Leeds United are currently enjoying a positive start to their second season back in the Premier League, and they will be hoping to get back to the times when they had some of the best stars in England and were playing in the Champions League.

Leeds have lost just one of their opening eight league matches under Daniel Farke this term, but they have drawn five of those, including Sunday's goalless draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The Yorkshire outfit will be dreaming of pushing on and returning to European football in the next few years, and potentially this term if they can start turning the draws into wins, to return to the glory days at the start of this century.

The Whites participated in the Champions League in the 2000-01 season, reaching the semi-finals of the competition having won eight of their 18 games in the competition, including against AC Milan, Lazio and Deportivo La Coruna, before they were beaten by Valencia in the last four.

Woodgate made five appearances in Europe's elite club competition that season, and departed Elland Road after making 142 appearances for the club, joining Newcastle United.

The eight-cap international played alongside some of the greatest signings in Leeds United's history during his time at the club, including Mark Viduka, Rio Ferdinand, Alan Smith and Harry Kewell, but he rates another player above all of those.

Speaking on Jamie Carragher's Greatest Game podcast in 2021, Woodgate responded when asked if Kewell was the best player he played with at Elland Road.

Stephen McPhail, he was in my youth team Stephen McPhail he used to have control of the midfield.

“Left-footer, silky on the eye, he had weight of pass, timing, everything, he could just control a game, and he was loved at Leeds.

“But, he made a lot of appearances at Leeds, but he didn’t quite have athleticism, you know what I mean.

“Even the youth coaches thought he was going to be the best, he was different class Macca, different class.”

What Happened to McPhail After he Left Leeds?

After leaving Elland Road on Aloan for Championship side Millwall in 2001, the midfielder then spent the majority of the rest of his playing career in the Football League.

A further loan spell with Nottingham Forest was followed up by a permanent move to Barnsley, before he spent seven seasons with Cardiff City, making more than 200 appearances for the Bluebirds.

A year with Sheffield Wednesday was then followed up by three seasons at Shamrock Rovers, before he retired from playing in October 2016.

Shortly after his retirement, McPhail was appointed as the new sporting director of Shamrock Rovers, remaining in the role until he stepped down from the role in December 2025.

Incredibly, the midfielder was also diagnosed with stage one MALT lymphoma towards the end of 2009, at the age of 29, starting radiotherapy just before Christmas of the same year.

McPhail is a cancer survivor, while his son is a 17-year-old in the Shamrock Rovers academy.