Leeds United U23s’ record crowd against Manchester City is bigger than Brentford, Burnley and Watford’s average attendance in the Premier League this season. A staggering 21,321 Whites fans flocked to Elland Road to watch Andrew Taylor’s youngsters lose on Friday night - the largest figure in Premier League 2 history.
Astonishingly, almost 5,000 more supporters watched Leeds’ second string than what Brentford have attracted in the top flight. All but five Championship clubs also average lower than the Whites’ youth team drew in against City.
In fact, West Brom (21,783) and Middlesbrough (21,777) place fourth and fifth on the list of largest crowds in the second division in 2021-22 - a measly 500 ahead of Leeds U23s. Only Sunderland (30,660) boast a significantly bigger attendance, with Sheffield Wednesday (21,973) and Ipswich (21,587) narrowly ahead. All other League One and League Two clubs fall way behind the record-breaking crowd on Friday.
After the match, U23s boss Andrew Taylor was blown away by the support shown to his side. “You think you’ve seen a lot in football over the years,” he said. "That to me is incredible, over 20,000 for an under-23 game on a Friday night.
“It epitomises this club really and since I’ve been here I’ve been astonished every other week. I was speaking to their manager before the game, and he said, ‘why are there so many fans here, what’s the occasion?’, ‘Just because we put it out there and said come along and they come’.
“He was astounded and that’s the manager of the Man City 23s. It’s a great experience for the lads and they sort of experience first-team football but in our control.”
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