RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO – Leeds United FC
DATE – Friday 24th September
KO TIME – 7.45pm
THE GROUND – Elland Road, Leeds – click here and here for maps of the area – the arrow points to where the ground is.
Away supporters are accommodated in the South Stand, with a maximum allocation of around 5,000 seats.
Tickets for this match are now on general sale, priced at £22 for adults £15 for OAPs and £15 for U16s.
GOING BY CAR?
· Travelling from the north east, get yourself onto the A1/A1M southbound;
– just after you pass A1(M) junction 45 (for the A64 Leeds/York road) you’ll see signs for the M1 – so take the M1 south. You join the M1 at jcn 48 and you need to stay on it until you reach jcn 43.
· Leave the M1 at jcn 43 and join the M621 westbound.
– Leave the M621 at jcn 1, turn left onto the Beeston Ring Road then left onto Elland Road and follow the signs for the car parks.
There are several huge car parks near the stadium you can use that’ll set you back about £3 – £5 a car.
As far as street parking’s concerned, Leeds fanzine “To Elland Back” tell us: “The Heath Estate is a no-no, this is a residents only zone and the traffic wardens do marshall it with the meaness of a stingy back-four, so you have been warned. Lowfields/Gelderd Road- okay, but gets busy after the match. Holbeck- loads of free-street parking. Windmill Hill/Beeston- just outside the residents only zone, pretty good”.
GOING BY TRAIN?
Although the main railway line runs only 200 yards away from Elland Road stadium, the nearest station is Leeds Central, about 1.5 miles away. It takes about 30 – 40 minutes to walk it, but you’d probably be better off either getting a cab or using the shuttle buses that are usually laid on, on match days.
Both the 2.48pm Transpennine Express service from Sunderland and the 3.40pm Virgin service from Newcastle both get you into Leeds just after 5pm. The 3.59pm Transpennine Express from Newcastle gets you to Leeds at 5.44pm.
Going back, the 10.18pm Transpennine Express service gets you to York at 10.46pm then change for the 11.14pm GNER which gets to Newcastle at 00.35am. Or the 10.57pm Transpennine Express service from Leeds gets to Newcastle just after 1am.
The bad news is that the last train to Sunderland leaves Newcastle Central Station at 11.30pm and the last Metro at 11.53pm…
Alternatively ALS are running their usual coach service – click here for details.
STOPPING OVER?
Travel Inn Leeds city centre – tel 08701 977 150
Premier Lodge Leeds city west (close to Elland Rd) – tel 0870 990 6448
Travelodge Leeds Central – tel 0870 191 1655
Holiday Inn Express Leeds Central – tel 0113 242 6200
SCRAN AND BOOZE
Leeds city centre will probably have anything you could think of as far as food’s concerned.
For fish and chips, ‘United Fisheries’ is directly opposite the ground on Elland Road, and always popular – as is ‘The Cracked Egg Café’, next door. If you’re easily pleased there’s a McDonald’s behind the East Stand. Otherwise, food and drink are served inside the stadium.
Away supporters should avoid ‘The Old Peacock’ pub behind the south stand on Elland Road as it’s predominantly home supporters only. But the ‘Dry Salters’ pub serves both home and away supporters and is only a short walk away.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
Loads of cash machines in Leeds city centre – otherwise there’s a cash machine in The Old White Hart on Town Street, half a mile from the ground (from Elland Road turn right onto Wesley Street and after about 500 metres turn left onto Town Street).
IN THE NEWS
They’ve just signed Southampton striker Brett Ormerod on a month’s loan shortly after he was linked with a loan move to us.
Gaffer Kevin Blackwell says he expects to make more signings, after the LUFC board agreed to back him.
The club recently denied they’re in talks with an Iraqi businessman about a possible takeover.
They recently released both Steve Guppy and Craig Hignett.
LAST SEASON
Relegated from the Premiership after finishing 19th with 33 points.
THIS SEASON
Currently 10th of 24:
P8 W3 D3 L2 F9 A2 Pts 12 GD 2
HOME FORM
P3 W2 D1 L0 F5 A1 Pts 4 GD 4
HEAD TO HEAD
We’ve played Leeds 86 times in recent years (all comps), they’ve won 38 of those, we’ve won 30 and there have been 18 draws.
LAST MEETINGS
26-12-02 Sunderland 1 Leeds 2 (Proctor 34)
28-08-02 Leeds 0 Sunderland 1 (McAteer 46)
07-04-02 Leeds 2 Sunderland 0
18-11-01 Sunderland 2 Leeds 0 (Arca 48, Phillips 55)
31-03-01 Sunderland 0 Leeds 2
16-12-00 Leeds 2 Sunderland 0
TRIVIA
Blimey where do you start? Peter Reid managed them recently, Paul Butler’s currently their skipper, we’ve got Simon Johnson on loan from them, Mickey Bridges, Don Revie and Frank Worthington played for both Sunderland AND Leeds, we beat them in the ’73 cup final….there’s a fair few links between our two clubs.
Credits: LUFC, To Elland Back, Link, Rough Guide to English Football, Soccerbase, streetmap.co.uk, RAC, BBC, National Rail.