It felt like Mirco Antenucci was a Leeds United player for a lot longer than the two years he spent on the books at Elland Road, in which he clocked up a total of 80 games for The Whites.
Massimo Cellino’s arrival at Leeds as the club’s President in the summer of 2014 saw the Italian bring in 14 new additions. One of them was long-serving club captain Liam Cooper, who would stay for a decade.
Gaetano Berardi, Giuseppe Bellusci, Marco Silvestri and plenty of others were signed. Another was Mirco Antenucci, who became a cult hero during his two years at Leeds, with fans saying “fear the beard”.
Antenucci scored 19 goals and produced moments of magic during his two years at Leeds despite the constant nuisance of Cellino upstairs and the up-and-down form of Leeds during the mid-table years.
Mirco Antenucci recalls how he won £50 off Steve Evans at Leeds
Cellino was no stranger to controversy and he poured petrol on the fire when he appointed Steve Evans as Leeds manager for the 2015-16 season. He arrived in a sombrero, like he said he would beforehand.
Antenucci has been speaking to Italian podcast MODI and shared how Evans said in training, he would hand £50 to the player who scored the most goals – and how he keeps that £50 as a treasured memory.
“In training, Evans offered £50 to whoever scored more goals that day. I won, but he went into his office. I knocked on his door, he had to honour the bet. I keep that £50 where I keep shirts and memorabilia.”
Mirco Antenucci is still playing now, even after turning 40
The Italian is currently enjoying his second spell with SPAL in Italy’s third tier, clocking up 11 goals this season and scoring a brace on his 40th birthday. Age is just a number for Antenucci at the moment.
Antenucci will retire at the end of the season but the Italian has enjoyed a stellar career, which has been spent in Italy aside from his Leeds spell – rejecting moves to both Birmingham City and Wolves.
Of his 217 goals, 19 came with Leeds and he will be remembered fondly on the terraces at Elland Road. Perhaps in the future, Antenucci will join the supporters on the terraces and make a trip back to Leeds.
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