I was always told that once you pick a team to support, you stick with them for life. So I have stuck with Leeds.
When I started following them, Leeds were in the Don Revie era. They became league champions in the mid-'70s and everything was going great.
The guy I recall most is Peter Lorimer. He was a very good, prolific striker. The power in his shot was amazing. I thought I could try and replicate that as a player but it didn't happen.
Then I suppose Leeds fell from grace a bit in the years after that. Some of their better players started retiring. A couple got poached by other clubs. So the team changed quite a lot over the years.
There was a spectacular fall from grace through the 1980s and they ended up way down in the third division. The only good thing about that was it forced them to focus on their academy and bring good young players through. They've done that very well over the years.
It's been a real battle to get back to the heydays of the 1970s. They went through a patch where they spent a lot of money trying to build a team.
But it didn't work for a club like Leeds. They had a good run for a brief period but then it all sort of fell apart.
But over the last four or five years, the club has had a little boost. They got promoted last year. And this year they just missed out on the qualifying stages for promotion to the premier league.
I think they've lost five of their last six or seven games, though. So they're not finishing that well.
Leeds have tended to use a core of young players out of their academy. Even the players they look at buying are normally a bit younger.
They've got some very good young players this season. Peter Schmeichel's son, Kasper, is in goal, and they've got a really good young striker called Davide Somma. Then with an older head or two, they've got a pretty good balance.
It's funny when you move in football circles, like I do. You talk to Man United fans, Chelsea fans, Arsenal fans. Then you see a person with his chin on his chest and that's a Leeds supporter.
We're a small group. We try to be a happy group. For a lot of us, we remember the good times in the 1970s.
We keep telling ourselves next year will be better.
Peter Ritchie
Footballsouth co-ordinator
• Team: Leeds.
• Sport: Football.
• Fan since: 1973.
• Favourite player: Peter Lorimer.
• Greatest moment: Winning the league in 1973-74.
• Been to Elland Rd?: No.
- As told to Hayden Meikle
