David Watkins

Leeds United, Deja Vu David Watkins

The latest offering from David Watkins documenting his travels following Leeds United as they struggle to get back to the top tier of English football. This book covers the 2012/2013 season, a season that in many ways was so similar to the previous one. It began with the optimism and belief that new manager Neil Warnock would achieve the 8th promotion of his career and put Leeds back to where they belong, in the Premiership.

But against a background of cash flow problems for the club, a change of ownership, and a consequent lack of a few quality players, Warnock's reign ended on April Fools' Day, with Leeds closer to relegation than promotion. The book covers all 55 competitive games, including the memorable League and FA Cup runs that saw Leeds beat the likes of Southampton, Everton, and Spurs.

The author was present at all bar one of the games - he only missed the game at Cardiff while enjoying a family holiday in the USA. It is ultimately a tale of frustration as the team just lacked a few quality players who could have turned a few close games in Leeds' favour, but there are laughs as well as tears along the way as he describes what it is like to follow one of the best supported clubs in the country. At the end of it all, there was a sense of déjà vu about everything that happened this season.