Farke admits he'll be a 'fire beast' during promotion celebrations

Daniel Farke afforded himself a little smile in the press conference room at Elland Road as he saw Burnley take the lead against Sheffield United.

A minute later, an almighty roar came from inside the home changing room where the players were initially streaming the game and an hour or so later when Burnley's win was confirmed, the celebrations carried on in full flow in the Bremner Suite. 

Outside the ground, thousands gathered by the Bremner statue to celebrate promotion. Leeds United will play Premier League football next season. 

‘I normally celebrate with cake and coffee on the sofa. If there is something major to celebrate then believe me, I will be a fire beast. I will be the first on the table for sure,’ Farke had said earlier. There will be some sore heads in Leeds this morning, no doubt.

From the moment Joel Piroe scored in the sixth minute with the first of six Leeds goals, this was a promotion party that began shortly after three o’clock and went on long into the night.

Farke’s men played with joy and put on an exhibition for the packed-out crowd, who were never going to stop the West Yorkshire rain from putting a dampener on their big day.

Their team weren’t either. By half-time, a relentless Leeds were five goals up, with four courtesy of Piroe, who scored the quickest hat-trick in the clubs history. It ended six-nil but in reality, it should have been more.

‘How the lads have handled the last few weeks in the crunch period - the way they have performed, and their spirit is second to none,’ said Farke.

A run of just one win in six games had put his side out of the top two at the start of April but Leeds have won four on the trot since. With 89 goals and 94 points in 44 Championship games, they are the leagues entertainers and join Marcelo Bielsa’s side of 2019-20 as just the second Leeds team to win promotion to the Premier League.

Stoke came this game unbeaten in four but Mark Robins’ men were demolished. ‘It was a game we didn’t take part in. We just weren’t at the races,’ said Robins. ‘They (Leeds) are the best team in the league and they’ve got the best players without a doubt,’ he added.

Within the first ten minutes came the chants of ‘Leeds are going up’ and by the time Piroe completed a 14-minute hat-trick in the 20th minute, the contest was as good as done.

‘No Piroe, no party’ was next on the list for the jubilant Leeds fans and the party continued as Junior Firpo made it four before the half-hour mark. Piroe added his fourth just before half-time and Wilfried Gnonto added a sixth after the break.

A word too for Jayden Bogle, who signed from Sheffield United last summer and was a class apart at right-back.

Pre-match, Farke had called on everyone from the stewards to the groundsmen to be in full voice as Leeds had ‘the chance to create something really special’ and achieve promotion to the Premier League for the first time with supporters - when they went up in 2020, it was during the pandemic. ‘Elland Road had one of its best days.’ he said after. ‘This club without a doubt belongs to the Premier League,’ Farke insisted.

There was time late on too for the Leeds boss to give 16-year-old Harry Gray - brother of Archie and part of a family synonymous with this football club - his professional debut.

The spirit of this squad was encapsulated when Gray was urged on by his teammates to dance along to Kaiser Chiefs ‘I Predict A Riot’ as the Leeds players took it all in.

The day was made for it, said Farke. ‘But there are no gifts - he wasn’t on the pitch just because his last name is Gray.’

In the stands, Harry's great-uncle Eddie Gray was in tears.

‘If Harry scores, we’re on the p*ss,’ sang the home fans. He didn’t but on this of all days, there was nothing stopping anyone associated with Leeds United. The Promised Land awaits.