As St Patrick’s Day was celebrated this weekend, there have been lots of memorable moments for Leeds United stemming from their Irish contingent.
Leeds have enjoyed some incredibly moments and eras throughout the years, and a lot of them have come thanks to Irish players coming through the ranks.
Whether it’s from Don Revie’s Leeds, Howard Wilkinson’s side, David O’Leary’s or even Marcelo Bielsa’s side, there has been Irish representation all the way through.
Here, we look at some of the most iconic moments in the club’s history coming from Irish players…
Johnny Giles KO’s Keegan
Johnny Giles is remembered for a great deal more from his time at Elland Road, as part of the midfield pairing alongside Billy Bremner during Revie’s all conquering era at Leeds.
After winning the FA Cup in 1973/74, Leeds came into the Charity Shield in ’94 for a clash against Liverpool at Wembley.
In a typically feisty game, a key flashpoint between Billy Bremner, Giles, and Liverpool man Kevin Keegan brought an altercation between the latter two.
Giles then punched the Liverpool man:
Ian Harte’s free-kick v Deportivo
Ian Harte was known throughout his time mostly for his ability to strike a ball with his left foot, delivering crosses into the box and free-kicks into the top corner with supreme accuracy.
His best moment in a Leeds shirt came in the 2001 Champions League quarter-finals against Deportivo La Coruna.
Fine work from Alan Smith won Leeds a free-kick right in front of the Kop on the edge of the box with the score at 0-0 (0-2 to Deportivo on aggregate).
Harte shaped up and lashed in an unstoppable free-kick to put Leeds on their way to a memorable comeback to seal their place in the semi-finals.
Stuart Dallas’ brace v Man City
The most recent of the entries on this list annoyingly came without fans being present in the stadium for the biggest performance of Marcelo Bielsa’s time at Leeds.
A trip to Premier League champions-elect Manchester City was not one that anyone expected Leeds to come out of with any sort of result, especially with Liam Cooper sent off just before half time, however, that red card came with Leeds already one to the good at the Etihad thanks to a fine opener from Dallas.
Teed up by Patrick Bamford, Dallas fired across his body off the post and in to shock the league leaders.
Immense pressure in the second half brought a deserved equaliser from Pep Guardiola’s side, but Leeds and Dallas weren’t finished, as he broke away very late in the game to run through and slot under Ederson to give Leeds a historic win.
The only injustice here is that the away end behind Dallas’ second goal was not full of Leeds fans that would have erupted at that moment.
Liam Miller’s winner at Southampton
Sadly no longer with us, Liam Miller’s a player who is fondly remembered at Leeds for one moment in particular, during an away trip to Southampton back in November 2005.
The Saints raced into a three-goal lead at home before half-time, but Leeds staged an incredible comeback in the second half.
Goals from Paul Butler, Robbie Blake, and then David Healy from the spot brought Leeds amazingly back level at 3-3 with less than five minutes to play.
Peter Drury’s memorable commentary of “they wouldn’t dare win it, would they?” was followed by a fine strike from 12 yards by Miller to earn Leeds a huge win.
Gary Kelly’s strike v Wigan
Gary Kelly was never known for his brilliant goalscoring from full-back like Ian Harte was on the other side.
However, there is one goal that sticks out.
An FA Cup clash against Wigan in 2006 brought a thrilling match that may have ended with the Latics edging through on penalties, but the 3-3 draw was remembered for Kelly’s equaliser to send the game into extra time.
A corner was initially cleared and as it fell out of the air to Kelly 25 yards from goal, he shaped up to volley and sent a thunderous strike into the far corner, made even better by Bob Tappin’s commentary on Fanzone: