A month ago, Leeds United looked unstoppable. Top of the Championship, 16 games unbeaten, pulling off late wins with swagger and depth no other side could match.
Bringing on talents like Willy Gnonto and Largie Ramazani from the bench? That’s title-winning luxury. The football was electric. The belief? Unshakable.
But here we are, five games later. One win. Second place. Level on points with Burnley. It’s happening again.
Saturday’s game against Swansea told the whole story. Brenden Aaronson scores in the first minute perfect start, right? Wrong. Leeds flattered to deceive.
Meslier saved a penalty, Swansea hit the post, and eventually scored after Meslier dropped a routine corner. Gnonto looked to have nicked the win late on… but of course, in true Leeds fashion, they conceded in the 96th minute.
This isn’t just a blip. This is Leeds. A club with an unshakable identity of almost, nearly, not quite. They’ve never been promoted through the playoffs seven attempts, zero success. It’s not just history. It’s folklore now.
Go back to the Don Revie days. That Leeds side should have dominated English football for a decade. Two league titles, sure but five second-place finishes and three lost FA Cup finals?
That’s cruel. Revie was so haunted by it he turned superstitious: lucky suits, anti-bird rituals, and even hired a fortune teller to cleanse Elland Road.
Was the ground cursed? A gypsy camp? A bad omen? Rational people would laugh it off. But for Leeds fans, it feels real. The pattern keeps repeating.
Only two managers have lifted that dark cloud since Revie Howard Wilkinson (all grit, no magic) and Marcelo Bielsa (a romantic, tactical savant who, even then, saw his sides fade late).
Now it’s Daniel Farke’s turn, and the same script is playing out. High-energy football running low on fuel. Mistakes creeping in. A fanbase waiting for heartbreak.
Here’s the thing: curses aren’t real. But football is played in the mind as much as on the pitch. And if you believe your club is cursed, that weight seeps into the dressing room, onto the pitch, and into the players’ legs.
Leeds United aren’t cursed. But they believe they are and that might be worse.
