Leeds United’s promotion means Manchester United will have another rival team in the Premier League next season.There have been some spicy clashes between the teams, from Yorkshire and Lancashire respectively, down the years - as well as their fans.Since Leeds were relegated from the Premier League back in 2004, the two rivals have only met on three occasions, with the most recent meeting taking place just last summer.Exactly one year prior to the day that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were finally promoted, Man Utd and Leeds went head-to-head in a pre-season friendly in Perth, Australia.It was the Red Devils who sealed the bragging rights on the night thanks to a comfortable 4-0 victory.Mason Greenwood opened the scoring in the seventh minute before Marcus Rashford doubled Man Utd’s tally midway through the first half.Phil Jones made it 3-0 in the 51st minute, while Anthony Martial added gloss to the scoreline with a penalty.
Man Utd’s quality and strength in depth - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named 13 subs, while Bielsa named just five - resulted in a routine win for the Premier League giants.However, it wasn’t a video of the goals that went viral on social media that day, it was a clip of United’s mascot Fred the Red.
As Fred made his way around the pitch, Leeds fans could be seen giving the little fellow some abuse.Rather than ignoring it and continuing on his merry way, Fred reacted by doing this…
This further antagonised the Leeds fans, who reacted by throwing pints at the mascot.
Yep, Leeds supporters travelled 9,000 miles to have it out with a bloke dressed up as a red devil.
You love to see it.
Fred the Red vs. Leeds fans is the first clash we’ll be looking out for when the 2020-21 Premier League fixtures are revealed.