“In April 2019, Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United squad were chasing automatic promotion to the English Premier League – a promised land that the side had been chasing since their relegation from the top flight in 2004,” FIFA says. On April 28 they played Aston Villa at Elland Road, “knowing anything but a victory would end their hopes of automatic promotion,” as ESPN put it.
Then a challenge “left Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia on the floor,” BBC Sport reported, and “His team-mates had stopped while asking their opponents to put the ball out of play, but the calls were not heeded,” Sky Sports wrote. The ball went forward to Mateusz Klich, and “with the Villa defence flat-footed, although offside, he was allowed to run on, cut inside and curl a low right-foot shot just inside the post,” the BBC said. “A mass brawl ensued on the pitch that involved both sets of players and saw Anwar El Ghazi sent off for the away side,” ESPN reported; the Football Association later “overturned” the red card after “a claim of wrongful dismissal was upheld by an Independent Regulatory Commission.”
“As the players lined up for the restart, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa instructed his players to let Villa equalise and Albert Adomah obliged as he rolled the ball in at the other end,” Sky Sports reported. Villa’s manager, Dean Smith, said: “I said they should let us walk a goal in then. They had a talk about it and said okay.” Sports Illustrated described “Albert Adomah running from halfway through the Leeds team and scoring into an empty net.” “Only defender Pontus Jansson tried to stop Adomah, attempting a swipe at the ball but missing it.”
“Leeds United’s hopes of automatic promotion to the Premier League this season are over after manager Marcelo Bielsa sportingly allowed Aston Villa to score an uncontested goal,” BBC Sport reported; the 1-1 draw “confirmed automatic promotion for Sheffield United.” Bielsa said: “We just gave the goal back. The facts are what everyone saw, and we express our interpretation of the facts by doing what we did.” “Fair play to them, I’m full of respect for them for that,” said Smith, and Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder said: “Marcelo Bielsa full respect.” Leeds “remained in the division after failing to gain promotion via the play-offs,” FIFA says.
On September 23, 2019, at “Milan’s Teatro alla Scala,” FIFA’s awards listed “Fair Play Award: Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United squad,” with “the Argentinean coach and his side receiving the 2019 FIFA Fair Play Award for his side’s commendable act of sportsmanship.” “What was at stake makes Bielsa’s act all the more remarkable,” FIFA wrote. The next season, “Leeds United will return to the Premier League after a 16-year absence as champions of the Sky Bet Championship,” Sky Sports reported in July 2020.
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- His team scored the goal they needed, and he ordered them to give it back. ESPN: “Despite knowing anything but a victory would end their hopes of automatic promotion, after opening the scoring on 72 minutes while Aston Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia was injured, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa allowed the visitors to equalise.” BBC Sport: “Leeds boss Bielsa ordered his players to allow Villa to equalise.” Sports Illustrated: “We didn’t gift them a goal, we gave it back.” 314
- His name is Marcelo Bielsa. Sky Sports: “Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa.” FIFA: “the Argentinean coach and his side.” 27
- In April 2019, his Leeds United were chasing promotion to the Premier League. FIFA: “In April 2019, Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United squad were chasing automatic promotion to the English Premier League – a promised land that the side had been chasing since their relegation from the top flight in 2004.” BBC Sport (April 28, 2019): “at Elland Road.” 71
- Against Aston Villa, a Villa player went down injured, and his teammates stopped. Sky Sports: “Leeds scored while Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia was down injured. His team-mates had stopped while asking their opponents to put the ball out of play, but the calls were not heeded.” BBC Sport: a challenge “left Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia on the floor.” 21
- Leeds played on, and Mateusz Klich curled the ball into the net. BBC Sport: “Roberts instead passed the ball forward to Klich and, with the Villa defence flat-footed, although offside, he was allowed to run on, cut inside and curl a low right-foot shot just inside the post.” 1
- A brawl broke out, and a Villa player was sent off. ESPN: “a mass brawl ensued on the pitch that involved both sets of players and saw Anwar El Ghazi sent off for the away side.” The FA, via ESPN: the red card was “overturned”; “a claim of wrongful dismissal was upheld by an Independent Regulatory Commission.” 36
- Then Bielsa told his own players to let Villa score. Sky Sports: “Bielsa told his players to let Villa equalise to make up for some poor sportsmanship.” Villa’s manager, Dean Smith, to Sky Sports: “I said they should let us walk a goal in then. They had a talk about it and said okay.” 2
- From the restart, Albert Adomah ran from halfway toward an empty net. Sky Sports: “As the players lined up for the restart, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa instructed his players to let Villa equalise and Albert Adomah obliged as he rolled the ball in at the other end.” Sports Illustrated: “Albert Adomah running from halfway through the Leeds team and scoring into an empty net.” BBC Sport: “into an unguarded net.” 241
- Only one Leeds player, Pontus Jansson, tried to stop him. Sports Illustrated and the Buenos Aires Times (AFP): “Only defender Pontus Jansson tried to stop Adomah, attempting a swipe at the ball but missing it.” Sky Sports: “Pontus Jansson tried in vain to stop him.” 452
- It finished 1-1, ending Leeds’ hopes of automatic promotion. BBC Sport: “Leeds United’s hopes of automatic promotion to the Premier League this season are over after manager Marcelo Bielsa sportingly allowed Aston Villa to score an uncontested goal”; the draw “confirmed automatic promotion for Sheffield United.” 1
- “We just gave the goal back,” Bielsa said. Sky Sports: “We just gave the goal back. The facts are what everyone saw, and we express our interpretation of the facts by doing what we did.” 2
- In September, FIFA gave Leeds and Bielsa its Fair Play Award. FIFA (September 23, 2019): “the Argentinean coach and his side receiving the 2019 FIFA Fair Play Award for his side’s commendable act of sportsmanship”; “Fair Play Award: Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United squad”; “Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.” 78
- The next season, Leeds went up as champions. Sky Sports (July 2020): “Leeds United will return to the Premier League after a 16-year absence as champions of the Sky Bet Championship.” 9
- He gave away a goal, and won the respect of the world. FIFA: “What was at stake makes Bielsa’s act all the more remarkable.” Villa’s manager, Dean Smith, to Sky Sports: “Fair play to them, I’m full of respect for them for that.” Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder, to ESPN: “Marcelo Bielsa full respect.” 723
Sources
- Leeds United 1-1 Aston Villa: Record winning run ends in controversial Elland Road draw (April 28, 2019) BBC Sport
- Leeds 1-1 Aston Villa: Marcelo Bielsa lets Villa equalise after controversial opener Sky Sports
- Leeds let Aston Villa score equaliser which seals Sheffield United promotion (match report) ESPN
- Report on Leeds United v Aston Villa and the uncontested goal (Luis Miguel Echegaray, April 28, 2019) Sports Illustrated
- Bielsa praised after telling Leeds to allow Villa to score uncontested goal (AFP) Buenos Aires Times
- The FA overturns Anwar El Ghazi’s red card (quoting the FA’s statement) ESPN
- FIFA Fair Play Award (September 23, 2019) FIFA
- Messi, Rapinoe crowned The Best in Milan (September 23, 2019) FIFA
- Leeds United promoted to Premier League as champions (July 2020) Sky Sports
Notes
The minute: BBC Sport, ESPN and Sports Illustrated put the Leeds goal in the 72nd minute; Sky Sports says the 73rd. The Short gives no minute.
The red card: BBC Sport calls the player “Ahmed El Ghazi”; he is Anwar El Ghazi (Sky Sports, ESPN, the FA), and the FA later overturned his red card. The Short says only that “a Villa player was sent off.”
Who asked: Villa’s manager, Dean Smith, says he asked Leeds to let Villa walk a goal in (Sky Sports); BBC Sport says Bielsa ordered his players to allow it. The Short tells Bielsa’s order.
The quote: Bielsa’s words reached English through an interpreter, and the reports differ slightly: Sky Sports has “We just gave the goal back,” ESPN “We gave the goal back” and Sports Illustrated “We didn’t gift them a goal, we gave it back.” The Short uses Sky’s words.
Promotion: FIFA says Bielsa “ultimately sacrificed promotion.” Strictly, the draw ended Leeds’ chance of automatic promotion; they then missed out in the play-offs (FIFA). The Short says “ending Leeds’ hopes of automatic promotion.” “Won the respect of the world” is the Short’s own summing-up of FIFA’s award and the praise of Dean Smith and Chris Wilder.
Marcelo Bielsa and the players and managers named here are alive. Only what happened on the pitch, the results, the award and their published words after the match are used. Left out: other players’ parts in the game beyond what the Short says, and anything from Bielsa’s career beyond this game, the award and the promotion.
Pictures: no free photo shows the 2019 match; every picture of that day we found is broadcast, agency or club material, so none is used, and none of these photos shows the incident. Marcelo Bielsa is at a press conference in Chile on March 3, 2009, and on a cooler box by the Marseille bench at the Stade Vélodrome on January 31, 2015. Mateusz Klich is playing for Atlanta United at New York City FC on June 12, 2025; Albert Adomah is talking to fans after Bromley v Walsall on May 2, 2026; and Pontus Jansson is playing for Malmö FF at AIK on July 22, 2023 (cropped). The seated Aston Villa player is at the 2018 Championship play-off final at Wembley on May 26, 2018 (cropped); it is not the 2019 game, and not Jonathan Kodjia. Elland Road is seen from the street on August 11, 2023 (the East Stand, cropped), during Leeds v Brighton on August 3, 2013 (two crops of one photo) and empty on July 30, 2022. La Scala, Milan, where the FIFA awards were held, is seen on January 20, 2019, and a house in Wetherby with a “Marcelo Bielsa, maestro y genio” banner on July 18, 2020, after Leeds’ promotion (cropped).
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Mendelssohn, The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Overture, Op. 26 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73: IV. Allegro con spirito (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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