Eurostar: Leeds vs Crystal Palace, 9th May 1995

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The more games Leeds won, the further Leeds went up the Premier League table, the nearer Leeds got to UEFA Cup qualification, the busier Bill Fotherby became.

"It's all very well clubs coming in now and saying they've made bids," said United's managing director, about news that Glasgow Rangers were close to signing Paul Gascoigne from Lazio. "If he feels Leeds can offer a better base for his England future, he'll come here. I'm still confident we'll get him."

Fotherby was always busy and Fotherby was always confident, but in May 1995, his optimism was not out of place at Elland Road. This wasn't like bringing Diego Maradona from Napoli to Division Two in 1986. Gazza in midfield with Gary McAllister, Gary Speed and Carlton Palmer felt like something that could happen.

Fotherby on Tour: Paul Gascoigne

Bill Fotherby was keen to stress that this wasn’t a spur of the moment urge. Buying Paul Gascoigne was the culmination of a plan that began when Howard Wilkinson took over at Leeds in 1988 and made headlines by taking his ball-clutching nemesis, Vinnie Jones, to Division Two.

LeedsistaMoxcowhite • Daniel Chapman

Even just a couple of months earlier it might have been laughed off — same old Bill with the same old dreams. The season had seemed to be fading out during an aimless winter; after an inconsistent start to the season Leeds had found some rhythm, but it was a slow beat, one win from seven. Leeds were mid-table, although Howard Wilkinson thought his side was playing better than its results suggested.

A 4-0 win over QPR at the end of January supported his view. David White and Brian Deane scored one each, and when Phil Masinga scored his second with six minutes to go it gave Wilkinson security to introduce a new striker. The game was already won, and now came the turning point.

Fourteen starts. Nine wins, three draws, two defeats. 21 goals for the team, ten of them for Anthony Yeboah. "Goalscorers inspire a team," said Gary McAllister. "Since Tony's arrived, that is exactly what he has done for us."

Yeboah hadn't scored at the weekend, when victory at Elland Road had relegated Norwich City, and he wasn't at his best. With ten minutes left McAllister had equalised with a penalty given, to Norwich manager Gary Megson's great anger, for a foul on Yeboah, who was then replaced by Noel Whelan; it was up to Carlton Palmer to make it 2-1 to Leeds in stoppage time. But Wilkinson had been careful to embrace his striker as he came off, to put an arm around him, appreciate his efforts. Europe was the target and Gascoigne was the dream, but there wasn't much more important than keeping Tony happy.

The conditions of Yeboah's transfer were complicated. Leeds had paid £800,000 for him in January. To keep him, they would have to pay another £2.6m to Eintracht Frankfurt before the end of June. Yeboah also had a get-out clause for his first twelve months allowing him to leave if he wasn't happy in Yorkshire. The Sunday tabloids were hinting he wanted out already, and when Eintracht manager Bernd Holzenbein arrived to watch the midweek match with Crystal Palace at Elland Road, he told Fotherby, "I want to take Tony back with me."