Controversial, aggressive and downright dirty were just some of the descriptions of Don Revie’s Leeds United examined in a new history of the club reviewed by Eric Brown…
BY ERIC BROWN
Some clubs seem to revel in using terrace hostility to fuel their trophy ambitions. Among them was Leeds United, who were once just about as popular as a dose of Covid.
Outside the city, Leeds were the club everyone loved to hate during a tempestuous spell in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, which brought trophies and controversies.
Leeds were stagnating in the second division as the ’60s began. My first sight of the team came in April 1961 when a poor Leeds side containing Jack Charlton and Billy Bremner, plus a lot of dead wood, meekly lost 2-0 at Charlton.
They finished 14th in Division Two, a distant 21 points behind champions Ipswich and just five points ahead of relegated Portsmouth. If anyone told me then they would be Football League champions within eight years, I’d have summoned men in white coats.
Don Revie’s appointment as player-manager changed everything. He made the whole club more professional in outlook, replaced the traditional yellow and blue strip with a Real Madrid-style all white kit, and instilled a “thou shalt not pass” attitude in his players.
Leeds claimed the Football League crown in 1969 and 1974, and the FA Cup in 1972, but won few friends along the way. They were accused of gamesmanship, intimidating opponents, over-reliance on defence and near-the-knuckle behaviour which stretched referees’ tolerance.
Many felt that if Revie’s team scored in the first 10 minutes, the crowd might as well go home, as they stifled the rest of the game.
With enforcers like Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter allied to masters of the dark arts such as Billy Bremner and Johnny Giles, it was no wonder opponents sometimes wilted.
Leeds’ aggressive reputation reached its zenith in the 1970 FA Cup Final defeat by Chelsea after a replay littered with X-rated challenges that would have seen several players sent off in a league game.
The “dirty Leeds” tag stuck for years. They collected little national sympathy during a series of near-misses, finishing League runners-up in 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971 and 1972 and third in 1973. Oh, and they suffered a humiliating FA Cup final defeat by second division Sunderland, too.
A new book covering the decade from Leeds’ first championship in 1969 covers the heartbreaking treble disappointment of 1970, FA Cup triumph and disaster, and the devastating defeat to Bayern Munich in the 1975 European Cup Final.
Dave Tomlinson’s impressive history examines why Brian Clough, Jock Stein and others couldn’t match expectations created by the Revie era and probes match-fixing allegations against the revolutionary manager.
It should not be forgotten Revie’s team could be impressive when they abandoned umbrella defence to come out and play. A 7-0 defeat of Southampton in 1972 showcased the passing skills of Bremner and Giles and the team at their cohesive, productive best. Occasionally, though, it could all go wrong, as in a 7-0 defeat by West Ham in 1966.
There was rarely a quiet moment at Leeds during Tomlinson’s latest analysis of the club. This book, coupled with his volume on the years 1980s and 1990s, represents a fine record of Leeds United over 30 years.
‘Leeds United in the 1970s’ by Dave Tomlinson is published by Amberley, price £16.99.
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