WHEN they were preparing to play Valencia in the semi-final of the Champions League in 2001, Leeds United were a major club on the cusp of success on the greatest stage.
The painful fall from grace in the seven years since reached its nadir yesterday when, humiliatingly, the Yorkshire giants were knocked out of the FA Cup by Histon, a Blue Square Premier team representing a village five miles outside Cambridge with
a population of 4,450.
'Not bad for a village team', read one of the banners adorning a wet and wild Glassworld Stadium, where the home side defeated their illustrious opponents 1-0 in front of over four thousand fans to earn a third-round tie against Swansea City.
The conquerors of a once mighty club are no mugs, having progressed steadily through the English pyramid in recent years to occupy second place in the Blue Square Premier. Histon, though, have never been higher than they are now.
The question Leeds supporters will be asking is whether yesterday's humbling will mark the low point for a famous club struggling to arrest its decline. Leeds have fallen on hard times since reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2001. They have been relegated twice since then and are languishing in League One, the third tier in English football.
Should this morale-crushing FA Cup defeat contaminate their league form, Gary McAllister's men could conceivably be playing Histon in a League Two fixture next season.
McAllister, most probably, wouldn't be there is that happened. The former Scotland international midfielder has to carry the can for the what will go down as the most embarrassing result in the club's history.
Winners of the competition in 1972 and three times English champions, Leeds were defending their pride and reputation in Cambridgeshire. They had never lost to non-league
opposition in the cup before, but that record having been removed McAllister was forced to answer questions about his future. Questions about where the defeat stands in the club's long and proud history did not need answering: it will stand alone as the worst.
Forty-three league places divide the clubs, a smaller gap than existed when Leeds at the height of Don Revie's tenure were humbled by Colchester United in the same competition 27 years ago. But this defeat cuts deeper because it is marks the low point of an ongoing regression. There are no sign of this tanker beginning to turn.
Leeds were put in a position to be embarrassed yesterday, and Histon duly obliged. Worse still was the sound of McAllister having to defend his reign as a whole, rather than explaining an individual loss. These are grave times for the Elland Road club.
Beaten by Northampton Town on Tuesday in circumstances which posed questions of McAllister's squad, this defeat to Histon was another desperate experience. Leeds were unable to rise above the horrible conditions. Pouring rain swamped the pitch and aided Histon's cause.
When the occupation of the winning goal scorer is highlighted in match reports it's usually bad news for the losing team. It was postman Matthew Langston who delivered for Histon, heading the only goal of the game in the 39th minute.
Histon's clean sheet relied on two huge strokes of luck during a classic second half full of mud and frantic effort, Lubomir Michalik hitting the post and another effort being cleared off the line, but determination pulled them through when pressure came to bear.
McAllister knows his side are capable of beating teams like Histon with ease. On a better surface, they might have done that,. but Histon adapted to the elements and hung on desperately to their lead. For Leeds, the effort existed in abundance, but their clinical instinct did not.
ITV had to apologise to viewers after Leeds fans commandeered a pitchside microphone and began singing offensive chants which were heard on live television. "ITV are f****** s***", they sang. It was their own team who deserved the berating.
The full article contains 677 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
