Football League World
·19 August 2024
Leeds United, Cardiff City transfer agreement was an eventual success at Elland Road: View
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·19 August 2024
It may have taken a while, but Ross McCormack proved to be a great bit of business for the Whites
After his first season as a Leeds United player, there were plenty of fans willing to write Ross McCormack off given his stuttering start to life in Yorkshire.
The Scot failed to fully get firing after joining from Cardiff City in the summer of 2010, as he failed to get an unbroken run in the first-team, and his sharpness in front of goal faltered as result.
But once he was given the time to shine, the former Motherwell man really came to the fore for the Yorkshire outfit, and went on to become the chief goal-getter in the side.
His 53 goals in 144 league appearances might not be the most prolific return you will see, but McCormack proved himself to be a man for the big occasions during his time in LS11, before moving on to Fulham.
After starting out life at Rangers, McCormack had a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers, before catching the eye with Motherwell, which tempted Cardiff City into making a move to bring him to the Football League.
As soon as he came south of the border, the striker began to catch fire, with 21 goals in his first season with the club, although he failed to recreate that the season after, having registered just four times.
Nevertheless, Leeds were still interested in bringing him in to help with their own promotion push from the 2010/11 season onwards, but the early signs must have made them wish that they hadn’t bothered.
With Luciano Becchio the man most trusted to lead the line at that moment in time, McCormack was reduced to a number of bit-part appearances while he still got to grips with his new surroundings, but that lack of game time resulted in him failing to make an impact.
In fact, it took until the final two matches of the season for him to finally get off the mark in a white shirt, with goals against Burnley and Queens Park Rangers being his only strikes of the campaign.
That end of season form proved to be a sign of things to come at Elland Road, with McCormack starting the next season on fire, as he netted ten times in his first 13 matches of the season in all competitions.
Vital strikes against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion and Bristol City saw him win the fans over in Yorkshire, and before long he was the toast of the town due to his newly found goalscoring exploits.
In total, the Scot finished with 18 strikes in his second season at the club, before going on to net a whopping 28 Championship goals in the 2013/14 campaign, including an incredible four-goal haul against Charlton Athletic.
This was a man at the peak of his powers - with everything he touched turning into goals - and a far cry from the player who struggled to get going at the start of his time in Yorkshire.
As a result, it was no surprise when plenty of sides came sniffing at the end of that goal-laden campaign, with Fulham eventually winning the race for his signature in a reported £11 million deal.