It is a place where an opening-day defeat, the first since 1989, in the second tier of English football can still prompt a round of applause on the final whistle from a crowd simply appreciative of Simon Grayson's side's application and dedication.
There were unpleasant echoes of the past in the minor skirmishes which followed the final whistle, prompting West Yorkshire Police to make "a number of arrests" for public-order offences, and in the vitriol poured upon Robbie Savage, though the Welshman's pantomime-dame act suggests he would have been rather disappointed had he been invited in with open arms.
But Leeds have learned from their years in the wilderness. They have not entered the Championship at the third attempt intending to inform their opponents that a day trip to Elland Road counts as a cup final.
They do not expect promotion - far from it - after a comparatively frugal summer's transfer dealings, though owner Ken Bates has committed some £3 million in wages to loan players.
This club have been forced by harsh reality to come to terms with their new place in the football firmament. How else to explain the warm welcome afforded to Kasper Schmeichel?
The Dane with the Cheshire accent, signed from Manchester City, should have to work considerably harder than most to win over his new fans, thanks to the burden of his ancestry, but he could not have hoped for a better start.
That his surname will forever be associated with the other United, the ones just up the M62, was soon forgotten. "There is a history [with his father, Peter], but that was then and this is now," he said.
"I hope the supporters can respect the fact he was a good player even though he played for the enemy. But I think the fans here are clever enough to accept the player he was.
"But my dad's career was his and I have my own. I would be honoured to win a fraction of what he won. But for now, I am just trying to establish myself and get a good season under my belt. I had enough time not playing at City. I want to play in every single game."
There is every chance of that if he can keep up this display. He could do little about the Rob Hulse goal which opened the scoring, or the Paul Green penalty which secured Derby three points despite Luciano Becchio's equaliser and attempts from Richard Naylor and Neill Collins, both of which struck the bar.
But Elland Road knows quality when it is present. One Schmeichel save, denying Hulse with an athletic low stop and springing up immediately to repel Shaun Barker, brought the fans to their feet. His name rang out around the stands. Things really have changed.
Leeds are back, but not how they wanted to be. There is no question that this grand club, back in the Championship after three years of relative humiliation in the third tier, is slowly returning to a station befitting its status, even if Saturday's deflating defeat to Derby - their first opening day loss since 1989 - checked the sense of resurgent optimism in the city.
Still, with Simon Grayson's team showing admirable fight in front of the day's biggest crowd in the league there was plenty to be positive about inside the stadium (especially with Robert Snodgrass and Billy Paynter to come back from injury).
However, there was fighting of the less admirable kind outside.
What had been a compelling game right into stoppage time was soured by the behaviour of a significant minority outside the ground. Police horses had to be used to keep the two sets of fans apart after clashes between them, with police vans being called in to help quell further skirmishes.
If this sort of stuff was an unwelcome reminder of football's bad old days, there was plenty of more appealing history about this fixture.
Nigel Clough showed a neat sense of occasion. Much had been made of the intimidating reception his team would receive at the famously hostile Elland Road so he asked for the team coach to park up 500 yards short of the ground so that they could walk in. Clough's father, Brian, had used the very same strategy when taking his Nottingham Forest side to Millwall's Den.
"It gave me great pleasure to beat them because they wouldn't let my son William on the pitch an hour and 15 minutes before kick-off," Clough said. "I was very encouraged by our win. It could have been over earlier if their keeper hadn't made some great saves."
Clough senior, of course, had had a brief and tumultuous spell at Leeds, captured in David Peace's The Damned United, and as the Derby players strolled towards the stadium, they had Leeds' old training ground on their left - now a car park - where he first confronted Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles and company.
There was nothing intimidating about Derby's arrival, just the sporadic cry of "is that Robie Savage?" from fans enjoying a bit of West Yorkshire sun. If only it had been quite as laid back after the game.
The game itself started at frenetic pace and never really slowed. It was not the most sophisticated stuff but it was compelling as both sides threw themselves at each other, leaving plenty of space for the attacking players to work in.
Derby struck first after an impressive start. Paul Green, the Irish international midfielder, accelerated through the centre at the Leeds defence, before slipping it to his right for Rob Hulse, who drove the ball past Schmeichel from the angle.
Three minutes later and Leeds were level. Jonathan Howson cheekily pushed the ball past Robbie Savage and scooted into the area but, instead of shooting, cleverly squared to Luciano Becchio for a simple conversion.
Leeds captain Richard Naylor hooked the ball against the bar minutes later but it was Derby who were soon back in front. Again Leeds struggled to cope with Derby's more fluid system that allowed Kris Commons, Green and Tomasz Cywka to run at them from deep.
It was Cywka, a summer signing from Wigan, who caused the problems this time, surging into the box at pace, only to be tripped by the ill-judged lunge of Lloyd Sam. Commons coolly converted the penalty, stroking in after Schmeichel had been sent the wrong way.
Leeds again hit the bar - Neil Collins' downward header coming back up and clipping the woodwork - before Derby threatened again.
Schmeichel, with his father Peter watching from the stands, made two excellent saves, the first from Green after he had been set up by Commons and the second at close range from Commons following Savage's free-kick.
Even better was to come from the goalkeeper in the second half, as the rain came pouring down. Green was left clear in the six-yard box as the Leeds defence looked vainly for offside but Schmeichel kept his composure, standing up to Green and blocking his shot with his chest.
With 15 minutes to go he plunged to his left to deny Hulse superbly and then got up to block Shaun Barker from the rebound. You never thought you would hear Schmeichel's name sung at Elland Road.
Leeds might have snatched an equaliser with 10 minutes to go.
Howson's corner was met by Collins whose downward header was kicked off the line by Green.
"The Championship's a tough division," Grayson said. "It's a lot quicker than we have been used to. So we have got to learn from experience."
Match details:
Leeds (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Connolly, Naylor, Collins, Bessone; Howson (Grella 86), Kilkenny (Clayton 77), Johnson; Watt, Becchio, Sam (White 70).
Subs: Higgs (g), Bruce, Hughes, Bromby. Booked: Naylor, Howson, Connolly.
Derby (4-2-3-1): Bywater; Brayford, Anderson (Barker h-t), Leacock, Roberts; Bailey, Savage; Cywka (Pringle 74), Green, Commons (Porter 84); Hulse.
Subs: Deeney (g), Buxton, Moxey, Doyle. Booked: Savage, Hulse.
Scorers: Hulse (13), Becchio (16), Commons (27 pen).
Attendance: 26,761