Leeds have not won a league game at Old Trafford for 45 years. Why? And how can they fix it?

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While 26 of the campaigns since then were spent in different divisions, it is still 18 consecutive trips without a win. Leeds have never had a longer winless streak at an away ground in their history (tied with 18 winless league trips to West Ham United between 1921 and 1956), and it is by far their longest ongoing run without a win. Five teams in the Premier League have longer winless streaks at top-flight grounds. Fulham have visited Arsenal 32 times, Everton have been to Chelsea 31 times, and Newcastle United have visited Liverpool on 30 occasions without a win. As a League One side, Leeds won at Old Trafford in 2010, beating the then-Premier League champions in an FA Cup third-round tie, but they have waited too long to get over the line when points are on the line. Yes, Manchester United, driven by Sir Alex Ferguson, grew to be an immense force across most of those 18 games, but Leeds were highly competitive, too, even if the trophies were not there. Across the 18 seasons the clubs have shared a division since that last Leeds win, their finishing positions were four places apart or closer on nine occasions. At one stage, Leeds pipped Manchester United to the top division title. Leeds were only seven places behind them in 2020-21, Marcelo Bielsa’s first top-flight campaign. Yes, a gulf has existed between the two teams, but half the time, Leeds did have a squad capable of bloodying Manchester United’s noses. So, why has it been such a problem for Leeds? Brian Flynn would never have expected his record as the last man to win a league game for Leeds at Old Trafford to last more than 45 years. He scored in the 85th minute of their February 1981 visit to seal a 1-0 win. “I get 20-year-olds coming up, saying to me, ‘I was there’,” Flynn tells The Athletic. “That would have been impossible; they’re living off their father’s or grandfather’s memories. They would have passed down the story from Old Trafford that day.” It was not an ideal day for Leeds off the pitch. They had to wear the home side’s black away shorts after their kit man had packed the wrong pairs. It was a smash-and-grab win for Leeds, with their backs against the wall and goalkeeper John Lukic putting in a superb display. “It was virtually one-way traffic for most of the game,” said Flynn. “They were unbeaten all season at Old Trafford. They battered us, apart from scoring. “I remember John Lukic had one of the games of his life. We hung on, and it took the Welsh connection to crack the code. Carl Harris crossed the ball, and I managed to finish it off.” Flynn feels winning at Old Trafford for a Leeds player is not far from being in the same bracket as winning at Wembley. He remembers the fervour in the away end. He adds, “To score late on as well was even better. From start to finish, the Leeds fans out-sang Old Trafford. They were louder than the home fans. “They said there was 10,000 there, but I think there was double that squeezed into that corner.” Leeds would finish that 1980-81 season in ninth, one place behind Manchester United, but then suffered relegation from the top flight a year later. The clubs’ paths would not cross in the league again until 1990. Howard Wilkinson revitalised Leeds, overseeing promotion as second-tier champions. They would immediately leap to fourth in Division One in 1990-91 before beating Ferguson to the championship 12 months later. Jon Newsome, who was in that title-winning squad of 1991-92, played in two of the Old Trafford matches across this period. There was a 2-0 defeat in September 1992 and a 0-0 draw on New Year’s Day 1994. The defender, now 55, recalls Wilkinson did not try to single out the matches as different from others — but it was unavoidable. “It’s massive, isn’t it? All the fans continuously remind you of that,” Newsome told The Athletic. “It’s huge for them. The animosity and the rivalry is off the charts. “I wasn’t aware of it until I signed for Leeds. I was aware they didn’t like each other, but I wasn’t aware of just how enormous it was. “When you go to play, it’s the determination to get a result. At the time, early ‘90s, thankfully, we’d beat them to the title, but they were a very good side. “It was always going to be difficult to go there and get something.” Ferguson won his first title in 1992-93 and his team then captured seven of the next 10. Across 1995-96 and 1996-97, Leeds fell back to mid-table as Ferguson oversaw two more titles, but under George Graham initially and then David O’Leary, they finished in the top five for five years in a row from 1998 onwards. As competitive as Leeds were at home and abroad, the defeats continued to flow at Old Trafford. Eirik Bakke started the two games they got closest to winning. In October 2001, Leeds were 1-0 up in the 89th minute, but his Norwegian compatriot Ole Gunnar Solskjaer headed in an equaliser. And then in February 2004, with Leeds only a few weeks away from relegation and caretaker manager Eddie Gray at the helm, they again drew 1-1. “I played a few of them,” Bakke tells The Athletic. “It doesn’t matter if you play them at Old Trafford or Elland Road, it’s those games I always remember Eddie Gray telling us you have to play for the supporters because it’s the rivalry and the history. “It’s one day you just have to give everything as a player for the supporters because it’s a long season, but if you win that game, it’s important.” When Bakke is asked about that Solskjaer equaliser, he remembers it being a typical trait of that era. “That was typical for Man United,” he said. “They had people to come on and change the game. “I remember that game — we dominated them and could have won with the chance to go up 2-0 as well. “It was really the quality they had up front. The players, the mentality that the Ferguson era had. They always scored in the 96th minute. “You have to treat it like a cup final. Leeds are in the semi-final of the FA Cup this season, but they have to treat this bigger because if they do that, treat it as a one-off game, you can go and win. “You know the Leeds supporters in the corner are going to out-sing the Man United crowd. When you retire, you miss that and being involved in those games.” The 2010 FA Cup win is the anomaly. There was no expectation 16 years ago. The hosts were competing at the top end of the Premier League but Simon Grayson had Leeds fighting for promotion two divisions below them. He remembers dropping talismanic midfielder Robert Snodgrass, adopting a 4-4-2 with hard-working wide players and defensively-minded full-backs. He did not want to disrupt the rhythm Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio had developed as a partnership that season. The former’s pace, as Grayson hoped, proved to be decisive in converting the key chance. He told The Athletic: “We were such underdogs, so my approach to the players was, ‘Let’s just go and enjoy this experience, there’s always an upset in a cup competition, why not be yours? Why not be a hero on the day?’. “When you’re playing in the league, it’s probably classed as a level playing field, you feel a bit more anxious. You don’t go with the freedom of, ‘We’re not expected to get anything from here’, because of that pressure from supporters. “Everybody expected us to turn up and get beaten, but in the dressing room, we thought we had a good chance. I was obviously very sensible, thinking we could get done here because of their Premier League talent. “When I saw the teamsheet come out, I’m thinking, ‘Sir Alex is taking this really seriously’, but we went with a no fear attitude. We were in a good run of form as well. “We were full of confidence. We felt we could beat anybody, but we still knew we had to play to the best of our capabilities and get a bit of luck.” After their 2020 promotion, Leeds travelled to Old Trafford three times. They were still unable to win, losing 6-2, 5-1 and then drawing 2-2 after leading 2-0. They were then relegated that year, 2023. Leeds return for the first time in three years tonight. They have ended a 39-year wait for an FA Cup semi-final. Their supporters feel more than ready to finish this 45-year drought, too. If nothing else, to give Brian Flynn a little more peace. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Beren Cross is a football writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. Before joining The Athletic, he reported on Leeds United for Leeds Live. He was born in Doncaster and grew up in Lincoln. Follow Beren on Twitter @Berencross