On This Day – 27th June
David O’Leary was shown the door at Leeds United on this day back in 2002 by the chairman Peter Ridsdale. A few minutes after being dismissed, the popular Irishman said when asked of his version of events:
“I went in at 11am today and he (Peter Ridsdale) said I was sacked – simple as that. He said nothing else, just that.”
O’Leary had overseen a major transformation at Elland Road since he took over in October 1998 from George Graham. Although Leeds hadn’t won a trophy in his time at the club, he had put together a fantastic team that had reached the Champions League Semi-Final in 2001.
A season before the Champions League run, O’Leary had guided Leeds to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup and third in the Premier League. This was their highest league finish since winning the First Division championship in 1992 under Howard Wilkinson.
The Leeds squad that O’Leary left behind was an exciting one and was full of big-names. They had two excellent goalkeepers in Nigel Martyn and Paul Robinson and defenders such as Ian Harte and Rio Ferdinand.
Leeds also had some fantastic strikers in Mark Viduka, Robbie Keane and Robbie Fowler. These players didn’t come cheap however and as Ridsdale began offloading them to get back some of the money being spent on the wage bill.
Once O’Leary left and so did the big-name players, Leeds went into a rapid decline. At the end of the 2002/03 season, Leeds finished 15th before being relegated the season after finishing 19th. They haven’t returned to the Premier League since, although they do look as if they finally will this season after an absence of sixteen years.
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