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2022-23: The Nightmare of Relegation
A turbulent season, four managers and a final-day defeat to Tottenham brought Leeds United's three-year Premier League stay to an end as relegation was confirmed at Elland Road.
Overview
Leeds United's 2022-23 season ended with relegation from the Premier League after three seasons in the top flight (albeit only one of them being enjoyable!). A campaign of managerial changes, defensive problems and late-season uncertainty ended with a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road.
A season that never settled
Leeds began the season under Jesse Marsch, but the campaign eventually included four different managers: Marsch, Michael Skubala, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce. A statistic no Leeds fans wants to read is that this was the first and only time in the club's history that they employed four different managers in a single campaign. The Historical Archive records 44 matches across all competitions, with ten wins, 11 draws and 23 defeats.
The league campaign was even more stark. Leeds finished 19th with seven wins, ten draws, 21 defeats, 48 goals scored, 78 conceded and 31 points.
The warning signs
There were good moments. Leeds beat Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road and also produced a 5-2 FA Cup win over Cardiff City. Rodrigo finished as the club's Premier League top scorer with 13 goals.
But the consistency never arrived.
A 1-6 home defeat to Liverpool was one of the season's low points, and Leeds eventually went into the final day knowing that a result against Tottenham would be required to retain Premier League status.
The final day
Tottenham struck inside two minutes at Elland Road and never surrendered control. Pedro Porro's involvement created the opening for Harry Kane, before Spurs eventually won 4-1. Jack Harrison scored Leeds' only goal, but further Tottenham goals from Porro, Kane and Lucas Moura completed the result.
The defeat confirmed relegation.
Four managers, 31 points and a long summer
The final table placed Leeds 19th, behind Leicester City and Everton's survival line. The club later acknowledged that performances during the campaign had not been good enough and that relegation was a painful outcome after three seasons in the Premier League.
The challenge now was not simply to recover, but to rebuild.
Why 2022-23 belongs in Leeds United history
This was the season when the optimism of the Premier League return finally collapsed. Leeds had returned to the top flight in 2020 in style under the much-loved manager Bielsa, but after an amazing 9th placed finish in their first season back they only just surviving their second season - and then fell into a campaign that never established a stable direction.
One year later, the club would finish third in the Championship. But 2022-23 was the season that made the rebuild necessary.