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Season
1928/29
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Comfortable
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Scottish international inside-forward John White had joined from Hearts
during the previous battle against the drop and the
year in the Second Division had allowed him to come to terms with
life in England. Charlie Keetley had been another useful addition to the
side, and they still had big name stars such as Jimmy Potts, Tom Townsley,
George Reed, Willis Edwards, Ernie
Hart, Bobby Turnbull, Russell Wainscoat and Tom Jennings. Dick Ray was building a powerful
new outfit - the best ever seen at Elland Road - and they now
feared little. They started off like they were born to be in the top flight. Keetley
hit a first day hat trick in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa and Leeds then
beat Bury 3-1. They had an exciting 4-4 draw with Leicester City and beat
Manchester United 3-2. A 6-1 reverse at high flying Huddersfield was a
big eye opener, but by the beginning of November Leeds were sitting pretty
as potential and very shocking contenders for the title with 8 wins from
their 12 games and they had taken to the big time like ducks to water.
The impetus of promotion seemed to propel Leeds forward. It was a big
difference from their previous experience of life at the top, when they
had continually struggled so badly. In the event this fruitful start became
insurance against relegation, for the team's form went haywire in mid-season. They couldn't keep up that start, understandably, but more than held
their own for the rest of the season. They lost more often than they won,
especially away from their Elland Road stronghold, but were finding it
easy enough to consolidate around mid table security. Tom Jennings missed
most of the season with a recurrence of the blood poisoning that had ruined
1927-28 for him, but he still got nine goals in his 17 games, a total
that was equalled by White. Keetley and Wainscoat were the pick of the
bunch, however, with 20 and 18 goals respectively, highly respectable
returns, as United had another good season in front of goal, totalling
71. They struggled at the back, conceding 84, with 8 of those coming in a
thrashing at West Ham in February and another five in the next game, at
Burnley. They went out of the FA Cup in the Fourth Round, going down 3-0 away
to Huddersfield Town after overcoming Exeter City 5-1 in a Third Round
replay. It was a satisfactory second coming to the top flight, with Leeds finishing
a comfortable 13th. At one stage, it even looked like there would be a
top six placing, but an appalling late run, when they won just five points
from their last ten matches, put paid to that. But mid table had been
the aspiration at the start of the season and it represented an excellent
platform for Dick Ray's side to chase better things for the future. There were international call-ups for Ernie Hart in November 1928 and
Russell Wainscoat in April 1929. Willis Edwards was an England ever-present
and had only missed three since his debut in March 1926. Other Football Highlights from 1928/29 |