Wayne Veysey

Fri 10 February 2017 13:55, UK

By Alex Stevens

Leeds are the most significant club outside of the Premier League and bigger than Aston Villa and Newcastle.

That is the no-holds-barred verdict of Neil Warnock as he ran the rule over his former employers ahead of their clash against his Cardiff side on Saturday.

Warnock returns to Elland Road, where he spent a difficult 14 months as manager that ended with the sack in April 2013 even though the club were five points above the drop zone.

Nevertheless, the veteran manager, 68, is in no doubt about the size of the club, or how they compare to all their rivals in the Championship.

“They’re the biggest club outside the Premier League, fans-wise and in terms of facilities,” said Warnock on Friday afternoon, as quoted by the personal Twitter account of Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent Lee Sobot. “They’re a massive club.”

The plain-speaking Yorkshireman did not always see eye to eye with Leeds supporters during his year-and-a-bit at the club, partly due to his lengthy association with their rivals Sheffield United.

But his huge statement about the size of Leeds as a club will go down well with fans, particularly given that this season their competitors for that title are relegated Premier League duo Newcastle and Villa.

One measure used to gauge size is highest average attendance, which this season is comfortably won in the division by Newcastle, with 51,214 per match in 2016-17.

The north-east giants top Villa, whose average gate is 32,830, while Derby, Brighton, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich are ahead of Leeds, whose mean attendance is 26,005.

However, the Yorkshire giants can point at a 13-year spell in the lower leagues, while Newcastle and Villa were both only relegated at the end of last season.

In other Leeds news, the club came within a whisker of signing this forward on deadline day.

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