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Daniel Farke says it will mean “the world to Leeds fans” after reaching their first FA Cup semi final in 39 years.

Leeds won an epic quarter final which lasted three hours and six minutes after Pascal Struijk hit the winning spot kick in a shoot-out after West Ham scored twice in injury time to take the tie to extra time and penalties.

It sets up a showdown with Chelsea after Manchester City were drawn against Southampton following the epic quarter final at West Ham.

Leeds boss Farke said: “We always do it the tough way, never the easy way. It was a crazy game but we fought for this piece of history and I’m just proud of the boys. To keep the nerves and win the penalty shootout shows great mentality and character.

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“This is reward for our fantastic fanbase with the first semi final for decades. You could see what it meant when you looked in the eyes of the supporters. It means the world.”

Farke did confirm that when Leeds arrived they were told that if the tie went to penalties they would not be allowed to shoot into the away end with their 9,000 fans because of safety reasons. Ultimately, there was a toss and the penalties were taken into the West Ham end.

Farke added: “I was told that there was a document signed by the safety officer saying we could not shoot into our end. You have to stay classy and it’s gone now. I won’t comment but I think you can tell what I thought of it.”

Leeds hero Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored a penalty in the match and in the shoot-out, said: “It's always going to be a difficult match against Chelsea. Good side but it's the FA Cup, so we're going to Wembley, excited, excited.

“I've never had the opportunity to play at Wembley for a club before, so for me, it was a big, big chance today, and, you know, when they went 2-2 I was thinking maybe it's not meant to be, but thankfully, we stuck in there and got the win.”

West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen hit the post twice and also missed in the shoot-out while he also saw thousands of fans leave before 90 minutes with Leeds 2-0 up before their dramatic comeback. They also ended up with rookie keeper Finlay Herrick, 20, in goal for the shoot-out.

Bowen said: “Gutted. It hurts a lot after being 2-0 down. I missed and I can only apologise to everyone involved for that. You never want to miss penalties but I have today and I have to face that.

“It doesn't define who I am but I have to stand tall from that. We did a lot of good things in the game but it wasn't to be.

“It has to hurt. We are hurt as a team. We have to dust ourselves down and get back into training tomorrow for the Wolves game on Friday because we know what we have to do.”

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