Today could have been the day. Today was supposed to be the day. Today, Leeds United could have lifted the Championship trophy.
Charlton Athletic were supposed to be visiting Elland Road for a 12.30pm kick-off today. It was supposed to be Marcelo Bielsa’s coronation and the decimation of the EFL’s glass ceiling.
The forecast says it would have been sunny. It would have been a carnival. It would have triggered 2020’s summer of love, a three-month bar crawl in the city centre.
It would also have been the return of one of the club’s controversial sons.
Lee Bowyer has neither been a player nor manager at Elland Road since December 12, 2002 when Malaga won 2-1 in the UEFA Cup, the night he stamped on an opponent’s head.
With the way the Championship table was looking before the hiatus, it’s a safe bet Charlton may have been fighting for their lives today.
However, regardless of what went on during the 90 minutes, you could be sure Bowyer would have taken great pleasure in watching United’s return to the big time at close quarters.
Pictures of Bowyer’s era at Elland Road still adorn the walls of The John Charles Stand’s corridors. He has a place in the hearts of many fans in LS11.
It’s a reciprocal relationship, as Bowyer’s Leeds salute after the clash at The Valley last September showed.
“I’ve got the utmost respect for everybody at Leeds, all the fans and the management,” he said after the match.
Prior to the game he said similar, but went further: “Obviously I have got the utmost respect for them. I always will do.
“I had some great times, some unbelievable memories. The fans loved me when I was there and it was the same from me to them.”
Bowyer was not alone in tipping the Whites for promotion in the autumn, but tip them he did, and there would have been something especially satisfying about the club’s EFL chapter ending with him in the tunnel clapping on if the trophy were to be lifted.
