Leeds United

We asked for your views on Leeds failing to secure promotion after defeat to Southampton in the Championship play-off final.

Here are some of your answers:

Joseph: A frustrating way to lose the final. We’re always trying to walk the ball into the net to score, nobody wanted to shoot. Southampton know how to beat us. We didn’t show up and we as the fans suffer. Farke is still the right man for me, but another overhaul of the squad this summer is incoming, and with FFP rules, we’ll have to sell players to buy.

Noah: Gutted. A wonderful season which unravelled at the end and we ultimately weren’t able to get over the line. Dan James seemed like the only one fighting at the end with a few not having enough desire within their performances. Will be interesting to see who is still committed to next season and another promotion push or who will jump ship.

Paul: Why on earth did we think we stood a chance? I’ve followed Leeds for well over 50 years and seen both league games live against Southampton this season . We were poor in both. We need a keeper, a central defender that can control the game, two strikers and a management team who can find the best in what we have.

Andrew: Truly gutted! What an awful way to end what was a highly entertaining and a (mostly) very successful season. To be fair, I think we lost it on the final run in to the end of the regular season when we had the string of poor results. Today we weren’t hungry enough, and appeared to be more scared of losing than going for the win.

Gavin: A pathetic performance by players who have had their eye on where they will be playing since March. No fight, no ideas and the easiest game Southampton will have had this season. Most of the players will be leaving now and for me, Farke can go to. Poor game management and when things aren’t going right he doesn’t know how to change it.

Pete: Didn't deserve any more. One decent team performance in the last 12 was as good as we were. Definitely not a Premier League team with the required tactics so think it's best we stay away from there for the time being.

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Leeds manager Daniel Farke says it will be "difficult to come back stronger" after his side lost 1-0 to Southampton in the Championship play-off final.

Defeat consigns his side to a second season in the second tier and means the Whites have now lost their past three finals at Wembley without scoring and been unsuccessful in all six of their play-off campaigns.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds post-match, Farke said: "As you can imagine, it couldn't be worse. We are suffering a lot in this moment.

"When you come so close after 90 points and a great play-off semi-final, it hurts a lot.

"It's too early to come in with upbeat messages. You have to allow the players to be down but when you look at the bigger picture, there's no need to dwell on this.

"It's more important to take it as extra motivation.

"The supporters deserve a day to celebrate and we feel that pain today. We're disappointed we could not send our fans back with something to cheer about and we're not in the promised land.

"It'll be difficult to come back stronger because we had 90 points this season."

Leeds pushed hard for a second-half equaliser with substitute Daniel James denied by the crossbar and an excellent save from Southampton keeper Alex McCarthy.

"We started on the front foot but I think our decision-making wasn't top class," Farke added. "It felt like we weren't 100% committed to the final pass or shot.

"Our forwards are very young and [Adam] Armstrong, who won it for them, was clinical when his chance came. I won't criticise our offensive lads too much because Joe Rodon could have given Joel Piroe an open goal with a pass and Dan James' shot would normally go in.

"Southampton defended really, really well and were clinical with their chance.

"The only statistic that matters in a final is the score."

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Leeds manager Daniel Farke speaking to Sky Sports:

"Congratulations to Southampton. They were able to be effective today. Defended really, really well during the whole game.

"That's football. We had more possession, more shots, more expected goals. Dominated the game in many spells but their defending was a little bit more effective than us.

"It's always important to be good in both boxes. We started the game totally on the front foot and had many good situations but in the final third, we were not that committed to the attack.

"On this level, when you play in a final, you have to be spot on.

"It's a bit written in the stars, sometimes it's not meant to be.

"It's a difficult day for us. A day of suffering but that's football. You have to get on with it."

Image source, Getty Images

Jon Newsome, former Leeds defender on BBC Radio Leeds:

"The frustrating for me is that you analyse that game we've just watched there and I think Leeds United are the better team. But sometimes it's what under your shirt, under your chest.

"There's one or two of those players who will look in the mirror tonight. They will ask themselves if they could have done a bit more and there's one or two who could've done.

"It really hurts at this time. I just feel sorry for those guys."

Image source, Getty Images

Neil Johnston, BBC Sport at Wembley:

A truly gut-wrenching day for Leeds. Daniel Farke enjoyed two promotions with Norwich but he's going to have to wait for a third. Leeds are going to have to plan for another season in the Championship.

BBC Sport's Ian Woodcock at Wembley:

Amazing how quickly these places can empty.

Leeds' players stayed out on the pitch in the main for the trophy lift and a few fans remained in their seats but there's maybe about five of them left now.

The journey back to West Yorkshire (and beyond for many) will feel a lot longer than the one down did.

As for Southampton? Their fans aren't in much of a hurry to go anywhere just now, as Queen's "We are the Champions" blasts out.

Play-off final defeat to Southampton consigned Leeds to another season in the Championship.

Adam Armstrong scored the decisive goal, with a clinical finish past Islan Meslier after being put clear by Will Smallbone.

How are you feeling, Leeds fans?

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Team news for the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton is out, with less than an hour to go before kick-off at Wembley.

Follow our live text coverage here

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Leeds United striker Georginio Rutter says his team are doing "everything to be ready" for the Sunday's Championship play-off final against Southampton.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, the Frenchman said: "I feel excited for the team because it could be a game you might never play again in your life.

"It is going to be crazy for the team and for the club.

"Wembley is one of the best stages so you have to enjoy it. It is very exciting for every player to play there. Everybody knows Wembley.

"We have tried to train good and tactically find a way to play better. It is important to be fresh because it is our last game.

"We have to do everything to be ready. That comes down to nutrition and sleep too.

"It could be the best game for my family and for them to watch me is special. They do not come [to watch] often so it will be nice."

Listen to the full interview with Rutter on BBC Sounds

Leeds United and Southampton meet at Wembley on Sunday in the Championship play-off final, hoping to bounce straight back to the Premier League.

Former Leeds midfielder Michael Brown tells The Football News Show why his old side will be favourites and why he feels they would be better placed to succeed in the top flight next season.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

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The Championship play-off final is just two days away, but will it be Southampton or Leeds that return to the Premier League?

Former Great Britain athlete Roger Black and Ryan Wilson from The Pigeon Detectives have been previewing the Wembley final on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We are all nervous," said Saints fan Black. "It is a real 50-50 game.

"Sport is not about stats, as much as people love to go on about them, it is about what happens when it really matters.

"This game on Sunday matters and the stakes are high. It is about which team and players turn up on the day and deliver.

"There is not a second chance, so that makes it scary for Saints fans'."

The idea of stats from the 2023-24 campaign no longer being relevant is shared by Whites fan Wilson.

"I am probably more nervous than excited," he said.

"It is a clean slate going into this game and it is two very good teams with a lot of talent.

"It will be down to who shows up on the day, physically and mentally and anything could happen. It is like a toss of a coin.

"Southampton did the double over us [in the league] but I do not think any of that should be taken into account too much.

"It is such a big occasion with two very good teams going at each other."

Join the Don't Go To Bed Just Yet team as they welcome guests to an Elland Road pub and discuss the small matter of a Wembley showdown.

Get the episode here

Our BBC Radio Leeds team - who you'll no doubt be following on the Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast - are considering their points of hope and worry before the play-off final against Southampton. Kaiser Chiefs bassist Simon Rix has offered his take.

Rix's hope

The way this team played from January to Easter. Loads of goals, solid at the back, everyone loving their football, life and Leeds United.

Rix's worry

Whether Daniel Farke can rally the troops yet again. Another game in a season of so many. One more to go when so many of the squad have never played this much before.

Listen to the latest episode of Don't Go To Bed Just Yet

There are just two sleeps to go until the Championship play-off final, so why not get yourself in the mood with a special addition of Don't Go To Wembley Just Yet.

Listen to BBC Radio Leeds' Jonathan Buchan live as he is joined by special guests at The Old Peacock Pub on Elland Road.

Tune in to BBC Radio Leeds' 'Don't Go To Wembley Just Yet' show from 14:00 BST today!

Adam Pope
BBC Radio Leeds reporter

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Championship play-off final against Southampton at Wembley (15:00 BST kick-off).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Striker Patrick Bamford definitely misses the match because of injury, but defender Sam Byram will hopefully be declared fit after Saturday's training session. The rest of the squad is available bar long-term injured duo Pascal Struijk and Stuart Dallas, who was forced to retire recently.

• On the mood of the squad: "We're pretty focused and concentrated. We know it's a decisive game, but it's important to stay calm and stay balanced. We're highly motivated, exactly like our opponent. It's a 50-50 game."

• On Southampton: "They're one of the best sides in the Championship. They've got experienced players and a classy coach. The club is not nervous. It's difficult to beat them. This was proven in the first two games."

• Farke said he always sensed Saints boss Russell Martin, who played under him at Norwich City, would become a head coach: “He was my captain at Norwich and always looked at things through a manager's eyes."

• On the prospect of taking Leeds to the Premier League: "I signed a contract because I believed the club and community were ready and deserved to be in the Premier League. I want to work at the top level. The Premier League is the best league in the world. I am highly motivated."

• Asked if they will visit Wembley before the game, Farke said they might do early on Sunday but that is still to be decided, adding: "Rituals are always good so we'll stick to our usual processes. It'll be normal preparation, nothing too special."

• Farke said he is glad not to have seen his face splashed all over the Trinity Centre in Leeds: "I’m too old for that. It should be players like Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville, Joel Piroe and Illan Meslier in the spotlight."

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Junior Firpo insists Leeds United did not buckle under the pressure of the Championship and that their players' mindset has never changed during the season.

Speaking to the PA news agency he said: "It was difficult, but for me I think it's more about a lot of players having played a lot of games.

"Players played 50 games - that's a lot. Especially at the end of the season, when you need players as fresh as possible. People were tired with knocks, with little injuries or whatever.

"So I think the most important thing that we did was recover from the physical side, because our mindset did not change - if it's not automatic promotion, we'll go up through the play-offs."

Ahead of Sunday's play-off final against Southampton, the defender who has played 28 Championship games this season, said: "It's not every day you can play in a final. It doesn't matter if it's a play-off final or whatever.

"It's a final. It's 90 minutes. It will be a nervy game, a difficult game I think, but if I have to pick one team in the final, I pick us."

Patrick Bamford has been speaking about how he "flipped out" at Marcelo Bielsa during a training session with Leeds.

Speaking on his BBC Sounds My Mate's A Footballer podcast the striker said: "We were doing a murderball, and one of those sessions under Marcelo he was really pushing me, pushing me, pushing me and eventually I might have flipped out under the exertion of training.

"I just argued back about something - I would generally not do that. Especially under Marcelo and then there might be a discussion afterwards about what I disagreed with or what he wanted to me do.

"Then that's it - it's done. The next day I'd come in and say I was wrong, I agree with what you said or I'm sorry about the way I reacted to you shouting at me, then that's it."

Listen to the full episode here

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Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's 72+ podcast, former Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff said of the prospect of playing at Wembley: "Particularly for a Championship final in terms of 80-odd thousand people, Wembley cut in half, your fans on one side of it and theirs on the other - it's just the scale of it.

"We're fortunate enough to go there and watch games and it just takes your breath away. It doesn't matter how many times you have done it or what capacity you are in, you just know you are the one out there who has to go and perform.

"It's all about how quickly you can start and how quick you can settle. Then you can go and play the game rather than letting everything around you distract you, which it can do. We saw over the weekend it happen with Bolton and it can be quite a daunting place at times."

Ex-Bolton defender and current manager of Kidderminster Harriers Phil Brown added: "Even when you have gone into the stadium or the same size of stadium, when you are a captain you are walking along and introducing your team-mates you sometimes forget their names.

"If you're a manager you are stood next to all that heat that comes bursting out with flames and all your thinking is to try to get the first thing you do be a positive thing for your club or for your game or team that day, and if it comes off it can win a game."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

The key facts and figures before the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton on Sunday (15:00 BST kick-off).

• Southampton were the only team to do the league double over Leeds United this season with the second of those wins coming on the final day at Elland Road (2-1).

• This is the third second tier play-off final between two teams that were relegated in the previous campaign after Leicester City 2-1 Crystal Palace in 1995-96 and West Ham 2-1 Blackpool in 2011-12.

• Southampton will play in their first play-off final with this just their second ever play-off campaign, after a semi-final exit on penalties to Derby County in 2007. The Saints last won promotion to the Premier League in 2011-12 when finishing as Championship runners-up.

• Leeds have lost on their last two outings at Wembley Stadium, most recently in the 2008 League One play-off final to Doncaster Rovers (0-1) - their only previous play-off game at the national stadium. The Whites’ last win at the venue came in the 1992 Community Shield against Liverpool, winning 4-3 with Eric Cantona scoring a hat-trick.

• Including the play-offs, Southampton have averaged the highest share of possession (66%) across England’s top four tiers this season whilst only Manchester City (691 and 24) have recorded more passes and more sequences of 10+ passes per game than the Saints (663 and 22) in 2023-24.

• Leeds United boss Daniel Farke is aiming to become the third manager to win promotion to the Premier League three times after Steve Bruce (4) and Neil Warnock (3), following his two title winning seasons with Norwich City in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

• Leeds and Southampton have met 100 times previously with the Whites holding 48 wins to the Saints’ 30 victories (D22). Of the 19 opponents Leeds have played 100+ times, their win-rate against Southampton is their greatest (48%).

• Leeds have reached a play-off final for the fourth time, failing to win promotion in each of the previous three (1986-87, 2005-06, 2007-08). It is the joint-most play-off finals any team has played in without a win (level with Bristol City, Exeter City, Lincoln City and Shrewsbury Town).

Liverpool have turned their attention to Leeds United winger Crysencio Summerville after opting against moving for Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon. (90 Min), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Adam Pope
BBC Radio Leeds reporter

Our BBC Radio Leeds team - who you'll no doubt be following on the Don't Go To Bed Just Yet podcast - are considering their points of hope and worry before the play-off final against Southampton.

Pope's hope

The annihilation of Norwich City in the semi-final and the vibes coming off the players in its aftermath. It was United’s best performance of the season considering the pressure they were under to deliver. Speaking to several of the squad on Monday I could sense a steely and quiet confidence about winning promotion at Wembley and changing the club’s play-off history.

Pope's worry

Southampton’s midfield of Flynn Downes, Will Smallbone and Joe Aribo is powerful and full of running. United have to dominate this area because I feel in the other departments they are already stronger.

Listen to the latest episode of Don't Go To Bed Just Yet

Image source, Getty Images

Leeds United forward Joel Piroe says the team has "full belief" in themselves as they head into the Championship play-off final.

The Whites face Southampton at Wembley on Sunday as they look to secure promotion straight back to the Premier League.

Daniel Farke's side will need to do something they have not been able to do so far this season in beating the Saints, having lost home and away during the regular league campaign.

"I am very excited," the 24-year-old told BBC Radio Leeds. "It is honestly a game I would love to play tomorrow if I could. But it is good to have a week to prepare for it but I am really excited for it.

"I feel completely ready for the final. We have full belief in ourselves - I think we can beat anyone and we just have to bring our best."

Piroe, who joined from fellow Championship side Swansea in August, scored in the 4-0 win over Norwich in the semi-final and knows the side will have to produce a similar performance if they are to go back up to the top-flight.

"That is my main goal [to be promoted]. That is what I said from the start. I don't care if I don't reach getting 15 or 20 goals, getting promoted is all that matters," he added.

"The first day I came here we were sitting 16th, so it has been a long journey to get here but I saw the quality we had in the team. We were up for the fight for the top places and I think we have only kept growing.

"It is a final so it is always a game on its own and nothing compared to the league. We just need to bring the intensity we brought to Norwich and stick to our plan."

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