With apologies to Peter Odemwingie and his car park vigil, and the bloke who waved a large sex toy in the face of a Sky Sports presenter, Leeds United own the iconic Deadline Day memory. In 2014, at 10pm, the club’s official Twitter account teased supporters by telling them “Don’t go to bed just yet”.
The big news? Leeds sold two first-team strikers in the next hour, went through three different managers that season (including two spells for Neil Redfearn), finished 15th in the Championship and their top goalscorer in all competitions was Mirco Antenucci with 10.
It was a perfect piece of Leeds United theatre, a distillation of their modus operandi of promise with no delivery and a dose of emotionally blackmailing supporters thrown in. There are times as a Leeds supporter when you believe everything is conspired against you. And there are times when you can believe the club itself is in on the dark joke at your expense. Supporters owned it. Don’t Go To Bed Yet is the name of a fan podcast.
This year we should expect far less drama in the final hours of the window. While it seems like everybody else is either in a post-World Cup rush or undergoing enforced rebuild, Leeds United are arguably the Premier League’s most emphatic continuity club. They have sold one player that anyone really cared about – Pascal Struijk. They have upgraded their goalkeeper (Karl Darlow to James Trafford) and their creative midfield influence (Jack Harrison to Harry Wilson).
