December 2009

The Home of Football has not always been kind to the Elland Road club. Few supporters have completely erased the memory of a League Cup defeat in 1996 at the old stadium, let alone the heartbreak of two years ago, when they lost out in their play-off final to Doncaster Rovers.

Tempered with an understandable air of caution, Leeds fans want to go back again, and hope it won’t be third time unlucky.

Nick Munslow, a lifelong fan from Cleckheaton said: “As soon as we kicked a ball in the JPT, I said that this is the competition we want to win.

“We want to get out of this league, and we want to take the trophy with us. It’s a day at the Home of Football, we would sell the ground out twice if we could, and I love this competition for what it has already given us.”

Colin Fryer, pictured with Dawn Murray, of Bradford, said: “It would mean a great deal to get to Wembley again. It would be a great day for us and now that we are so far in the competition, we definitely want to win it.”

Don Fletcher, from Castleford, agreed: “This competition definitely means a lot to us. We want to get to Wembley. We’ve had some rough experiences there before, but we would like to savour a special memory there.”

John Cowling said: “We’re here to go all the way. There are some tough teams left, but why not?”

Shaun Wood and his family said: “It would be a great chance to get to Wembley and really give us something to look forward to. We are playing well, and we would take 50,000 if we were allowed, so the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is a competition close to our hearts.”

And the final word goes to father and son Ken and Matt Piercy, who travelled from London to be at the game against Accrington Stanley.

Ken said: “We have come a long way to see the game, and we could probably walk to Wembley, so we’d love to get there!

“Simon Grayson is doing a fabulous job here. There’s a great atmosphere around the place at the moment and we look forward to every game.”

The Area Finals will be played over two legs with Leeds United taking on Carlisle United at home w/c 18th January and away w/c 15th February.

Johnstone’s. Bringing colour to the beautiful game.