As time ran out in Leeds’ 2-0 loss to Millwall, I wondered to myself what the kids attending their first game at Elland Road might remember of it in years to come. Pascal Struijk’s missed penalty, Karl Darlow being beaten at his near post, or something else entirely?

Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the 2003/04 relegation season was my first trip to LS11. Harry Kewell predictably scored on his return to Elland Road and I threw the ball back to Didier Domi, a real Leeds legend.

Like almost every FA Cup tie at Leeds, the ninety minutes of football got in the way of a memorable day for any kids debuting at Elland Road. As much as I vividly recall the roar when Mark Viduka equalised against Liverpool 21 years ago, what stayed with me was the first glimpse of the imposing East Stand and being overwhelmed as I reached the top of the steps to see the pitch.

Sam Chambers was another kid making his Elland Road bow, the 17-year-old winger starting for the first time as Daniel Farke made ten changes from the win at Coventry. Chambers’ only senior appearance came from the bench against Plymouth in November, so his inclusion from the start was certainly a surprise, or perhaps an indicator of the importance Farke had placed on this match.

While Chambers started brightly, linking up well with the lesser spotted Isaac Schmidt down Leeds’ right side, Millwall had the Championship leaders on the back foot for the opening fifteen minutes. But the visitors failed to create any real chances, and it was a rare Leeds corner that prompted the first sight of goal — Chambers seeing his name up in lights before shooting over from just inside the box.

Leeds’ almost totally new side unsurprisingly failed to look cohesive and the game suffered as a result. Millwall were happy to sit deep, defend compactly, and pick their moments to counter, meaning the most entertaining moment of the first half hour came when the South Stand took exception to a Millwall fan wearing a flatcap, accusing him of being a shit Tommy Shelby.

Unfortunately the playful banter between supporters went sour once the Millwall crowd sang about Turkey and the murder of Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight in April 2000. There’s not really much to say about the loud, prolonged chants that Millwall’s official statement described as coming from a ‘minority’ — which feels like an alternative interpretation of the facts — other than they’re depressingly predictable and not worth rising to. Leave them to the brainless of Burmondsey.

Leeds’ highlight of the first half, and perhaps the game, came when Joe Rothwell’s delightful long ball found Schmidt near the Millwall box. The full-back played it inside to Chambers, who beat two players and just needed to pick a corner to complete a fairytale full debut, but shot straight at the ‘keeper.

Both Millwall goals came from Leeds losing possession cheaply. The first as Schmidt was bullied off the ball in his own half, before Femi Azeez’s deflected shot evaded a stranded Karl Darlow in the Leeds goal. The second came ten minutes after half-time and from almost nothing. Josuha Guilavogui was robbed inside the Millwall half and Azeez broke down Leeds’ right, which neither Schmidt nor Ethan Ampadu appeared to be guarding. Azeez bore down on goal and beat Darlow at his near post with a shot that explained why Farke didn’t rush to switch his goalkeeper after Illan Meslier’s series of clangers against Blackburn and Hull.

By the 55th minute, Millwall were leading 2-0 and, in hindsight, we could have left it there. Most people had seen enough, even the thousands attending who can’t normally get tickets for league games.

Ampadu was having his worst game for Leeds. Right after Millwall scored their first, he lost the ball running across his own box, leading to Azeez hitting the bar. Guilavogui’s error leading to the second was nothing compared to the stud marks he left on Cameron De Norre’s shin, a reckless accident brought about by a loose touch in another disjointed Leeds attack.

Pascal Struijk missed a 60th-minute penalty, and Leeds’ chance to inject life into a tie that was quickly fading. As Millwall ‘keeper Liam Roberts tipped the ball onto the post, Elland Road groaned with an air of resignation as if to say that Leeds United tend to do this in the cup and, on the whole, it’s hard to care too much. Farke paid lip service to the idea of winning by introducing Manor Solomon, Junior Firpo, and Ao Tanaka as the seventy-minute mark approached. Joel Piroe came on shortly after to give Mateo Joseph some assistance on a day when nothing went right for the 20-year-old. But it was all to no avail. Leeds didn’t look like scoring, and they didn’t.

There wasn’t much comfort in seeing fringe players get much needed minutes, but perhaps that’s to be expected when you throw ten of them onto the pitch at the same time. Barring an unparalleled injury crisis, we won’t be seeing Saturday’s starting XI together again this season. “To rotate is necessary and important, but two or three changes are healthy for fresh legs,” Farke said after the game. “If you rotate in ten positions it can’t be beneficial for the fluidity of your football.” Again, if Farke knew this beforehand and still did it anyway, it shows how important he felt this tie was in the grand scheme of things, even if he was talking in the build-up about how “stranger things have happened” than Leeds winning the FA Cup in 2024/25. He’s right, stranger things have happened. About three of them in the history of mankind, maybe.

Leeds will likely return to their newly-established first-choice side for Tuesday night’s trip to Watford and do the same again for Sunderland next week, two games upon which much greater importance is placed than a FA Cup fourth-round tie. When you’re chasing promotion back to the Premier League, sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and ruthlessly prioritise. It’s often the fans that suffer, especially those going to games for the first time, who are often the next generation of Leeds fans. The cup has lost its sparkle in the eyes of clubs whose motivations are increasingly financial, but then how do you explain that to a kid going to Elland Road for the first time?

You don’t. You get them a bag of chips on the way home and tell them you’ll take them to a Premier League game next year, hopefully. If that doesn’t placate them, just tell them to be grateful they weren’t at bloody Histon. ⬢

(Photograph by Danny Lawson, via Alamy)