Highlights

• Stuart Dallas announces retirement at 32 after suffering femoral fracture nearly two years ago, a sad end to his successful Leeds career.
• Dallas, a modern-day legend at Elland Road, joined in 2015 and helped Leeds win promotion under Bielsa, playing a crucial role in the team.
• The end of an era at Leeds United as Dallas retires, with Luke Ayling leaving on loan and Liam Cooper's contract expiring, signaling changes ahead.

After being unable to recover from an injury sustained in April 2022, Leeds United's Stuart Dallas recently made the sad announcement that he was retiring from football.

In a Premier League game against Manchester City on 30th April 2022, Dallas suffered a femoral fracture after a clash with Jack Grealish. That injury has kept him out of action since, and nearly two years on, the Northern Irish man has announced he will retire at the age of 32.

This is bitterly disappointing news for everyone at Leeds, as Dallas was a real fan favourite at Elland Road, and everyone had hoped that he would one day make a full recovery from his injury.

However, the versatile midfielder can be proud of what he's achieved at the club since joining from Brentford in 2015, and he'll certainly go down as a modern-day legend at Elland Road after helping the club win promotion in 2020.

Stuart Dallas' time at Leeds United

The Northern Irish man joined from fellow Championship side Brentford in the summer of 2015, for a reported fee of just £1.3million.

The Leeds boss at the time was Uwe Rösler, and he had worked with Dallas previously at Brentford, so he was keen to bring him to the club and, despite a disastrous spell in charge at Elland Road, the German deserves some credit for his role in creating a modern-day Leeds legend.

Rösler was sacked in October 2015 after just a few months at the club, and whilst the manager who brought you to the club being sacked would have been a blow for some players, Dallas continued to thrive.

He missed just one league game during his first season at the club, making 49 appearances in total, as Dallas showed why Leeds brought him to the club.

This was a period of huge upheaval for Leeds, but the Northern Irish man continued to thrive and things got even better for him when Marcelo Bielsa arrived.

It was actually a frustrating first season for the player under Bielsa, as he suffered a broken foot and made just ten league starts, but he took centre stage in their promotion-winning campaign the following season.

He played 45 out of a possible 46 Championship games, starting all 45, and will forever be adored for the role he played in helping the club win promotion.

There were also further great moments in the Premier League, such as scoring a brace away to Manchester City, which included a 91st minute winner. They were two of eight Premier League goals in 2020/21, when he played every game as Leeds finished ninth.

He also started all 34 of Leeds' league games during the 2021/22 season prior to injury, and there's no surprise that the side struggled in his absence.

Whilst the way his career ended was unfortunate, Dallas can be very pleased with what he achieved at Leeds.

The 2023/24 season looks like the end of an era at Leeds United

This season feels like the end of an era for Leeds with Luke Ayling leaving on loan prior to his contract expiring and Dallas retiring.

Liam Cooper also sees his deal expire at the end of the season, and being on the wrong side of 30 with little playing time recently, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him depart this summer.

Dallas joined in 2015, Ayling joined in 2016 and Cooper moved to Elland Road in 2014, so these are three players that have given a lot of experience to Leeds over the years.

For Leeds supporters, it would be a huge blow seeing the trio all leave the club this season, but Daniel Farke understandably will look to bring down the age profile of the squad and try to make signings to improve the club this summer, particularly if they win promotion.

Whilst it's not confirmed that Cooper will definitely leave this summer, it does feel like this season is the end of an era for some of the more experienced players in this Leeds squad.