Leeds-born Thackray says she was given no choice about who to support.
“My whole family is crazy about Leeds. I came out of the womb and they handed me a Leeds United shirt,” he told BBC Sport.
“My first real memories of football were in the late 90s and early 2000s, so my favorite players were Lucas Radebe, Alan Smith, Lee Bowyer and Mark Viduka. That David O’Leary era was the moment when that I connected with the team and we were playing the best football of our lives.
“I got to see us beat AC Milan at Elland Road and stuff like that, so it was a great introduction to football. Let’s just say things went down a bit after that.
“People describe what happened next as a Leeds in the doldrums, but we still had some players who stood out, and most of them were probably the ones who came through our academy.
“My heroes during those years were people like Sam Byram and Jonny Howson – Howson’s parents live around the corner from mine and it was always quite strange seeing him in the supermarket and things like that.
“It’s a shame we can’t seem to retain our local talent, most recently with Archie Gray going to Tottenham. It’s another reason why we need to get back to the Premier League.”
Leeds missed out on promotion last year when they lost to Southampton in the play-off final, but are currently top of the Championship standings.
So will they return to the top flight next season?
“We really have to be,” Thackray added. “It seems like a matter of life and death because if we don’t go up this time the club could collapse and we could face another 20 years out of the Premier League.
“I think we will do it, although I’m not sure if we will keep first place because Sheffield United look very strong.
“Finishing second is good, though. Really, the only thing that matters is that we get promoted.”
Chris Sutton and Emma-Jean Thackray were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
