Page 32 - We Are Premier League: LUFC Promotion YEP Special

60 i YORKSHIREEVENINGPOST www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk Saturday,July25,2020
WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE: LUFC SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
HEROES: Stuart Dallas, right, celebrates being champions of the Championship 2019-20 season with long­
time team-mates Luke Ayling and Liam Cooper, left, at Elland Road on Wednesday night, picture: tim goode/pa.
PROFILE
Joe Urquhart
O pc.urquhart@ipimcdia.co.uk
O @JoeUrquhart_
EVERYWHERE YOU glance in
Leeds United's title-winning
squad there is a romantic story
to tell.
Liam Cooper’s emergence
as club captain leading his
boyhood side to the Premier
League... Mateusz Klich’s
refusal to give up on his Elland
Road dream by forcing his
way offthe departure list two
pre-seasons ago... or Kalvin
Phillips’ deep-rooted trust
in Marcelo Bielsa’s process
meaningthathewillnowplay
top-flight football with the
Whites instead of last summers
suitors Aston Villa.
Stuart Dallas, though, has
a story ofhis own - one of
perseverance.
At 21, the Northern Irishman
was learning his trade as a
joiner while playing part-time
football in his home country
until Brentford came knocking
at his door.
It’s now been five years since
the Whites thought similar,
as they brought him to West
Yorkshire from West London
on an initial three-year deal.
It is testament to Dallas and
his abilities that he isjust one
ofahandfulstilltobeonthe
books at Elland Road from the
squad that hejoined on the day
ofhisarrival.
“It makes me appreciate
things much more, that I’ve
come from that side, it makes
me want to drive on and be
successful as a footballer,”
Dallas revealed lastyearofhis
late start in the professional
game.
Now 29, he is closing in on
200 appearances for Leeds,
sittingjust 10 away, with only
Cooper boasting more in the
current side.
Dallas won the Players’
Player of the Year award in
his debut season, and has
been handed the Player of the
Year gong for this term - both
I’ll never have
words to repay
himfor the way
he has improved
me over the last
couple ofyears.
For that, I will
always be
thankful
seriously impressive feats in
their own right.
He has seen a lot in his time
in LS11, some good and some
bad, but Bielsa’s arrival two
years ago was the start ofa
journey towards a Premier
^1*
Congratulations LUFC on securing
promotion back to the Premier League
Proud to be Official Energy
Partner of Leeds United
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