Leeds Banter Mobile

04 Oct 2026 07:39:11
{Ed's Note - EHL2020 has posted a new article entitled, Can Rangers Replace Morelos's Tactical Impact?

03 Oct 2026 19:26:34
Leeds United have had many years of success sporadically but now, right now, we have the best fan base we've ever had.
When Don Revie became manager we were small time, then he took us to unbelievable heights.
The 80s were dire but in a way my favourite era. Wilko made us relevant again in the 90s and OLeary gave us hope for a while in the noughties.


Bielsa made us all smile and be proud to be Leeds.
And now seems like a new beginning. Potentially a time to become one of the elite once more?
But does it really matter that much, to be elite?

03 Oct 2026 21:08:46
Best fan base in 2026 ? In what way?
Things are getting better but best ever now ?

Atmosphere in stadium ?
No.imo atmosphere much better in Revie and Armfield eras 1960s up to 1977 defo.and Wilko era esp 1990 to 1992 and David Oleary era

although Monday nights are good in 2026 Farke era

Attendances ?.No
Leeds record attendance of nearly 58, 000 was in 1967
Even in 1977 we got 48000 in FA Cup


As for Leeds United becoming elite again.yes please !

03 Oct 2026 21:38:05
Many of the teams preferred to as elite, and/or those who like to think of themselves that way are teams I (and many others) absolutely detest. Do I want to be admired yes, respected yes, feared yes, but detested no. So do I want to be elite, yes, but not be referred to that way.

04 Oct 2026 08:41:14
I remember the Revie era, and before, and we were admired, respected and feared but we were certainly not liked and that's probably an understatement.
Some of the current elite are not liked because of the business model and how money, legal or not, has bought success.


In the 60's we were the new kids on the block who played with skill but an awful lot of grit and ferocity and the established teams and their fans didn't like it.

04 Oct 2026 10:15:45
Baz it's far and away our best fan base now.
We regularly played in front of ten thousand or less in the 80s. Granted this was in the second tier but we also had crowds way under 20k in the top flight the years before we were relegated.
Today, the season ticket waiting list is over 25k which says it all.

04 Oct 2026 12:50:19
Corkey, I did specifically say from the 60s up to 1977 where we got consistently high crowds sometimes very high crowds.

Attendances dropped dramatically in the late 70s and 80s for ALL clubs.

04 Oct 2026 15:33:35
Baz you are way off it mate. Leeds rarely filled ER in the sixties n seventies.
67/68 average crowd 35,000. Highest 51,000 and the lowest a paltry 11,000.

04 Oct 2026 16:06:47
Corkey the 11,000 was a early round league cup match vs 4th Div minnows Luton.

Anyways on numbers when stadium is expanded one assumes there will regularly be sell outs of 50K plus

On atmosphere we shall see.

01 Oct 2026 15:34:23
Are City getting investigated after 2018 as surely their indiscretions didn't stop there?

01 Oct 2026 18:13:06
I don't know Corkey. The original hacking of documents only went up to 2018 when the PL started the investigation and they only came up with the charges in 2023.
I think many would suspect that they haven't changed but until there is evidence, and none seems to be filtering out, nothing will happen.
I suspect that most of these misdemeanours occurred in the earlier years when the owners were desperate to quickly establish City as the major force in the PL. Since then they've probably cleaned up their act a bit and can operate within the current regulations.

One thing that is interesting is that some of the accusations relate to breaching UEFA regulations. It would be hoped that they would take action against City. However, UEFA tried to punish City a few years ago but lost on a technicality at CAS. They got off because there is a five year statue of limitations on prosecutions relating to financial regulations. It might be that they will get off again with regard to European sanctions. The only get out is that if the infringements relate to fraud then there is no time limit so maybe on this occasion UEFA will pursue City for fraud rather than breaching fair play rules.

01 Oct 2026 17:57:13
Absolutely Corkey.2018 to present day.more transgressions of all sorts feasible.

02 Oct 2026 11:28:31
The period under investigation was from 2009/10 to 2017/18. Most of us could see from 2009 that something was wrong. Their PL finishing positions from 2007 to 2012 were 14th, 9th, 10th, 5th, 3rd, 1st. In the real world changes from mid-table mediocracy to title winning form over such a short period just don't happen, and my (and others) suspicions began then.

As for the period from 2018 to the present day, whilst there's no evidence of wrongdoing (yet) , I'd just say that leopards don't change their spots.

02 Oct 2026 14:12:01
Wenger raised concerns in 2011 about City bending the fair play rules, especially with regard to sponsorship.
Arsenal had a deal with Emirates in 2006 for £90m over 15 years. City's deal with Etihad, admittedly five years later, was £400m over 10 years.

It might be a bit of sour grapes by Wenger but it does seem a remarkably good deal and might be even better if further payments were off the books.

02 Oct 2026 16:22:43
£6M per year versus £40M per year, that's 567% difference over 5 years, that's some inflation!

02 Oct 2026 18:52:31
So Citeh owners confirm they are appealing stating tge commision's ruling contained :

" clear material errors of law, principle and fact and is unsafe ".

Okey dokey.

02 Oct 2026 19:36:18
Well, it is safe to say that this ain't a court of law, they have no principles, and regard facts as a flexible concept.

02 Oct 2026 20:32:57
Well put JR, hilarious. 😂
Listening to someone on the radio tonight who used to advise City before the the takeover, his view is that they will try to prove that there is no link between the owning company (ADUG) and the UAE government and relies on proving that they are completely separate entities.

If they can prove that then it is permissible under PL rules for governments to assist state owned companies to meet sponsorship liabilities. City have to prove that there is no link.


They also have to prove that the sponsorship deal was on a commercial basis compared to other similar agreements.
One other thing that might clog up City's defence is that in a 2015 statement to the US Dept of Commerce and Transportation Etihad denied any involvement of the Abu Dhabi government in sponsorship of Manchester City and that all funds came from their own resources. That is a bit of a contradiction and if true will need quite a lot of explanations.

02 Oct 2026 20:54:49
I'm beginning to wonder whether City are just clutching at straws and that behind the scenes there are discussions going on about what the club and the PL can agree on as a suitable penalty which will be severe enough to appease the other clubs, the football community and the UK Government but not completely destroy what has been built up.


I don't want the City fans to be totally cut adrift but they have to be moved down the pyramid, substantially fined, honours expunged and a change of owners/leadership.

03 Oct 2026 02:20:29
My guess is that if the original verdict is confirmed, and punishment is inevitable, the PL will have a few red lines which they won't want to budge on, and other factors on which they are prepared to negotiate, and we can expect behind the scenes haggling to take place.

03 Oct 2026 13:32:12
For an official body to come out into public domain with such a prejudicial comment is jaw dropping

UAE threatening to withold infrastructure projects is tone deaf to 99.99% of public on this issue

Why attach a caveat to an issue like this ?In light of such a contentious matter.

03 Oct 2026 14:16:47
Well if that's not a de facto admission of culpability, I don't know what is. If they're as innocent as they claim, such threats are unneccessary.

03 Oct 2026 15:27:40
Totally JR,it's starting to smell worse as each day passes

Now it transpires Al - Mubarak met Reynolds in Downing Street 10 days before the verdict

This is looking like someone is trying to lift up the giant rug and get their hands on the giant Brush ready to sweep all this away.

03 Oct 2026 19:09:22
Mind you, Burnham is a football fan himself, and will be only too well aware of the level of acrimony he'll receive if there's even a hint of political interferance in the outcome.

04 Oct 2026 07:18:26
In that case JR, I hope he keeps interfering! The sooner he's gone, the better!

04 Oct 2026 08:17:42
But he's too much personal and emotional investment in Manchester, JR, and now he's PM his judgement will be altered by wider issues affecting the whole of the country. There's no way that he'll stay out of the decision making process, even if it's through third parties so he's not compromised.
It's not how it should be but there's too much money involved, which often results in an unjust outcome.


I suspect he can't change what seems to be an inevitable guilty verdict but he can push for penalties and sanctions that do NOT fit the crime. A messy compromise with which no one is really happy with but smoothes over the cracks and it's back to business as usual.

04 Oct 2026 15:56:04
We shall see Dun, but when all's said and done, Burnham is a politician, and like all others of his ilk, his overriding priority is self-preservation, and he'll dump anyone else in the s##t to save his own political skin. If the guilty verdict is confirmed, and I can't rid myself of the nagging fear that it may not be, then relegation to the Champo seems the bare minimum they could get away with, which would mean a fire sale of all the big stars, and would the owners then want to remain, or would they be gone in a brace of sheiks? I understand that the result of the appeal has to be announced within 12 weeks, which funnily enough takes us to Christmas Day, so I'm hoping for a bumper present from them.

01 Oct 2026 00:13:31
The timeline for the appeal by City which will be heard by a new panel is that it has to be made by Friday 1st October. The appeal hearing must be concluded within 12 weeks and the panel have 30 more days to release their judgement so the end of January is the final deadline.


The original panel, who will impose any sanctions, can convene during this period but will not release any details until the outcome of the appeal is known. The PL board can make representations regarding their preferred punishment.
City can then appeal any sanctions imposed.

01 Oct 2026 01:04:31
Without naming names obviously, what do we know of the make up of the two panels, where are they drawn from?

01 Oct 2026 01:25:42
Another good informative post there Dune.

So 4 months in total to conclude appeal process and judgement to end of January

The final round of EPL matches is ( unusually late) May 30 th ( exactly 4 months from Jan 30th)

So will there be enough time from January 30th 2027 to conclude the sanctions judgement, sanctions appeal process and appeals judgment before end of seez is completed ?

Ho hum football authorities, Citeh owners and others #perplexing.

01 Oct 2026 01:31:27
Ha JR.good point
Just joshing but hopefully no peeps from say dem lurvely places of Makerfield, Bury, Oldham, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and sunny Barcelona.

01 Oct 2026 08:00:06
Dunelm So they get a year to put in an Appel (Friday 1 October ) 🤭.

01 Oct 2026 09:08:49
Sorry Whiteman, a result of posting in the early hours.
JR, the original panel was appointed by Murray Rosen KC, chair of the independent PL judicial panel. The appeal panel was appointed by the new chair, Gary Hickinbottom.
The names are not revealed but the three person panel has to include one member with a judicial background and usually someone with accounting experience.


The five PL board members (Chair, Chief Exec and three non exec members) can not be involved but can make representations re the sanctions imposed.

01 Oct 2026 11:39:04
Interesting that Murray Rosen, chair of the independent PL judicial panel that appointed the original panel is an Arsenal member, but then so is the top man in City's legal team Lord Pannick. Will they end up being shot down by a brace of Gunners?