Leeds United Football Club is one of the most popular clubs in the world. Here are a selection of the best Leeds United books which will give you a glimpse into the club’s traditions, legends, tragedies & famous trophy wins.
If you have a favourite Leeds United book that’s not listed below, feel free to let me know and I will add it to the list. Happy reading!
The Leeds United Collection: A History of the Club’s Kits
by Robert Endeacott & Ben Hunt 2021
See home and away shirts worn by Leeds legends from various eras including Billy Bremner and Albert Johanneson, David Batty, Gary Speed, Peter Lorimer, Paul Madeley, Paul Reaney, Norman Hunter, Mick Jones, Allan Clarke, Frank and Eddie Gray, Terry Yorath, John Sheridan, Ian Baird, Fabian Delph, Kalvin Phillips, Pablo Hernandez and many more.
These superb images are brought to life with commentary on title- and trophy-winning seasons, plus promotion-winning campaigns. There are also interviews with Eddie Gray, Howard Wilkinson, Pablo Hernandez, Allan Clarke, Tony Currie, Jermaine Beckford, Aidan Butterworth, Simon Grayson, Brian Deane, Rod Wallace, Dominic Matteo and many more. This is a book no true Whites fan should be without.
And it was Beautiful: Marcelo Bielsa and the Rebirth of Leeds United
by Phil Hay 2021
When Marcelo Bielsa was appointed head coach of Leeds United in the summer of 2018, the club had just finished 13th in the Championship – their 15th consecutive season outside the top flight – and were defined as much by their excesses and disasters off the pitch as their lack of success on it. Bielsa changed everything.
In guiding Leeds back to the promised land of the Premier League, he has transformed the club into a vastly more dynamic, entertaining and professional outfit, fully endearing himself to the Leeds faithful and capturing the imaginations of football fans around the world. With his unique tactical approach, strict diet and body fat controls and a gruelling training schedule – including his infamous ‘murderball’ sessions – Bielsa has shaped a gang of Championship misfits and journeymen into a team that plays breathtakingly relentless attacking football and is more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the game’s established heavyweights.
100 Years of Leeds United: 1919-2019
by Daniel Chapman 2019
Since its foundation in 1919, Leeds United Football Club has seen more ups and downs than most, rising to global fame through an inimitable and uncompromising style in the 70s, clinching the last Division One title of the pre-Sky Sports era in 1992, before becoming the epitome of financial mismanagement at the start of the 21st century.
Despite this demise, United remains one of the best supported – and most divisive – clubs in football, with supporters’ clubs dotted across the globe.
In 100 Years of Leeds United, Chapman delves deep into the archives to discover the lesser-known episodes, providing fresh context to the folkloric tales that have shaped the club we know today, painting the definitive picture of the West Yorkshire giants.
Fifty Shades of White
by Gary Edwards 2016
There is a fascinating, controversial and hilarious insight into Leeds United’s former owner Ken Bates, gleaned from being a special guest at his birthday and Christmas parties for eight consecutive years. Fifty Shades of White gives a unique fan insight into the club and a life devoted to Leeds United.
The Only Place for Us: An A-Z History of Elland Road
by Jon Howe 2015
Along the way there have been fires, gypsy curses and a host of cherished memories including the diamond floodlights, the West Stand facade and escapee pantomime horses. Using archive research and insiders’ insights, fascinating photographs and fans’ memories, Jon Howe retraces an intriguing historical journey to show how Elland Road became one of Europe’s most feared football grounds. Through triumph and adversity, neglect and redevelopment, Elland Road has emerged as a fine, modern stadium that’s alive with history. This is its unique story.
No Glossing Over It: How Football Cheated Leeds United
by Gary Edwards 2013
Featuring the views of former Leeds players and managers, as well as top-flight referees and diehard fans, No Glossing Over It examines the injustices that have befallen Leeds United and sheds new light on the shocking events that have long rankled with the club’s supporters.
Leeds United: A History
by Dave Tomlinson 2015
He reveals the voices of the people involved with the club, including supporters, players and former players, owners, administrators and local writers, to describe the club’s history within its social context, how changes have affected the club and how developments in football itself have made an indelible impact upon both the football club and the wider community. This is a must-have for any fan of the ‘Mighty Whites’.
Keep Fighting: The Billy Bremner Story
by Paul Harrison 2010
In his own words, find out what Billy Bremner thought of life at Leeds Utd, about his exploits for Scotland, his footballing friends and those he clashed with. There are stories of winning the League Championship and the FA Cup with Leeds, playing for Scotland in the World Cup, his controversial ban from international football and the libel action he won against a Sunday newspaper. And there’s Bremner’s own forthright views about some of the biggest names in football, from Don Revie to Brian Clough and Gary Sprake to Kevin Keegan.
Dirty Leeds
by Robert Endeacott 2009
Dirty Leeds is where young Jimmy O’Rourke is born and bred, brought up by his grandma in the shadow of the hallowed ground itself. This gives him a thirst for the beautiful game and determination to play for the club he loves. ‘Dirty Leeds’ is a hidden history of Don Revie and his men, and the story of Jimmy’s dramatic life, from 1961 to 1974.
Bremner: The Real King Billy
by Richard Sutcliffe 2011
His career was not without controversy, whether it be the lifetime ban from international football or the playing style that saw Bremner once famously described in “The Sunday Times” as, ’10 stone of barbed wire’. But, throughout his 18 years as a player that also included a stint at Hull City, the Scot was a figure that even his fiercest critics respected. In “Bremner – The Real King Billy”, Richard Sutcliffe speaks to friends, team-mates, colleagues plus a host of players who he managed for more than a decade in charge of Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers.
Marching on Together – My Life at Leeds United
by Eddie Gray 2001
Bleed White: The fall and rise of Leeds United
by Phil Merrick 2010
The club had also been put into administration and to make matters worse they were forced to start the next season with a fifteen point penalty following a dispute with the Inland Revenue which caused them to break Football League rules. But the club is on the way back and after three long years in Division One, the future is looking much brighter. Ken Bates the Chairman has restored financial stability and Simon Grayson an excellent young manager who happens to be a fan and ex Leeds player has given the fans hope at last. This story is a fan’s view of what happened at Leeds United Football Club during those eventful years. The book covers issues both on and off the pitch and has been written from two different perspectives – wearing a level headed business hat one minute and a passionate Leeds United baseball cap the next. Business objectivity meets football fan emotion and they hate each other.
Leeds United On Trial: The Inside Story of an Astonishing Year
by David O’Leary 2002
But in Europe, O’Leary’s young team had grown from boys to men. Leeds came through a group boasting Barcelona and AC Milan, and then one featuring Real Madrid and Lazio. And once O’Leary’s side was restored to full strength, the team powered through to a battle with Valencia for a place in the Champion’s League final. David O’Leary’s gripping and controversial memoir is the football book of the year.
Leeds United: Give us Strength
by David Watkins 2018
The ownership of the club finally seemed to be in safe hands, a strong management team was in place, the finances were under control, the playing squad was young and exciting and the new Head Coach was calm and respected: what could possibly go wrong?