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Amazon Prime’s Take Us Home: Leeds United co-producer Stevie Rowe has told The Boot Room that the star of Season 2 was not a Leeds player, but in fact the Grandmother of Kalvin Phillips – saying she deserves credit for Leeds keeping the midifelder.
The documentary showed Leeds failing to get promoted during 2018-19 and suffering defeat to Derby County in the play-offs, before two 45-minute episodes released earlier this summer captured the club gaining promotion to the Premier League.
Phillips, alongside Pablo Hernandez, Gjanni Alioski and others shone throughout the documentary and indeed the 2019-20 season. But it was Val, the Grandmother of Phillips, that won the hearts of Leeds fans.
Val acted as a witness when Phillips penned a new five-year deal and when asked if any of the players stood out during filming, NEO Studios’ Head of Production Rowe picked Val instead – claiming she deserves credit for keeping her Grandson at Leeds.
“It wasn’t a player that stood out, it was Kalvin Phillips’ Grandmother. She is a star, she should have her own show. The players were great. Some took some convincing. Ultimately, by the end of it, they were all on board,” Rowe told The Boot Room.
“Stand-out players on the pitch were obvious, but for the documentary, Pablo Hernandez was amazing, Alioski was amazing, Kalvin took some convincing. It was well before he was in the England limelight.
Since signing a new contract, Phillips has gone on to become a regular in England’s side under Gareth Southgate – earning his fourth cap on Wednesday night as the Three Lions suffered a 1-0 defeat to Denmark, after Harry Maguire was sent off.
Phillips now has 185 senior Leeds appearances to his name and is expected to surpass 200 this season. But Leeds fans should be thankful to the star of Season 2, as Rowe puts it, in the form of the player’s Grandmother Val.
Had it not been for Val, Phillips could perhaps have been playing elsewhere than Leeds – which would have certainly affected Leeds’ chances of promotion from the Championship. Instead, Val’s influence has seen Leeds and Phillips shine, together.
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