Leeds United - on this day: Whites beat host of clubs to sign Jermaine Beckford

The day...

March 16, 2006

The event...

Jermaine Beckford signs for Leeds United from non-league side Wealdstone

What happened?

When Jermaine Beckford put pen to paper with Leeds United 15 years ago not many would've believed what was to follow.

The Wealdstone striker had gathered interest from a number of teams in the Football League, having scored 35 goals in 40 games that season.

Leeds, though, won the race to land his signature and the rest - as they say - is history.

Beckford went on to make 147 appearances for the Whites, scoring 84 goals as he became a cult hero in LS11.

The striker scored the vital goal that saw Leeds defeat Manchester United in the FA Cup at Old Trafford in 2010 and also bagged the League One promotion-winning goal against Bristol Rovers - his final act as a Leeds player.

Beckford recently detailed the story of his arrival at Elland Road from Wealdstone: “On the Saturday, I was playing in front of maybe 80 people, give or take.

“It was Wealdstone against somebody… big game! I remember coming off early because I knew that I had something in the pipeline with Leeds and I didn’t want to run the risk of getting injured or whatever.

“So I came off early and that was in front of 80-ish people. I signed on Sunday, trained on Monday and then I played on Tuesday in front of 34,500 people against Crystal Palace at Elland Road.

“I was bricking it! I’ve got a very calm exterior, but I was on the touchline and as soon as my number came up on the board – and Elland Road was full – it just went up another couple of decibels.

“I’ll be honest with you, every single sensation or feeling you could get ran just right through my bod; through my veins and my skin – it was phenomenal.”