Chelsea and Leeds United’s rivalry explained

Highlights

• Chelsea and Leeds United’s rivalry can be traced back to the 1960s, with the two sides taking part in several brutal fixtures.
• The 1970 FA Cup final replay between the two sides is one of the most famous matches ever, with it being dubbed ‘the most brutal game’ in English football history.
• 108 meetings have taken place between the two clubs, with Leeds winning 40 games while Chelsea have won 38.

English football is littered with fierce rivalries from all corners. The likes of Liverpool vs Manchester United, Newcastle United vs Sunderland and Aston Villa vs Birmingham all come to the fore when discussing which teams are involved in blood-boiling contests – but, of course, there are many more.

One that typically gets swept under the rug is Chelsea vs Leeds United. Two stalwarts of English football who have both enjoyed their fair share of success over the years. When the words ‘rivalry’ and ‘Chelsea’ come to the fore, it’s the usual candidates Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur that are spoken about, but an entity as big as Chelsea Football Club have a litany of clubs that consider themselves as rivals.

Geographically speaking, the triumvirate of Fulham, Brentford and Queens Park Rangers should all be in the conversation – but they are affairs that often lack the bite and intensity to be deemed a rivalry, largely thanks to the gulf in quality and achievements. The ill-feeling between Leeds and Chelsea supporters transcends location, however.

Where the rivalry stems from

Animosity begins in the 1960s

On the surface, in the modern era at least, the match between the two has little to no relevance. In terms of location, they are some 207 miles apart and – at least recently – they have rarely even been in the same league. Since the Premier League’s inception in 1992, Chelsea are one of only six original clubs from the 20 inaugural teams who have not suffered relegation, while Leeds have spent the majority of the years since ’92 in the country’s second tier.

But the origin of their rivalry remains. Dating back to the 1960s, the feud was at its peak when neither side were plying their trade in the top flight – which was named the First Division at that time. With both trying their utmost to earn top division status, tensions were reaching boiling point.

Leeds boss Don Revie had built the Yorkshire-based outfit into a winning machine by the end of the decade, while Tommy Docherty, then Chelsea chief, had flipped the Stamford Bridge club’s fortunes on its head – but the up-and-coming growth of hooliganism at that time also coincided with the on-pitch battles between the two clubs and the fiery relationship grew exponentially with behaviour on the terraces becoming much more sinister.

And it’s fair to say that culture played its part in forging one of the fiercest rivalries on English soil as it became a battle between the north and south. Leeds was commonly known as an industrial working-class city. Contrary to that, Chelsea was seen as the ‘poster boy’ of London, representing the high life combined with the glitz and glamour of living in the big city. John King, writing for the New Statesmen, described the differences between the two.

“Leeds were portrayed as dour Yorkshiremen with a reputation for playing dirty. Chelsea, on the other hand, were the wide boys of London, dedicated followers of fashion. While Leeds were drinking tea and playing cards, Chelsea were out boozing and chasing girls [but] when it came to games between the two, however, war was declared.”

Their respective quests to get one over on one another realistically began in late 1963 as they both met as Division Two promotion prospects. Interestingly, it ended in a 2-2 draw, which perfectly poised their second meeting in January 1965 to be a juicy one – and that it was. In the freezing cold, the scything challenges emulated the conditions – harsh and brutal – with many players hobbling off with bloody shirts, shorts, and socks.

Nearing the end of the decade, both sides became established as two of the country’s best sides – which added extra spice to the contest. As such, their meetings came in the form of FA Cup and League Cup contests. The pair met three times in just over 17 days between September 20th 1969 and October 6th 1969, with one Division One game being played out as well as two League Cup ties. Tempers flared, names were put in the book and boots were flown.

The 1970 FA Cup final

The replay racked in plenty of viewers

The pinnacle of the competitiveness and controversy between the two spilled over during their 1970 FA Cup final – it’s the proclaimed genesis of the bitterness between the Blues and the Whites, with it being dubbed the “most brutal game” in the history of English football.

Ending in a draw, it really cemented the rivalry into both club’s mythologies – and it was only made worse when the two went head-to-head again in the replay at Old Trafford. With such barbaric scenes destined to arise, the affair in Manchester boasted a UK television audience of 28 million, duly making it the sixth-most watched television broadcast in British history.

The violence on display was unfathomable and the beauty of the football itself was stripped to its core. Jack Charlton kneed and headbutted Peter Osgood, Ian Hutchinson and Norman Hunter were embroiled in a physical fight and Eddie McCreadie all but flattened Billy Bremner with a kung-fu kick.

Its raw brutality is the stuff of the legend. Hugh Jennings, the man in the middle, let leniency get the better of him in the FA Cup final replay as he turned a blind eye to a number of naughty follow-throughs and reckless challenges. Sports journalist Hugh McIlvanney famously described how hard-hitting the tie was.

“At times, it appeared that Mr Jennings would give a free-kick only on production of a death certificate.”

The so-called Yorkshire grit crumbled when it mattered the most and Chelsea notched their first FA Cup win – but that only riled up those from the north even more. In 1997, referee David Elleray managed to sit, re-watch and review the match – and after 90 minutes of chaos, declared that – according to modern rules – Jennings should have issued six red cards and 20 yellows.

Memorable clashes between Chelsea and Leeds

Their 1984 clash resulted in post-match pitch invasions

The aforementioned clash aside, another one that encapsulates the bitterness between the two is their 1984 Division Two match that finished 5-0 in favour of the west Londoners. It had been 14 years since the two last clashed but, as they say, the absence made the feud grow in hatred with X-rated tackles and on-pitch brawls aplenty waiting in the wings.

As mentioned, the Blues were the winning party after thrashing the mid-table dwellers to clinch promotion back to the First Division. Amid the jubilation, a pitch invasion was prompted by both sets of fans and Leeds’ sole contribution came from their enraged match-goers, who trashed the north end’s new electric scoreboard.

An ill-tempered League Cup meeting between the two English clubs back in 2001 saw the now Premier League side progress by virtue of a 2-0 win – but, of course, the animosity between the two brewed over. The emphatic victory came at a devastating cost as Graeme Le Saux of Chelsea had to be stretchered off after being hit in the face by Leeds’ Alan Smith.

Chelsea and Leeds’ last six meetings

Leeds victorious in just one

The all-intense clashes between the pair have been few and far between in recent times – and its only thanks to Leeds’ three-season stint in the Premier League that they have butted heads relatively frequently since 5 December 2020. After a long-awaited eight years, Chelsea put a nail in the promotion-happy Leeds coffin with a 3-1 win courtesy of goals from Olivier Giroud, Kurt Zouma and Christian Pulisic. In the reverse fixture of that season, Elland Road erupted at the final whistle as they held the financially superior Chelsea to a 0-0 draw.

Finishing ninth in their first season in the Premier League was a boost of confidence that Leeds would’ve needed when facing the division’s top dogs – Chelsea included. That all came crashing down when Jorginho’s 94th-minute penalty sealed the victory for the Blues in their first meeting of the 2021/22 season. In the dying embers of that same campaign, a Thomas Tuchel-led Chelsea side ran rampant against Leeds with goals from Mason Mount, Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku securing a 3-0 win.

Most recently, before falling to relegation last term, Leeds managed to thump Chelsea 3-0 in front of a raucous home crowd. Compounded by a red card in the 84th minute, Jesse Marsch’s side sent shock waves throughout the top flight in August, but Chelsea repaid the favour in March with a slight 1-0 win. Their FA Cup clash offers them the chance to renew old rivalries, and with Mauricio Pochettino under pressure following the Blues’ Carabao Cup final loss, you can be certain that the encounter will be just as feisty as it always has been.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt or 11v11.