Leeds-born Thackeray said he was given no choice about who to support.
“My family are all Leeds mad. I came out of the womb, and I was given a Leeds United shirt,” he told BBC Sport.
“My first proper memory of football was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so my favorite players were Lucas Radebe, Alan Smith, Lee Bower and Mark Viduka. That David O’Leary era was the time for me where I was connected with the team and we were playing the best football of our lives.
“We’ll have to see Beat AC Milan at Elland Road And things like that, so it was a great introduction to football. Let’s say things fall off a bit after that.
“People describe what happened next as Leeds as a disappointment but we still had some players who stood out and most of them probably came through our academy.
“My heroes in those years were people like Sam Byram and Johnny Howson – Howson’s parents live around the corner from me and it was always weird to see him in the supermarket and stuff like that.
“It’s a shame we can’t keep hold of our homegrown talent, Archie Gray recently went to Tottenham. It’s another reason we’re back in the Premier League.”
Leeds missed out on promotion last year when they lost to Southampton in the play-off final, but currently sit top of the Championship table.
So will they return to the top flight next season?
“We really have to be,” Thackeray added. “It feels like do or die because, if we don’t go this time, the club could go bust and we could face another 20 years out of the Premier League.
“I think we’ll do it, although I’m not sure if we’ll keep top spot because Sheffield United are looking really strong.
“It’s good to finish second though. The important thing is for us to go up.”
Chris Sutton and Emma-Jean Thackeray were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
