Leeds face £100m transfer sale if they fail to win Premier League promotion as worrying sign emerges

2019 – THEIR last failure was one of the most dramatic and traumatic in the club’s history.

That season, Leeds – under Marcelo Bielsa – were caught red-handed sending spies to spy on Derby’s training sessions during the regular season in an incident known as Spygate.

And in the stars it was written that the two clubs clashed in the play-offs. Leeds cruised to victory in the two-legged semi-final – winning 1-0 at Pride Park thanks to a Kemar Roofe strike and then drawing 2-0 after Stuart Dallas put them in front at Elland Road.

But a remarkable second half saw Derby win 4-2 on the night – with Manchester United midfielder Mason Mount among the scorers – to snatch a 4-3 victory.

It prompted Rams boss Frank Lampard and his players to celebrate, miming holding up binoculars to mock their opponents for the spying tragedy.

2009 – LEEDS were in their second of three seasons in League One and finished fourth to reach the end-of-season draw where they faced Millwall in the semi-finals.

And a Neil Harris winner 19 minutes from time gave the Lions the lead heading to Elland Road for the second leg.

But Luciano Becchio gave the West Yorkshire faithful hope by giving his side the lead – only for it to end in tears when midfielder Najim Abdou struck the fatal blow for the south Londoners 16 minutes from time.

2008 – FALLING into the third tier for the first time in their history, Simon Grayson’s men were hoping to bounce back at the first attempt.

But they had to make do with the play-offs after only finishing fifth.

And they reached the final after coming back from 2-0 down to Carlisle to win the two-legged semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

But James Hayter fired Doncaster’s winner at Wembley to send Yorkshire neighbors Leeds into the Championship.

2006 – Two seasons after dropping out of the Premier League, Leeds had the chance to bounce back after finishing fifth in the Championship.

They managed to reach the final after beating Preston 2-0 at Deepdale, with goals from Rob Hulse and Frazer Richardson to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory. But they did not make it easy as Stephen Crainey was sent off with 21 minutes remaining and Richard Cresswell followed in stoppage time.

But the final was a complete disaster as Watford ran out 3-0 winners at Wembley with Jay Demerit and Darius Henderson from the spot scoring an own goal by goalkeeper Neil Sullivan.

1987 – LEEDS were involved in a play-off marathon back in the days when both the semi-final and final were over two legs and if the scores were level, the match would be replayed at a neutral venue.

After getting past Oldham in the semi-finals on the old ‘away goal rule’ they played the final home and away against Charlton.

Both teams won their home legs 1-0 – James Melrose grabbing the winner at Selhurst Road, where the Addicks shared the ground, and Brendon Ormsby at Elland Road.

So the final had to be settled by a replay at Birmingham City’s St Andrew’s.

And after a goalless draw on 90 minutes, the game went into extra-time and although John Sheridan gave Billy Bremner’s side a 99th-minute lead, Charlton prevailed with a late double from Peter Shirtliff.