Karen Carney said that Leeds United’s promotion from the Championship in 2019–20 was helped significantly by the Covid-19 break, suggesting they might not have gone up without that enforced rest. She argued that Leeds “out-run everyone” but had a history of fading late in seasons, and that the pandemic hiatus gave them “respite” which allowed them to finish the job.

Context of the comments

Carney made the remarks while working as a pundit during Amazon Prime’s coverage of Leeds’ 5–0 win over West Bromwich Albion in December 2020. She referred to previous seasons where Leeds had appeared to tire, then linked their eventual title win and promotion to the mid-season pause caused by Covid-19.

Reaction from Leeds and others

Leeds’ official account posted a clip of her comments with a caption pointing out that they “won the league by 10 points,” which many saw as mocking her analysis. The tweet remained up and attracted a wave of sexist and abusive replies toward Carney, which Leeds later publicly condemned while still calling her remarks unnecessary and disrespectful to the club’s efforts.