Everything That's Happened to Leeds During Their 16-Year Premier League Absence

Leeds' promotion to the Premier League was confirmed on Friday evening after second place West Brom slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Huddersfield – and their title was confirmed the following afternoon when Brentford lost to Stoke.

The Yorkshire side have been one of the biggest sleeping giants in English football over the past two decades, having been entirely absent from the top flight since their 2004 relegation.

It was quite a culture shock for Leeds, who had been Champions League semi-finalists in 2001. Just three years later, they were rubbing shoulders with Gillingham, Plymouth and Crewe Alexander.

While this season has been one to remember, the Whites' long awaited return to the Premier League has been 16 turbulent years in the making. Let's take a look at their highs and lows.

They Almost Bounced Back at the Second Time of Asking

While Leeds' first season in the Championship was geared towards survival due to the huge financial problems at the club, Kevin Blackwell's side had promotion in their sights come the 2005/06 season.

The Whites had been right in the mix for automatic promotion, but suffered a dip of form towards the end of the season and had to settle for a playoff place. Spoiler alert, this may become a well-worn narrative.

Leeds overcame Preston over two legs to reach the playoff final, and were one win away from returning to the big time after just two years away. However, in what turned out to be quite the Sliding Doors moment, they slipped to a 3-0 defeat to Watford, and an exhaustive Premier League absence ensued.

They Were Relegated to League One

Less than a year on from their playoff final defeat, Leeds finished rock bottom of the Championship.

The 2006/07 season was a pretty miserable one for the Yorkshire outfit and, after losing 5-1 to Luton in October, they remained in the relegation places for the rest of the campaign.

Blackwell lost his job in September and was briefly replaced by John Carver, before Dennis Wise got the job permanently in October. A 10-point deduction sealed their fate (although they still would have been relegated regardless) and come August 2007, Leeds were playing third tier football for the first time in their history. Their glorious 2006/07 campaign birthed the term Doing a Leeds.

They Had 25 Points Deducted

Leeds were slapped with a 10-point penalty at the back end of the 2006/07 season after entering voluntary administration. The club owed HMRC £6m, and had they not gone into administration, they would have entered liquidation.

They were then dealt a 15-point deduction ahead of their inaugural League One campaign after failing to pay off an acceptable amount of their debts to creditors.

They Spent Three Seasons in League One

Despite their 15-point deduction weighing them down, Leeds finished fifth in League One during the 2007/08 season.

They beat Carlisle in the playoff semi finals but suffered a 1-0 loss to Doncaster in the final at Wembley. Had it not been for their 15-point deduction, they would have earned automatic promotion.

There was more playoff heartache the following season as Leeds finished fourth but crashed out to Millwall in the semi finals.

Championship football was finally secured during the 2009/10 campaign, as Jermaine Beckford's 25 league goals fired Leeds to automatic promotion.

They Lost to Histon in the FA Cup

Leeds were drawn against Histon in the 2008/09 FA Cup second round.

The National League side are based in the twin villages of Histon and Impington, which have a combined population of 8,500. When Leeds were playing Valencia in the 2001 Champions League semi finals, Histon were playing Spalding United, Tonbridge Angels and Wisbech Town in the Southern Football League Eastern Division - the eighth tier of English football.

Histon beat Leeds 1-0.

They Knocked Manchester United Out of the FA Cup

A little over a year on from their Histon nightmare, Leeds beat their great rivals Manchester United in the 2009/10 FA Cup third round.

Leeds were still a third tier side at the time, with 42 league places separating the two sides at kickoff.

But Jermaine Beckford pounced in the first half to cooly slot home past Tomas Kuszczak and give the Yorkshire side a famous victory.

They Have Had 18 Separate Managers In Charge

Fifteen permanent managers and four fellas in temporary charge - with Neil Redfearn completing both of those duties on four separate occasions.

The highs? Simon Grayson and his all out attacking side that won promotion from League and beat Manchester United, while Garry Monk gave it his best before running out of steam at the end of the season.

The lows? Slovenian Darko Milanič lasted a full one month and two days in the Elland Road hot seat in 2014, equaling the effort of David Hockaday's six games in charge at the end of the previous campaign. Neither Uwe Rosler or Paul Heckingbottom could muster more than 20 games in charge, while Steve Evans was, you know, Steve Evans.

They Have Had Four Different Chairmen

Financial struggled have dogged Leeds since their relegation from the Premier League. The Universally unpopular Ken Bates owned the club between 2005 and 2012, overseeing a relegation, an administration and the sacking of the widely popular Simon Grayson.

Salah Nooruddin took over in 2013, before the notorious Massimo Cellino became the majority shareholder the following year.

In an eventful four years in charge, Cellino was responsible for sacking Brian McDermott just 30 minutes after star striker Ross McCormack had pledged his future to the club and support for manager McDermott live on Sky Sports.

In January 2017, Andrea Radrizzan purchased the club, and he appointed Marcelo Bielsa as manager ahead of the 2018/19 season.

They Choked in 2018/19

After years in the wilderness, Marcelo Bielsa assembled a Leeds squad fit for promotion during the 2018/19 campaign, and they came oh so close. Twice.

After a fantastic campaign, Leeds required ten points from their final four games to seal promotion back to the big time. They took one point.

Sheffield United grabbed the final automatic promotion spot, leaving momentum-less Leeds in the playoffs.

However, they appeared to have got over their end of season slump after a 1-0 win at Derby in the semi final first leg. They then extended their aggregate lead to 2-0 inside the opening half an hour at Elland Road in the second leg, but ended up capitulating in the second half and losing 4-2, crashing out 4-3 on aggregate.

They Finally Did it in 2019/20

There were rumbles of Leeds stumbling again after a brief mid season stutter, but then Kalvin Phillips returned and order was restored.

Eventually not even coronavirus could prevent the Whites from booking their place back in the top flight, and their promotion was confirmed with two games left to play.