Wilkinson, by then Leeds United manager, returned to his former club in July 1991 to sign two young centre-backs, Jon Newsome first and Wetherall a few days later, for a combined fee of £275,000. The 20-year-old Wetherall's first season at Leeds was the final year of his degree course, so he played for the reserves while training part-time. He made a brief debut in the First Division, on 3 September 1991 at Elland Road as a late substitute against Arsenal; Leeds went on to win the 1991–92 league title. He remembers it as "With 20 minutes to go, we were 2–1 down and I was on the touchline ready to go on, then Lee Chapman scored and the gaffer (Howard Wilkinson) told me to sit down again. But he threw me on for the last two minutes. I always tell people that made the difference in winning the title!" As his teammates took the league trophy on a celebratory open top bus tour, Wetherall chose to revise for his examinations, a decision he came to regret, because "those experiences don't come around that often". Though the revision bore fruit: he graduated with first-class honours.