How Leeds United fans sent Alex Cairns message in history-making RB Leipzig display

Leeds United supporters were loving what they saw from Alex Cairns against RB Leipzig.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper is a product of Leeds' academy, having graduated into the senior ranks all the way back in 2011.

He was never quite able to make the first-team grade at Elland Road during the early years of his career though, and had left on a permanent basis by the summer of 2015.

Cairns eventually re-signed for Leeds in 2024, before penning a further two-year extension to his contract earlier this summer, taking his current deal through to 2028.

But with James Trafford now signed, Leeds have continued to be linked with signing another goalkeeper to be the record signing's backup.

However, Cairns' long-awaited performance against RB Leipzig on Saturday suggested Whites chiefs may not need to do that.

What were Leeds fans singing about Alex Cairns?

Leeds continued their strong pre-season campaign with a 2-0 win over German Bundesliga giants RB Leipzig.

Saturday's game at Elland Road saw the match split into four 30-minute-long quarters, which proved to be a wise decision given how hot of an afternoon it was in LS11.

Daniel Farke enabled Cairns to play the full 120 minutes, which was a hugely applaudable feat in its own right given the conditions, and it was an assured performance from the veteran shot-stopper.

He wasn't extended an awful lot, which speaks to the defensive performance of his Whites comrades ahead of him, but whenever he was called into action he answered well, whilst his distribution was also very impressive.

As noted in an X post from Telegraph reporter Adonis Storr, Leeds fans in the South Stand broke into a song of “England’s number one” for Cairns after he was forced into a save during the second 30-minute period.

Clearly then, those fans were delighted with what they were seeing from the veteran, amid significant talk of Leeds looking to sign a new number two goalkeeper this summer.

Indeed, it was the kind of performance from him that should've done an awful lot for his case as the number two, especially considering he was out there for two hours and still managed to keep a clean sheet against a top Bundesliga side.

But just how big of an occasion was this for Cairns, and how long has he been waiting to play in a first-team game at Elland Road?

The amount of days since Cairns played in a senior match at Elland Road

Leipzig will have meant an awful lot to Cairns, as this was a very rare opportunity for him.

So rare in fact, that as detailed in an X post from Leeds Live reporter Isaac Johnson, Saturday was Cairns' first senior appearance at Elland Road in 5,393 days.

When was that last first-team involvement at LS11 you ask? Well, that would be all the way back on 2 November, 2011.

That was a day when Leeds were beaten 5-0 by Blackpool in the Championship, and Cairns came on as a half-time substitute for goalkeeper Paul Rachubka.

Even more remarkably, that remains Cairns' only ever competitive appearance for Leeds, making it even more obvious as to why he'd be desperate to at least earn the 'cup keeper' role under Farke this season.