Is there a more "Leeds" story than the fact that Leeds United Virginia hosted their first meetup on April 26, 2024? It was QPR away, one nil down after 8 minutes and lost 4-0. It was the moment the 2023/24 season came off the rails. As the Virginia group approaches two years of watching games together, they’ve seen numerous up and downs and a couple of poundings by Arsenal. However, there’s probably a correlation between the group's steady growth and Leeds' fortunes under Daniel Farke. It's all moving in the right direction.

Although they are a relatively small group, they do have a unique trait: the owner of SuperFly Brewing Co. where they watch games and the leader of the supporters group is the same person: Ed Liversidge.

"I was born in Doncaster and grew up in Grimsby and then Essex. My paternal grandparents lived overlooking the cricket club in Roundhay Park Leeds and a huge chunk of my best childhood memories are in Leeds. None more so than a few trips to Elland Road and seeing the championship parade in 1992."

For a while, Ed's relationship with Leeds was watching from afar until they hit League One. It dawned on him that he could afford a season ticket and he had a car to get him from Essex to Elland Road every week. He sat in the Kop and made good friends around him. Eventually, he fell in with the Essex Whites. By a stroke of luck, their bus passed the end of his road every Saturday, traveling across the country to watch Leeds.

"Eventually my path led to the USA and I struggled to find other Leeds fans. In 2023 I opened SuperFly Brewing and reached out to Chris Padden about starting a group within the Leeds United Americas family. If I couldn't find a group, maybe I needed to start my own."

Everyone in Leeds United Virginia has their own path into this shared obsession: some are life long Leeds fans, some found Leeds via the 49ers and some joined the Leeds fandom through being SuperFly fans. They’ve a few fans who will travel an hour from Richmond to watch games with them. A recent highlight was hosting a visitor from Leeds who drove over to watch the game with them while he was in the USA for work.

Last year they released a beer in honor of Daniel Farke: Fire Beast Munich Helles. "Before we had a second batch on tap it looked like he was about to be fired but thankfully that second half at the Etihad happened and we've not looked back."

They have numerous pieces of Leeds memorabilia in SuperFly: statues of Bielsa, Klich and Pablo, the old signed 3rd kit from 2008/9 that used to hang on Ed's wall in Essex; and a soon-to-be-framed match worn Pablo Hernandez shirt that the great man gave to Ed's mum!

As every other group has probably experienced, Premier League status is important for the interest in Leeds and Ed is delighted that their fortunes look more secure each week. Leeds United Virginia is relatively small, but they are on the right track.

"Watching games alongside other Leeds fans is a treat I never take for granted, win or lose."