# 2012–13 Leeds United F.C. season

The 2012–13 season was Leeds United's third consecutive season in the Championship, which saw a minor flirtation with the play-offs and later with relegation, but ended with a mid-table finish.

## Season summary

The manager's office was vacated in April by Neil Warnock after his promise of promotion appeared dead in the water, and the club actually on the fringes of the relegation battle. The club officials relieved him of his duties and after a brief period with caretaker manager Neil Redfearn in charge, appointed Brian McDermott as the club's eight manager in ten years. Pre-season saw a big change in the playing staff with no more than ten players departing Elland Road and twelve players brought in. New signing Lee Peltier became club captain after existing leader Robert Snodgrass departed for Norwich City in the summer and was joined in the winter by fan favourite Luciano Becchio – both transfers much to the chagrin of the supporters. With Becchio gone, the club's top scorers were last year's star Ross McCormack with eight goals and controversial winger El Hadji Diouf with seven who Warnock picked up on a free transfer at the start of the season. Academy product Sam Byram would be the surprise of the season making his debut in the first game of the year and going on to scoop all the major awards at both the official, supporters' and Yorkshire Post's Player of the Year Awards. Other youngsters to take the field included Dominic Poleon who managed two goals and Chris Dawson who has since been awarded a three-year professional contract.
The talk of the season though was undoubtedly the protracted takeover of the club. The eight month, £52m takeover by Bahrain based GFH Capital saw the investment bank secure 100% shares of the club's parent company with four of its party joining the board of directors. In March, GFH would sell a 10% stake to the International Investment Bank and announced the company were looking for additional investors to boost the club's finances. The takeover would seemingly inject morale into the supporters with the club's short term finances secured and higher value incoming transfers promised. GFH deputy-CEO David Haigh become the public face for the boardroom with departing chairman Ken Bates taking a step back with a promise of the title club president secured for the end of the season.

## Events

This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2012–13 season, presented in chronological order, starting on 29 April 2012 and ending on the final day of the club's final match in the 2012–13 season. This list does not include transfers or new contracts, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the matches section.

### November

* 21 November: Middle East-based private equity group GFH Capital finalise a deal for a protracted takeover of Leeds.

### December

* 21 December: GFH Capital officially become the new owners of Leeds after completing a takeover of the club.

### January

* 24 January: Longest serving player and top goalscorer, Luciano Becchio, hands in a transfer request.

### April

* 1 April: After a 1–2 home loss to Derby County, Manager Neil Warnock departs from Leeds United.
* 12 April: Leeds United appoint Brian McDermott as new manager.

### May

* 4 May: Leeds United end the 2012–13 Championship season 13th, 7 points behind the playoffs and 7 points above the relegation zone.

## Competitions
### Overall summary

| Competition | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| Football League Championship | — | 13th | 18 August 2012 | 4 May 2013 |
| League Cup | First round | Quarter-finals | 11 August 2012 | 19 December 2012 |
| FA Cup | Third round | Fifth round | 5 January 2013 | 17 February 2013 |
Updated to match played 4 May 2013 Source: Competitions

### Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 11 | Burnley | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 62 | 60 | +2 | 61 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 46 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 63 | 69 | −6 | 61 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 57 | 66 | −9 | 61 |
| 14 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 60 |
| 15 | Blackpool | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 62 | 63 | −1 | 59 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 4 May 2013. Source: The Football League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | W | D | L | L | W | W | D | W | D | D | L | D | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | L | W | D | W | D | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | L | W |
| Position | 5 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 13 |
Win  Draw  Loss  Void

#### Matches
### League Cup
## First-team squad
### Squad information

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Since | App | Goals | Ends | Transfer fee |
| 1 | GK | Paddy Kenny | 34 | 2012 | 47 | 0 | 2015 | £400,000 |
| 2 | DF | Lee Peltier | 26 | 2012 | 48 | 0 | 2015 | £800,000 |
| 3 | DF | Adam Drury | 34 | 2012 | 15 | 0 | 2014 | Free |
| 4 | DF | Tom Lees | 22 | 2008 | 93 | 4 | 2016 | Youth system |
| 5 | DF | Jason Pearce | 25 | 2012 | 41 | 0 | 2016 | £500,000 |
| 6 | DF | Patrick Kisnorbo $^1$ | 32 | 2009 | 58 | 1 | 2013 | Free |
| 7 | MF | Paul Green | 30 | 2012 | 36 | 4 | 2014 | Free |
| 8 | MF | Rodolph Austin | 27 | 2012 | 38 | 4 | 2015 | £300,000 |
| 9 | FW | Steve Morison | 29 | 2013 | 16 | 3 | 2016 | PX |
| 11 | MF | Luke Varney | 30 | 2012 | 39 | 6 | 2014 | £300,000 |
| 12 | GK | Jamie Ashdown | 30 | 2012 | 8 | 0 | 2014 | Free |
| 14 | DF | Aidan White | 21 | 2008 | 98 | 2 | 2015 | Youth system |
| 15 | DF | Stephen Warnock | 31 | 2013 | 17 | 1 | 2015 | Free |
| 17 | MF | Michael Brown | 36 | 2011 | 60 | 2 | 2014 | Free |
| 18 | MF | Michael Tonge | 30 | 2012 | 39 | 5 | 2015 | £200,000 |
| 19 | MF | David Norris | 32 | 2012 | 34 | 4 | 2015 | Free |
| 21 | FW | El-Hadji Diouf | 32 | 2012 | 45 | 7 | 2014 | Free |
| 22 | FW | Habib Habibou $^2$ | 26 | 2013 | 4 | 0 | 2013 | N/A |
| 23 | DF | Zac Thompson | 20 | 2011 | 11 | 0 | 2015 | Free |
| 25 | DF | Sam Byram | 19 | 2012 | 53 | 4 | 2016 | Youth system |
| 26 | FW | Dominic Poleon | 19 | 2010 | 8 | 2 | 2015 | Youth system |
| 27 | MF | Sanchez Payne | 20 | 2010 | 0 | 0 | 2013 | Youth system |
| 28 | FW | Davide Somma | 28 | 2009 | 40 | 13 | 2013 | Free |
| 30 | MF | Ryan Hall | 25 | 2012 | 8 | 0 | 2015 | £150,000 |
| 32 | MF | Chris Dawson | 18 | 2012 | 1 | 0 | 2016 | Youth system |
| 33 | GK | Alex Cairns | 20 | 2011 | 1 | 0 | 2014 | Youth system |
| 34 | DF | Ross Killock | 18 | 2012 | 0 | 0 | 2014 | Youth system |
| 44 | FW | Ross McCormack | 26 | 2010 | 108 | 29 | 2015 | £350,000 |
| 55 | MF | Simon Lenighan | 18 | 2012 | 0 | 0 | 2014 | Youth system |
| — | DF | Leigh Bromby | 32 | 2009 | 62 | 1 | 2013 | £250,000 |
| — | DF | Charlie Taylor $^3$ | 19 | 2011 | 4 | 0 | 2014 | Youth system |
| Players who have been available for selection this season, but have now permanently left the club: |||||||||||
| 9 | MF | Jerome Thomas | 30 | 2012 | 7 | 1 | Jan 2013 | N/A |
| 10 | FW | Luciano Becchio | 29 | 2008 | 221 | 86 | 2014 | £300,000 |
| 15 | DF | Alan Tate | 30 | 2012 | 11 | 0 | Jan 2013 | N/A |
| 20 | FW | Andy Gray | 35 | 2012 1995 | 38 | 1 | 2013 1998 | Free YS |
| 20 | MF | Ross Barkley | 19 | 2013 | 4 | 0 | Feb 2013 | N/A |
| 22 | MF | Robbie Rogers | 25 | 2012 | 4 | 0 | 2013 | Free |
| — | MF | Ramón Núñez | 27 | 2010 | 25 | 5 | 2015 | Free |
* Last updated: 8 April 2014
* Source: Wikipedia players' articles,
* Ordered by Squad Number.
Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in the Championship (and playoffs), League One (and playoffs), FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy. $^1$On loan at Ipswich Town $^2$On loan from SV Zulte Waregem $^3$Currently on loan at Inverness CT

### Transfer-listed players

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Since | App | Goals | Ends | Transfer fee |
| 16 | MF | Danny Pugh$^1$ $^2$ | 30 | 2011 2004 | 98 | 8 | 2014 2006 | £500,000 PX |
| 24 | DF | Paul Connolly$^3$ | 29 | 2010 | 63 | 0 | 2013 | Free |
| 31 | GK | Paul Rachubka $^4$ | 31 | 2011 | 7 | 0 | 2013 | Free |
* Last updated: 2 May 2012
* Source: Wikipedia players' articles,
* Ordered by Squad number.
Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in the Championship (and playoffs), League One (and playoffs), FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy. $^1$Player made fifty eight appearances (scoring six goals) for the club during his first spell at the club $^2$Player is currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday $^3$Player is currently on loan at Preston North End $^4$Player is currently on loan at Accrington Stanley

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving from | Type | Transfer window | Ends | Transfer fee |
| 5 | DF | Jason Pearce | 24 | EU | Portsmouth | Transfer | Summer | 2016 | £500,000 |
| 3 | DF | Adam Drury | 33 | EU | Norwich City | Transfer | Summer | 2014 | Free |
| 7 | MF | Paul Green | 29 | EU | Derby County | Transfer | Summer | 2014 | Free |
| 1 | GK | Paddy Kenny | 34 | EU | Queens Park Rangers | Transfer | Summer | 2015 | £400,000 |
| 20 | FW | Andy Gray | 34 | EU | Barnsley | Transfer | Summer | 2013 | Free |
| 12 | GK | Jamie Ashdown | 31 | EU | Portsmouth | Transfer | Summer | 2014 | Free |
| 11 | MF | Luke Varney | 29 | EU | Portsmouth | Transfer | Summer | 2014 | £300,000 |
| 19 | MF | David Norris | 31 | EU | Portsmouth | Transfer | Summer | 2015 | Free |
| 8 | MF | Rodolph Austin | 27 | Non-EU | Brann | Transfer | Summer | 2015 | £300,000 |
| 2 | DF | Lee Peltier | 25 | EU | Leicester City | Transfer | Summer | 2015 | £800,000 |
| 21 | FW | El-Hadji Diouf | 31 | Non-EU | Doncaster Rovers | Transfer | Summer | Jan 2013 | Free |
| 18 | MF | Michael Tonge | 29 | EU | Stoke City | Loan | Summer | 23 December 2012 | — |
| 30 | MF | Ryan Hall | 24 | EU | Southend United | Loan | Summer | Jan 2013 | — |
| 15 | DF | Alan Tate | 30 | EU | Swansea City | Loan | Summer | 26 January 2013 | — |
| 9 | MF | Jerome Thomas | 29 | EU | West Bromwich Albion | Loan | Summer | 2 January 2013 | — |
| 30 | MF | Ryan Hall | 24 | EU | Southend United | Transfer | Winter | 2015 | £150,000 |
| 18 | MF | Michael Tonge | 29 | EU | Stoke City | Transfer | Winter | 2015 | £200,000 |
| 20 | MF | Ross Barkley | 19 | EU | Everton | Loan | Winter | 12 February 2013 | — |
| 9 | FW | Steve Morison | 29 | EU | Norwich City | Transfer | Winter | 2016 | Player Exchange |
| 15 | DF | Stephen Warnock | 31 | EU | Aston Villa | Transfer | Winter | 2015 | Free |
| 22 | FW | Habib Habibou | 25 | Non-EU | Zulte Waregem | Loan | Winter | May 2013 | — |

### Out

| N | P | Name | Age | Type | Moving to | Transfer window | Transfer fee | Apps | Goals |
| 4 | DF | Alex Bruce | 27 | Out of contract | Hull City | Summer | n/a | 31 | 4 |
| 11 | MF | Lloyd Sam | 27 | Out of contract | New York Red Bulls | Summer | n/a | 39 | 3 |
| 18 | FW | Mikael Forssell | 31 | Out of contract | HJK | Summer | n/a | 17 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | Danny Webber | 30 | Out of contract | Doncaster Rovers | Summer | n/a | 13 | 1 |
| 24 | GK | Maik Taylor | 40 | Out of contract | Millwall | Summer | n/a | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Adam Clayton | 23 | Transfer | Huddersfield Town | Summer | £500,000 | 49 | 6 |
| 1 | GK | Andy Lonergan | 28 | Transfer | Bolton Wanderers | Summer | £300,000 | 38 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Robert Snodgrass | 24 | Transfer | Norwich City | Summer | £3,000,000 | 190 | 41 |
| 5 | DF | Andy O'Brien | 33 | Transfer | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Summer | Free | 38 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | Billy Paynter | 28 | Transfer | Doncaster Rovers | Summer | Free | 28 | 3 |
| 24 | DF | Paul Connolly | 28 | One month Loan | Portsmouth | Summer | n/a | 63 | 0 |
| — | GK | Alex Cairns | 19 | Two month loan | Stalybridge Celtic | Summer | n/a | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | Robbie Rogers | 25 | Loan till January | Stevenage | Summer | n/a | 4 | 0 |
| — | DF | Charlie Taylor | 18 | Two month loan | York City | Summer | n/a | 4 | 0 |
| — | DF | Ross Killock | 18 | One month loan | Alfreton Town | Summer | n/a | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Zac Thompson | 19 | Loan until end of season | Bury | Summer | n/a | 11 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Dominic Poleon | 19 | One month loan | Bury | Summer | n/a | 6 | 1 |
| 28 | MF | Nathan Turner | 20 | Loan till End of Season | Chester | Summer | n/a | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | Lewis Turner | 20 | One month loan | Harrogate Town | Summer | n/a | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Paul Rachubka | 31 | Loan until end of season | Accrington Stanley | Summer | n/a | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Patrick Kisnorbo | 31 | Loan until end of season | Ipswich Town | Winter | n/a | 57 | 1 |
| 20 | FW | Andy Gray | 35 | Released | Bradford City | Winter | n/a | 38 | 1 |
| 22 | FW | Robbie Rogers | 25 | Released | LA Galaxy | Winter | n/a | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Paul Connolly | 29 | Loan till End of April | Preston North End | Winter | n/a | 63 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | Lewis Turner | 20 | Loan till End of Season | Chester | Summer | n/a | 0 | 0 |
| — | DF | Charlie Taylor | 19 | Loan till End of Season | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Winter | n/a | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Danny Pugh | 30 | Loan till End of Season | Sheffield Wednesday | Winter | n/a | 98 | 8 |
| — | MF | Ramón Núñez | 27 | Released | FC Dallas | Winter | n/a | 25 | 5 |
| 10 | FW | Luciano Becchio | 29 | Transfer | Norwich City | Winter | £200,000 + Player | 221 | 86 |
| 26 | FW | Dominic Poleon | 19 | Loan until end of season | Sheffield United | Winter | n/a | 7 | 1 |
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Age = age on the day of the signing; Moving from = only indicate the club the player was playing before start playing for this club in this season, for the type of the moving see Status column; Moving to = only indicates the club the player is going to play next, for the type of the moving see Status column; Ends = when the player's current contract ends; n/a = Not applicable.

### New contracts

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Status | Contract length | Expiry date |
| — | MF | Nathan Turner | 32 | Signed | 1 year$^1$ | June 2013 |
| — | DF | Lewis Turner | 32 | Signed | 1 year$^1$ | June 2013 |
| 25 | DF | Sam Byram | 31 | Signed | 3½ years | June 2016 |
| 55 | MF | Simon Lenighan | 18 | Signed | 1 year$^2$ | June 2014 |
| 34 | DF | Ross Killock | 30 | Signed | 1 year$^2$ | June 2014 |
| — | MF | Charlie Clamp | 30 | Signed | 1 year$^1$ | June 2013 |
| 26 | FW | Dominic Poleon | 31 | Signed | 2½ years | June 2015 |
| — | DF | Monty Gimpel | 31 | Signed | 1 year$^1$ | June 2013 |
| — | MF | Robert Snodgrass | 37 | Rejected | 1 year | June 2014 |
| 44 | FW | Ross McCormack | 38 | Signed | 3 years | June 2015 |
| 14 | MF | Aidan White | 33 | Signed | 3 years | June 2015 |
| 4 | DF | Tom Lees | 34 | Signed | 4 Years | June 2016 |
| 23 | MF | Zac Thompson | 32 | Signed | 3 years | June 2015 |
| 17 | MF | Michael Brown | 48 | Signed | 1 year$^3$ | June 2014 |
| 32 | MF | Chris Dawson | 30 | Signed | 3 years | June 2016 |
| 21 | FW | El-Hadji Diouf | 44 | Signed | 1½ years | June 2014 |
| 10 | FW | Luciano Becchio | 41 | Rejected | 3½ years | June 2016 |
| — | FW | Lewis Walters | 29 | Signed | 2 years | June 2015 |
| — | GK | Eric Grimes | 30 | Signed | 2 years | June 2015 |
| — | FW | Luke Parkin | 29 | Signed | 2 years | June 2015 |
| — | MF | Alex Mowatt | 29 | Signed | 2 years | June 2015 |
$^1$The contract includes the option to extend the contract by a further year. $^2$Option to extend by further year taken up later in season. $^3$Contract extended by further year after making 30 appearances.

## Awards
### Internal Awards
#### Official Player of the Year Awards

The results of the 2012–13 Leeds United A.F.C. Player of the Year Awards were announced at a dinner on 27 April 2013 at Elland Road.
* Player of the Year: Sam Byram
* Young Player of the Year: Sam Byram
* Players' Player of the Year: Sam Byram
* Goal of the Season: Ross McCormack (vs Tottenham, 27 January)
* Fastest Goal of the Season: Aidan White (vs Everton, 25 September)
* Best Contribution to Community: Leigh Bromby
* Chairman's Special Award: Tom Lees