"I had no idea until the morning" - Andrew Dalton on producing Leeds United's Centenary book

By @ed_mcintyre98

Leeds United is a football club with a huge history. Formed in 1919 following the collapse of Leeds City FC, United fans have experienced many ups and downs, from the highs of the Don Revie era to the lows of playing second and third division football.

If you spoke to the average Leeds fan, they'd probably be able to tell you when United won each of their three league titles. However, someone who could probably inform you of who scored the club's 26th goal, when it arrived, and who it was against is Leeds United fanatic, Andrew Dalton.

The 34-year-old has been referred to as a "walking encyclopaedia" in the past, due to his extraordinary knowledge of football, and in particular, Leeds United.

Speaking to All Things Leeds, Andrew Dalton describes where his journey supporting the mighty Whites began. He said: "It's weird because my mum's family always had sort of a big interest at Elland Road back in the 60s. Her late grandfather was on the board of the great Revie Era and it kind of went from there.

"I went to my first game in 1991, a 5-4 defeat at home to Liverpool. Then I went to my second game in 1992, a 3-0 win over Chelsea and I was just kind of hooked from there on in. My dad hates football which is quite ironic so my mum kind of got me into it and it's been a massive, massive thing (for me) since the early 90s really.

"The biggest (moment) for me is beating Deportivo La Coruna on April 4th, 2001 by three goals to nil. We were unbelievable that night. That's probably the highest point I've had supporting Leeds. I wasn't really into football back in 1991, I was just starting out as sort of six-year-old."

Dalton was given the nickname 'Stats' by his friends, simply because of his spectacular knowledge, and when working for TV Yorkshire, Dalton had his own series named 'Challenge Stats', in which his knowledge was put to the test. Below you can watch a video of him memorising the entire 1991/92 season in which Leeds won the old First Division:

So, when and why did Dalton decide to start memorising everything about Leeds United? "It's weird because it kind of started when my mum and dad friends used to come round when I was a kid and they just used to start testing me on results.

"It then started in December 1993 when I first appeared on a radio show on Radio Leeds called the Alvin Blossom show, where people would ring up and ask football questions, and it just kind of developed from there really, and I went on all these quiz shows on Radio Leeds. It's quite surreal that it started all those years ago and it kind of stuck twenty years later."

On being asked to provide statistics on social media, he said: "I can get up to five to ten requests when I'm just sat there. I do try and answer them all but it's not always possible and I do apologies if I can't always answer them all. It's nice though, It's quite humbling that people reach out and ask for statistics, and it's nice when I provide statistics back."

Dalton developed a passion for writing from a young age, going to college after he finished school before embarking on a sports journalism course at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, in 2004.

His love for writing resulted in him releasing books, with his first being published in 2012, titled 'All White: Leeds United's 100 Greatest Players', with the help of co-author Jon Howe. Dalton then joined up with Heidi Haigh to release 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Leeds United' three years later.

"It's always been a hobby of mine, that I've always wanted to write books. I've seen people do books in the past, even when I was at school and at college and at university. I always wanted to get into writing it just kind of went from there.

"It takes about 18 months (per book). Luckily, I've got publishers that have been very supportive. I'm very fortunate to do what I can do. I've got the trust of a lot of people, the club believes in me and what I do and I'm extremely lucky to do that."

Dalton's latest book, 'An Official History of Leeds United', was released in October 2019 in conjunction with the club, coming out along with the Centenary shirt as part of the 100-year celebrations. Over 2,500 copies of the book were sold, with the 500 pages proving to be a huge hit with Leeds fans.

Andrew Dalton described what it was like for him on the day of release. He said: "The biggest thrill for me was seeing the third book in with the Centenary shirt back in October.

"It was very surreal, I had no idea until the morning the book released. I didn't have a clue what was going on. It's possibly the most amazing night I've had supporting Leeds United, to see my work there with the Centenary shirt. It's something I'll never forget."

Listen to the full interview below: