Spygate and Muppets - Leeds United set to renew old rivalries as 2024/25 Championship line-up finalised

Leeds United will be in the Championship again next season and whether another 46-game promotion push is to be enjoyed or endured depends on your outlook. Sunday’s 1-0 play-off final defeat against Southampton saw Leeds unable to seriously threaten, with substitute Dan James seeing a late effort crash off the bar in the only moment of hope on an otherwise flat day.

Daniel Farke’s side now have to go again from August with the pressure of promotion ramped up amid reduced parachute payments, and the likely need to sell top players presents an obvious downside to another year of Championship football. But the more optimistic might see next season as a chance to build and if United can rack up 90 points again, a top-two finish would almost certainly be secured and the campaign will be one of joy, rather than heartbreak.

Leeds fans live for the biggest occasions and another year in the second-tier will set up plenty of massive games, particularly after learning who will be re-entering the league after Premier League relegation or League One promotion. It means Elland Road will play host to the rekindling of some old rivalries and the YEP has highlighted a few to look forward to.

Sheffield United

A woeful campaign for just about everyone in Yorkshire was perhaps most keenly felt at Bramall Lane, with Sheffield United instantly relegated after spending much of the season propping up the Premier League table. 16 points saw them finish with half the total needed to survive and the concession of 104 goals in 38 games was a league record.

Chris Wilder replaced Paul Heckingbottom in December and is expected to lead a charge for promotion next season, hoping for a repeat of the 2018/19 campaign in which they pipped Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds to a top-two finish. It was after securing automatic promotion that a loose-lipped Wilder labelled the likes of Patrick Bamford and Adam Forshaw ‘muppets’.

The Blades and Leeds have rarely met since then and were only in the same league during the 2020/21 Premier League campaign in which Bielsa twice came out the victor. Wilder’s comments have not been forgotten by those in West Yorkshire and his return to Elland Road is unlikely to be a warm welcome.

Derby County

The Rams were another team to strike up tensions during Marcelo Bielsa’s first season at Elland Road following the famous ‘Spygate’ saga in which a Leeds staff member was spotted outside Derby’s training ground. Derby would have the last laugh that season after knocking Leeds out of the play-offs but a Championship title the following year saw bragging rights back in West Yorkshire.

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After a mountain of financial issues, points deductions and off-pitch chaos, Derby were relegated the following season while Leeds finished ninth in the Premier League. But after stabilising, the Rams finished second in League One this season and will return to Elland Road as Championship rivals.

Few who last faced Leeds remain at Derby going into next season but the sour feeling among supporters is still very much there, with both sides desperate to get one over on a rival. Farke’s side will undoubtedly be favourites both home and away.

Rooney’s return

One of the few Derby players who gave Leeds a guard of honour back in 2020 was Wayne Rooney and the former striker will come up against the Whites again - only this time as manager of Plymouth Argyle. Rooney’s arrival at Home Park was confirmed last week and he will hope to improve on a dismal spell at Birmingham City.

It was Leeds who put the final nail in the coffin for Rooney at Birmingham, with a comfortable 3-0 win in January the final defeat before he was sacked, having overseen a drop from play-off hopefuls to relegation candidates - they eventually went down to League One.

Rooney will hope to last longer than 15 games at Plymouth and should he remain in charge for the trip to Elland Road, he can expect a special welcome from the 36,000-plus inside.