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What a difference a year makes.

It was the news that the annual Elland Road open day (dubbed the “Sunday Funday”) will take place on August 3rd this year and that the club are hoping beat the 3,000 attendance figure for last season, that set me thinking about the changes over the last year. Beating that attendance shouldn’t be difficult considering the different circumstances that prevail at Leeds United compared to just a year ago…

Twelve months ago an unpopular Dennis Wise, seen more as an ex-Chelsea player than Leeds Utd manager, was suffering fans’ protests at pre-season friendlies. He had to put a team together in just eight days following a relegation season and weeks of legal wrangling over administration and there was a real doubt that the team would even start the season.

Finally, the club faced what many felt would be certain relegation into the fourth tier of English football following the imposition of an unprecedented 15 point penalty, by the vindictive Football League, before the club to get its “golden share” back.

Pass the valium!

Fast forward twelve months and the club achieved 91 points on the pitch and missed the championship of League One by one point. Because of the 15 point penalty the Leeds fans got to see Leeds United play at the new Wembley rather than next season in the Championship.

But off the pitch Leeds Utd fans set over twenty new League One attendance records and had the highest single attendance, average attendance and aggregate attendance in the whole Football League, including the Championship clubs - despite the police moving over 50% of kick-off times at away grounds to try and reduce the numbers of Leeds fans attending. In fact half-a-dozen Premier League chairmen would have swopped their clubs’ dismal attendances for that of the United faithful.

On the pitch a new local hero emerged, Jonny Howson and Paul Huntington rose from the reserves to shake off the Carlisle United boo-boys and keep his place through the play-offs and on to Wembley. The previous season had seen Jermaine Beckford star in a promoted Scunthorpe United side as Leeds were being relegated; this year he won the League One Player of the Season Award in the white shirt of Leeds United.

In February Dennis Wise was replaced with the surprise choice of Gary McAllister who introduced a new passing game at Elland Road and made one low-key signing - Dougie Freedman - a striker in a squad that boasted Beckford and Kandol - but it was a masterstroke and the Leeds fans got one more, unlikely, hero in one of the most incredible season’s in its history.

The reviving stature of Leeds United was demonstrated at the end of May when Andy Robinson left new League One Champions Swansea City and Championship football next season to join Leeds United back in League One. Anthony Elding rejected a summer move to Crewe Alexandra, prefering to stay and fight for his place.

Although there will be departures of Dennis Wise’s signings - Matt Heath has already joined relegated Colchester United - Gary McAllister knows that he does not have to sell our best players, as has occurred in recent seasons, and he has a reasonable transfer budget that has come from the pockets of the Leeds faithful turning up in droves at Elland Road rather than borrowed from the banks.

To paraphrase a famous saying, twelve months is certainly a long time in the history of Leeds United and I think the club can look forward to a record attendance at the 2008 “Sunday Funday” at Elland Road, and deservedly so this time.

The Football League have chosen second-rate Andy D’Urso as the referee for the League One Play-Off Final at Wembley between Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers.

D’Urso, once a FIFA and a Premier League referee is now on the lower League lists.

At least he is used to high profile games but he will be forever remembered for back-pedalling from a snarling pack of Man Utd players (Stam, Butt, Beckham, and Gary Neville), led by an out of control Roy Keane, after awarding a penalty against the Man Utd without realising that Sir Alex had forbidden such practices against his team at Old Trafford

However, his indellible memory for Leeds Utd fans will be of being in charge of the travesty of an FA Cup tie at Ninian Park, where Alan Smith was dismissed on the pitch, Cardiff chairman Sam Hamman paraded around the pitch inciting the Cardiff fans during the game, protected by a convicted football hooligan, and where Leeds fans were attacked off the pitch by Cardiff fans and outside the ground by South Wales police dogs.

(Did the South Wales police ever discipline an officer for their behaviour that day - including the assault on the president of a Leeds United Supporters Club as he was boarding a coach? Thought not).

D’Urso played a major role in the 2-1 defeat at Cardiff. He allowed Gavin Gordon to stay on the pitch after disabling Rio Ferdinand, the Leeds captain. “He nearly broke his ankle,” said then Leeds manager David O’Leary.

Dopey D’Urso then dismissed Alan Smith for a foul on Cardiff’s Legg, who admitted, “I was holding him and he was trying to shake me off, and caught me in the mouth. I got a cut lip.” In an attempt to seem less like a wimp he then alleged that Smith had “…kicked me earlier on off the ball but I ignored it.” There’s a hero, boyo!

David O’Leary was incensed by Andy D’Urso’s red card against Smith, “It was a disgraceful decision,” said the Leeds manager.

Presciently, O’Leary added. “I am wondering whether there is an agenda against Smith; referees are very quick to jump on him.”

O’Leary’s words were later proved correct when the comments of a referee’s conference were leaked which, indeed, confirmed that Smith was a pre-determined target. (Of course, once Smith moved to the Theatre of Queens he came under the protection of the Red Knight, Sir Alex Fergybum and none of the evil black dwarfs dare approach the “blond one” and he was saved from further persecution).

Back to this season and Andy D’Urso has refereed Leeds United twice already. Firstly; in the 3-0 League Cup defeat to Portsmouth in August and secondly; in the 2-0 home win over Walsall in March 2008.

In these games D’Urso only issued a total of four yellow cards, two against Leeds and two against their opposition, so hopefully he will continue this even-handed restraint in Sunday’s final.

The fact that there were no cards at all issued in the Carlisle Utd v Leeds Utd semi-final tie gives every hope for an exciting final not ruined by the inequality that a red card brings to a game.

This Leeds United website has been innudated with searches today for information about the League One play off final tickets. So here goes:

Each club will receive 35,000 tickets at least - if needed.

Prices for the League One Play-off Final tickets are:

Right-click to download a PDF plan of Wembley seating here.

Hopes this helps the financial planning!

There is certainly plenty of interest from the North in tonight’s play-off encounter between Carlisle United and Leeds United, but not much material to work with. The YEP, The York Evening Press, The Northern Echo and the Halifax Courier have all published, this morning, the same long quotes from Carlisle United’s manager John Ward.

It serves no purposes to reprint it all here when all he is really saying is it would be madness to try and defend at Elland Road for 90 minutes and that his players will go forward and look for a goal tonight.

It’s a sensible view and a laudable approach to an away leg of what is, essentially, a cup-tie and it promises a treat for the fans at Elland Road and those watching on Sky.

But there was one quote from the upbeat, bullish interview with John that caught my eye and made me do a little research. In the slightly longer, York Evening Press version of the interview Ward addresses the prospect of his players playing in front of a full Elland Road, with just 2,000 Cumbrians in a capacity crowd of over 38,000:

“We’ve very much got the picture of Elland Road, so everything will be reasonably familiar to us. It was practically full when we went there last month and scored two goals against them, so we know we’re capable of doing that.”

For the record and the enlightenment of John Ward and his Carlisle players, Elland Road was NOT “practically full” in April for the last visit of Carlisle United, in fact, it wasn’t even three-quarters full. With the Upper East Stand now open and full - the largest single cantilever stand in Europe when built ten years ago - Ward and his merry men face and extra 10,000 Leeds fans, compared to the fixture to which he refers. Put another way, he faces a greater number of “extra” Leeds United fans tonight than the whole crowd that attended the Carlisle United v Southend decider the week following the Leeds Utd v Carlisle Utd clash in April!

Of course, crowds and their level of support don’t win matches, otherwise Leeds United would still be in the Premier League and Europe, but it would be foolish to assume that because your players have played in front of 28,530 fans in a league game the atmosphere will not be quite different when 38000+ fans are screaming Leeds on in a semi-final. There will be no “prawn sandwich brigade” in the Leeds ranks tonight.

After playing FOR Leeds against Gillingham in front of 38,000 fans last week Andy Hughes said,

“It takes your breath away when it is like that. I was honoured to be on the pitch in front of those fans, but that is Leeds United football club. There’s no experience like that.”

Now imagine what it will feel like to be playing for Carlisle in front of a crowd five times the size of your average home gate! John Ward may want to have another quick word with his boys before they step out at Elland Road tonight.

Still I applaud his approach to the match and I’m looking forward to some goals tonight - mainly from Leeds - but the record shows that both sides are likely to score in both ties!

My only hope is that the referee appreciates this is a cup tie and keeps his cards in his pocket. Leeds United fans will remember that we got two red cards in our brilliant, 2-0 away victory at Deepdale in May 2006 and lost Crainey and Cresswell for the 2005-06 play-off debacle at Cardiff. Let’s hope Macca has a word with the likes of Beckford and Kandol to keep their mouths firmly shut tonight.