Meet the Leeds United fans who named their child after Marcelo Bielsa

Little Chloe Marcela Bruce is named after her parents' hero

A Leeds United-supporting couple are celebrating after their decision to name their daughter after Marcelo Bielsa when she was born over a year ago was vindicated.

Steve and Emma Bruce feared that if Bielsa had failed to secure promotion and left the club, little Chloe's middle name Marcela - the female version of the Spanish name - would be a strange story to tell by the time she reached adulthood.

But after the Whites were named Championship winners over the weekend, the family - who live just metres from the club's training ground in Thorp Arch - have been 'telling everyone' about their choice of name.

Chloe Marcela Bruce was born in April 2019, during Leeds' ill-fated play-off run-in when they lost to Derby County and were denied promotion.

The toddler - now 15 months old - is the couple's third child and is part of an extended family who are passionate about the Whites.

Mum Emma has been a season ticket holder at Elland Road since the age of four, when she would go to matches with her late father Chris Furniss, a former district judge in Leeds, and her siblings. When she first began dating timber merchant Steve, they would bond over their shared love of the club.

Since starting their own family, they have shared their two season tickets with older children Elodie, eight, and Bobby, six, and have already renewed them for 2020/21.

"When she was born, it was just before the play-offs and it was a tense, stressful time. In the lead-up, my husband asked if we could name her after Bielsa, and I agreed! Of course, we didn't know if we'd be promoted or if he'd stay.

"When we registered her birth, the registrar picked up on it and asked us about it, saying it was unusual, but we didn't tell that many people after the play-offs. Since promotion, we've been telling everyone!