The experience of match day- especially big ones at Headingley- is what you wait all week for, but you are part of a big crowd.
When I first got into watching Leeds, the real fascination was turning up on cold winter nights to watch them train. It was somehow much more personal because if you were lucky you were one of a handful of sad die-hards and once you had been a few times the players used to recognise you and stop for a chat or a joke. That was when you felt like you really knew them and were part of things.
They used to train on that scrap of land behind the supporters’ club in the South Stand car park and we used to watch either from the gate that led onto the field or looking over the wall from above at the back corner of the Western terrace. It was always freezing and the lighting was really poor when we arrived and all you could hear was the clatter of studs getting louder as the players jogged round the terracing to get to the pitch - for some that was all they ever did.
The best night to go was Thursday because you could learn a lot about team selection in those unsophisticated days. The squad usually split into two, the first and the ‘A’ team so you knew who had been dropped or promoted. Anyone who was injured just tended to do laps round the field and it was pretty easy to tell if they would be fit to play at the weekend. Occasionally we used to stand inside the fence near the one set of posts that was there and chase after balls if some of the goal kickers were practising.
Virtually everybody could drop kick and, although they might not have been accurate, some of the big forwards had tremendous boots on them and would send the ball spiralling into the gloom and we would chase them like faithful retrievers. We didn’t learn much about tactics but it was always great to go into school on Friday morning and be able to predict pretty accurately what the team would be for the following day.
After training we usually followed the players as they trotted back round to the old dressing rooms and they signed autographs or just chatted about things happening in the game. It’s true that they are probably the last to know or be told things because they were always surprised at the gossip we had picked up from fans at other clubs.
There was always a big urn of soup waiting for them in the recesses below the kitchens and many would sit and chat in there before having their bath. If it was really cold- or particularly disgusting- we even used to get offered a cup.
Benjamin Scott
Originally published in 'Headingley Rugby Voices' Recollections of supporters, compiled by Phil Caplan.
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Memory added on September 16, 2012
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