Meeting Stuart Dallas & Man Utd friendship - The Leeds United group preparing to end 29-year USA wait
Leeds United Tampa Bay Supporters' Group are making plans for this summer's pre-season USA tour.
It’s been nearly 30 years since Leeds United were on US soil and their eagerly-awaited return has fan groups preparing for a huge summer.
The Leeds United Tampa Bay Supporters’ Group will have Saturday July 25 circled on their calendar. It’s the day Daniel Farke’s side face Wrexham at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and as the opening fixture of this summer’s tour, it will be the first time a Whites side have played in America since 1997.
John Myers, originally from Goole, went to university in Leeds and moved across the Atlantic 22 years ago. Saturday’s were initially spent watching his son play football but once that stopped, and with the encouragement of his wife, a Facebook group was set up to try and find fellow Leeds fans.
“It started around six years ago. We got two, three, four, five people, and it blossomed from there,” he tells the YEP. “Now we've got around 320 people. They're not all from the Tampa Bay area, maybe 100-150 from around here, but then we've got people from Sarasota, a couple from Miami and a couple further afield.
“We’ve got other people who joined from the UK, and a couple from around Norway and so on. A lot of the group is made up of expats, we’ve got people who had some interest or some family from Leeds. We’ve got a French guy who went to university in Leeds and became a Leeds fan. There is a decent American contingent too, we tend to get them hooked, all of a sudden they’re here most weeks.”
With anything between 15-60 fans meeting up for a game, Leeds United Tampa Bay can have quite the presence in a local pub - particularly if it’s early on a weekend morning. They currently meet at the Grand Central Brewhouse in St Petersburg but have plans to reunite with a local landlord and friend whose hospitality transcends a fierce rivalry.
‘Welcomed with open arms’ by Man Utd fan landlord
“We used to meet at an English pub type place which was run by a Manchester United fan of all things,” John explains. “Although he's a Manchester United fan he welcomed us with open arms because we'd always bring in a good crowd of people on an early Saturday morning, which was good for him.
“We had a flag up there, we had a signed shirt hung up, scarves and stuff. He was okay with that and when we were watching a game, he’d bring around at half-time trays of sausage rolls, proper English food. We met there for a good few years but he's in the process of moving. When he’s sorted we’ll move back there with him.”
John and his fellow Whites supporters recently welcomed club legend Stuart Dallas over for a big Premier League Mornings live event. The Northern Irishman and actor Matthew Lewis spoke with supporters at a fan meet-up event in April where you could even get a Leeds badge printed onto the top of your Guinness.
Leeds have already hinted at similar types of activities over the course of their pre-season tour with the chance to meet a chunk of fans who are otherwise supporting from afar. And with a World Cup on the horizon too, it’s set to be an exciting summer for those US-based supporters like John and his Tampa Bay peers.
“We've been working with the club where they were trying to gauge interesting things and ideas,” John added. “They're in the process of determining what they're going to do. They've not told us specifically, but they're going to work with us to create some events for people who intend to come over. We're hopeful they might do something similar.”