Leeds closes ranks on and off the field

The way people were talking, Leeds was due to be a city under siege this evening. Leeds United's Champions League tie with Besiktas was of so much concern - following the murder of two Leeds fans in Istanbul five months ago when Leeds played Galatasaray - that even the most experienced of security personnel were saying the game would eclipse the level of policing found when Manchester United make their seasonal visit to Elland Road.

Anyone who has ever been in Leeds on the day that the Mancunians come to town will be aware that the place takes on an entirely different atmosphere to that which precedes and succeeds this fixture.

In the city centre and at the train station the police presence is immediately visible, as are the snarling alsatians. In the sky there are helicopters and in the ground there is massive tension. Inside Elland Road are another 90 police officers accompanied by a couple of hundred stewards.

Yet the man in charge of security at Leeds, Harry Stokey, said that tonight's operation would put the Man United fixture in perspective. "We will have over 600 stewards on duty while the police will have an enormous presence outside the stadium and around 150 officers inside," said Stokey.

"To give you some idea of the scale of this, that compares to around 90 police who are usually in the stadium for a match against Manchester United."

Then yesterday afternoon came the news that Besiktas had withdrawn their charter flight for 500 fans as only 70 had taken up the offer of the u £200 trip. Leeds, though, faced with a bill of around u £50,000 for tonight's security, are committed to implementing their plans. It could make for an eerie atmosphere, though that would be preferable to a volatile one.

Doubtless, there were sighs of relief at the news even if both clubs have worked in recent weeks to defuse a potentially explosive situation.

Both chairmen, Leeds' Peter Ridsdale and Serdar Bilgili of Besiktas, went out of their way at the Champions League draw in Monaco to embrace and issue statements focusing on friendship.

Bilgili was Leeds' guest at the home game with Manchester City and reiterated last week that Besiktas had moved "to completely eradicate the unnecessary tension with England".

The non-fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old Besiktas fan a fortnight ago during a league match with Adanaspor was a rather less encouraging development, although, since then football has risen up the agenda.

Not only have Leeds reactivated their European hopes with the victory over AC Milan here last Tuesday, on the same night in Istanbul Besiktas dismantled Barcelona 3-0 with a performance greeted in the Turkish press as: "Pure football. Never has a Turkish team achieved such perfection."

Besiktas, traditionally patronised as the third team in Istanbul behind Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, followed that with a 5-1 away win in Ankara on Friday to stay top of the league in Turkey.

Their form, therefore, is impressive and David O'Leary praised them as a side "with an excellent coach, difficult to beat and big all round". Nevio Scala, a 42-year-old Italian formerly coach at Parma and Borussia Dortmund amongst others, has been the manager since last February.

Pascal Nouma, a much-travelled Frenchman, will offer a threat up front and has scored against Arsenal for Lens in a UEFA Cup semi-final. And Leeds will be without another centre half, Michael Duberry having ruptured an Achilles. His season is over.

After the Barcelona lesson, some thought the same of Leeds' Champions League campaign, but another victory tonight and they should have no difficulty selling the 500 tickets for the next match, in Istanbul in three weeks.