Leeds United in Financial Difficulties

In 1924, Leeds United's successful promotion to the Football League's top division, for the first time in their history, came at a price.

In 1924, Leeds United's promotion to the Football League's First Division - only five years after the club was established - left them struggling financially. This newsreel footage records their 1-1 draw against Newcastle at Elland Road in November. The opening scenes show the stand emblazoned with 'Lend Us a Fiver', a campaign which had been initiated in an effort to repay a loan from the Chairman, J Hilton Crowther.

The footage seems to comprise two separate newsreel items on the same subject: 'Leeds in Financial Difficulties' and 'Lend Us a Fiver'. The second item is clearly incomplete, lacking the scenes of the game promised in one of the intertitles. It seems likely that this footage was originally part of the first, longer item, but was at some point edited out; the pan across 'Lend' and the shot of the Newcastle players emerging from the tunnel would slot easily into the first film.