Here are your Leeds United evening headlines for Sunday July 19.
Leeds given guard of honour by Derby players
Leeds received a guard of honour at Pride Park on Sunday having been confirmed as Championship title winners.
Defeats for West Brom and Brentford after last week’s 1-0 win over Barnsley meant the Whites were promoted to the top flight as champions.
And they celebrated in style against Derby, coming from behind to win 3-1 thanks to strikes from Pablo Hernandez, Jamie Shackleton and a Matt Clarke own goal.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side were clapped onto the pitch by a Derby team that included Wayne Rooney, and they put on a performance worthy of their league standing, defeating the side that knocked them out of last season’s playoffs.
Fans react to Orta and Klich celebrations at Derby
Leeds fans reacted with delight after director of football Victor Orta and midfielder Mateusz Klich were spotted celebrating in the stands at Pride Park on Saturday.
The 3-1 win took Bielsa’s team to 90 points and ended a superb week on a high.
And Orta and Klich were clearly in good spirits, watching on from afar. The former was seen celebrating with binoculars, a reference to last season’s Spygate story involving Derby and their former manager Frank Lampard.
Klich, meanwhile, pretended to be a fan in the empty stands, cheering his teammates on and standing with his arms wide after the final whistle.
“Build the Victor Orta statue now,” wrote one supporter on Twitter.
“Victor Orta dancing with binoculars. Mateusz Klich breakdancing on the Pride Park pitch,” said another. “Incredible scenes.”
Chairman reveals plans for Premier League following promotion
Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani has admitted that plans for life in the Premier League have already started, even with celebrations still ongoing.
The Italian was speaking during the Whites’ win at Derby, and revealed the club’s amitions ahead of a long-awaited return to the top flight.
“We had enough liquid to celebrate,” he said . “I think the entire city did.
"I can go anywhere in Leeds and I'm offered drinks wherever I'll go. I don't pay anymore for drinks!”
“It had started already,” he added, when asked about future plans. “Before this week. Now we know which plan we need to execute, but we have been working for the last few months already on both options and now we're happy to continue in the preferred option.
“I don't think we need to change too much. We need to look at the last year in the Premier League. Clubs like Sheffield United for instance. They kept the structure and they had better results than the ones that changed completely
“So I think we have a very good solid foundation and we have a young team that is getting more experience. They are becoming much more mature, we see how they manage different the game so we are confident we have a good base.
“This is a massive club. I always repeat this and I believe the style of playing under Marcelo, the culture they've brought into the club and these guys that really do a great job sacrificing themselves and prioritise always the team and the union among themselves I think will give us the confidence we can play a good role in the Premier League in the coming years.”
