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When Leeds United were most-recently relegated from the Premier League in 2004, this came just three years after a Champions League semi-final appearance.
This time round, the Whites exit from the top division was far less surprising.
Just 12 months ago, Leeds survived on the final day, with Jesse Marsch’s side beating Brentford 2-1 in the last minute.
This time round, the Yorkshire club went out with a whimper, failing to win any of their last any of their last nine matches, dismantled 4-1 by Spurs at Elland Road as relegation was confirmed.
On 6 February, having backed Marsch with four January signings, the American manager was sacked with Javi Gracia eventually coming in because…. they had his phone number?
Gracia did guide Leeds to wins over Southampton, Wolves and Nottingham Forest, but back-to-back home defeats, demolished 5-1 by Crystal Palace and then 6-1 by Liverpool, made his job untenable, eventually.
Safe to say this didn’t work, with Big Sam losing three of his four matches in charge, missing out on his £2.5 million bonus; at least he found a fiver in the technical area at the London Stadium.
Leeds conceded 78 goals this season and, having shipped 79 last year, that’s the most of any club in Europe’s top five league during this period, 17 more than the next most which is Hertha BSC’s 140.
In April, the Whites conceded 23 goals, the most by any single club in a calendar month in Premier League history, breaking their own record of 20 set in February 2022.
Their tally of seven league wins is Leeds’ lowest since the 1946/47 season, also suffering relegation back then, before enduring eight years in the second division.
In more-recent times, they spent 16 years out of the Premier League, before finally gaining promotion in 2020, desperate to spend significantly less time in the wilderness.
What will Leeds’ squad look like next season?
Club-captain Liam Cooper said after the Spurs defeat that he expects a ‘mass-exodus’ this summer and he’ll almost certainly be right.
Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto were both briefly excellent for brief periods, so there will certainly be suiters for the pair.
USMNT captain Tyler Adams, who’s currently recovering from a hamstring injury, was playing in the Champions League not so long ago, so surely won’t want to be plying his trade in the Championship.
International teammate Weston McKennie will return to Juventus, where he’ll be sold elsewhere, while Brendan Aaronson has a relegation release clause, so also doesn’t plan on sticking around.
Those who were part of the promotion campaign, Illan Meslier, Luke Ayling, Cooper, Stuart Dallas, Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford, are far more likely to do so, although Dallas hasn’t featured for 13 months due to injury, while Bamford just can’t ever stay fit.
As is the case at Leicester and Southampton’s, Leeds’ most important task is finding a new manager; who that’ll be remains a mystery for now.
Sporting director Victor Orta was sacked earlier this month, so the pressure is on under-fire owner Andrea Radrizzani and Chief Executive Angus Kinnear to turn this ship around.
