News - Page One

~ FULLERTON PARK 1961 - 2011 ~
"CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF SUPPORTING LEEDS UNITED"

Welcome to the Homepage of our little website. Everyone who joins LUSC does so out of personal choice We have always been an independent body in all our 92 years, as well as loyal to the Whites. If you'd like to join us please follow the lnks for an application form or email our admin address below.

CHRISTMAS DRAW WINNERS.
Due to technical problems we have been unable to show these results
on the site previously. Thanks again to everyone who bought tickets
and donated prizes.

01 No Glossing Over It (Gary Edwards)    204 James Thomas
02 2012 LU Calendar                              123 Steve Millward
03 McVities Biscuits                              025 John Woodhead
04 Chamet Wine Wine                           170 ?
05 Celebrations                                      008 David Zaman
06 Bottle Arristant                                  018 Ken Eastwood
07 Scented Soap                                   092 Mick White
08 Billy Bremner Book                            229 Allison Giff
09 Chardonnay Wine                              226 Andrew Lunn
10 Fiorentine Soap                                 063 Anthony Moss
11 Wine Gums                                      114 Paul Turner
12 Revie Book                                       137 Paul Dickinson
13 Chaumet Wine                                  152 Stuart White
14 Tattoo Vouchers                                047 Mike Gurney
15 LU Desk Calendar                             104 Chris Hall
16 Jelly Babies                                      216 Danny Kemp
17 Red Bottle Bag                                  079 Paula Miller
18 Merry Christmas Bottle Bag               055 Pam Freer
19 Dom Matteo Book                             133 Sue Ashworth
20 Champagne                                      193 Julie Trimble
21 Larger Pack                                      102 Chris Hall

We're Carrying On As Usual - That's News!
Sometimes the focus of this page gets away from the routine life of the Supporters Club.
One of the main reasons why our organisation exists is to help get Members to games.
With us being Leeds based this is confined to away travel. Our organisers have seen many changes down the years. For 2011-12, ticket ordering has reverted to the time honoured system of match by match instead of having to bid for 25% of the season's away games all in one go. This had meant writing literally hundreds of cheques which all having to be countersigned by other Branch Officers and also adding to the workload in end of season audits. Fortunately LUTS new on line system means the order for most games can now go in one "bite" (perhaps byte?) instead of in blocks of six as before. Credit card use is now mandatory and the only downside as everyone knows, is the £1.00 fee per match ticket.

With the new management set-up at our pub HQ we are now able to provide yet another
benefit to Members in the form of hot snacks before departures, especially mid-morning
ones. The old saying is, "An army marches on its stomach!" in this case an army of fans!

Don's Memorial On Target.
This website has charted the progress of the Don Revie Memorial Project. In October a huge fund raising dinner saw over 800 people pack the Leeds United Pavillion. There was a large contingent of LUSC Members present and organiser Jim Cadman paid tribute to the backing for the scheme throughout from the Supporters Club. As well as pro-rata contributions from guests tickets there were memorabilia auctions. These have featured at all the previous events to date. On this occasion successful bids ranged from £2k to £6k and total auction proceeds on the night were reported to be in the region of £17k. The highest figure was for the honour of unveiling the finished statue next May which will be sited on Lowfields Road next to the Pavilion, opposite the new main entrance to the East Stand. A further event "White Xmas, Lunch with the Revie Boys" at Elland Road on December 2nd (noon) should give another boost to the £90k fund.

Consistency - Is It Possible?
Inevitably we have to return to the subject of football and results because they drive everything particularly the mood of we fans. Since early Autumn Leeds League position has improved. You never know a players true value to the side until he's missing and Andy Lonergan's absence in October really underlined that point. After the "Blackpool Nightmare" the atmosphere in the Old Peacock was blue, rarely had so many fans been so angry and frustrated. Not just 3 points lost, but the goal difference wiped out at a stroke. P45's were flying in all directions especially at SG! The Chairman could stick his inflated season tickets for next year where the sun don't shine etc.

However a goalkeeper faultless or otherwise is only the last line of defence. Older fans will remember that much travelled manager of the Sixties and Seventies, Tommy Docherty. On his appointment as Scotland Manager, the "Doc" did a TV interview. "Games are won and lost in midfield!", said Tommy, adding (at that time) that Scotland was especially blessed in that department. (They certainly didn't need five in midfield and probably got by with three.)

Our Premier Target, A Different League?.
It seems that we fans all want our Club back in the Premier League sooner rather than later. Figures get bandied about as to what PL status is worth, £60M p.a. has been quoted recently. In the Noughties Leeds missed out on £millions in their few years in the Champions League by not having the facilties on the stadium to generate serious money. We are not talking about a few extra burger bars, but hospitality suites to milk the corporate market. Ironically in 2011 the cost of the East Stand upgrade is fuelling a fair bit of dissent in the fan base. Our League gates were down 10% after the first 8 games. You'll probably take your pick of the possible reasons depending on which argument you want to advance. At £4.00 a copy we now have the dearest match day programme, certainly in our League, and rumour has it sales have nose dived.

On November 14th the Evening Standard reported that Spurs could be offering Luka Modric a staggering £100k per week in his next contract subject to final League position. Since SkyTV revenue, shirt advertising et al the only people getting obscenely richer are the top PL players and their agents. They won't be worried about fuel duty, gas and electric bills, hospital wards closing, RPI vs. CPI for their retirement pensions etc.. Then we have had the tantrums of poor Mr Tevez over at Manchester City who won't be worried about the price of a pint in his local.

Recently a majority of Football League Clubs, and Leeds to their credit wasn't one of them, kow-towed to the PL for a derisory sum to allow their academies and promising kids to be poached at whim. The irony is that the nearest many of the much smaller Clubs get to see an academy is their local Tech! Teams that will suffer most are those such as Leeds with a PL history and consequently some infrastructure geared to PL status who opposed the move. What next? Time for the Championship Clubs to also break away from the Football League?

Behind The Scenes.
Its perhaps stating the obvious to say that LUSC exists to promote and protect the its
Members interests. One way in which we do this is by maintaining a working relationship with our local Police Football Intelligence Officer. This is nothing new and dates from the mid-1980's when Leeds were plagued with serious hooliganism especially away from home. In the past year the SC Secretary has actively helped re-establish regular dialogue which has involved correspondence with Forces and Clubs visited especially last season. After every away match Branch Officials forward reports on both the police operation and the stewarding of grounds at the Clubs visited. As a measure of the impartiality shown by those writing the reports, criticisms have appeared after wins and compliments after defeats! As a general rule the main concerns relate to safety issues and parking. Not all fans are young, fit and able-bodied. Distances and routes between coach parks and stadia is one recurring issue, another is sandwiching several coaches abreast making it harder to find ones own vehicle, especially in darkness with nauseating diesel fumes and noise from idling engines. Despite the better stadia in the Championship, stewarding standards can very considerably. Report awayday problems to your organiser(s), raise them at meetings, or email your Branch

Branch Meetings.
Our Meetings are held in the back room of the Peacock on alternate Mondays, Bank Holidays and matchdays excepted from August.Members and newcomers alike are very welcome to come along. Simply click the Homepage "Meeting Dates" link or check our 24/7 Information Line (0113) 2777786.

"Elland Roar."
The SC Newsletter appears at least monthly, on matchdays. Content is a mix of news, witty comment, information + trivia etc. It is emailed to Members, also available in the Peacock and Branch Meetings.

Merchandise.
LUSC has its own badge design which is used on polo shirts, ties and of course metal badges. Our Branch also has its own brand polos and sweatshirts with a woven badge, however our supplier has a minimum quota requirement which depends on other Members ordering. Cash with orders please.