leeds, as it stands, are going up!
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22 min: ... Pereira’s delivery is good but Livermore cannot meet it on the penalty spot. West Brom are seeing a lot more of the ball but Huddersfield are chasing in packs, preventing Diangana and co from having too much joy. But Chris Willock goes into the book for a cynical tug on Diangana, just as the winger attempted to speed away. Earlier Chalobah was involved in some handbags with Pereira. He, too, has to be careful having already been booked.
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21 min: ... Stearman flicks it away from danger. West Brom corner ...
19 min: Hogg fouls Diangana. West Brom free-kick, 20 yards out ...
18 min: Trevoh Chalobah is booked for time-wasting. With less than 20 minutes played. That’s almost impressive.
15 min: Chris Willock goes on another mazy run, this time on the edge of the box, jinking inside Livemore before wringing Semi Ajayi inside-out, but in the end he overhits his final pass. Huddersfield are not playing like a team hovering above the relegation zone. West Brom, meanwhile, are very much playing like one that knows there is an awful lot riding on this match.
13 min: Hegazi heads wide from a deep free-kick. He towers above Huddersfield’s Harry Toffolo but his header is wayward.
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11 min: Livermore attempts to release Dara O’Shea on halfway but the West Brom skipper overcooks his pass. That sums it up. They are yet to get going. Diangana and Pereira are yet to have a sniff.
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9 min: Another marauding run by Willock almost ends in tears for West Brom. The winger, who failed to make an appearance for West Brom during a five-month loan spell earlier this season, is causing havoc down the right flank. That goal must’ve tasted sweet.
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7 min: Willock goes on a weaving run – he is full of positivity, shrugging off Pereira, Livemore and Ajayi before winning a corner, which comes to nothing. Off the ball, in the buildup to that corner being given, Romaine Sawyers trips Frazier Campbell inside the box and the Huddersfield dugout are adamant it was deliberate. West Brom are struggling to compose themselves.
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GOAL! Huddersfield 1-0 West Brom (Willock, 4)
Bacuna’s delicious cross towards the front post causes panic and Chris Willock stabs home! Sam Johnstone repels the ball in with his left knee and it cannons towards Willock, who coolly fires home. It stemmed from a silly challenge by Dara O’Shea, but Leeds and Brentford will not care an inch. A dream start for Huddersfield!
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2 min: O’Shea gives Bacuna a bump and Huddersfield earn a free-kick on the edge of the 18-yard box. Huddersfield will swing it in from the left ...
1 min: But it is West Brom who jump straight on to the front foot, with Hal Robson-Kanu spinning on his heels out wide, driving down the left before Huddersfield head away his cross. An encouraging start if nothing else.
Peeeeeeeeeeep!
Lewis O’Brien gets things started for Huddersfield.
Here we go, then! Will West Brom silence those doubters and eke out a much-needed win? Will Huddersfield add to their tally in their fight for survival? And, perhaps most significantly, will Leeds be a Premier League team in two hours’ time?
A relatively sullen-looking Slaven Bilic speaks. “We are ready, we are confident, we know we are playing against a team that needs points also,” he says. “We have to embrace this opportunity. It is a privilege to be in this position and we are ready to give everything to get us closer to the Premier League.”
Danny Cowley speaks. “It’s an important game for both teams, a huge challenge for us but one we are looking forward to,” he says. His Huddersfield team have not scored in their past four matches. “We have been short of goals in recent weeks and when you’re a team in relegation trouble, you find it hard to find goals. We have dried up but we’ve got real belief in our players and we know if we create chances then we will take them.”
If it was not already clear, anything other than a West Brom win would see Leeds return to the top flight after 16 long years away. Marcelo Bielsa was typically philosophical after a hard-fought win over Barnsley on Thursday. “It was a collective effort, we had to run a lot to keep the result and I value a lot the courage and effort all of the players did to keep the result,” Bielsa said. “Until the situation is mathematically resolved we can not talk about promotion. We [myself and my coaches] will not watch the West Brom or Brentford games. We focus on ourselves.”
Some pre-match reading on the unravelling of Hull:
Team news news: Slaven Bilic tweaks things from West Brom’s draw with Fulham in midweek, with Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu replacing Kamil Grosicki and Charlie Austin. Meanwhile Karlan Grant drops to the bench for Huddersfield.
The teams!
Huddersfield (4-2-3-1): Lossl; Stearman, Schindler, Chalobah, Toffolo; King, Hogg; Willock, Bacuna, O’Brien; Campbell
Subs: Coleman, Kachunga, Grant, Pritchard, Mounie, Stankovic, J Brown, Smith Rowe, Duhaney
West Brom (4-2-3-1): Johnstone; O’Shea, Ajayi, Hegazi, Townsend; Sawyers, Livermore; Phillips, Pereira, Diangana; Robson-Kanu
Subs: Bond, Furlong, Bartley, Brunt, Harper, Grosicki, Krovinovic, Robinson, Austin
Referee: John Brooks
Preamble
Oh how West Brom need this. They kick-off the penultimate round of Championship fixtures knowing victory against Huddersfield will inch them closer to a Premier League return. But the jitters have well and truly started and should they slip up once more, their fate will tumble out of their hands and into the laps of Brentford, who have won all seven games since the restart. But Leeds, too, will be watching with great interest. Well, Marcelo Bielsa and his staff might not be – presumably they will be glued to The Chase, another kind of pulsating climax – but fans will, oddly, be willing on their Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield, who can inadvertently promote Leeds should they prevent Slaven Bilic’s side from picking up all three points.
Bilic has maintained those below them would sooner be in West Brom’s position but they are wobbling and Brentford are breathing down their necks, just one point behind them despite being 10 points adrift when the season was halted. “The key is to be very calm,” he said. “We have to share that pressure. It has always been in our own hands. It has been that way since September. From round seven, you’re checking on other results. The whole year, we have relied only on us.”
It is not all about Leeds and West Brom, though, with Huddersfield not yet out of the woods at the bottom. Victory would all but guarantee safety after a bruising season following relegation. “My daughter was looking at results yesterday,” said Danny Cowley, quizzed about the permutations this week. “We need to get it over the line which we’re looking to do in these last two games. We got back from Hillsborough about 1am on Wednesday morning. I watched Fulham v West Brom until 3am and got into work after 5am so we could prepare for West Brom. It’s really busy but work’s only work if that’s what you perceive it to be.”
Kick-off: 5.30pm (BST)
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