There’s no denying that Leeds United are a massive football club and if they win promotion in the next four games of the Championship season, they will add a lot to a top-flight that just isn’t what it once was.  

Leeds have a loyal fanbase that has earned the respect of many, particularly over the course of the last 15 years with the Whites enduring an extended spell out of the Premier League.

And, it is those fans that are often praised by players joining or leaving the club, with the passionate Elland Road support something that can be mesmerising at times. Saturday’s meeting with Sheffield Wednesday proved that, with Owls boss Steve Bruce hailing the atmosphere in the Yorkshire Derby.

Prior to that game it was something that Adam Forshaw touched on when speaking to Leeds’ official media. The midfielder revealed that both Jonathan Woodgate and Jonathan Douglas had talked up Leeds before he joined the club back in January 2018.

“I’d actually been told by Jonathan Woodgate (about the support).

“He rang me when he knew I was coming. I was at Middlesbrough with him and he said, ‘You’re signing for an absolute whopper of a club’ and for him to say that, someone who has played for Real Madrid, is massive.  

“I also played with Jonathan Douglas at Brentford and I always remember him talking to me years ago, a long time before I signed. He said, ‘If you ever get the chance to play for Leeds United then take it, because you won’t experience fans like it’ and genuinely they were both so true.” 

Woodgate was one of Leeds’ own academy products, progressing through the first-team when European semi-finals were reached and David O’Leary’s side were challenging for the Premier League. It all ended quickly for the centre-back as Leeds’ financial troubles tore them to pieces, but the club that gave him a path in football obviously struck a chord.

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The praise from Douglas is slightly different. He was at Elland Road when Leeds were on their knees. The Irishman played in the Championship play-off final with Leeds, but then suffered relegation and went with the club into League One. Another play-off final was reached and on both occasions, big, big numbers backed Douglas and his teammates.

For him to talk Leeds up to Forshaw in the way he did shows just how big the club is, as even in their most recent plight, Elland Road was still an attractive place to ply your trade.

This all comes back to the fans, who many believe are amongst the best in the country. Henry Winter recently wrote about this in a column in the Times, with the respected journalist touching on what the club would bring if they were to win promotion back to the Premier League.

The pull of playing for a club like Leeds has been boosted by Marcelo Bielsa and a brilliant 2018/19 campaign, but in truth, that pull has always been there, as Forshaw points out.