Marching on together again as a city regains its lost pride

IT may not have been the Premier League title race. It may not have even been the fight for a place in Europe next season.

But try telling the near 38,000 Leeds United fans packed into Elland Road on a nerve-jangling final day of the season that promotion from League One was small beer compared to the other prizes on offer over the weekend.

The scenes that greeted referee Graham Salisbury blowing the final whistle at the end of a nail-biting day said it all about what escaping the third tier of English football at the third attempt meant to the city of Leeds.

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As the Bristol Rovers players, clearly mindful of the shameful scenes witnessed at Hillsborough and Kenilworth Road over the Bank Holiday weekend, sprinted for the safety of the tunnel, the Elland Road pitch quickly became a heaving mass of joyous fans as thousands poured from the terraces.

Young and old, male and female, there seemed no barrier for those hell-bent on savouring the moment alongside their heroes, so much so that at least three wheelchairs could be seen whizzing across the turf in the chase for the by now under-siege home team.

"Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na," sang fans and players alike to the now familiar tune of 'Baby Give It Up' by KC & The Sunshine Band. "Leeds are going up, going up, Leeds are going up."

Nine years to the day since the West Yorkshire club had bowed out of the Champions League semi-finals in Valencia, there could be no greater illustration of just what promotion meant to those who had endured such a spectacular fall from grace.

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All the misery, hurt and loss of pride experienced during the intervening years was forgotten as the party continued amid repeated pleas over the PA system for the fans to clear the pitch as the remaining few Leeds players edged slowly towards the tunnel.

Eventually, though, the invaders were persuaded – chiefly by United manager Simon Grayson, who by now had taken control of the microphone – to retreat towards the touchline to allow the players to return for a lap of honour.

The United squad duly made their way back out, led by Patrick Kisnorbo – deservedly named the club's Player of the Year ahead of kick-off – and the injured Australian was clearly in the mood to party.

Led by Kisnorbo, Elland Road was soon rocking once again to the echoes of KC & The Sunshine Band before the whole squad proved they are not a patch on those who lifted the 1972 FA Cup when it comes to belting out an in-tune version of 'Marching On Together'.

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Not that anyone cared as the makeshift cordon surrounding the pitch was again broken by the more excitable element of the United support, clearly determined to wring every last drop of elation out of the day before heading into the city's pubs and clubs to toast promotion.

As joyous as the celebrations undoubtedly were, they also seemed tinged with a sense of relief – an understandable reaction to the nerve-jangling 90 minutes that Elland Road's biggest crowd of the season had just witnessed.

Before kick-off, the chances of the final day being a dramatic affair seemed high due to no less than five teams still harbouring hopes of capturing second place.

The scenario facing Leeds was by far the simplest with a win over a Bristol Rovers side with nothing but pride to play for being enough to book a return to the Championship.

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Were United to stumble, however, Millwall and Swindon knew that victory in their meeting at The Den would be enough to clinch promotion. Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town completed the quintet still in with a chance of bagging the runners-up spot, though both Phil Parkinson and Lee Clark conceded during the build up that it would take a highly unusual set of results for their own side to avoid the play-offs.

At Elland Road, any thoughts that would not be the home side's day seemed to have been dismissed ahead of the teams emerging from the tunnel with the confident mood among the locals being best summed up by the response to the score predictions from the three mascots.

The reply '6-0 to Leeds' from the most optimistic youngster may have been greeted with the biggest cheer but the other two stating the afternoon would end in a three-goal home win elicited only knowing nods. This really was going to be United's day.

Bristol Rovers had been beaten 4-0 by Simon Grayson's men earlier in the season so what, asked the expectant bumper crowd as the teams ran out, could go wrong?

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As the teams lined up for the now customary pre-match shaking of hands, footage of famous goals from past heroes such as Viduka, Yeboah and Wallace were interspersed with those of a more recent vintage to further inspire the fans, who responded with as lusty a rendition of 'Marching On Together' as had been heard at the famous old ground all season long.

By half-time, however, the mood had changed dramatically. Leeds were still second but Max Gradel's stamp on Daniel Jones and subsequent red card meant the afternoon had suddenly become a lot more nervous.

It had become even more difficult when Darryl Duffy put Rovers ahead early in the second half, allowing Charlton to claim second place in the process courtesy of being 2-0 up at Oldham.

Not for the first time in recent weeks, Leeds were making a mess of what at the turn of the year had seemed a formality. Jonny Howson's 59th-minute goal quickly lifted spirits only for Millwall to follow Swindon and Charlton in wrestling second place off Leeds when Gordon Greer put through his own net at The Den.

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Salvation, though, came within seconds of the Lions going ahead when Jermaine Beckford capitalised on a mistake from goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen to put Leeds 2-1 up.

Millwall added a third but no-one in Leeds cared as Leigh Bromby struck a post and the clock on the electronic scoreboard moved ever closer to 90 minutes.

There was then a brief premature pitch invasion in the corner of the West and North Stands before referee Salisbury finally brought proceedings to a close to kick-start the celebrations as Elland Road rocked to the sound of the club's first promotion in 20 years.