LEEDS FROM CITY TO UNITED

The plight of Bury and Bolton is not new, we all know what happened to Accrington Stanley and there have been other clubs fallen by the wayside. It's a miracle to follow the fortunes of  AFC Wimbledon and its original club, Wimbledon FC.
Its hard to imagine that Leeds United will have had a dodgy past but it did and having been founded in 1904, playing in the West Yorkshire League, it has not been a smoothe ride for the Elland Road club.

It was the largest city in the country not to have a football club but of course it did support the rugby league code, which encouraged the Football League to welcome Leeds City into the league with "open arms". They beat Chelsea to the election in 1905/6 and the Blues had to wait a year before they joined the "elite".
With some success on the field, it was off it where problems arose. Results grew less encouraging and finances were scarce.

The club owed £15782 and had £7084 only in its coffers. Herbert Chapman, later to be famous and buoyant at Huddersfield Town and Arsenal took hold of the club as secretary and manager, having previously been successful at Northampton Town.

His transfer dealings seemed to work as the club rose up the Second Division, but three players were earning more than the maximum wage of £4 per week (imagine!), a limit well in place at the time. This didn't go down well with the Football League who fined the club £125 with costs and the players had to refund excess payments.
The First World War came along, Chapman took on the managership of the local munitions factory, the club kept on playing, but he had little control over the finances and there were illegal payments made, even to "guest" players, who turned out in wartime competitions; this was a serious breach of the rules. Chapman avoided being punished for this claiming that he was busy helping with the war effort but the club took the punishment.
This is Charlie Copeland in 1919, who did get more than he should have done but who shopped the club to the FA because he wasn't given what he wanted; £6 a week and all that. The Football League asked to see Leeds' books, the club refused and they were chucked out of the Football League in early October.

Port Vale FC, having just missed election previously, was elected to the FL after Leeds City dissolved and played matches from October 18th, their first game v South Shields, away, which they lost 0-2. Their second game was v Tottenham Hotspur, a game they just lost 0-1! Port Vale ended up 13th in Div 2.

Leeds' club assets were auctioned off on October 17th 1919 and 30 league clubs joined in the sale at the Metropole Hotel in Leeds, where everything from boots to goal nets were bid for. The Yorkshire Post described the event as a "melancholy spectacle", like a cattle market, as players went for sums between £1250 for Billy McLeod and Francis Chipperfield, a £100 to Lincoln City. A total of £10,000 was raised to pay off debts.

Not to give in too easily, Leeds United was formed and took over the Leeds City Reserves place in the Midlands League in the 1919/20 season. They were immediately elected into the Football league and ironically played Port Vale in the first fixture on 28th August 1920.

There is a Leeds City club presently playing rather well in the West Yorkshire League Div 2.