On this day 19 years ago, Leeds United ended Arsenal’s hopes of retaining the Premier League title with a 3-2 win at Highbury. Mark Viduka’s 88th-minute winner helped the Whites confirm their Premier League survival while ruining the Gunners’ hopes on their own patch.
Jesse Marsch will be hoping that the class of 2022 can recreate a similar performance and result when his side make the trip to the Emirates on Sunday. The game on May 4, 2003 was the last time Leeds beat Arsenal, an 11-game winless run the visitors will be desperate to end at the weekend.
On the day, a sensational finish from Harry Kewell inside five minutes left David Seaman with no chance and put Leeds in front. Although, 25 minutes later, the hosts were back on level terms as Thierry Henry headed in from point-blank range after Paul Robinson had tipped Ray Parlour’s effort onto the post.
Leeds restored their lead early in the second half as Ian Harte’s whipped free kick evaded everyone in the penalty area and found its way into the bottom corner. Once again though, Arsenal got level, this time through Dennis Bergkamp who had a simple finish after being picked out by Robert Pires inside the six-yard box.
There was still time for someone to make themselves a hero and, after a late strike from Henry hit the base of the post, Viduka ensured his side would be travelling back North with all three points. The Whites striker, who looked several yards offside, beat the Arsenal defence before bending a shot beyond Seaman and into the back of the net.
We have taken a look at the Leeds players who played at Highbury that day and explored what they did since leaving the club and what they are doing now.
Paul Robinson
A Leeds academy graduate, like many others in this team, the 2002/03 campaign was Paul Robinson’s penultimate at the club before he left for Tottenham in 2004. He retired in 2017 after a spell at Burnley where he was never first choice and went into the media where he’s been a pundit for a number of Premier League games.
He is often one of the guests on Sky Sports News’ ‘The Football Show’ which airs on weekdays between 10am and 12pm. The 42-year-old also contributes to a regular Leeds column.
Danny Mills
Danny Mills has followed a similar post-playing career path to his former goalkeeper after calling time after 14 years at the professional level in 2008. Alongside media work, mostly with BBC Radio Five Live, he has raised lot of money for charity work after his son, Archie, died with spina bifida in 2002.
Michael Duberry
When he left Leeds in 2005, Michael Duberry slowly made his way down the leagues before retiring eight years later. He didn’t take the traditional path of coaching or media work afterwards, he instead founded ‘Made Leaders’, a company which sets out to develop people and companies in the business world.
Lucas Radebe
Lucas Radebe is very much a legend at Elland Road and he returns to West Yorkshire whenever he gets the chance. He often appears in the media covering Leeds and also runs the Lucas Radebe Management Company which looks after personal projects.
Ian Harte
After making 280 appearances for Leeds, Ian Harte made the surprising move of joining Levante in 2004. He returned to England a few years later and hung up his boots in 2015.
Since then, he has become a football agent with Sports Management International (SMI), an agency responsible for plenty of England and Scotland’s best young players.
Gary Kelly
Following a career spent exclusively at Leeds, Gary Kelly retired in 2007. He returned to his native Ireland afterwards and opened a gym in Drogheda in 2016 which he runs with other members of his family.
Dominic Matteo
Matteo left Leeds in 2004 and retired five years later after spells with Blackburn and Stoke. With the latter, he underwent the relevant training to become a UEFA-recognised coach.
He became a Football Ambassador for Leeds in 2013 but left a year later when Massimo Cellino took over at Elland Road. After being diagnosed with having a brain tumour, Matteo had surgery in November 2019 and, thankfully, fully recovered six months later.
Eirik Bakke
As a result of the financial problems that affected Leeds throughout the noughties, Eirik Bakke eventually left in 2006. He returned to his native Norway where he played until 2012 before taking over as manager at his home town club, Sogndal, in 2015.
He was in charge for six years before leaving the role last year. His son, who plays for Sogndal, harbours dreams of playing for Leeds one day, a move that would be very welcome among supporters that remember his father’s services to the club.
Jason Wilcox
Jason Wilcox’s playing career was brought to an end in 2006, just two years after he left Leeds for Leicester. He has enjoyed plenty of success since then, playing a key role in the development of Manchester City’s academy.
After spending time as manager of a few of the club’s different youth teams, he earned a promotion to become academy director in 2017. City continue to promote some of the country’s most talented young players to the first team under Wilcox’s leadership.
Harry Kewell
Scorer of a brilliant goal at Highbury in that game, Harry Kewell was a much-loved member of the Leeds squad. Although, his relationship with the club’s fans soured when he joined Galatasaray in 2008.
After retiring, in 2014, he has returned to English football as a manager but after spells with Crawley, Notts County, Oldham and Barnet, he has been unable to make the step up to a side in the top divisions. His time at Barnet at the beginning of this season lasted just seven matches after the Bees lost five and drew two during his time there.
Mark Viduka
The other Australian cult hero from that team, Mark Viduka, retired from playing in 2009 following spells in the North-east with Newcastle and Middlesbrough. His post-playing story is the most exciting, and unusual, as he moved to Zagreb where he owns and runs a coffee shop.
He turned to the quiet life in the last few years after admitted to hating all the politics that came with being involved with professional football.
