, “The fans are still with you” pundit Whelan on Leeds United plans

“The fans are still with you” pundit Whelan on Leeds United plans

Elland Road has been a fortress this season, attendances there never dipping below 34,000 in a season where Leeds United have shone. Now the COVID-19 wind blows down empty terraces. However, pundit Noel Whelan, says that the club’s plan to bring fans back when football restarts is a mark of genius.

It was a packed Elland Road that saw Leeds United extend their post-slump run of form to six unbeaten, the last five all being clean-sheet wins. Little did the 34,000+ crowd that witnessed the 2-0 dismantling of Huddersfield Town know that would be their last live action of the season.

The need for social distancing to combat the spread of COVID-19 meant that all large gatherings were outlawed and sport was simply closed down. That was the back end of March and now it is readying to start up again.

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Commenting on something confirmed by Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear in his Yorkshire Evening Post ‘Programme Notes’, Whelan says that Leeds’ plan to pack the ground again is a stroke of genius. Kinnear said that Whites fans would have the chance to have a photograph of themselves adorning a seat when behind-closed-doors football starts up again.

Whelan is all for this move, telling Football Insider: “Double excitement I guess. They can see themselves on TV while watching the game from the comfort of their own home and feel like they’re there as well. It will be fun, I’m sure, for the spectators to be sitting at home looking for their face.

He continues by adding: “Everyone will be looking for the front row spot, I’m sure. It’s just something to add to the entertainment value I guess because there are going to be no fans there, we’ve seen it Germany and it just fills the stadium, rather than it looking empty.

His views end with how doing this might have an added effect on the players who will feature in the return games. Commenting on this he said: “It feels like you’re not alone, the fans are still with you.”

For Leeds United fans, June 20 cannot come around quickly enough.

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