Leeds United fans celebrated outside their Elland Road stadium after their 16-year exile from the Premier League ended. It secured promotion from the second-tier Championship with two games to spare on Friday after West Bromwich lost to Huddersfield 2-1.
Marcelo Bielsa was filmed celebrating in a tracksuit with fans near his home.
“Our club, our fans and our players have sacrificed so much — we’ve been in the doldrums for 16 years,” Captain Liam Cooper said. “To be part of this team and to lead this team to promotion back to where we know we’ve always belonged is unbelievable.”
Leeds had won the last of its three English league titles in 1992 and it was a Champions League semi-finalist in 2001. A financial implosion led to Leeds being relegated from the Premier League in 2004. It was forced to sell all of its players and all other assets. It also had to sell the stadium academy.
Leeds appointed Bielsa in 2018, after he had spent seven years in charge of Argentina. He guided Argentina to Olympic gold in 2004, and runner-up spot in the Copa America in 2004.