All the most 2016 things to happen in Leeds in 2016

Loads of big things have happened in the last 12 months, apparently. But all the best things happened in west Yorkshire. Here’s a very serious review of everything important that happened in Leeds year. Try not to get too emosh.

Leeds won ‘University of the Year’ Award 

Just in case you hadn’t heard, or failed to take notice of the gigantic glaring signs plastered across every available wall on campus, Leeds was named University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good Universities Guide. Woop-de-bloody-do.

The Edward Boyle library reopened 

After a year long refurbishment, Leeds’ biggest brutalist monstrosity was back and better than ever. A great spot to work if you want to feel like you’re in Facebook headquarters rather than a library.

Leeds Grads Brownlee bro’s won gold and silver in the Rio Olympics

Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee  claimed gold and silver respectively in the Olympic triathlon event, finishing just six seconds apart.

A month after the Olympics Alistair Brownlee sent the British public into a collective “Awww” frenzy as he proved himself to be a bloody good chap by helping his collapsing brother over the finish line and conceding a gold medal.

Just the sort of supreme ethical conduct you’d expect from a Leeds grad.

A coffee shop finally opened in Hyde Park

Our beloved student haven, Hyde Park, is home to restaurants, supermarkets and an inexplicable abundance of ice cream parlours. But for some unknown reason, there has always been a lack of decent coffee shops, and since coffee shops have become a byword for everything that’s bad about gentrification, we’re obviously crying out for some.

Hyde Park’s newest coffee establishment, Pump n Grind is filling this void. The cafe is conveniently located towards the top of Brudenell Road, en route to campus, which is helpful if you need your caffeine fix during that long morning commute.

We were terrorised by horrible clowns and motorbikes on Halloween 

Lol remember that time gangs of masked motorcyclists and quad-bikers caused carnage on Kirkstall Road in Leeds on Halloween eve? And what about those ‘killer’ clowns, hey? Tbf, they don’t seem that scary anymore when compared with what happened in that terrifying November.

The Union tried to extort us with 59p Babybels

They say The Tab Leeds doesn’t do enough investigative journalism, and this is exactly why.

Having said that, Leeds students are still reeling from the Babybel-gate revelations.

Our Green Puffa jackets went viral 

Somebody at Leeds Uni set up an Instagram account for pictures of girls in Leeds wearing that green puffa from Urban Outfitters. People send in photographs taken in a “spotted” style, normally grainy and from behind with the subject walking away.

When The Tab picked up the story the account had just over 200 followers, but now with the help of national press coverage, @thatpuffa is almost at 1,700 followers. You could say we make dreams happen.

We found out that girls sometimes wear gym clothes even when they’re not going to the gym

Turns out that Donald Trump and Nigel Farage weren’t the only ones lying this year.

Control went into liquidation

The 3,000 capacity venue on Kirkstall Road went into liquidation after failing to attract Leeds’ clubbers who preferred the city-centre or the delights of Fruity at the Union. Control has seen many club nights come and go, including most famously hosting Snoop Dog’s birthday party. The only thing it couldn’t’ control was its finances – racking up a total debt of £1.139million.

Space was voted the fifth worst nightclub in the country

Probably the least surprising story of 2016. You’ll know it as the club everyone loves to hate, or loves to avoid like the plague.

When Fruity’s only on a Friday and Warehouse is miles away, even if you hate yourself you’re probably going to end up in the alleyway all night.

Hey, at least you get a free bottle of sparkling wine if it’s your birthday.

We found out that there’s an Otley run for Greggs Bakeries 

Thats right, there’s an official Greggs Run across all 12 stores in Leeds and you can do the whole thing without spending more than £13 .

The rules of the crawl are simple: You must buy 1 food item in each store and eat it all within 1 day, though drinks do not count.

Can you survive the Greggly run?

We also found out that Girls from Leeds Uni are the second most swiped right on Tinder 

Thats just a fact – according to the infamous dating site, which collected lots of data to find out which universities in the UK have the most right-swiped men and women, and Leeds women came in at second place. What more is there to life than being ridiculously, ridiculously good-looking?

Hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil for Harambe 

So 2016.

Craig David came to Leeds

Craig came, saw, and conquered Leeds as part of his comeback tour, reviving his brand of early-noughties RnB and reminding us all of a simpler, happier time.

Super Gonorrhea spreading in Leeds

A highly drug-resistant strain of “super gonorrhoea” emerged in Leeds in April, prompting national concern. As usual Leeds set the trend, with it subsequently spreading to the rest of the UK.

Public Health England acknowledges measures to contain the outbreak have been of “limited success”.

(Any suggestion of a casual relationship between the last two subheadings is purely incidental).

Leeds voted to remain in EU

Brexit, Brexit, Brexit Brexit, BREXIT. And you thought you’d read a 2016 article without seeing anything about Brexit. Sorry.