Premier League Promotion: How German coach Daniel Farke became the Record Man

Welcome back, Leeds United! “The Peacocks” returned to the Premier League at Easter, and the successful coach is – as with his two previous promotions to the Premier League with Norwich City – Daniel Farke. The British media praise the German coach and his calm, Westphalian beer-like composure.

Daniel Farke did what Aloysius Paulus Maria van Gaal, known as Louis, once did at Bayern Munich. “I’m a party animal,” promised the German coach of Leeds United after securing promotion to the Premier League on Easter Monday with a 6-0 win over Stoke City. How late the celebrations actually went on – we don’t know…

But what we do know: after just ten minutes, Elland Road, the mythical stadium of “The Peacocks” and a destination for football trips to Leeds United, was shaking. “Leeds is going up” – when fan favorite Joel Piroe scored to make it 2-0.

The Dutch striker now has 19 goals in 44 Championship appearances this season, scoring four times against Stoke.

Daniel Farke at Leeds – Quietly achieving promotion

Daniel Farke at Leeds United – BBC Sport praised him for his composure when the team was struggling in March 2025: “During the Peacocks’ slump in form, he remained calm. On March 29, after the 2-2 draw against Swansea City, Leeds were two points behind leaders Sheffield United and Farke said: I’m 100 percent convinced we’ll be in the Premier League next year.”

And so it came to be. 6-0 – a memorable promotion Sunday for Leeds United, who return to the Premier League after a two-year absence.

It fits the character of Daniel Farke at Leeds United that before the match, he took everyone at Elland Road – from stewards to groundskeepers – by the hand and reminded them of the importance of the game against “The Potters”: “We can create something truly special together.”

His team delivered impressively.

It was the fourth win in a row for the 2001 Champions League semi-finalist Leeds United, who lost only one of their last nine Championship games – a 0-1 at Portsmouth.

And of course, in this match that will be remembered in Leeds for a long time, the anthem “I Predict a Riot” by the Kaiser Chiefs couldn’t be missed.

Well, the fans had their fun. They also celebrated 16-year-old Leeds player Harry Gray, nephew of Leeds legend Eddie Gray (who was watching from the stands), who was brought on by Daniel Farke.

“I didn’t bring him on because of his last name,” Farke told the Daily Mail about the decision.

Daniel Farke – His coaching career so far

I Predict a Riot – That may apply to Leeds United, but not when Daniel Farke takes over a coaching role in England.

Then it’s all quiet tones and humility as a core virtue. The Westphalian has been coaching abroad since 2017, with only one break.

He led the “Canaries” of Norwich City – where the bond between fans and team is as close as in Leeds, as I witnessed firsthand at Carrow Road in September 2023 – to the Premier League twice, in 2019 and 2021.

Farke’s move to Russian top-flight club FK Krasnodar was a major misunderstanding; he resigned quickly in 2022 without managing a single competitive match.

At Borussia Mönchengladbach, Daniel Farke couldn’t quite replicate what made him so popular in Norwich and Leeds. Tenth place in 2022/2023 was not enough, and after just one season, Farke and the five-time German champions ended their collaboration.

German coaches in the Premier League – Who achieved promotion?

With his appointment at Leeds and the arrival of Jürgen Klopp as Head of Global Soccer at the historic English club Leeds United, now financially backed by the beverage giant Red Bull, Daniel Farke is working in Yorkshire with the most successful German coach in Premier League history.

Klopp became Premier League champion in 2020 with Liverpool FC as the first German coach, and also won the Champions League in 2019 and the FA Cup in 2022 with the “Reds”.

With United’s promotion, Farke achieved what only Neil Warnock had done before him.

He led a club to the Premier League for the third time.

A German coach taking a promoted team into the prestigious English top flight – before Farke, only David Wagner, another “Klopp buddy,” had done so, in 2017 with Huddersfield Town via the playoffs and a 5-4 penalty shootout thriller against Reading FC. An epic match at Wembley.

Leeds United and Daniel Farke – whose salary at the “Whites” is a closely guarded secret, but likely well above the €2.2 million he reportedly earned at Borussia Mönchengladbach – had to go through the playoff games to reach the Premier League in 2024 with 90 points.

Now they welcome the quiet German back to England’s top flight. Welcome back, your dreams where you let it out.