Club history, 1919: a new club
Leeds City, the city’s first league club, were forced out of the Football League in 1919 over illegal payments to players. Their assets were auctioned on 17 October and supporters met that same day to form Leeds United. The new club joined the Midland League, was elected to the Football League in May 1920 and bought Elland Road for £250.
1920s to 1950s: up and down
Leeds won the Second Division in 1923-24 and went up, but were relegated in 1926-27. However, Leeds returned to the First Division in 1927-28 and again in 1931-32 after another relegation. They went down in 1946-47, then John Charles helped drive promotion in 1955-56.
The Revie years, 1961 to 1974
Don Revie became manager in March 1961 with the club close to the Third Division. He built a young side, switched to an all-white strip and won promotion in 1963-64. Leeds then finished second in the league several times. They lost the 1965 FA Cup final before winning their first major trophies: the League Cup and Fairs Cup in 1968, the league title in 1968-69, the Fairs Cup again in 1971, the FA Cup in 1972 and a second league title in 1973-74. Their 34-game unbeaten league run from 1968 to 1969 is still a club record.
Club history after Revie
Brian Clough was sacked after 44 days in 1974 and Jimmy Armfield took the ageing side to the 1975 European Cup final, where they lost to Bayern Munich. Leeds slid in the years after and were in the Second Division by the late 1980s. In 1988 Howard Wilkinson took over. With Gordon Strachan as captain, Leeds won the Second Division in 1989-90 and then the last First Division title before the Premier League in 1991-92.
Club history in the 1990s and 2000s
George Graham and David O’Leary led Leeds back into Europe. Under O’Leary the club reached the semi-finals of both the Champions League and the UEFA Cup around the turn of the century. Financial trouble followed and the club was relegated from the Premier League in 2004, dropped to the third tier in 2007 and spent three seasons in League One.
2010 to 2023: the Bielsa years and relegation
Leeds returned to the Championship in 2010. Marcelo Bielsa arrived in June 2018 and ended a 16-year wait for top-flight football in July 2020, as Championship winners. Leeds had a top-half finish the next season, struggled afterwards, and went down again in 2023.
Club history, 2023 to now
Daniel Farke was appointed in July 2023 and 49ers Enterprises took full ownership that month. Leeds lost the 2024 play-off final to Southampton, then won the Championship in 2024-25 with a late win at Plymouth. Back in the Premier League they stayed up comfortably in 2025-26, beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, and reached an FA Cup semi-final, losing 1-0 to Chelsea.
Name, colours and badge
Leeds have played in white since the early 1960s. The first kit copied Huddersfield Town’s blue and white stripes, because Huddersfield’s chairman helped fund the club in its early days. The club badge has changed many times, and the White Rose of York has been the common theme. We do not reproduce badges on this site; see leedsunited.com for the current one.
Sources
Season-by-season record; Historical overview (Wikipedia); 2023 ownership announcement.
