Damn, it was good to be back. After watching the celebrations across social media and on the TV when Leeds finally returned to the Premier League, after what felt like a lifetime absence, along with the pure joy of a wonderful first season back, there was little doubt that my first trip back to Elland Road, in person, for an actual game of football, would be pure greatness.

In all honesty, a second round League Cup match against League One’s Crewe Alex wouldn’t normally have wetted my appetite so, but after such a long season away, this was an opportunity not to be missed. Thousands others clearly thought the same. For many, it was the first and rare opportunity to secure tickets as the demand continues to outstrip supply, and mercifully, a messaged reminder from a friend was timely enough to secure my own.

Despite the relaxation of Covid related restrictions in recent months, the feeling of being in a crowded place still pings off the old anxiety. But weirdly, the thought of being at Elland Road, in amongst it all, felt different. I knew it would. I mean, there’s absolutely no logic to it. Being in a supermarket or the queue for a ride at the funfair during the summer holidays with someone breathing on me is an automatic no no, accompanied by a very clear ‘back the fuck off’ look, but weaving in and out of the crowds in the Peacock, or the concourses in the ground? No problem. That said, I did book a ticket on the single seats at the very edge of N12, in case the discomfort crept back in.

But it all felt utterly glorious. The walk to the ground, the smell of the burger vans, the queues outside the East Stand turnstiles, literally bumping into friends I’d not seen for so long and hugging them. Into the Peacock where the queues outside were forty or fifty-odd deep if not more, before a chance look inside and a more successful route to the bar. And let me tell you, that pint of Yorkshire Blonde was all kinds of warm hug for the insides.

In person, for an actual game of football

It really felt like never having been away. The stadium felt like the comforting mass of old but in many ways new, with huge adverts adorning every stand and free space, video hoardings and new floodlights. The rest was just like it was, the noise, the buzz, the songs, the passion. Every bit as up for this match as the biggest occasion.

The game took a long while to get going and it honestly felt like another awfully familiar Leeds cup performance with plenty of chances and a bucketful of profligacy, doomed to end in a humiliating spot kick defeat or some such abjectness. Mercifully the introduction of Lord Patrick Bamford was the injection Leeds needed to muster some superiority and quality did enough in the end. Just the reward for the sell-out crowd who’d been treated to an almost full strength outfit, three goals and an eventual easy passage into the third round.

It was the icing on an already most enjoyable cake, eagerly awaited for so long and demolished with glee. It may be a while till some of us find ourselves at the front of the considerable ticket queue again but, until then, it was a night to savour. Football under the lights. Victory, on a Tuesday night. Being back in the company of thousands of friends you’ve never met. Being back, watching Leeds United. And there is nothing better. ◉