Warnock hopes medal rush can inspire Leeds

Whether it was Jessica Ennis’ stunning triumph in the heptathlon on a Saturday when the Leeds United manager spent most of the night in floods of tears or Alistair Brownlee doing the same in the triathlon a few days later, he was glued to the action.

Even volleyball, a sport he knew very little about before the Games got under way, managed to keep Warnock awake into the early hours during a 17-day sporting extravaganza that, despite the doom-laden predictions of many during the build-up, firmly put a smile back on the face of the country.

Now, Warnock wants his Leeds United players to use London 2012 as an inspiration to create their own slice of sporting history by ending the club’s exile from the Premier League. And, to boot, earn the 63-year-old an eighth – and record breaking – promotion success.

“The Olympics were absolutely brilliant,” said Warnock when speaking to the Yorkshire Post in his office at United’s Thorp Arch training ground.

“The lift they gave the whole country will stay with us for a long time. It was an absolutely amazing time. I was glued to it.

“My favourite bit had to be the Saturday night when Britain won three golds (Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah).

“We were playing a friendly at Preston during the afternoon and I said to the lads on the bus home that I couldn’t wait to get back in my house, get in my pyjamas and sit on the bed until 1am watching the Olympics.

“And what a night it was. All I seemed to do was scream and then cry, on the hour. It was crazy. I’ve never cried as much in my life as that Saturday night. It was bloody brilliant.

“I love Jess Ennis. I’ve met her before and she is a really nice lass. So for her to get the success she did, well that set me off. The bit I loved the most about Jess was the 800 metres. It epitomised her. The gold was already won really, but she wanted to come round that final bend and prove she was champion.”

Almost as a reflex action, Warnock shivers before adding: “I’ve got goosebumps talking about that now to you in this office. Moments like that are what people come into sport for.

“Many of those who were successful are on peanuts, such as the archery blokes or the horse riders or the sailors. I look at them and think what a credit they are to sport.

“I think that’s why I got so into the Olympics, even the sports I didn’t know a lot about. One night, I was up watching volleyball and Great Britain won their first game. I just happened to look at the clock. It was 1.25am. I’d been glued to it for two hours.

“I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ But I loved it.

“For those who won gold, well it will be a moment they will never forget. I’d liken it to winning promotion at football. The relief and the ecstasy it brings must be similar to winning gold, the only difference being that Olympic champions have spent four years working towards that moment whereas in football it is just nine months.

“I’ve won promotion seven times and the feeling is like a drug. Promotion means you, as manager, have sent everyone home happy.”

Come May, Warnock is hoping to be able to enjoy the sweet taste of success after a summer of rebuilding at Elland Road.

Eleven new faces have arrived as eight headed through the exit door.

The Leeds chief hasn’t known such a busy close season in more than a quarter of a century, not since he signed 15 players at Scarborough as a prelude to leading the East coast club into the Football League.

Central to his thinking during a summer where he has worked non-stop to try and bring the players in he feels can take Leeds up into the top-flight has been the tremendous support that United were given even during a hugely disappointing final few weeks of last season.

“The 7-3 home defeat to Nottingham Forest was unbelievable,” says Warnock. “Even after the seventh goal went in and it looked like Forest might get double figures, the fans chanted my name and I’ve never forgotten that.

“It was a big thing this summer and helped persuade me to stay. I had one good opportunity to leave.

“It was tempting, I think even the chairman (Ken Bates) thought I’d leave. But I’ve never been someone to leave a club for money.

“I also do silly things sometimes. I turned Chelsea down once to stay at Notts County.

“Looking from the outside, people might think I was silly to stay here when I could have gone to a job with a lot more financial backing.

“But I do love it at Leeds. If I can get success here, what a way to finish my career.”

If Warnock can claim that eighth promotion, it will also mean an end to a barren three years without Yorkshire having top flight representation – something that a Tyke as proud as the 63-year-old finds difficult to understand.

“I look at how brilliantly Yorkshire did at the Olympics in terms of medals and I just hope the county’s football can use it as inspiration,” he said.

“It is crazy that we haven’t got a top-flight team. Not one.

“I still feel Sheffield United should be up there, everyone knows my feelings on what happened there (with West Ham and Carlos Tevez). They have always been my club.

“But Leeds? Crikey, what a club this is.

“The bottom line, though, is no-one has a divine right to be successful.

“The same applies to the Olympics, and in particular someone like Jess Ennis.

“Jess being a Sheffielder just made it that bit more special. I watched the javelin, which isn’t supposed to be her best discipline.

“But she was brilliant and if any of my players want to use anyone as an inspiration this season then they could do a lot worse than Jess.”

[email protected]