The Judas Who Wasn’t
8 May 2004
As the full time whistle was blown, an agonising doom descended upon Elland Road. That was the gong of Relegation from the Premier League. A 14 year top flight run was ended.
A 24 year old Leeds player kissed his badge and completely broken down on the pitch. He was set to be sold, with Leeds needing urgent money to have any chances to avoid financial implosion.
But, this was no ordinary player. This was a hometown boy who grew through the ranks, an extremely talented player who displayed great versatility who bled his heart out every time he stepped out on the pitch, and who didn’t mind going full blooded into a 50–50 challenge against Roy Keane!
This was Alan Smith, Mr. Leeds United! And, he had played his last match in front of his people. Even in their great agony, the fans started flowing out onto the pitch to celebrate their hero. Half the Don Revie stand emptied to be with their departing hero.
A few days later, the same most cherished hero, Alan Smith had committed the cardinal sin by joining their bitter rivals Manchester United, a club he said he would never play for.
While most modern football fans aren’t aware of it, Leeds United and Manchester United share a rivalry that goes beyond football, beyond industrial revolution, to the time of some of the most bitter wars ever fought on English soil.
The teams that Matt Busby and Don Revie built through fought some of the ugliest games, with Denis Law and Jack Charlton punching each other in an FA Cup Semi Final. The fights between the hooligan squads of the two clubs were among the dirtiest. To this day, Leeds United remain Manchester United’s biggest rivals after Liverpool.
His action of joining Manchester United was seen as a great betrayal by many fans, and he turned from hero to JUDAS!
He joined Manchester United to great fanfare among their fans, and for right reasons. Everytime he stepped out onto the pitch, he gave the club his all. Fans adored him, his teammates appreciated him. Having started his career as a striker, he was so versatile, Sir Alex Ferguson was grooming him to become the next Roy Keane, before injuries ravaged his career.
He was so moved by the supporters that he kissed the Man United badge at Old Trafford, a move that confirmed the Leeds United fans’ opinion of him being Judas. Except, he wasn’t!
For years, he lived with the taunts of being Judas silently. He never spoke a word. It was only five years later that another Leeds legend, Peter Lorimer revealed the truth. It wasn’t Alan Smith who wanted to go to Manchester United. It was the only option Leeds United would accept. United were the only club that was willing to pay the full transfer fee upfront.
The options were very simple: either Alan Smith takes the bitter pill and joins Manchester United or Leeds United go bankrupt. So he did what he could, to save his boyhood club, and he went about it silently suffering the ignominy.
He wasn’t their Judas, he was their Sin Eater!
