Qualla: Elland Road

Elland Road: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Tillyard (myself), Public domain. When Don Revie's Leeds United began losing in 1971, the manager hired a fortune teller from Blackpool named Gypsy Rose Lee. Local legend held that the ground was cursed by gypsies forced off the land when the stadium was built, and Revie wanted the curse lifted. That this story is told and retold at all says something about Elland Road. The place trades in superstition, grievance, and a fierce loyalty that has outlasted relegations, receiverships, and a stand burning to the ground.

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Image: John Tillyard (myself) | Public domain

Elland Road: The Old Peacock Ground

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paul Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0. Before the football, there was a pub. Bentley's Brewery owned the land at the foot of Beeston Hill, beside the A643 road to Elland, and the field next to their Old Peacock pub became the Old Peacock Ground. That is where the nickname Peacocks came from, attached first to Leeds Ci...

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Image: Paul Allison | CC BY-SA 2.0

Elland Road: Revie's Cathedral

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Auz, CC BY-SA 2.0. Don Revie was a player at Leeds before he was the manager who made the club feared across Europe, and the kop at the north end of Elland Road carries his name. Before it did, it was the Gelderd End, a vast standing terrace where the noise gathered and rolled forward. The record a...

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Image: Auz | CC BY-SA 2.0

Elland Road: Stands Named for Heroes

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jake from Manchester, UK, CC BY 2.0. The four stands carry the names of the men who built the club's identity. The Don Revie Stand at the north. The Jack Charlton Stand on the east, once known as the Lowfields Road stand, rebuilt in 1993 at a cost of £5.5 million and at the time the largest cantilever stand in the w...

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Image: Jake from Manchester, UK | CC BY 2.0

Elland Road: Sold, Bought Back, Sold Again

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Raddersndakman at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Elland Road's most difficult chapters have nothing to do with football. In 2001, when chairman Peter Ridsdale was pushing his catastrophic plan to relocate Leeds to a 50,000-seat stadium at Skelton, a ballot of season ticket holders showed 87.6% in favour of moving. The plan coll...

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Image: Raddersndakman at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Elland Road: More Than Football

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0. Queen played here on 29 May 1982. U2, Happy Mondays, and hometown band the Kaiser Chiefs have all filled the stadium for nights of noise that had nothing to do with football. England drew 3-3 with Sweden on 8 June 1995, the first England home international away from Wembley in 22...

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Image: Mtaylor848 | CC BY-SA 4.0