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While the festive football schedule tends to be where Leeds United seasons go to die, there have still been some incredibly memorable (and remarkable) games, wins and moments buried among the FA Cup third round defeats and endless draws against Preston North End.
With a resounding 4-1 win over Crystal Palace under the lights at Elland Road fresh in the mind, the festive football bonanza suddenly becomes more appetising.
Which is why now’s a great time to indulge in a bit of nostalgia because hey, that’s what Christmas is all about, right? Boxing Day even more so. A day made specifically to indulge in excess while consuming as much sport as you can.
With that in mind, here’s some festive hits that don’t involve Kylie Minogue (somehow, in 2025).
There’s probably not been a better Boxing Day fixture in the history of Leeds United, given the context, than the win over Blackburn on Boxing Day 2018.
Just days after a frankly ludicrous late win at Villa Park to complete a comeback from 2-0 down, Blackburn rolled into town for a rare home Boxing Day fixture for Leeds.
Bielsa’s boys had garnered a reputation for dramatic, high stakes football in the early part of the 2018/19 season and none more so than a game against Blackburn that had looked like heading to a pretty drab 1-1 draw.
A late free-kick from Charlie Mulgrew somehow found its way past an increasingly hapless Bailey Peacock-Farrell late on, prompting David Raya (yep, the same one) to sprint from his goal to the away end and join the celebrations of a late win at the table toppers…
Enter Kemar Roofe.
Bielsaball kicked into gear like never before and Roofe didn’t just get the bit between his teeth, he got the whole bloody piece.
A scrappy equaliser that appeared to cross the line on three separate occasions was followed by the aftershock of a header that risked the health and safety certificate at Elland Road, particularly fans at the back of the East Upper and those souls in the commentary gantry, who I imagine were hanging on for dear life.
Gaetano “The Lion” Berardi lifted me with one hand !!!😂😂
What an emotion at Elland Road!!!
What a team!!! pic.twitter.com/bQ9oikOV5N— Salim Lamrani (@SalimLamraniOff) December 26, 2018
Now known as the season that started the downfall, for a long time the 2001/02 season looked like being Leeds’ best in a decade.
While the free spending had been curtailed a little, Ridsdale opened the purse strings (which I believe were later repossessed along with everything else) to splash the cash on Seth Johnson and Robbie Fowler in the autumn of 2001.
A promising UEFA Cup campaign was still ongoing by the time a Viduka brace and an excellent Fowler finish saw off West Ham at Elland Road to send Leeds top of the Premiership as 2002 began.
For a brief moment, all seemed rosy. Viduka’s goalscoring was complemented by Alan Smith’s workrate, and suplemented by Robbies Keane and Fowler. You’d struggle to find a better quartet in world football at the time. What could possibly go wrong?
This is a bit more of a rogue one, but context matters.
In a season when the pressure was cranked up to dangerous levels, Leeds’ away form risked derailing what otherwise looked like a dominant and organised title tilt.
Burnley and Sheffield United had other plans, but a festive double-header away at Stoke and Derby within a couple of days brought with it pressure and opportunity. Step forward Brenden Aaronson in what was without a doubt his most composed and finest moment in a Leeds shirt, curling into the corner with time ticking away to secure a vital three points.
Not the prettiest and certainly not the most memorable game but the sort of away win that you have to chalk up when you’re en route to 100 points. A real tone setter.
We’ve chucked enough points away at Pride Park over the years to recognise just how crucial a win there is and with a visit in the third round of the FA Cup looming very shortly, a repeat of that exact result would do just fine.
🤯😍 WHAT. A. GOAL. pic.twitter.com/uGjhwYtlaE
— Leeds United (@LUFC) December 29, 2024
The week before Christmas in 2010 had seen a remarkable turnaround at Elland Road.
Despite the untold embarrassments of a 5-2 defeat at Barnsley after taking the lead and somehow losing 4-6 to Preston and Jon Parkin despite being 4-1 up, Leeds had the chance to move into the automatic promotion places before Christmas.
The problem? Neil Warnock and archetypical ‘streets won’t forget’ maverick Adel Taraabt’s QPR were rolling into town.
It was a season when it was painfully obvious that they were about to streamroll the division from the first kick of a ball, while the rest of the play-off contenders did their best to balls up any real push for top two.
Enter Gradel, Howson, Snodgrass and Becchio.
While the backline took a conceptual approach to defending, the frontline fired at a remarkable rate given the minuscule outlay on all four players.
Gradel was £250k, Howson came through the academy, Snodgrass was a nominal £50k and Becchio had turned up for a pre-season tour in 2008 with only a pair of boots and a headband.
So, when Gradel smashed home in the first half, the atmosphere picked up to a level we’d not seen too often outside of crunch games.
Possibly the greatest rendition of WACCOE since the original that inspired fifty years of scarf-twirling took place and Gradel, presumably inspired by that magical atmosphere, carried the ball and carried the ball and carried the ball until he was within striking distance of Paddy Kenny’s goal.
When that net rippled, I really thought Simon Grayson was on for the double promotion. What a day, what an atmosphere, and what a player Max Gradel truly was.
Could be controversial this but QPR at home (Max Gradel brace) was unbelievable https://t.co/53Zw5BjEgu
— cp (@charleyp__) November 12, 2021
I moved to the West Midlands for university and never left, meeting my now wife and marrying into her Birmingham City supporting family. Fast forward a fair few years and bragging rights were seriously as stake, particularly after a Che Adams/Garry Monk inspired double over Bielsa in his first season really stung.
So, when we raced to a 2-0 lead at St Andrews in late December 2019, it felt like we were doing that thing good sides do — taking the game away from the opposition with the quick one-two.
A bit like a round of board games with the family after a few too many on Christmas Day, however, chaos was in the air that afternoon. A sixteen-year-old Jude Bellingham (what ever happened to him?) pulled one back before Kiko Casilla continued where he’d left off with more moronic goalkeeping in the coming minutes.
At 2-2, the game (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) suddenly kicked into life when Luke Ayling decided to just absolutely leather the ball in from outside the box, kissing the post on its way in.
Another daft goal went in at the other end when Casilla got caught somewhere between the Ghost of Christmas Present and Future trying to punch a free-kick and ending up more Marley than Scrooge. But mere seconds later, Stuart Dallas was sprinting maniacally behind the goal in celebration having put Leeds ahead again.
Surely that’s enough for one day, right?
Wrong. 4-4. Head in hands. Christmas ruined.
But this season was different, a sign of a mentality underpinning a beautiful footballing philosophy and a physical ability beyond what any of us dreamed. Berardi steamed in, retrieving a ball that looked set to run loose and start a Birmingham City counter-attack only for it to fall to Helder Costa, who took a brief glance in his peripheral vision and saw the galloping Ayling making an overlapping run that became the hallmark of vintage Bill. Costa held it for what felt like an eternity before slotting it down the line with just enough weight for Ayling to wrap his foot round it on the byline and somehow send it into the goal.
Who scored? Who cares? Daft own-goal, pure nonsense, scenes of utter delirium. This was football at its purest, the sort you remember playing down the park with your mates. They were our mates, in a way, weren’t’ they? Mint.
Confession time, I was barely six months old when this game took place. BUT with only one other Premier League game ever taking place on Christmas Eve, and given the opponents and context, this has to go down as an all-time great.
McAllister, Yeboah, Deane. Bish, bash, bosh.
Let’s not forget this was peak Death Star era Scum, with Ferguson prowling the touchline and threatening any official that dared to give even a throw-in against his precious boys.
It was another Scot, issue four cover star Gary McAllister (one of four, along with Speed, Batty and Strachan, grab one of those here for some top-notch festive reading!) who kicked things off with a penalty given for a frankly hilarious handball from Nicky Butt.
Seriously, he’d gone for the sort of punch you might see from a modern goalkeeper above his head from a corner. Cheers, Nicky.
Cue Gary Mac slotting the ball in the top right corner, Schmeichel Sr no chance.
Scum equalised with the most 90s goal of all time (less of that, though) before Tony Yeboah picked up a loose ball with the Scum defence at sea, slalomed around the defender and lofted a finish over the ‘keeper to send Elland Road into raptures.
Briane Deane rounded it off with a centre forward’s header that could grace any decade of top level footy.
Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals. ⬢
