There’s a bar on Calle Juan de Austria in Corralejo called The York. It holds about 25 seats. But on Leeds United matchdays, it routinely packs in more than 40 people. Sometimes 65.
Last season’s FA Cup tie against Harrogate Town drew the biggest crowd yet. Fans spilled onto the sidewalk. Locals and holidaymakers squeezed in together. The place was loud.
This is the Leeds United Supporters’ Club Fuerteventura, run by a guy named John Holliday. He was a season-ticket holder at Elland Road before moving to the island 15 years ago. According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, he started the branch just to bring people together and prove the fanbase had a real presence there.
It worked. Leeds is one of the best-supported teams in town these days, right up there with Newcastle. The York flies a permanent flag and runs a Facebook page so people know where to go. Regulars swap stories about their old seats back at Elland Road. One Tottenham game this season brought in 15 fantasy-football fans who’d flown in from England. That pushed the crowd to 64. And when Leeds beat Manchester United? The place absolutely lost it.
Summer Tour Timing Could Be Tricky
Leeds is headed to the United States for preseason. That means early-morning kickoffs for the Corralejo crowd. Fuerteventura runs on UK time, which is five hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast. So when Wrexham plays Tampa and Sunderland faces New Jersey, those games start at 12:30 a.m. in the Canary Islands. Liverpool in Chicago kicks off at 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 2, which is more doable.
Leeds is also expected to host RB Leipzig at Elland Road around August 8 or 9, then play Manchester United in Dublin the following Wednesday. The York plans to show every friendly it can, even if the U.S. games require some serious coffee and commitment.
The bar has become something of a hub for traveling Leeds fans too. People who wander in off the street often end up staying for the whole match. One regular told the local paper that the atmosphere against Manchester United was the loudest he’d ever heard in a bar that small.
It’s a simple setup. A flag. A Facebook page. A landlord who keeps the doors open late. But for Leeds supporters on vacation, or for locals who never left the faith, it’s become matchday home base about 2,000 miles from Elland Road.
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