Leeds United applause request for Brighton game for lifelong battler and Elland Road regular
Leeds United fans have been asked to pay tribute to an East Stand season ticket holder who passed away last month after a lifetime of battling health problems.
Giles McVicar 'epitomised' the club's fighting spirit according to his son Rob. The 53-year-old, who leaves behind sons Rob and Harry, became a Whites supporter in the late 70s when he collected Panini sticker albums with his brother James. Giles had to contend with health issues from an early age.
Rob said: "He epitomised being a devoted battling Leeds fan, given his fights with health issues throughout his life. His battle started with a heart transplant when he was 17 in 1990 and this was followed with Hodgkin lymphoma when he was 19. He relapsed numerous times and had a second heart transplant when he was 26. Amongst persistent battles with lymphoma, pneumonia and various other things he eventually ended up having to have another fight as he was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure and was then on kidney dialysis for over six years until he finally got the opportunity to have a kidney transplant in the summer of 2025."
Giles defied the odds again when the transplant was a success and the new kidney reached as high as 80 per cent function. But he was in and out of hospital and most recently had to try and fight off sepsis of the biliary tract, which caused acute kidney injury and a pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.
"Feats like this were remarkably common for him and just another day in the life," Rob told the YEP. But his 36-year health battle came to an end on April 22. Throughout his life Giles was devoted to his beloved Leeds United, experiencing the Champions League nights of the early 2000s and refusing to let poor health hold him back.
"He managed to get to games with one of his best mates Peter Muller and they used to stand in the boys pen at the Lowfields," said Rob. "They both got season tickets in the early 90s sitting in the Kop. My brother and I were born in 2003 and 2005 respectively and dad would take us to Elland Road. I became absorbed in the club and being there with my dad. We decided to get season tickets when I was 13 and we were very fortunate that it happened to be Marcelo Bielsa's first season. Since then we've been regular faces at Elland Road in the East Stand and gone to the odd away game when we could."
Rob has asked his fellow match-going fans to join in with a 53rd-minute applause during Sunday's game against Brighton at Elland Road.