November- Ardal O' Hanlon

(Comedian, Father Ted, My Hero)

 

 

 

 

I've been a Leeds fan for as long as I can remember. When you are about five or six, you adopt a team - obviously, I didn't grow up in Leeds. I grew up in a small town on the Irish border, and most of the people my age were Leeds fans, both then and now. This was a reaction to the presence of so many Liverpool and Man United fans around us.

 

From the beginning, I was conscious of being Irish and supporting an English side. I used to ask people from Leeds: 'Is it OK? Do you mind me claiming your team as my own?' I asked them this because you would often hear anti-Irish chants and songs from a few rows back. That was always a bit bizarre.

Johnny Giles is my favourite Leeds player, without doubt. He was a fierce competitor. I met him once, at a black-tie event in Dublin, which was one of the great nights of my life. Tony Currie was another great favourite, even if he only played for a short time at Leeds. His wife told me once that she was a big fan of My Hero. These are the moments I treasure.

 

In some ways, we have lost the plot in recent years. I think you probably have to go back to the court case, or perhaps to the original Woodgate and Bowyer incident, which should, of course, never have happened. Apart from however horrific it was for the victims and anyone else involved, it had a huge impact on the club. I don't think even the most ardent Leeds fans can appreciate what an impact it had on the players. These are things that go deeper than superficial football matters.

 

I think it is fair to say that David O'Leary lost all sense of proportion. He should never have published that book, Leeds United on Trial. He just couldn't shut up. He and Peter Ridsdale were swept away by ambition; they had a vision for the club that forced them to start buying players that they didn't even need. We had the nucleus of a great squad, a youthful and inexpensive squad, and they didn't really have to keep adding to it with expensive signings. Ridsdale, I guess, was your characteristic smooth-talking, egotistical chairman. Like O'Leary, he had a keen eye for self-publicity.

 

 

December- Matt Cooper

(Journalist, Pesenter of The Last Word )

 

  

 

 

Matt Cooper is one of the country's leading broadcasters and journalists.

His 100-102 Today FM drive time current affairs show The Last Word is essential listening for any Leeds fans. The show features politics, business, sports and the arts. Although as Leeds fans, we have had not a lot to sing about since our club's relegation from the Premiership, We have a lot more to be happy about now where top of the league with a strong team and great manager.

 

Lanyon Whites would love if Matt could mention how good Leeds are doing more often and how poor Liverpool have been of late, it will be a while till we get one over on the reds after their slim victory over us in the Carling Cup.

 

The Last Word, 100-102 Today Fm, Monday 4.30 – 7.00pm, Mon – Fri. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February- Jack P. Shepherd- David Platt from Coronation Street 

An actor best known for portraying David Platt in the ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street. He joined the show in April 2000.

Shepherd was born in Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and now lives in Boothstown, Salford.

In 2007, he won the Best Bad Boy Award at the Inside Soap Awards and in 2008, he won 'Best Villain' at the British Soap Awards.

March : Chris Kamarra 

With Chris Kamara, what you see is what you get: enthusiasm, laughter and an unmistakable ’70s-porn afro-and-moustache combo. In his playing days Kamara was a tough tackling midfielder. The former Leeds United, Sheffield United  and Bradford City player has taken that no-nonsense approach to the screen as a pundit for Sky Sports. 

‘Kammy’, as he is affectionately known by all.

Did you ever play Sunday League?
When I was around 15 years old I was half-decent so I used to play against the men on a Sunday for Beechwood & Easter Youth Club. They used to look at this skinny kid and think "He’s not going to be much cop", but I did all right in those days. Even so, it was rough, especially for a little black kid, but I just loved playing football.

Would you ever play Sunday League again? 
My two sons play fornalthough I can’t play on a Sunday because I do Goals on Sunday they've got midweek games and when the late nights come around I play for them. The respect I've received from opposing players has been fantastic – it really has. I’ve played three games for them now and we’ve won all three games. The last team they played were really respectful – we slaughtered them 6-1 [Breaks into peals of laughter]. I just love playing football.

I play like...
Although I never reached his level, I’d say I played a bit like Graeme Souness. Not being pushed around in midfield was the thing Souey had and I think I got a little bit of that, but I didn’t have his fantastic ability. 

Other people say I play like...
No one, really. I broke onto the scene very early; I was only 16 when I made my debut for Portsmouth, playing up front alongside future Arsenal manager George Graham. Ian St John was my first manager. I was in the Royal Navy for three months and when we played against Portsmouth youth team I scored a couple of goals; they bought me out of the Navy for £200. It still goes down as the worst deal in Portsmouth’s history!

Best football achievement
Being part of the Leeds squad that won the last First Division title [in 1992, the final season before the Premier League]. As a kid it was my ambition to play for Middlesbrough and my dream to play for Leeds, and I managed to do both. At Leeds we won promotion back to the First Division in 1990 after an eight-year exile. We won at Bournemouth on the final day of the season and I provided the cross for Lee Chapman to stick the ball in the back of the net. Howard Wilkinson was screaming at me from the touchline because I kept bombing forward from midfield; he got David Batty to warm up because he was going to bring me off if I made one more forward run. I made one more forward run, crossed it... and Lee Chapman scored with a header! Wilkinson told Batty to sit back down and said to me “Now sit in that midfield!” – and I did until the end of the game.

Worst moment in footballI 
I picked up an injury at Coventry  the following season and did my ankle ligaments. I stayed on when I should have come off and it developed into an Achilles injury. I was going to retire at the time – I’d had enough. Wilko and the doctors couldn’t find out the cause of it. Eventually Wilko sent me to another surgeon and he managed to cure it for me. I was at a club I loved and I wanted to be successful, and to be out for 11 months was a nightmare.

Best player in our team
When I was at Leeds it was Gordon Strachan by a mile. We had a great side, but Strach was pure class.

Team supported 
Middlesbrough and Leeds. Boro were my hometown team and Leeds were the top team. When I played for Beechwood & Easter Youth Club the manager used to take me to watch Leeds on a Saturday and if I wasn’t at Elland Road I’d go and watch Boro.

My football hero
My heroes when I was a kid were Eric McMordie, an Irish midfielder who played for Middlesbrough, and Johnny Giles when he was at Leeds.

My football villain
Because I liked to get stuck in I used to have a lot of battles on the pitch. I had a few clashes with Souness, Steve McMahon, Terry Hurlock – who I later played alongside at Brentford. There was no quarter given. In one match at Milwall me and Hurlock both got sent off - and his dad hit me in the players’ lounge!