Leeds United faced current Bolton Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson’s Bradford City side in the League Cup back in 2014.
Bolton Wanderers manager Phil Parkinson
According to the Daily Mail, Phil Parkinson is a contender for the vacant Leeds job having impressed Whites owner Andrea Radrizzani with the job that he has done at Bolton.
While Parkinson may not have been a name that would have necessarily come up in conversations amongst Leeds fans when they were discussing Garry Monk’s potential successor, one victory he oversaw back in 2014 will perhaps boost his popularity amongst the Elland Road faithful – despite the fact that it actually came against Leeds.
Parkinson was in charge at Bradford until 2014
Parkinson was in charge of Bradford City back in 2014 when a Whites side led by Dave Hockaday travelled to Valley Parade for a League Cup tie.
Hockaday had seemingly held onto his job by the skin of his teeth going into the game with a hapless Leeds side losing 4-1 to Watford in the Championship in the days leading up to the tie.
But despite having Luke Murphy dismissed shortly after the half-hour mark, it appeared that Hockaday’s men would be about to book their place in the next round when Matt Smith scored a tremendous header with eight minutes to go to break the deadlock.
Dave Hockaday was dismissed as Leeds boss the day after the Bradford defeat
However, Bradford took advantage of a Leeds side that had been lacklustre all evening and scored twice within four minutes of Smith’s goal to turn the game around.
Hockaday was dismissed by Massimo Cellino the following day after just six games in charge of the Whites. And given that the writing had appeared to be on the wall for much of the Hock’s tenure, Leeds fans were probably grateful that Parkinson’s Bradford side won as it ensured that an end was soon brought to the experiment.
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