16 May 1997
Mark Pearce witnesses the invasion of Washington D.C. by Leeds United fans

A Tribal Gathering

The nation’s capital had its first ever taste of football Premier League style in May when it experienced the MOALMUSA (Mother Of All List Meets USA), held by the North American branch of the Leeds United Supporters club. MOALM first started when members of the Leeds internet list gathered in London on the eve of their 1996 Coca Cola Cup Final fiasco. Since then they’ve been a regular occurrence, and the reason for this latest gathering was the presence of the men in white who were in town to take on DC United.

The team may have considered the tour as an end-of-season reward for setting a new Premiership record, scoring just 28 goals last season (a record low for a team that didn’t get relegated - beating the old record of 34, set by Sheffield Utd and Crystal Palace), but they still had something to prove after losing 2-1 earlier in the week to the Columbus Crew.

Not that this mattered much to the Leeds faithful who had traveled from all corners of the USA to attend the weekend’s festivities. The general feeling was that the game was going to be secondary to the real reason they were there, namely to drink, meet friends old and new, and drink some more.

The organizer of the entire event was the LUSC Branch President Mike Bellwood. Now a resident of Boston, Mike originally moved to Chicago from his beloved Leeds five years ago. His love for Leeds is matched only by his love of Tetley’s Bitter.

The idea to form a supporters group was first suggested in a Chicago bar back in 1992. Mike explained:

“There were about 25 of us in there watching a Leeds v Rangers European Cup tie. We lost the game but everyone was surprised at the turnout, so we decided to keep in touch and things have just grown from there.”

From the original 25 members, the club has grown to its current level of 109 in 27 different states, most of whom were in DC for the event. Membership costs $10.00 per season.

Many of the regulars fly back to Yorkshire to watch games and get tickets through the supporters club, which is officially recognized by Leeds United. Other benefits include regular newsletters, a video mailing list which offers US format English videos such as Match of the Day, and access to the LUSC facilities in Leeds.

Mike summed up the overall feeling by saying:

“Irrespective of the result, the chance to see Leeds play in the USA is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we are going to enjoy the get together.”

More beer was ordered and the number of fans began to grow. Reminiscing about the ‘good old days of the 70s’ mixed with poetic descriptions of Tetley’s Bitter seemed to be the main topics of discussion. Leeds form over the past few seasons seems to have instilled a pessimistic attitude into most of the fans we talked to. Mike described last season in one sentence:

“Leeds on a rare attack, one yard out, it must be - oh no (Rush/Deane/Wallace - name yer pick) has hit it wider.”

When the subject turned to Leeds managers the discussion heated up. Most felt that Wilkinson had served the club well but had to go when he started to ‘do a Thatcher’, and became bigger than the club itself. The mention of George Graham raised a mixed reaction. While some felt that he was doing a great job tightening up a leaky defense with limited finances, others look back on a season of nine 0-0 draws, some ineffective forays into the transfer market, and a generally unattractive style of play as proof to them that Graham doesn’t have what it takes.

When asked what they saw in store for Leeds this season, the general consensus of settling for mid-table obscurity reinforced the pessimistic attitude, although some like Mark Tuffey, who had traveled from Milwaukee, felt they would see a better side that would score more and concede about the same.

After finishing off another round of beers, the tribe headed off to the Embassy Suites which was to become the Tribe’s HQ for the weekend.

Shortly after arriving at the bar, the first strains of "We Are Leeds..." were met by a mixture of bemused looks and sounds of hotel guests scuttling off to their rooms for safety. An amusing sight considering not a single voice was raised in anger all weekend.

A major reason for the growth of the supporters club was credited to advances in technology, specifically the Internet. As Mike commented:

“We are fortunate to be living in a time where we can log onto a computer and get live commentary from games back home.”

Another internet disciple was Mark Smith, who now resides in San Jose. Mark helped set up the Leeds e-mail list.

“Like the supporters club itself, it started off small. About 5 years ago there was an internet newsgroup called rec.sports.soccer that I was sending messages about Leeds to. I started getting messages from other Leeds fans and before we realized, we had an unofficial list going. Eventually, a guy called Gavin Burnage took it over, put it on a proper server, and the official list was born. They now have about 400-500 subscribers worldwide.”

As more and more white shirts appeared, the noise level increased, and everyone leapt to their feet to join in as the chant of “Stand up, if you hate Man U” reverberated through the hotel as the New York contingent, led by lead singer Denchie, made their entrance.

Back at the bar, Rob and Erica Marshal, who had found their way to D.C. via the game in Columbus, were discussing the soccer scene in their hometown of Atlanta with another group from there.

“This is great, you travel all this way and meet up with some fellow Leeds fans who live in the same town as you who you've never met,” said Erica.

Rob expressed the emotions many feel about losing touch with the things (team) they most love at home.

“When I first moved to Atlanta it was particularly tough because there were so few Brits there. After the World Cup in Mexico though, a lot of people drifted into the area and never left. Now there is a huge foreign population and there are three bars that show the games via satellite.”

With vocal cords amply wetted with several beers, and kickoff time fast approaching, the crowd, which now numbered around one hundred and fifty, made its way noisily to RFK Stadium.

Inside the stadium, the DC ticketing office had put the Leeds fans in the section next to the DC Screaming Eagles, which made for a great atmosphere, even if it did put the stadium security and police into a mild state of panic. The reputation of English fans abroad had obviously reached the police here, as an officer nervously fondled his gun holster as the tribe poured to the front of the section.

The game itself was a bit of an anti-climax. As expected, Leeds were solid at the back, but apart from the goal scored by Lilley, they offered very little up front. The lack of action on the pitch didn’t deter the fans who are used to this and spent most of the game entertaining themselves by drinking more beer and heaping abuse on the DC section.

As the beer continued to flow into the second half, the chanting intensified as the Leeds contingent was swelled by Brits sporting Arsenal, Celtic, West Ham, and Newcastle shirts. The chants of “Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land” mixed in with “We’ve got real beer in England” and the favorite directed at the DC Mascot, “Get your beak out for the lads” grew louder as the game progressed.

Even the 80th-minute equalizer by a DC team, that was by now basically their reserve side, failed to dampen the spirits and the singing continued well past the final whistle.

After the game, the drinking continued well into the early hours at various establishments throughout the city. The talk quickly drifted from the evening game back to happier times and heated discussions about the greatest-ever Leeds players.

Leeds fans interested in joining up with the Supporters Club can contact Mike Bellwood.