On this day 33 years ago: Leeds United became the first Premier League team to ever manage historical feat

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Leeds United have their Premier League opener against Everton to come in due course, in what will be their 16th campaign in the competition.

One for the history books, Leeds United will forever be the reigning champions of English football during the first ever Premier League season in 1992/93.

Of course, they weren’t able to retain their crown, with Manchester United winning the title in 1993 during what was then titled the FA Premier League prior to the Premiership or simply the Premier League.

Leeds’ title defence was a particularly poor one that season, with the Whites finishing 17th of 22 teams, including being the only side not to win an away game in the league that year, with seven draws in 21 games.

Leeds will be looking to get off to a strong start when they face Everton on Monday Night Football in two weeks’ time, but it was Leeds against Liverpool which kicked off the 1992/93 campaign 33 years ago.

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Leeds United’s historic FA Community Shield victory in 1992 vs Liverpool

Despite ending 1992/93 with the lowest finish from a defending league champion since Ipswich Town finished 17th in 1962/63, and the lowest any top tier champions have so far finished in the Premier League, Leeds started the year well.

It’s the lowest a defending champion has finished since then has been 12th (Leicester City in 2016/17, having won that historic title in 2015/16). However, on this day in 1992, Leeds won the FA Community Shield/Charity Shield.

Liverpool were the FA Cup holders after a 2-0 win over Sunderland, with the champions of both facing one another on 8 August 1992, meaning Leeds became the first ‘Premier League’ club to ever win a trophy.

Eric Cantona scored a hat-trick for Leeds in a 4-3 victory over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium in front of 61,291 spectators. Gary McAllister started as the captain, with Gordon Strachan on the bench, and Howard Wilkinson’s side held on late to claim the title.

Exactly one week later, the new FA Premier League begins. The first goal of that season was scored by Cantona for Leeds but the first in the league was scored by Sheffield United striker Brian Deane in the fifth minute of a 2-1 home win over Man United.

The curtain raiser will always be remembered as Leeds against Liverpool, though. Despite Arsenal and Man United winning the other domestic cups of that year, Leeds will forever be immortalised as the first after the FA launched its new Premier League of 22 elite clubs.

They broke away from the Football League, and the new league was backed up by a £305 million exclusive TV rights deal with BSkyB. This paved the way for the Premier League’s members to spend heavily on new players.

It was the beginning of English football’s dominance as the premier competition, with many also able to convert their stadia into an all-seater format, which was necessary as a result of the Taylor Report’s requirement that top division stadia should be all-seater from the start of the 1994 season.

• READ MORE: Daniel Farke look away, Leeds United’s toughest run in 2025/26 Premier League fixtures revealed

A list of Leeds’ Premier League campaigns, league finishes, and managers

1992/93 was a disappointing campaign from a Leeds perspective, but they have largely been a team of high standards during their 16 seasons in the Premier League.

Leeds have finished in the top half in eight of their 15 completed seasons, including seven times in fifth-to-third.

Daniel Farke’s side are unlikely to attack the league in the same way Marcelo Bielsa did five years ago, but safety is something Leeds’ 12th Premier League can realistically strive for.