A Leeds United loss proved to be Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town's gain: View | OneFootball

Highlights

In the summer of 2014, Leeds United made the decision to sell defender Tom Lees to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday, after enduring an underwhelming season that saw the Whites finish a lowly 15th in the Championship.

Lees made 135 appearances for Leed but the club would never finish higher than 13th during his time at Elland Road.

Tom Lees was a Sheffield Wednesday stalwart

The central defender joined Wednesday for an undisclosed fee in July 2014 and went on to be a major stalwart for the Owls, staying at Hillsborough until 2021.

During his time with the Owls, Lees made 274 appearances, scoring 10 goals in the process, and he helped them reach the play-offs during both the 2015/16 and 2016/17 Championship campaigns.

Lees was a key asset for the Owls during both of those terms, making 34 Championship appearances in 2015/16 and 35 during 2016/17.

During those two seasons, Lees' former club Leeds did not reach the play-offs, although they narrowly missed out on a top six spot in the 2016-17 season - finishing seventh and five points behind sixth-placed Fulham.

Whether or not it was a mistake to let him leave Leeds is another argument but there is no doubt the Whites' loss was Wednesday's gain as they made the play-off spots at their expense.

Tom Lees has been successful for Huddersfield

Since joining the Terriers following Wednesday's relegation in 2021, the centre-half has made 100 appearances in Huddersfield colours, and helped the side unexpectedly reach the 2022 play-off final in a season where the club were just six points behind the automatic promotion spots, but ultimately lost in the play-off final to Nottingham Forest.

Lees was almost ever-present in the 2021/22 Championship campaign for the Terriers, appearing in 40 out of 46 second-tier matches, an appearance record he would better in 2022/23, as he featured on 42 occasions in the league.

His defensive contributions last term helped his club stave off the threat of relegation, as they finished nine points clear of the bottom three despite spending much of the season below the dotted line prior to the appointment of Neil Warnock back in February.

He also made three goal contributions last campaign, including an assist in a surprise 1-0 win over promoted Sheffield United on the penultimate weekend of the season.

So far in the current second-tier season, Lees has made nine appearances and has started in six matches including Saturday's 1-1 draw with promotion hopefuls Southampton, which the Terriers may view as a very good point come the end of the season.

After that result, Darren Moore's side are now four points clear of the bottom three and will be looking to earn their first win since October 21st sooner rather than later.

The Terriers have already conceded 29 goals in the Championship, so both Lees and his teammates will be hoping to improve upon their defensive efforts.

On the whole, since departing Elland Road, Lees has had a stellar Championship career, so Leeds' loss has certainly been the gain of both Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town.