The 'elbow' goal that cost Rotherham United at Leeds United ... Patrick Bamford talks for the first time

The striker bagged the opener early on in the Championship clash at Elland Road on February 10 and the home team went on to win 3-0.

Speaking publicly about the flashpoint for the first time, the 30-year-old admitted:

- he used his elbow to divert the ball of the line

- he was “stupid” to celebrate with an elbow gesture once the goal had been awarded.

- he was economical with the the truth when referee Andy Madley first asked him about the incident

- he admitted his guilt to Madley at half-time.

Controversy flared in the tenth minute when a cross from Leeds' Junior Firpo hit Rotherham's Christ Tiehi and Bamford then diverted the ball into the net by foul means.

The offence was clear to many people in the stadium but was missed by the officials.

The centre-forward said: “I didn't intentionally run to the ball and think: ‘I'm going to handball it.’ I was attacking the near post and as Junior's crossed the ball it's deflected out of my path. It was out of reach and it was going to go to the keeper's hands.

“At the time, I thought: ‘It’s really close to me, but I can’t quite get it with my body, so I’m just going to nudge it with my elbow.’

“I thought: ‘That’s really subtle, no-one can see that, it looks like it's come off my chest.’ I ran off and, as I’m running off, I tried just to make it look normal.

“I looked back and, obviously, their players are going nuts. The ref’s given the goal. Stupidly, I did a celebration where I tapped my elbow.”

With the game yet to restart, Madley, a Premier League official from Huddersfield, quizzed Bamford and the Leeds man misled the ref.

The scorer said: "Afterwards, we’re walking back to the centre circle. One of their players had asked me: ‘Did you handball it?’ I was, like: 'Yeah.' I told him the truth.

“Before we've kicked off again, the ref said: ‘Did it touch your hand?’ To be fair, it didn’t touch my hand, it touched my elbow, so I said: ‘No, it didn’t touch my hand.’”

Bamford described Madley as “a nice guy” and someone to whom he'd chatted in the past.

“I like him even more now, obviously!” the attacker joked. “At half-time, he's speaking to me in the tunnel and he asks: ‘Did you use your arm to put it in?’

“I was, like: ‘I'll be honest with you, it came off my elbow. It was just a natural instinct to flip my arm at it. But don't hold it against us.’

“He said: ‘Look, it's not my job to kind of balance it up. From where I was, I couldn't see and I didn't want to take the risk of guessing and disallowing the goal when I didn't know if it had come off your arm or off your chest.’

“He said he appreciated my honesty. I said: ‘There's no point lying about it.’”

Leeds, who now top the table and are unbeaten in the league in 2024, ran out easy winners against bottom-placed Rotherham whose relegation is set to be confirmed shortly.

Millers boss Leam Richardson said at the time that Bamford had “cheated” and added: “It hasn't cost us the result but it's a large part of it.”

* The player was speaking to comedian Joe Wilkinson on the ‘My Mate's a Footballer’ podcast.