Tonight’s draw for the third round of the FA Cup threw up several local derbies, and the most enticing of all must be our all-Yorkshire clash with Harrogate Town, with the two clubs being only 15 miles apart.
Harrogate manager Simon Weaver was present at the draw, which took place at the Theatre of Nightmares and was televised live. As part of the interminable pre-draw waffle he was asked who he wanted to get drawn against, and rather unimaginatively he said he wanted to play Manchester United, ignoring the other big club much closer to home.
But he didn’t seem too displeased when his team eventually came out of the bag against little old us, in one of the last few ties to be drawn. Even though Leeds will be at home for only the second time since John Charles was a mere slip of a lad. Sadly for anyone hoping for a trip to Betty’s Tea Rooms, FA Cup replays are a thing of the past, so it will all be decided on the day.
And that day is likely to be Saturday 11th January with a 3pm kick-off, as TV coverage is probably unlikely. They tend to select the ties where the smaller club has been drawn at home to increase the chances of an upset, unless they go for a Man United game in a desperate attempt to boost viewing figures. But you never know.
Harrogate are currently 17th in League Two, and got this far by beating Wrexham in the first round and then avoiding a giant-killing as they overcame the mighty Gainsborough Trinity in round two. They have been regular opponents in pre-season friendly matches over the years, with Leeds winning 3-0 in July, but I think this will be the first time the clubs have met in a competitive fixture.
It remains to be seen what sort of team Daniel Farke will put out. I’m guessing it will include several of the squad’s fringe players, but with all our main men on the bench in case things go pear-shaped. Clearly the FA Cup isn’t going to be our priority this season with the financial necessity of getting back into the Premier League, but we don’t want the embarrassment of losing to a team two divisions below.
And how many fans will they be allowed to bring for their big day out? Under FA Cup rules were supposed to give them at least 15% of the tickets, but we might as well give them the whole of the south stand and south-east corner. When the away section was moved to the west stand it was said to have been for security reasons, but I can’t imagine any self-respecting Leeds hooligan getting out of bed for a fight with Harrogate.
In fact, this might be the friendliest local derby we’ve ever had. Social media tells me that our fans from in and around Harrogate also watched their local team as they grew up. In the days when Harrogate were a non-league club they probably thought there would never be a conflict of interest, with their two clubs having to play each other in a proper game.
But otherwise the number of Leeds fans wanting to go to the game might be a few down on the usual league attendance, so we could probably give our visitors a generous allocation and still accommodate all our fans who want to see the game.
But it doesn’t matter what I think. The club’s official website says that "Full confirmation of date, kick-off time and ticket information will follow in due course”, so let’s just wait for that with the very batest of bated breath.