2008–09 Leeds United F.C. season

This article details Leeds United A.F.C.'s 2008–09 season in League One.

Events

This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2008–09 season, presented in chronological order (starting from 26 May 2008 and ending on 31 May 2009). This list does not include transfers or new contracts, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the matches section.

May

• 27 May: Leeds Chairman, Ken Bates denies claims that Canadian sports firm, Maple Leaf Sports are in talks to take over the club.

June

• 4 June: Leeds confirm they have had talks with out-of-contract West Bromwich Albion striker, Kevin Phillips, regarding a move to Elland Road. However, the former England international's agent says that it would be "unlikely" that Phillips would move to Leeds. Duncan Revie, the son of the late Leeds manager, Don says he is still interested in buying the club. Meanwhile, thieves steal an England shirt worn by Don during the 1954-55 season.
• 6 June: Chairman, Ken Bates denies rumours that the club have bought back their stadium, Elland Road which is currently owned by the company, Teak Commercial Limited.
• 16 June: The fixtures for the 2008-09 League One season are released. Leeds start away at Scunthorpe United on 9 August, with their first home game against Oldham Athletic a week later. The club's final match of the season is against Northampton Town at Elland Road.
• 26 June: A friendly match scheduled for 30 July against Rotherham United is cancelled due to the "reputation" of the Leeds fans.

July

• 4 July: The Leeds team return from their holidays for pre-season training. Leeds' opponents for the friendly match on 2 August at Elland Road are changed from Sporting Lokeren to FCV Dender after Lokeren struggle to get visas for their full team.
• 9 July: Assistant manager, Steve Staunton is charged with a breach of FA rule E3 following comments he allegedly made to FA doping controllers after the club's defeat to Doncaster Rovers at Wembley on 25 May 2008.
• 10 July: The club's new kit for the 2008-09 season is revealed, with a full white home strip, a light blue/dark blue away kit and a full yellow alternative away kit. The club encounter contractual issues with the company who had agreed and signed a two-year contract with the club on 26 May 2008 to be the new shirt sponsor. The problem will force the team to wear shirts without a sponsor for the friendly against York City on the 11th..
• 14 July: Gary McAllister leaves out Sébastien Carole, Anthony Elding, Trésor Kandol, Sebastian Sorsa, Ian Westlake, Curtis Weston from his squad for the pre-season tour of Ireland. Fabian Delph and Neil Kilkenny miss out due to international duty.
• 29 July: Leeds agree a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with online travel company NetFlights.com.

August

• 1 August: The squad numbers for the new season are revealed. Most notably, Carole, Westlake, Weston and Bayly are demoted to numbers 35, 37, 40 and 41 respectively, suggesting their careers at Elland Road may be coming to an end.
• 9 August: Frazer Richardson is named as Leeds' club captain for the 2008-09 season. Leeds win their opening game of the season with a 2-1 away victory over Scunthorpe United.
• 29 August: The club confirm they have been charged by the FA with making payments to an unlicensed agent during the transfer of Anthony Elding from Crewe Alexandra in January 2008.
• 30 August: The club's new home shirt is made avaliable for the first time in the official club shop.

September

• 3 September: Leeds' first goal against Bristol Rovers on 30 August is awarded to Jermaine Beckford after there was initial confusion where the goal had in fact been an own goal by Bristol defender, Steve Elliott. The club plead guilty to the FA charge in regard to payments to unlicensed agents in the Elding transfer.
• 6 September: The club announce that OHS will be the club's secondary shirt sponsor for a further two seasons. OHS were the club's secondary shirt sponsors in the 2007-08 season as well.
• 27 September: The club's new away shirt is made available for the first time in the official club shop and online.
• 30 September: The club are fined £7,500, with a further suspended fine of £12,500, for using an unlicensed agent in the transfer of Anthony Elding from Stockport County in January.

Players

Squad information

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK		Ankergren	44	EU	2007	71	0	2010	Undisclosed	Leeds United
2	DF		Richardson (captain)	41	EU	2001	156	5	2009	Youth system	Leeds United
3	DF		Huntington	36	EU	2007	31	2	2010	Undisclosed	BBC Sport
4	MF		Douglas	42	EU	2006	124	11	2009	Undisclosed	Sky Sports
5	DF		Rui Marques	46	EU	2005	67	3	2010	Free	Leeds United
6	DF		Michalík	40	EU	2008	31	1	2011	£200k	Leeds United
7	MF		Prutton	42	EU	2007	55	4	2010	Free	Leeds United
8	MF		Kilkenny	38	EU	2008	27	2	2011	£150k	Birmingham City
9	FW		Beckford	40	EU	2006	69	31	2010	£ 50k	Leeds United
10	FW		Becchio	40	Non-EU	2008	13	4	2011	Free	Leeds United
11	DF		Sheehan	37	EU	2008	16	2	2011	Undisclosed	Leeds United
12	GK		Lucas	46	EU	2007	12	0	2008	Free	Leeds United
14	MF		Howson	36	EU	2006	59	6	2011	Youth system	Leeds United
15	MF		Delph	34	EU	2007	15	1	2012	Youth system	Leeds United
16	MF		Johnson	37	EU	2008	28	3	2011	£250k	BBC Sport
17	DF		Gardner	36	EU	2007	2	0	2009	Youth system	Leeds United
18	MF		Robinson	44	EU	2008	10	5	2011	Free	Leeds United
19	DF		Parker	36	EU	2007	17	0	2009	Youth system	Leeds United
20	FW		Kandol	42	EU	2006	66	12	2011	£200k	Leeds United
21	FW		Showunmi	42	EU	2008	8	3	2010	Free	Leeds United
22	MF		Hughes	46	EU	2007	50	1	2009	Undisclosed	Leeds United
23	FW		Snodgrass	36	EU	2008	12	2	2011	Undisclosed	Leeds United
24	MF		Sweeney	39	EU	2008	9	0	2010	£150k	Leeds United
25	GK		Martin	35	EU	2007	0	0	2011	Undisclosed	Leeds United
26	DF		Telfer	52	EU	2008	6	0	2009	Free	Leeds United
29	FW		Elliott	34	EU	2007	4	0	2011	Youth system	Leeds United
30	GK		Lund	35	EU	2006	0	0	2009	Youth system	Leeds United
31	DF		Webb	34	EU	2008	0	0	2009	Youth system	Leeds United
32	DF		White	32	EU	2008	5	0		Youth system	Leeds United
37	MF		Westlake	40	EU	2006	52	3	2009	£500k PX	BBC Sport

• Last updated: 4 Oct 2008
• Source: Wikipedia players' articles, Leeds United, Sky Sports
• Ordered by Squad Number.

Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in The Premiership, The Championship (and playoffs), League One (and playoffs), FA Cup, League Cup, Football League Trophy, and UEFA Cup.
Squad only includes players currently registered with the club.
¹Player joined the club on a non-contract basis.

Squad stats

				Total			League One		FA Cup		FL Cup		Football League Trophy
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Sts	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls
1	GK		Ankergren	6	6		4				2
2	RB		Richardson	12	12		9				2		1
3	CB		Huntington	7	7		4				2		1
4	CM		Douglas	7	9	2	7	1			2	1
5	CB		Rui Marques	9	9		7				1		1
6	CB		Michalík	4	4		2				2
7	CM		Prutton	5	6		4				1		1
8	CM		Kilkenny	7	8	1	5	1			2		1
9	FW		Beckford	11	12	11	9	7			3	4
10	FW		Becchio	10	13	4	9	2			3	1	1	1
11	LB		Sheehan	6	6	1	5	1			1
12	GK		Lucas	7	7		5				1		1
14	CM		Howson	8	13		9				3		1
15	CM		Delph	8	12	1	8	1			3		1
16	CM		Johnson	1	4		1				2		1
17	RB		Gardner												On Loan at Farsley
18	LM		Robinson	8	10	5	7	2			2	2	1	1
19	LB		Parker	1	2		1				1
20	FW		Kandol												On Loan at Millwall
21	FW		Showunmi	4	8	3	4	1			3	2	1
22	CM		Hughes	6	8		6				2
23	RM		Snodgrass	6	12	2	9				2	2	1
24	LM		Sweeney
25	GK		Martin												On Loan at Barrow
26	RB		Telfer	6	6		5				1
29	FW		Elliott
30	GK		Lund
31	DF		Webb
32	DF		White	5	5		3				1		1
37	LM		Westlake

Last updated: 4 Oct 2008
Source: Leeds United
Ordered by Squad Numbers
0 shown as blank

Most frequent start

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	MS	Notes
12	GK		Lucas	7
2	RB		Richardson	12
3	CB		Huntington	7
5	CB		Rui Marques	9
18	RM		Kilkenny	7
14	CM		Howson	8
4	CM		Douglas	7
15	CM		Delph	8
23	LM		Robinson	8
9	FW		Beckford	11
10	FW		Becchio	10	Disciplinary record N Pos. Nat. Name Notes 15 MF Delph 3 11 DF Sheehan 1 6 DF Michalik 1 1 9 FW Beckford 2 16 MF Johnson 2 2 DF Richardson 2 23 MF Snodgrass 2 10 FW Becchio 1 3 DF Huntington 1 8 MF Kilkenny 1 5 CB Rui Marques 1 7 MF Prutton 1 21 FW Showunmi 1 Last updated: 4 Oct 2008 Source: BBC Sport Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card. Captains No. P Name Country No. games Notes 2 DF Richardson 12 22 MF Hughes 1 Last updated: 4 Oct 2008 Source: Competitive match reports. Competitive matches only Matches started as captain only Country: FIFA nationality; No.: Squad number; P: Position; Name: Player name; No. Games: Number of games started as captain. Awards Internal Awards Goal of the Month August: Jermaine Beckford (12th August vs Chester City)1 [1] September: Andy Robinson (6th September vs Crewe Alexandra) [2] 1Winning goal was the player's third goal in the match. External Awards League One Team of the Week The following Leeds players have been selected in the official League One team of the week. 11th August 2007: Frazer Richardson, David Prutton [3] 8th September 2007: Alan Sheehan [4] 15th September 2007: Jermaine Beckford, Fabian Delph [5] 22nd September 2007: Aidan White [6] 29th September 2007: Andy Robinson [7] Others League One Player of the Month: Jermaine Beckford (September) League One Fans Player of the Month: Jermaine Beckford (September) Transfers In

¹As the player was under the age of 23 at the time of the transfer, an undisclosed compensation package was due to the player's former club.
²Player originally joined the club on a non-contract basis, but signed a one year contract lasting until 2009 several weeks after.

Out

|} EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Age = age on the day of the signing; Moving from = only indicate the club the player was playing before start playing for this club in this season, for the type of the moving see Status column; Moving to = only indicates the club the player is going to play next, for the type of the moving see Status column; Ends = when the player's current contract ends; n/a = Not applicable.

Loans

No.	P	Name	Country	Age	Loan club	Started	Ended	Start source	End source
40	MF	Weston		21	Gillingham	1 Aug	27 Aug	Leeds United	Leeds United
20	FW	Kandol		26	Millwall	7 Aug		Sky Sports
17	DF	Gardner		20	Farsley Celtic	19 Sep		Leeds United
25	GK	Martin		19	Barrow	24 Sep		Leeds United

Sources: For loan start source see "Start source". For loan end source see "End source".
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; No. = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); In/Out = In: The player came in on loan, Out: The player went out on loan; Loan club = the club that the player moved on loan to or the club that the player came from on loan; Started = the date when the player's loan started; Ended = the date when the player's loan ended.

New Contracts

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Status	Contract length	Expiry date	Source
5	DF		Rui Marques	30	Signed	2 years	May 2010	Leeds United
14	MF		Howson	20	Signed	3 years1	June 2011	Leeds United
	GK		Edwards	18	Signed	1 year	July 2009	Leeds United
	FW		Ovington	17	Signed	1 year	July 2009	Leeds United
7	MF		Prutton	26	Signed	1 year	June 2010	Leeds United
25	GK		Martin	19	Signed	3 years	August 2011	Leeds United
31	DF		Webb	18	Signed	1 year	August 2009	LUTV
15	MF		Delph	18	Signed	4 years	August 2012	Leeds United

¹Automatically extended until 2012 if the club is promoted to The Championship.

Club

Kit

Supplier: Macron
Sponsor(s): NetFlights.com

Home

Away

Third

Source: Leeds United (Macron), Leeds United (NetFlights.com)

Coaching and medical staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Gary McAllister
Assistant Manager	Steve Staunton
1st Team Coach	Neil McDonald
Technical Director	Gwyn Williams
Goalkeeping Coach	Andrew Beasley
Academy Manager	Neil Thompson
Under 18s Coach	Daral Pugh
Head Physio	Harvey Sharman
Assistant Physio	Paul Perkins
Fitness Coach	Matt Pears
Performance Analyst	Darren Mowbray
Kit Man	Chris Beasley
Coaching Assistant	Mick Walker
Head of Recruitment	Dave Harrison
Groundsman	Norman Southernwood

Last updated: 8 Sep 2008
Source: Leeds United A.F.C. Official Handbook

Includes staff currently registered with club only.

Other Information

President	George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood KBE
Chairman	Ken Bates
Director, Chief Executive Officer	Shaun Harvey
Director	Mark Taylor
Mascot	Lucas the Kop Cat
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	Elland Road (39,460 / 105x68m)

Updated to match played 5 August 2008
Source: Leeds United

Competitions

Overall summary

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match

Updated to match played 22 Aug 2008
Source: Competitions

League One

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
9	5	2	2	16	11	+5	17	2	1	1	8	6	+2	3	1	1	8	5	+3

Last updated: 4 Oct 2008.
Source: The Football League

Matches

Pre-season

11th July

19:30 BST

York City	1 – 1	Leeds United
Sodje 43'	(Report)	Beckford 25'

KitKat Crescent, York

Attendance: 4,405

Referee: J. Moss

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16th July

19:30 BST

Galway United	0-2	Leeds United
	(Report)	Beckford 25', 46'

Terryland Park, Galway

Attendance: 2,749

Referee: P. Sutton

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20th July

15:00 BST

Bray Wanderers	2-3	Leeds United
Robson 9' Rowe 32'	(Report)	Rui Marques 55' Haber 68' Howson 83'

Carlisle Grounds, Bray

Attendance: 5,500

Referee: T. Connolly

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23rd July

19:30 BST

Shelbourne	1-1	Leeds United
Flood 23'	(Report)	Huntington 45'

Tolka Park, Drumcondra

Attendance: 3,127

Referee: I. Stokes

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26th July

15:00 BST

Barnet	0-2	Leeds United
	(Report)	Robinson 36' Howson 49'

Underhill, Barnet

Attendance: 2,644

Referee: M. Russell

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29th July

19.30 BST

Darlington	0-0	Leeds United
	(Report)

The Darlington Arena, Darlington

Attendance: 3,441

Referee: E. Ilderton

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2nd August

15.00 BST

Leeds United	4-1	FCV Dender
Huntington 24', 86' Rui Marques 28' Beckford 34'	(Report)	Van Den Eede 55'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 7,041

Referee: U. Rennie

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League One

9th August

12:00 BST

Scunthorpe United	1 – 2	Leeds United
Hooper 57'	(Report)	Showunmi 61' Beckford 80'

Glanford Park, Scunthorpe

Attendance: 8,315

Referee: L. Probert

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16th August

15:00 BST

Leeds United	0 – 2	Oldham Athletic
	(Report)	Taylor 51', 65'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 24,631

Referee: M. Russell

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23rd August

13:00 BST

Yeovil Town	1 – 1	Leeds United
Owusu 62' (pen)	(Report)	Becchio 1'

Huish Park, Yeovil

Attendance: 6,580

Referee: D. Whitestone

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30th August

15:00 BST

Leeds United	2 – 2	Bristol Rovers
Beckford 5', 77'	(Report)	Lambert 32' Duffy 37'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 21,024

Referee: K. Wright

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6th September

15:00 BST

Leeds United	5 – 2	Crewe Alexandra
Delph 26' Sheehan 36' Douglas 48' Beckford 66' Robinson 81' Michalík  90+2'	(Report)	Bopp 90+3' Zola 90+4'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 20,075

Referee: T. Kettle

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13th September

15:00 BST

Swindon Town	1 – 3	Leeds United
Cox 45'	(Report)	Beckford 22' Kilkenny 50' Beckford 84' Sheehan  9'

County Ground, Swindon

Attendance: 13,001

Referee: D. Deadman

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20th September

12:15 BST

Carlisle United	0 – 2	Leeds United
	(Report)	Becchio 32' Beckford 86'

Brunton Park, Carlisle

Attendance: 12,138

Referee: P. Walton

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27th September

15:00 BST

Leeds United	1 – 0	Hereford United
Robinson 72'	(Report)

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 25,676

Referee: G. Laws

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4th October

12:00 BST

Peterborough United	2 – 0	Leeds United
Boyd 47' Mackail-Smith 90+1'	(Report)

London Road Stadium, Peterborough

Attendance: 13,191

Referee: L. Probert

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Football League Cup

12th August

19:45 BST

1st Round

Chester City	2 – 5	Leeds United
Lowe 15', 75'	(Report)	Beckford 3', 25', 35' Snodgrass 10' Robinson 31'

Deva Stadium, Chester

Attendance: 3,644

Referee: G. Salisbury

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26th August

19:45 BST

2nd Round

Leeds United	4 – 0	Crystal Palace
Douglas 11' Beckford 32' Becchio 52' Showunmi 76'	(Report)

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 10,765

Referee: K. Friend

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23rd September

19:45 BST

3rd Round

Leeds United	3 – 2	Hartlepool United
Snodgrass 14' Showunmi 58' Robinson 90+1'	(Report)	Monkhouse 2' Porter 33'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 14,599

Referee: A. Penn

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Football League Trophy

2nd September

19:45 BST

1st round (N-E)

Leeds United	2 – 1	Bradford City
Robinson 7' (pen) Becchio 50'	(Report)	Conlon 71'

Elland Road, Leeds

Attendance: 20,128

Referee: A. Taylor

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External links

• 2008–09 Leeds United F.C. season on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
• Official Website
• Sky Sports
• Soccerbase
• ESPNsoccernet
• Leeds Fans
• Leeds Utd Mad