The Premier League declared their fixtures for the 2019/20 season last week, but clubs in the Championship have to wait a further few days for theirs, with the English Football League not publishing their schedules until Thursday, June 20.
The prolonged wait to see who United will face on the opening day of yet another second-tier season is not something many Leeds fans will be looking forward to, given how close we were to being a top-flight outfit again just a matter of weeks before the recent term drew to a close.
This could always be our year, though. We still have Marcelo Bielsa at the helm despite all the fears which swirled around Elland Road suggesting he only saw the Whites job as a one-year position if he was unable to return the club to the promised land of the Premier League.
Sure, we haven’t made any signings yet, but we have also not yet lost any of our key players, despite the speculation that Kalvin Phillips and Pontus Jansson have been attracting the interest of top-flight sides from home and abroad.
Derby County, in contrast, have lost one of their most influential figures with Harry Wilson returning to Liverpool after a year on loan at Pride Park, while Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield will likely lose some of their top talents following their decline back into life in the Championship.
So there are many reasons why we should be optimistic going into tomorrow’s fixture reveal, as we will finally know how long we have to wait before we can return home to Elland Road.
Clearly some supporters are missing the place, as when the official Elland Road Twitter account shared a post in anticipation of our fixtures being released, this is how these fans responded…
Yeah missing it a lot , roll on August #TheOnlyPlaceForUs
— Benny Boy Scott (@benscott80) June 18, 2019
The fixture release date must be the most meaningless date in the calendar for Leeds United fans #hateskytv
— Sparkler81 (@Sparkler8182) June 18, 2019
I’ll take no notice at all,once Sky get their grubby hands on our fixtures they’ll look totally different.
— LUFC Noel (@NoelMUR71904709) June 18, 2019
Yup. I’m in therapy as we speak. Got cold turkey!
— Rod Christopher (@rodchristopher9) June 18, 2019
Missing ER so much My SATURDAY’S are pure hell!!!! without my LEEDS FIX⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️????????????????Roll on August MOT……
— Dave Kendall (@KENDYCBR1000RR) June 18, 2019
Not a great deal of point looking at it, Sky will change most of our fixtures to maximize their ££££ from us.
— Lee Hodgson (@Hodge1969) June 18, 2019
Yes. But this is the season…
— Dave McManus (@EllDave) June 18, 2019