'I had Peter Lorimer and John Charles in my Sierra - now I'm travelling over 10k miles to watch Leeds United'

A Leeds United fan has gone from giving club legends a lift to the pub to travelling more than 10,000 miles to see a game, almost 50 years since his first Elland Road experience.

David Waring, 60, was born in the Hyde Park area of Leeds and moved to Australia with his wife in 2005. They live in Frankston South, Victoria, and made the long journey back for a family wedding earlier this month - although an opportunity to head back to Elland Road could not be missed.

Travelling up from the wedding in Swindon last week, David attended the 1-0 defeat at home to Sunderland but it marked yet another nightmare against a team beginning with an S. He was at last season’s 2-2 draw against Swansea City and went to Wembley to watch a Championship play-off final defeat to Southampton. How’s your luck?

“They're all brilliant irrespective of the score,” he tells the YEP. “Irrespective of the result, it's just great to be back with everybody and just to get down there and scratch and sniff Elland Road again.

“It’s just wonderful. Nothing can be taken away from just seeing family and football is almost the second thing. If we win, brilliant. If we don't win, it's still brilliant.”

David first got to scratch and sniff Elland Road in 1976 for a 2-1 win over Arsenal. He’s still got the programme - one of many - and became a season-ticket holder for the best part of two decades. Moving across the world inevitably saw that stint end but he makes sure everyone Down Under knows he is Leeds through and through.

“I wear something with Leeds United on virtually every single day of my life, whether it's a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt or anything at all,” he says. “I always have something with Leeds United on.

”You'd be amazed how many people recognise the badge and give you the salute, and it just opens doors to talk. Nine times out of 10 they're English, and you just have a good chat about where you've been when you watch Leeds and the family of Leeds United, which is phenomenal.”

Like many fans across the globe, David’s sleep schedule revolves around watching Leeds in the early hours, with games regularly starting in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. And just like those closer to Elland Road, his day can be dictated by a result.

He said: “It’s fine if we've won, but if we’ve lost there’s a lot of turning over. Equally when we sometimes play night games, obviously that's around 7am for us. So if we’ve won, it's a fantastic day. If we've had a defeat, then it can be such a long day.”

Naturally, watching Leeds through the middle of the night can lead to some rather noisy awakenings for David’s wife of 39 years: “Normally, we’ve got this little agreement that I'll keep the levels down. But when [Manor] Solomon popped that goal in last year [against Plymouth], I was going mental, absolutely mental. I’d love to have been there.”

Daughter Lucy and her boyfriend Ben have also been gently pushed into a life supporting the Whites, although like many children of Leeds fans she ‘had no choice in the matter,’ David insists - only half-joking. Last week’s defeat to Sunderland was their first Elland Road trip. It’s not always like that, promise.

But while David is very much the typical Leeds fan, he’s had some atypical experiences - like giving two of the club’s greatest ever players a lift to the pub. The chance meeting came after he’d bought a United Bond in 1992 and wanted the certificate signed by Howard Wilkinson’s First Division title-winning squad.

“There was a day of celebration at Elland Road, they were having a party for the players and I got wind of it so I stood outside the main entrance as the players started to leave to get signatures. And then as I was walking away thinking I've got everybody I needed, I saw Peter Lorimer and John Charles standing at the bus stop.

“I approached Peter and he said they were just going back to his pub, The Commercial. I said ‘look, it's your call and I'm not putting you in any situation, but if you want a lift, I'd love to give you a lift. My car's just up there, I can be here in a minute’. And he said fantastic, so I went and got my car, came back, and I picked up Peter Lorimer and John Charles, who were sat in the back seat of my old Ford Sierra.

“I'm driving into Leeds, I'm looking in my mirror, and I'm thinking ‘this is not real’. We had a great conversation but as we got closer, I was thinking to go a long way around because I didn’t want it to end. It was just crazy. To think about those two guys in the back of my car with just myself driving, phenomenal. It’s something I’ll never, ever forget.”

A photographer of architecture by trade, David also put his camera skills to good use with Leeds. Although it earned him a typically expletive-laden rollocking from one notorious hard-man.

“Back in the day when Wilko signed Vinnie Jones, they had a pre-season friendly up at the university playing fields at Headingley. Again, I got wind. It was supposed to be behind closed doors, Leeds against Chesterfield, and Vinnie Jones had only signed for us a few weeks previous, so it was almost like his debut.

“I went up there with my camera and my long lens and everything, and I got the most amazing shot of Vinnie Jones, running towards the camera, just going for a ball. I printed it up and went down to Elland Road for him to sign it. Vinnie signed it and he said ‘that’s a great shot mate, can you get me one?’

“I obviously said my pleasure, so he signed it and I went away to get another one printed. I took it back to him the week after, and he said ‘mate, that's fantastic!’ But because I was an upcoming photographer in the commercial world, I just said to him, ‘one thing though Vinnie, Please don't use it commercially without my knowledge.’

“And he goes ‘Who the f****** hell do you think you are big-time boy?!’ Those words have stuck with me for years.”

David also developed a knack for getting in touch with chairmen over the years too. It was he who pulled Andrea Radrizzani out of social media hibernation with a message of thanks following his exit in 2023 but in another example of how different things used to be back in the day, contact with Peter Ridsdale after a 1-0 win at Lazio in 2000 kickstarted a European tradition.

“I had obtained and saved - via the internet - for a one-off use of Peter Ridsdale’s mobile number. Tonight was the night. At full time I called him up and asked if he could bring the lads out post game for us to truly show our appreciation for the memories created that night.

“He duly obliged and so followed the entire first team coming out onto the pitch and an impromptu singalong with the fans, started much to the amusement of 7,000 Leeds fans. You had to be there to witness this intimate poignant piece of history. It became a part of most away European nights that campaign and I was the one who started this trend.”

Back in Australia, David and many others will be waking up - or staying up - into the early hours of Monday morning when Leeds face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. There’s hope he’ll be back in the UK again come May for an FA Cup final trip to Wembley - against anyone but Southampton.