Robbie Savage shares ‘Terrible’ Leeds verdict ahead of play-off final v Southampton

Robbie Savage says that Leeds United manager Daniel Farke must “sweep away” their play-off hoodoo in the final against Southampton at Wembley on 26 May.

Leeds reached the final with a 4-0 demolition of Norwich City at Elland Road on Thursday (16 May), but have never secured promotion through the play-offs in five previous attempts.

Savage said that he wants to see Leeds back in the Premier League, but in The Daily Mirror’s print edition (17 May, page 63), he wrote that there is a “big but” where the Whites’ play-off hopes are concerned.

“Leeds have a terrible record in the play-offs, a 100 per cent record: Five attempts at winning promotion, five failures,” Savage said.

He added: “Farke will have 37 years of unkind history to sweep away at Wembley next weekend.”

What is Leeds United’s play-off record?

Leeds United contested the very first promotion play-off tournament in 1987 when part of the old Second Division, but that series of matches has since set the tone for nearly 40 years of hurt.

Before the final was a single game at Wembley, it was a two-legged tie at each team’s respective home ground. After a 1-0 loss to Charlton at Selhurst Park and a 1-0 win at Elland Road, the Whites lost 2-1 in the replay at St. Andrews in Birmingham, after the Addicks scored twice in extra time.

The remainder of the club’s play-off heartbreak has come in recent years, since their first relegation from the Premier League in 2004. Watford thrashed the Whites 3-0 in the 2006 decider, and two more disasters would follow after Leeds’ demotion to the third division.

Losses to Doncaster and Millwall in the 2008 final and 2009 semi left Leeds to languish in League One for a third successive season, and almost 10 years after promotion back to the second tier, Marcelo Bielsa’s 2019 side were defeated by Derby County in a wild semi-final.

In summary, the signs aren’t good for Leeds going into the 2024 decider against Southampton on 26 May, but with promotion expect Farke at the helm, might this be the year that the Peacocks finally end their hoodoo?

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