Before Marcelo Bielsa’s era at Leeds United, The Whites had spent seven years in the Championship without ever showing any signs of going the next step and getting promoted.
The ‘Champo’ era at Elland Road lasted for what felt like forever. Mid-table obscurity, season after season. Leeds finished between 7th and 15th for seven years in a row before Bielsa delivered play-offs in 18-19.
Many managers came and went, tried and failed. While the football on the pitch was inconsistent and without any real kind of identity, there was plenty of colour in the boardroom with Massimo Cellino.
In his first summer at Elland Road, Cellino made a whopping 14 signings – ranging from Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi to Tommaso Bianchi. Another was Marco Silvestri who stopped playing due to Cellino.
Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images
Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images
Mirco Antenucci won fan favourite status during his Leeds era
Leeds lacked any kind of Premier League quality during Cellino’s era on the pitch, but if there was one player that could produce magic – it was Mirco Antenucci. Two years in which he gave Leeds fans hope.
Antenucci scored two goals on his 40th birthday earlier this season and is still playing now. He told MODI that after leaving Leeds in 2016 on a free, he received offers from Wolves and Birmingham City.
“After I left Leeds in 2016, I had offers from Wolves and Birmingham, but because my two daughters were really young I wanted to return to Italy. In the north of England it’s practically always rainy and windy.”
What has Mirco Antenucci done in the nine years since Leeds exit?
Following his exit from Leeds in 2016, Antenucci returned to Italy to be closer to his family. He joined SPAL and scored 20 goals in his first season, helping guide his side to promotion to the top tier in Italy.
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He scored 16 goals over the next two Serie A seasons before leaving to join Bari in 2019, remaining for the next four years. Another 63 goals and 15 assists came in 141 games, before Antenucci rejoined SPAL.
Mirco Antenucci’s two-year Leeds spell in numbers:
Seasons at Leeds Games (Starts) Minutes Goals Assists Minutes per G+A
2014-152015-16 80 (50) 4961 19 8 183.7
At the end of the season, Antenucci will retutire but that has not stopped him scoring 11 goals in 30 games in the third tier of Italian football. A 22-year career, 736 games and 217 goals for Antenucci.