In his latest column for leedsunited.com, lifelong supporter Jon Howe looks back on 10 of the most memorable moments, from the 2021/22 Premier League season.

Howe is the author of two books on the club, ‘The Only Place For Us: An A-Z History of Elland Road’ - which has been updated as a new version for 2021 - and ‘All White: Leeds United’s 100 Greatest Players’ in 2012.



Over the years, several platinum-selling bands or singers have followed-up a brilliant album with an absolute dud. It can happen for many different reasons, and fortunately, it doesn’t stop them re-discovering the magic and returning to their former greatness. In this sense, Leeds United’s 2021/22 season is one you’re likely to spot in the racks of a charity shop for 99p in a few years’ time and still think “nah, you’re alright”. But it wasn’t all injuries, press conferences telling us about injuries, social media speculation about injuries, defeats and more injuries, there were some great moments if you want to remember anything from this season.



1. Luke Ayling’s goal

If you really want to torture yourself, consider this for a moment. Had Leeds been able to ride out the few minutes after Luke Ayling’s thunderous strike on the opening day at Old Trafford and maybe hang on for a credible 1-1 draw, how different could this season have been? It seems the second half was a microcosm of everything that followed, and now I can’t watch the greatest individual moment of Bill’s career without an involuntary shudder. But for roughly two minutes, life was wonderful.



2. The first game back

Remember the excitement of being back in Elland Road again? Remember the flags? Remember thinking Everton looked really good? Yeah, it’s a long time ago now, but the atmosphere for that first game back was really special. As fans, we put everything out there and have never really reigned it back in all season. We unleashed 18 months of lockdown frustration and 16 years of lower-league weariness all in one cathartic mass-release, which has fuelled a brilliant Elland Road atmosphere ever since.



3. Raphinha’s penalty

In a tight game without many chances Leeds just about had the edge. We had settled for a draw and a rare clean sheet was welcome. Then, in injury-time, a Crystal Palace defender inexplicably handled a flighted corner and VAR was our new best friend. It took an age for the penalty to be taken and I can still see Raphinha’s run-up, dummy and strike now. The longest intake of breath as the crowd hushed in unison, also took in 36,000 fans thinking “nooooo, don’t do the dummy thing, this never ends well”, before the Brazilian international who knows a bit more about these things than we do, struck the ball perfectly into the corner of the net, as he has, successfully using the same method, several times since.



4. Joffy’s first goal

The 3-2 defeat at Chelsea was the kind of result that makes you bitter and twisted about life in the Premier League, because the manner of it made you believe the consensus that everything is geared towards making sure the ‘Big Six’ remains the ‘Big Six’. Nevertheless, the dubious late penalty conceded couldn’t take the sheen off Joe Gelhardt’s first senior goal, a fine equaliser to make the scoreline 2-2 in the second half. Quite apart from it being an excellent team goal and a small indication that last season’s sparkle was still there somewhere, we had heard and seen so much of Joffy’s potential from the under-23s, and this was finally it at senior level.

Not just a game. Not just a club.#LUFC means everything. pic.twitter.com/CK6Upcuqpr

— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 3, 2022

5. Bielsa’s hug

Hugs are great. We all need one every now and again, and when they mean something you can really tell. The Ronnie O’Sullivan/Judd Tump hug at the end of the recent World Snooker Final felt long, awkward and uncomfortable, but it turns out they were both sobbing and said some lovely words to each other in what was a dramatic and seismic moment in their careers. As Dan James’s diving header bounced over the line to give Leeds a precious 3-1 victory over Burnley on January 2^nd, Marcelo Bielsa fell instantly and automatically into the arms of his assistant Pablo Quiroga for a long and hearty embrace. It was a rare moment of comfort for Leeds in terms of the scoreline, and it was a rare moment of emotion from Bielsa. We already knew it, but this job meant everything, and the pressure of getting it right was evident in that wholesome cuddle.



6. Jack Harrison’s hat-trick

A week after a pretty limp performance in a 2-0 FA Cup defeat, not many Leeds fans held out much hope of three points when making an immediate return to West Ham’s London Stadium. What followed was arguably Leeds’s best all-round performance of the season, courtesy of three goals from Jack Harrison which showcased the diversity of his talents. A fourth goal from Mateusz Klich, harshly ruled out by VAR, would not have flattered Leeds.

🙌 𝗗𝘂𝗴𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗯𝘀! pic.twitter.com/ZcLR0LRFfI

— Leeds United (@LUFC) March 14, 2022

7. Bench-cam v Norwich

Never before can a video of subs and backroom staff celebrating an injury-time winner have received more views than the goal itself. Somehow the bench-cam video showing the subs instinctively rising to their feet and then racing on to the pitch in pursuit of Joffy after his vital winner v Norwich, replicates the explosion of manic joy we all felt, and better than seeing Raphinha jink past the keeper and square it for Joffy’s tap-in.



8. Ayling’s choreography

The sheer insanity of the comeback win at Wolves was brilliantly summed up by the am-dram fiasco that was Luke Ayling’s goal celebration. A second injury-time winner in consecutive weeks again sparked the Leeds subs’ bench to invade the pitch – leading to Kalvin Phillips making his first appearance in front of the cameras since November and Nohan Kenneh earning the rare distinction of being booked without ever making a Premier League appearance – while Bill’s attempt to copy Robbie Keane’s cartwheel and gun-slinging routine was comically hindered by his own giddy ineptitude and Robin Koch’s trailing knee. Beautifully shambolic.



9. The last ten minutes v Man City

If you look back and try to find a reason why Leeds survived the drop, it might just be the crowd’s reaction to being 4-0 down at home to Champions-in-waiting Manchester City. Things did not look great; in the league table, on the pitch and in the near future. But the Elland Road crowd’s defiance and relentless chanting of ‘We all love Leeds’ well after the final whistle was effectively saying “this isn’t over, nothing is decided today and we are right behind you”. When you’re in a lonely and desperate place, that’s just what you need to hear.



10. Leeds are all over the world

Quite why the stadium DJ at Brentford chose to play Status Quo’s ‘Rocking All Over The World’ right on the final whistle of the 2-1 win which confirmed Leeds United’s Premier League status for another season, I’m not sure. Football culture is littered with clubs randomly adopting certain songs based on otherwise inexplicable incidents only their own fans can remember. The sight of Joffy and the rest singing it to the Leeds fans in the corner of the stadium will live with us forever, and aided by a pub DJ in Oldham, this generic celebratory anthem was also adopted by The Square Ball walkers on our 92-mile hike from North Wales to Elland Road last week. As a Leeds United song, it may have legs beyond that, even if none of the 100-strong party of walkers have. And as a tune to end a largely distressing season with a brilliant climax, it was suitably haphazard and something we should probably just laugh about to help forget the pain.