There is no doubt that Archie Gray remains a Leeds United fan even if he left the club in the summer of 2024 to join Tottenham. His response to a question by Tottenham’s media team proves it.
Gray left Leeds for a fee of £40m almost 18 months ago now, having played more than 50 games for Leeds in 2023-24. It saw him become the fourth member of the Gray family to play for the Yorkshire side.
But PSR meant Leeds had to make a sale before June 30 in 2024, and Gray was the one sacrificed. He has since become a Europa League winner with Spurs, clocking up 52 appearances for the London club since.
However, with Gray’s younger brother now a part of Leeds’ first team and his father working closely with the club, as is great uncle Eddie, Archie is Leeds at heart. He proved it on Tottenham’s socials this week.
Archie Gray names Leeds United goal as the best he’s seen live
The teenage ace only ever scored once for Leeds, and even then it was a deflection. But it did come in a massive 3-1 win over Leicester at Elland Road. However, Gray didn’t pick his own goal as the best.
Tottenham’s media asked the Spurs players what was the best goal they’ve seen live, after Micky van de Ven’s incredible solo effort in a 4-0 win over Copenhagen. But Gray picked Patrick Bamford’s stunner.
In January 2024, Leeds beat Peterborough United 3-0 in The FA Cup. Ethan Ampadu had scored a brace, his only two goals for Leeds, before firing a long ball into Bamford who chested and volleyed into the net.
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Asked by Tottenham’s media for the best goal he’s seen live, Gray picked Bamford’s strike: “Patrick Bamford vs Peterborough, FA Cup, I think. Had the ball in our half, Ethan Ampadu played a long ball.
“Patrick Bamford took it down on his chest,” Gray continued, moving his body as if he was Bamford in that moment. “It went up, and he smashed it into the top corner. That was really good wasn’t it.”
What Archie Gray said about Patrick Bamford’s goal at the time
It was a stunner but at the time, Gray felt it deserved more recognition than simply the praise Bamford had received from Leeds fans and even Gary Lineker, at the time. He felt it could win the Puskas award.
In reality, Bamford’s goal wasn’t even a Puskas contender. But Bamford said after the goal, on the My Mate’s A Footballer podcast, that Gray had said in the dressing room it could be a Puskas contender.
“He was like: ‘Oh my God, oh my God, you’re going to go to the Puskás Award. That’s going to get nominated I’m sure.’ I think he was more excited than me,” Bamford said, as per the Evening Post.
The fact Gray still recalls it as the best goal he has seen live, however, shows that Leeds remains in his heart, picking the goal over van de Ven’s solo effort in the Champions League earlier this week.