Leeds players APOLOGISE to their fans and admit ‘there’s no excuse’ for the way they ignored kids waiting to greet them at their hotel, after Piers Morgan led condemning of ‘arrogant’ stars
- Leeds players were filmed ignoring fans in their Bournemouth hotel on Sunday
- Paddy Kenny, Piers Morgan and Simon Jordan joined the condemnation
- Leeds released a statement saying: ‘Words can’t express how sorry we are’
Leeds players have apologised for ignoring young fans waiting to greet the team at their hotel, after footage emerged of them simply blanking supporters on Sunday.
A clip posted on Twitter showed members of the Leeds first team walking towards the hotel’s entrance in silence, while a group of fans tried to get their attention.
Most of the Leeds team were wearing headphones and avoided eye contact as they headed for the door. One young boy waved at the players to try and get their attention but no one looked in his direction, and his view was later blocked by a member of the Leeds security team.
On the club’s website, a statement entitled ‘A Message From the Players’, read: ‘As the first team squad at Leeds United, we wanted to reach out to the fan base regarding yesterday’s game and subsequent posts on social media.
‘Firstly, the performance was not good enough. There is no other way to look at it and the only way to respond is on the pitch. Leeds fans travel up and down the country in huge numbers and deserve more than this.
‘Words can’t express how sorry we are that the youngster in the video wearing the Leeds kit is not shown more love from the squad.
Leeds United players were filmed ignoring fans who had gathered in the team hotel to say hello
Despite a number of young fans waving and shouting the players’ names, nobody responded
‘On a matchday we do an activation walk, before and after this we stop for photos and autographs to ensure we interact with fans, but also that we are on time when leaving for games.
‘However, there is no excuse for not acknowledging fans and if the parents of the fan wearing the Leeds kit in the video could make themselves known to us, we would be grateful.
‘We do not believe that this fight is over and we will keep going until the last ball is kicked this season. Thank you again for your support.’
Leeds were hammered 4-1 in the game against Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium and face a battle to avoid Premier League relegation.
The footage of players ignoring fans drew widespread criticism online.
Ex-Leeds star Paddy Kenny called his former side ’embarrassing’, and insisted they should be ‘ashamed’.
Kenny, who played 81 games for Leeds, condemned the players’ lack of respect for their fans after the incident, called the incident ’embarrassing’ before adding: ‘[I] can’t believe what I’ve watched with this and Arsenal recently, its a joke and they all should be ashamed.’
Simon Jordan added that ‘Players have got to do better. I think they forget where they’ve come from,’ while while Piers Morgan called the players ‘selfish arrogant p****s.’
Leeds didn’t fare much better on the pitch, as they were hammered 4-1 by the Cherries to leave them just one point above the relegation zone.
Leeds lost the game 4-1, leaving them just one point above the relegation zone
The Gunners have also recently been criticised on social media for appearing to ignore a fan
Paddy Kenny, who played 81 games for Leeds, has slammed his former side’s behaviour
He called their treatment of fans ’embarrassing’ and said they ‘should be ashamed’
They have now won just one of their last seven, a spell that has seen them beaten 6-1 by Liverpool, 5-1 by Crystal Palace and 4-1 by Arsenal before Sunday’s drubbing.
The run has left many Leeds fans worried, with one fan group issuing a vote of no confidence in the club’s board and manager Javi Gracia.
As for the hotel incident, it comes just two weeks after Arsenal players were also heavily criticised for their lack of engagement with one of the club’s mascots.
In a clip posted on the club’s social media channels, the Arsenal players were seen signing a shirt for the young supporter as they made their way into the dressing room.
The clip immediately went viral on Twitter as thousands of people could not understand why none of the players seemed to want to speak to or even make eye contact with the mascot.
The Gunners were accused of being ‘entitled, overpaid and rude’ but the girl’s father insisted the footage was just a ‘small window’ on her day.
Mikel Arteta also had to come to the defence of his players when asked about the matter during a press conference later in the week.
Since then, a number of clubs including Manchester United have mocked the Gunners over social media for their ill-judged tweet.
Hardly any of the players looked in the girl’s direction, let alone stopped for a brief chat.
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