Leeds fans urged to 53rd-minute applause for Giles McVicar against Brighton | OneFootball

Leeds United fans have been asked to join a 53rd-minute applause for East Stand season-ticket holder Giles McVicar during Sunday’s game against Brighton at Elland Road. According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, the tribute follows his death last month after a lifetime of health battles.

McVicar, 53, leaves sons Rob and Harry and first followed Leeds in the late 70s while collecting Panini stickers with his brother James. His son Rob has described him as embodying the club’s fighting spirit.

Serious illness struck early, with a heart transplant at 17 in 1990, then Hodgkin lymphoma at 19. After multiple relapses he required a second heart transplant at 26.

He endured further bouts of lymphoma and pneumonia, then developed end-stage renal failure. He spent over six years on dialysis before receiving a kidney transplant in the summer of 2025.

The transplant succeeded, with kidney function rising to as high as 80 percent, yet hospital visits continued. Most recently he fought sepsis of the biliary tract, which led to acute kidney injury and a pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. His 36-year health battle ended on April 22.

A devoted supporter, he watched the Champions League nights of the early 2000s and did not let illness stop him getting to games. He first stood with close friend Peter Muller in the boys pen at the Lowfields, later taking season tickets in the early 90s in the Kop. In Bielsa’s first season Rob and his father became East Stand regulars and still made the odd away trip.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk