Silence speaks a thousand words as fans pay fitting tribute

IT was a day when Leeds really was United. United in sorrow ahead of kick-off, United in frustration during the 90 minutes that followed and then, finally, United in anger at the final whistle.

Swindon Town's comfortable 3-0 win meant what was always going to be an emotional occasion, as Leeds United mourned the two fans killed in Istanbul, ended in humiliation for the team in white.

The supporters, who had again turned up in their droves to help Leeds post the biggest Football League crowd of the weekend, felt let down and voiced their anger at everyone from the players through to the manager and chairman.

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Chants of 'build a team, not a hotel' filled the air as the ramifications of a fourth-straight defeat hit home.

Promotion is disappearing fast and another defeat today in front of the live Sky cameras at Yeovil Town could even make qualifying for the play-offs a big ask for a group of players whose confidence now seems lower than a snake's belly.

Such a horrible end had been in total contrast to the start of an afternoon when United remembered Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, the two men brutally murdered on the eve of a UEFA Cup semi-final first leg tie against Galatasaray.

The actual 10th anniversary is today and the 1,700 fans travelling to Yeovil Town are being asked to mark it by turning their backs on the game for a minute – just as those in Istanbul did before the ill-fated UEFA Cup tie.

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With Sky Television having been contacted to explain the gesture's meaning, it is hoped the live footage that will be beamed around the world will bring publicity to the on-going fight for justice.

It will also serve as a fitting tribute to both Loftus and Speight, something a crowd of 27,881 inside Elland Road managed in a simple but moving manner on Saturday.

The afternoon had begun with chairman Ken Bates, via his pre-match broadcast on the big screen, vowing to join the families' fight for justice. He said: "I use the word 'murder' because that is what it was.

"I have read a lot about it and about what happened in the bar area where the Turkish thugs were following the Leeds fans. Where were the police? What were they doing? It is supposed to be a pretty tough state. Why was it allowed to get out of hand? And why, after 10 years, is there no justice. It doesn't make sense."

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Ahead of kick-off, the two teams emerged from the tunnel before lining up, heads bowed, either side of the halfway line for a minute's silence.

Plenty of publicity before the game meant that all but a few late arrivals were already in their seats when referee Mick Russell signalled the tribute was underway.

The shrill of the Hertfordshire official's whistle was the last sound anyone heard for 60 seconds as one corner of south Leeds fell utterly silent. Sometimes, nothing speaks louder than no noise at all and this was one such occasion as a city remembered two of its own.

At the end, the Leeds fans turned to their Swindon counterparts to applaud the immaculate observing of the minute's silence before the club anthem 'Marching on Together' started to boom across the PA system. Never has the line 'we've been through it all together' seemed so apt.

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Just as with the first game after the tragedy 10 years ago, when Arsenal were the visitors, wreaths were laid at either end of Elland Road – the honours this time being done by two Leeds-born players, Richard Naylor and Jonny Howson.

The Gunners went on to win

4-0 that Sunday afternoon but even a near-repeat against Swindon could not detract from the dignified manner in which the city of Leeds remembered two men guilty of no more than following their beloved football team across Europe.