Leeds legend Gray laments minority’s ‘lack of dignity’ as relegation looms
Fans’ favourite Gray, a key member of Don Revie’s great side of the 1960s and 70s and twice Leeds manager, was left furious as the club’s darkest hour was marked by a mindless pitch invasion soon after Ipswich had equalised in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Elland Road.
Leeds now need a last-day miracle to survive with Hull’s 1-0 win at Cardiff leaving them with a nine-goal deficit to overturn at Derby.
Gray, 59, now a local radio pundit, looked on in horror as Leeds’ misery was compounded by a minority of fans who spilled on to the pitch before the final whistle and forced a 30-minute delay.
“It’s so disappointing and the really sad thing was the behaviour of a minority of supporters.
“If you’re going to go it would be nice to do so with a bit of dignity and they didn’t allow the club to do that.
“I did a phone-in after the game and fans were telling me they had been there with their kids hoping to see Gary Kelly’s presentation to thank him for 16 years’ service.
“But they were forced to leave the ground before seeing it because they were frightened. That’s the sad thing.
“The vast majority of fans let the minority know just how they felt about them and they have been terrific all season. Your heart goes out to them.
“Leeds will get back up, I’m sure of that, but you just don’t know how long it’s going to take them to get back to the top level again. Given the financial circumstances in the game now it’s going to be very hard.
“Those teams coming down from the Premiership over the next couple of seasons will have lots of money to help them get back up and we’ve got a fight on just getting back into the Championship.”
Gray does not agree with a large number of bitter Leeds fans who believe former chairman Peter Ridsdale is directly responsible for all today’s evils.
He added: “I don’t think so. You can’t blame it all on him. The club lost an awful lot of players following relegation from the Premiership.
“But it must be galling for them to see ex-players still playing in the Premiership. They were scoring all over the shop. Robbie Keane and Mark Viduka both scored yesterday. That’s disappointing. The club spent too much money, everyone knows that.
“But everybody knew when Leeds were challenging that the top four in England were dominating the game. Other clubs had to gamble if they wanted to break through and it has backfired.”
Gray is confident the fans will get behind Leeds next season, but how many at home games depended on how they did on the pitch.
“I don’t know if they’ll get 20,000, but they will get decent crowds.
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