Pre-season friendly against Leeds United announced

, 22 June, 32comments  |  Jump to most recent
Everton have confirmed that they will take on Leeds United in a friendly at Elland Road on 1st August with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.

It will likely be the team's final friendly before the new season kicks off on 8th August, and marks a change from what has in recent seasons become a traditional game against Continental opposition a Goodison Park.

It would be the Blues' first visit to Eland Road since an ill-fated League Cup tie in September 2012 in which David Moyes's experimental side was beaten 2-1.

It would also see former Leeds trainee Luke Garbutt return to his former club as well as Ross Barley who spent a brief loan spell with the Yorkshire side in Moyes's last season with Everton.  



Reader Comments (32)

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Tom Evans
1 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:09:52
Looking back now, how I had the bollocks to go to Elland Road in the mid seventies, I will never know. Still, I survived to tell the tale.
Ray Robinson
2 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:18:11
Yes, Tom. I was at uni in Bradford from early to mid seventies and went twice in that period to watch the Blues at Elland Road and several other times just to watch a football match. The ground was slightly less scary than the station! Used to stand with the Leeds fans on the side opposite where the players came out. The second time we drew 0-0, which was just as well, as I never had to reveal my allegiance!
Jim Bennings
3 Posted 22/06/2015 at 16:53:01
A return to the old original bogey ground before the days of not winning at the so-called top four, younger fans may not know we went 51 years without a win away to Leeds.

Yet Elland Road will forever hold two of my fondest games in memory for a lifetime, the Semi Final against Spurs in 95 – what a day that was, I just knew that day that regardless of playing Manchester United at Wembley, we had won the Cup that afternoon at Elland Road.

Then of course being sat 12 rows back the day Rooney scored to end 51 years of hurt.

Paul Ellam
4 Posted 22/06/2015 at 17:01:40
Love the crackly atmosphere of Elland Road and the fact my best mate is a Leeds fan will just increase the intensity.

I have already text him and we will both be there!

Would love us to thrash them and gain a little revenge for embarrassing us in the League Cup a couple of years ago.

Chris Kelly
5 Posted 22/06/2015 at 17:14:06
I thought there was a friendly at Goodison on 2nd August. We usually play a half-decent foreign side and I always bloody miss it due to holidays.
Craig Mills
6 Posted 22/06/2015 at 18:46:37
This will be a good run out and a real test a week before the season starts + living in Harrogate makes it all the better!!
Jim Bennings
7 Posted 22/06/2015 at 19:05:04
Good point Chris!

I actually read last week we are playing a friendly at Goodison on August 2 so you can only assume it will be a shadow squad at Elland Road, the likes of Browning, Galloway ect:

Jim Bennings
8 Posted 22/06/2015 at 19:08:05
Still can’t actually believe sometimes it’s 13 years since that "Rooney moment" and just remembering the sheer elation, madness and pandemonium when he scored that late winner, I don’t know if any other posters were there that day but some of the wildest celebrations I can remember.

I look back fondly of course and to look at Rooney now, he kind of feels like he should be older than he is, he’s been around for that bloody long. 13 years ago he was the kid, he was our product and we all felt so proud to have the player the rest of Europe wanted.

I know people say he will end up back with us one day but it just wouldn’t be the same for me, that raw hunger, the pace, the power, the amazement and almost fun we had watching seasoned muscle head defenders bounce off a kid that should have been in school.

Time goes too fast!

Colin Glassar
9 Posted 22/06/2015 at 19:41:26
Friendly between us and Leeds? No chance! I used to admire the Revie and O’Leary teams but their fans are a horrible, vicious lot, full of anger and venom. Went once to Elland road – never again.
Harold Matthews
10 Posted 22/06/2015 at 19:44:55
Might give this one a miss. Can’t stand the non-stop stupid chanting.
Dave Ganley
11 Posted 22/06/2015 at 20:08:05
Leeds, horrible place to go but semi in 95 makes it all worthwhile.

I do hope that we get some better pre-season opposition, I know we have the Singapore competition but if Stoke beat us (entirely possible) then Leeds, Dundee (we still playing them?) and Singapore are hardly great preparation for the new season.

Mike Powell
12 Posted 22/06/2015 at 20:19:51
Brings back bad memories... Elland Road – took a hiding there walking back to the station... or should I say running back to the station. There are good memories as well, like the Spurs semi-final, but yes it will be a tester for just before season starts. I’m looking forward to going there again.
Tony Abrahams
13 Posted 22/06/2015 at 20:36:32
I was sat in the same side stand for both them games, Jim. Once with Toffees and when Rooney scored I was in with Leeds fans.

Just sat there with a massive smile watching the travelling Blue Army go beserk.

The Leeds fans were fuming, but more because of the fact that they were on the slide. Everton were great that day and I heard a few Leeds fans giving us respect and saying we were going where they had just been.

Never quite worked out like that, but it never really does with Everton, DOES IT!?

Jim Bennings
14 Posted 22/06/2015 at 21:10:29
You’re right, Tony it never does quite go smoothly with Everton but it was a great day at Leeds for sure and, for a short while at least, it felt like EFC were being reborn by a bright new young manager back then in David Moyes. Certainly it was a breath of fresh air following Smith’s last season.
Tony Abrahams
15 Posted 22/06/2015 at 21:29:44
I hated Smith, just don’t understand how the man got some top jobs in football. He signed some decent players, but just seemed like a bit of a bully to me, who never really got Everton.

Tom Evans
16 Posted 22/06/2015 at 21:29:56
Plenty of mentions for 95 in the cup, but none that I can see for the last time I was there the 1980 cup semi.

Frank Snr. driving a nail through my heart with his late goal. That hurt more than his lads goal some 29 years later.

Eugene Kearney
17 Posted 22/06/2015 at 22:20:26
Hope Alan Clarke and Peter Lorimer won’t be playing!!!!
James Stewart
18 Posted 22/06/2015 at 22:47:20
@9 what a load of rubbish. I live in Leeds and it’s an amazing City with loyal fans. It isn’t the 70s anymore and it sounds like that was your last visit to Yorkshire from your tone.
Doug Harris
19 Posted 22/06/2015 at 22:53:13
Used to love the trip to Leeds, be it by train, coach or hitch hike... like we had to sometimes.

Never in total despair though we never won many, I seem to remember a good few games we drew and the travelling hordes from Goodison made it a very special day out.

Mark Andersson
20 Posted 23/06/2015 at 01:24:46
Warning to us all. Leeds United when I was a kid where a big club. So Martinez needs to get his shit together this season.
Dave Pritchard
23 Posted 23/06/2015 at 13:42:29
Think Ross lost more than £1k in value during last year.
Richard Farrington
24 Posted 23/06/2015 at 19:00:55
I was in the Kop in 94 in what was a must-win game for us in our relegation battle. First half, cross comes in, Rideout, 6 yards out, must score – my hands were already up in celebration and he skied it!! My identity was now out and boy did they make me suffer after that. We lost 3-0 and I’ve hated them ever since. My best mate is still a season ticket holder there and I have had since enjoyed many years of revenge.

Uwe Rossler can feck off as well, see following season away to Man City.

Peter Mills
25 Posted 23/06/2015 at 20:01:30
Mixed memories of going there. Saw Joe Royle’s fabulous diving header in 68-69 (we lost), a few other defeats, set off in thick fog from Gloucestershire in the late 70s, drove for 2 hours, gave it up as a bad job (think we lost 5-1 with Drew Brand in goal), another brilliant header from Big Bob in 1980 only for Lampard to do his corner flag jig.
But that semi against Spurs wiped the slate clean. What a day.
Dave Abrahams
26 Posted 24/06/2015 at 14:37:34
I remember one glorious sunny day, first game of the season, young and happy with thousands of blues. At half-time, nobody was happy: I was 14 and felt like I was 50, we were getting slaughtered 5-0. Ian Buchan had been appointed as coach/ manager, he had made the team get off the coach a couple of miles from the ground and run to the ground, stupid bastard. I've never seen them win there many times since....
Peter Mills
27 Posted 24/06/2015 at 18:01:05
Right, Dave (#26).

When I say I saw Joe Royle score there, I’ll ’ave you know I were 90 at the time. First time I went to Leeds I were only 3 month old, crawled all the way. Took me 4 years. 5-0 down at half-time? You were lucky. We only ’ad 2 players and were 4-0 down before kick off. We lost 49-0, I got chased on the way home by a tiger, and when I got home my dad nailed me to the roof of the shed. It were worth it.

Ray Roche
28 Posted 24/06/2015 at 18:14:14
Eeeeeee! I used to dream of being nailed to the roof of the shed....
Dave Abrahams
29 Posted 24/06/2015 at 20:41:41
Peter, that makes you about 135 years old, you’ve add over a million pound in pension money, bet your glad that tiger never killed you.
Guy Hastings
30 Posted 24/06/2015 at 21:01:55
Revie’s Leeds always reminds me of a great Bill Tidy cartoon - The Leeds bus parked by the pavement on their way to the ground; a player in a club suit is kicking an OAP on the floor. Revie’s saying to the rest of the team on the bus, ’Anyone else who can’t wait...?’
Keith Harrison
31 Posted 25/06/2015 at 08:10:51
Wooden shed? You were lucky!! Ars were meyd of old bits of lino that’ t local T-rex had re-gurgitated after eating the whole estate behind’t co-op. An ar school uniform were green shield stamps! But you try telling the young’ uns nowadays..........they just won’t believe yer!
Spragg Johnson
32 Posted 25/06/2015 at 08:42:24
Do any of your wives like sport? ... Or photography?
Keith Harrison
34 Posted 25/06/2015 at 18:36:41
Nudge ,nudge, know wot I mean guv, eh, eh??? Guy Hastings - class pal!
Paul Burns
35 Posted 27/06/2015 at 17:20:29
Some of the strangest posts I’ve ever read on here.

Why are people going on about the 1970s or yesteryear on here? We played Leeds in the Premier League as recently as 2004 and not much more than two years ago in the League Cup.

What’s Revie’s old team got to do with a friendly in 2015? Bizarre...


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