Despite recent history, Leeds and Farke go to Wembley with optimism – and nothing to fear

Daniel Farke celebrates Leeds United's victory over Wolves last weekend George Wood/Getty Images Share articleDaniel Farke cannot help smiling as he is asked about Eddie Gray and Leeds United’s history at Wembley with Chelsea. Gray, 78, remains a priceless link between modern Leeds and its glory days through the 1960s and 1970s. The Elland Road legend won two top-flight championships, the 1968 League Cup and 1972 FA Cup as a player with the club. He is a reminder to everyone — fans, players and managers alike — of the standards Leeds United should strive for. Farke, who is approaching the end of his third season as manager, has no doubt been regaled with all Gray’s stories of the Don Revie era. With the help of tales like these, the German has grown to understand what it means to be this club’s figurehead. This won’t be his first time on the Wembley touchline as Leeds boss, of course. Two years ago, he watched his team fall at the final hurdle in their quest to win promotion to the Premier League. They were beaten 1-0 in the Championship play-off final by Southampton, who play in this weekend’s other semi-final. Failing to win promotion in 2023-24, with such a significant wage budget, was a major disappointment for Leeds and Farke survived serious discussions at the top of the club about his potential sacking. Even after winning the title with 100 points the following season, the Leeds board wondered whether there was someone better out there to take them into the top flight. As it was, the 49-year-old stayed on and survived another bleak spell last autumn. As he prepares for Sunday’s showpiece, his position has never been stronger. Leeds have lost just four of their last 25 matches in all competitions. This is their first FA Cup semi-final in 39 years. They recently won in the league at Old Trafford for the first time in 45 years. On Wednesday, they reached 40 points, generally considered the Premier League safety mark, with four games to play. There will always be criticisms, such is the lot of a professional football manager, but it does feel like Farke and Leeds, at long last, understand one another. There is a calmness and, dare you whisper it, optimism, around this cup tie. Gray has told Farke about the last time Leeds faced Chelsea at Wembley. The 1970 FA Cup final, which needed a replay at Old Trafford to decide a winner, is considered one of the most brutal matches in English football history. This week, former Premier League referee and columnist for The Athletic Graham Scott watched back footage of the replay and determined that he would have brandished 10 red cards had he been officiating the match by modern standards. Farke stopped short of calling for recreations of Norman Hunter or Jack Charlton’s firmest tackles, but he acknowledged that the 2026 team have to appreciate the history of the clubs and this tie. “If you wear a Leeds United shirt, you have the responsibility to represent this club in the way our heroes have done,” he told reporters in his pre-match press conference. “It’s always great to chat with our legends and Eddie because he has so much to speak about, and the good old times were crazy. If you can walk in these footsteps one day, we have to deliver a lot. “If you want to be the manager of Leeds United, you have to understand this club. It’s not like you come here and you think, ‘OK, I’m bigger than the club and I tell you all how football works, how the whole club should work’. “If you’re not open to this massive club with this tradition, with these emotions, with this passion, then you have no chance to be successful here. One of the biggest assets of this club is our supporters. “You have to unite this club and not just do what you think should be done. You have to adapt. It’s not like the club adapts to you as a manager; you have to adapt if you want to be successful. “That doesn’t mean you have to be a flag in the wind. You need to be, especially in this club, pretty stubborn — in a positive way — in the values you want to have, and also that you’re not driven too much by your emotions. “It’s such a passionate club anyway, you need to be strong in your beliefs and you need to be a shield for your players, staff members and, sometimes, even for our supporters.” A trip to the iconic national stadium is a reward for a stellar campaign, but far from a sightseeing trip. The Leeds players have proven hard to beat this year and they will want to come back in three weeks. Captain Ethan Ampadu is one of the survivors of that stinging 2024 play-off final defeat. He accepts that those memories will be there as he returns in Leeds colours. “With Leeds United, that’s our last memory there, but you have to park that, you have to remember how you felt and do everything you can to try to avoid that feeling again,” he said. “When you’re in the momentum of the game and you’ve got that adrenaline, you don’t get to focus on that. It might be the loudness, it might be bigger, but when you walk out, you understand what Wembley comes with, all the memories that have happened there. We are there to try to make more for ourselves.” This is proving to be a season where Leeds make more for themselves. Trends have been bucked, decades-long waits have been ended. It’s been 53 years since the club last reached an FA Cup final. This could be the team’s and fans’ once-in-a-generation chance to end that wait. If nothing else, that sea of white flooding into the capital will make itself heard on Sunday afternoon. Spot the pattern. 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