Leeds United employee Noel Whelan has hailed the club’s supporters ahead of a potential record attendance for an Under-23 fixture on Friday evening.

The Lowdown: Elland Road ticket details

The Whites youngsters, now led by Andrew Taylor following Mark Jackson’s promotion to the first team, take on Manchester City tomorrow evening.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-42/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Leeds gave season ticket holders and members the opportunity to attend for free up until April 12, with Beren Cross sharing on Wednesday evening that ticket sales are beyond 17,000.

The record for a Premier League 2 fixture stands at 17,525 – set by Everton in 2017, but it looks as if the Whites will surpass that figure before the weekend.

The Latest: Whelan’s comments

Talking to Football Insider, Whelan labelled the support as ‘incredible’, adding that this goes to show that an expansion to Elland Road needs to happen.

“That just says it all about our club.

“We knew we had incredible supporters, and this is just the latest evidence of that.

“It’s not the first time we’ve gone over the 10,000 mark – and that’s fantastic support.

“This sort of thing just epitomises why we need a bigger stadium. A lot of these fans can’t get tickets for the Premier League games.

“For me, this sort of demand just proves that an expansion to Elland Road needs to be in the works.

“It’s going to be a great experience for these young players to play in front of that kind of crowd.”

The Verdict: Bonkers

The well-known phrase ‘Leeds take more’ is sometimes mocked by opposition supporters, but this just goes to show how incredible the Whites faithful are.

Bringing nearly 20,000 to a U23 fixture is crazy, and potentially higher than a number of Championship attendances this weekend.

The club have teased work to Elland Road in recent years, and after this update, hopefully, they will make a start on plans to expand the current 37,890 capacity.

In other news: ‘In the coming days’ – Fabrizio Romano drops blow for Leeds and Orta as ‘agreement’ reached.