Authors: Paul Harrison
With the league championship seeming like a two-horse race, between Leeds and Arsenal, and with the season drawing to a close, Leeds sat four points behind the Gunners but with three games in hand. The Gunners still had to come to Elland Road so it was Leeds who were firm favourites to take the league title.
Then it happened, one of those moments that seem to crop up every so often in the Leeds United history of that era. It was Saturday, 17 April 1971, and Leeds faced West Bromwich Albion at Elland Road. On their day, Albion could pose a threat, yet on this day they were not expected to be strong enough to prevent a Leeds victory. With more than a hint of sadness and disappointment in his face, Billy remembered how that day developed:
‘It's difficult to put your finger on why some things happen. That game against West Bromwich Albion is a game that everyone associated with Leeds United has indelibly etched into the forefront of their minds. I know I certainly do, and I shall not ever forget or forgive what happened to us.
‘For whatever reason, there was an atmosphere inside Elland Road that day, a state of nervousness amongst the crowd that transmitted itself through to us, though it must be said that we didn't have the same confident air about us in the dressing room before the game. The banter and chat was missing. We knew that Albion could be spoilers, they had turned over enough decent teams in their time to be more than competent at stopping the opposition from playing. In the warm-up, Jeff Astle was having a bit of a go at us about the Colchester game and result, saying we were a laughing stock and shit, and he said he would do anything and everything to stop us winning the championship. Jeff was great, a real character, and we had more than our share of spats during our careers but we always laughed about them. He could head a ball with real venom – vicious and stunning power. When the game started, Albion were really coming at us and it was obvious that their manager, Alan Ashman, had told them to push us back. They scored in the first twenty minutes and that really put us on the back foot. Our passing went all over the place and Albion had got us making mistakes.
‘The atmosphere grew more and more intense. The referee, Ray Tinkler, wasn't giving us anything, a few heavy challenges on our players had gone unpunished, yet each time we went into a tackle, an Albion player would hit the floor and the referee would stop the game. I tried to speak to him about what was
happening but he wouldn't listen and kept repeating the same bloody thing: “Go away – go away Bremner, play on – play on Albion.” I began to wonder if he supported West Brom, so biased in their favour were his decisions. Talk about getting me wound up. He certainly did and that was before his blatant and heinous error that still sticks in my throat whenever I talk about it.
‘With about twenty minutes to go we were really going for it and pushing forward in search of an equaliser. An attack broke down inside the Albion half when, unusually, Norman Hunter gave the ball away. Tony Brown latched onto the ball and galloped off up field. In front of him, in our half and clearly several yards offside, was Colin Suggett, and not too far away from him was Jeff Astle. It was a clear-cut decision for the referee to make. The linesman immediately flagged for the offside and we all, players from both teams, stopped in anticipation of the referee blowing for the infringement. Tony Brown still had the ball and he too stopped awaiting the referee's whistle for offside. It was like time stood still, the whistle never came, and instead came the inane bleating of the referee – “Play on Albion, play on.” Brown couldn't believe it, he was laughing as he raced on towards our goal. Everyone inside the ground knew that Suggett and Astle were offside. I looked towards the linesman who was waving his flag for the infringement, then he suddenly dropped his arm and stopped. My heart was in my mouth, I couldn't believe what was happening before my very eyes. The whole ground went silent as Tony Brown played a forward pass to a clearly offside Astle, who was still ahead of Brown and still offside, and he duly scored their second goal of the game. I don't believe anyone thought the goal would stand, it was such a blatant and obvious offside decision.’
The Elland Road stadium eruputed into a frenzy of anger. Many Albion players were laughing at the decision, an act that didn't endear them too kindly to the Leeds support:
‘I saw the boss get up from the dugout – he rarely moved during a game so it must have been something exceptional. I ran over and spoke to the linesman, and at first he said he was
flagging for offside then he denied it and said it was for an infringement on an Albion player and he put it down and gave advantage. I called him a lying, cheating bastard and he laughed and said, “It's a good goal.” I ran up to Ray Tinkler and explained that he had got it wrong, I know it wasn't my place to tell him that, he was supposed to be in charge, but his incompetence in that decision was clear. He told me that he couldn't see anything wrong with the goal, adding: “It wasn't offside at all, it was fair play, a good goal, and it will stand.” I was livid, who wouldn't be at such an injustice? I called him a f—— cheat, his response was to sneer back at me and threaten to end my game there and then.
‘Around us pandemonium had erupted as some fans got onto the pitch and tried to appeal to Mr Tinkler, telling him he had got it wrong.’ My uncle, the same family man I loved who had first introduced me to Leeds United, was one of those so outraged by the decision that he ran onto the pitch and was duly arrested by the police. It wasn't something he was ever proud of, he knew it was wrong, yet his emotions and passion at witnessing such a clear error and the realisation of what it meant to Leeds United and him as a supporter, had caused him to react and try to explain to the referee that he had made an error of judgement. He got nowhere near, and was felled by three burly coppers having hardly set foot on the playing surface. The shame this brought on him remained with him for the rest of his life, and to his last breath, he maintained that Ray Tinkler had got it all wrong. Football is an emotive game, and whilst I cannot condone what my uncle did, I can understand his passion and repulsion at what he saw as a clear football injustice.
‘In my opinion, Tinkler had always been regarded as a supercilious prat, full of his own self-importance, and believed himself to be more important than the games he officiated. There was no way he would listen to a fan's opinion, or those of players, or anyone else remotely connected with Leeds United. Jeff Astle sensed the injustice and the potential of supporter rioting as a result of the ridiculous decision. He approached Tinkler and
asked him if he was certain that the goal would stand, and if he understood the consequences of the decision. Tinkler was his own man, and like a schoolyard bully he strutted off, ignoring everything being said to him. In his mind he was right and everyone else wrong. The West Bromwich manager was almost wetting himself with laughter, shaking his head at his side's good fortune.’
In a strange twist of fate, Ashman was to tell the author some years later:
‘It was a joke of a decision, wasn't it? One of the worst I have ever seen in all my years. Ray Tinkler got it totally wrong, but what made me laugh was the linesman. He held up his flag and was frantically waving it about, then he took it down and changed his mind about the offside. I don't know how or why but it was pure farce. You could never have scripted that, incompetence of the highest degree, incompetence that provided me with some good fortune as a manager under pressure.’
The game ended in a 1-2 defeat, and with it went Leeds’ title ambitions. Despite beating champions-elect Arsenal at Elland Road, the title was lost. The realistic truth of the matter was that too many points had been dropped throughout the whole season. In Europe Leeds had again achieved success, winning the Inter Cities Fair Cup by the away goals rule after they and Juventus had fought out draws (2-2 & 1-1) over the two-legged final:
‘It was good to win something that season as we had suffered. I was relieved to raise a trophy high into the Elland Road sky. We had been robbed of the league, it didn't help to look back on the Gary Sprake error at Crystal Palace or the misjudgement of Ray Tinkler!’
An inquest into the incidents relating to the West Bromwich Albion game was held by the Football Association and resulted in Elland Road being closed for the first four home league games of the season and a £500 fine. Key to that punishment was the referee's report. Ray Tinkler's report was influential: everything he said was accepted as fact, and as accurate. There was never
any suggestion that it could have been his poor judgement and decision-making that had incited the problems. Interestingly, Ray Tinkler later became Chairman of the Lincolnshire Football Association and sat on various Football Association committees. Most recently, in April 2009, he spoke about the decision in a national newspaper and claimed that Brian Clough and Peter Taylor were at Elland Road, they had agreed with his decision and he stood by the fact that he was right to allow play to continue and the goal to stand. That says it all; if such unbiased persons as Brian Clough and Peter Taylor said it was a fair goal, scored within the rules of the game, then it must have been a good decision!
It remains one of the most curious refereeing decisions ever to occur in the English professional game. The fact that Ray Tinkler is in the main remembered for this error of judgement is something he cannot take much pride in. It may well be that Clough and Taylor were at the game and did agree with his decision. As we know, Clough despised that Leeds team and would hardly be likely to help them out.
As a side issue, Jeff Astle later admitted to being a ‘mile’ offside when he scored and that the goal should never have been allowed. He performed a satirical re-enactment of the incident on the Baddiel and Skinner television show many years later. Ray Tinkler has stood by his judgement from that day. You have to respect him for sticking to his opinions but he must know that he made a mistake.
Unfortunately for Leeds and Billy Bremner, further success was to be blighted by bizarre refereeing behaviour. The punishment handed out by the Football Association for the West Bromwich affair was harsh, but one that the club had to accept.
11
The following season, 1971-72, was another rollercoaster ride for Bremner and his colleagues. After an average start to the league season with one win from four games, the team struggled to hit consistent form. Newcastle United were thrashed 5-1 at Elland Road but still the team couldn't get into their usual rhythm. Too many goals were being conceded and injuries to key players such as Eddie Gray and Mick Jones unsettled the side. There was a surprise early exit from European competition when the relative unknown SK Lierse, trailing 2-0 from the first leg, put four past Leeds without reply at Elland Road. Bremner recalled:
‘We weren't at our best during the early part of the season. The Lierse game caught the team napping and they [Lierse] were so fired up for it. And perhaps some of our players thought the hard work had been done after we won 2-0 over there in the first leg.
‘I can't recall hearing Leeds fan boo the team but they were deservedly booed off that night. I felt sorry for John Shaw, our apprentice goalkeeper, that night. He was a Stirling boy, was thrown in at the deep end and Lierse exposed his vulnerability.
‘We did eventually start putting it together that season. I remember us giving Manchester United a bit of a hiding (5-1) at Elland Road, followed by Southampton (7-0) and we beat Nottingham Forest 6-1 as well, so it wasn't all doom and gloom.
‘We got caught up in our own success as we were again pushing for the League championship and for the FA Cup, which was to prove our undoing as towards the end of the season important fixtures were coming thick and fast. The powers that be wouldn't budge and allow us to reschedule; they
wanted the football calendar completed by a certain date and that was it, we had to comply with that.’
In the final of the FA Cup Leeds met their old foes Arsenal who were not only the previous season's League champions but FA Cup holders too. A team full of ‘superstars’ is how they were described in an FA Cup tie against Second Division Carlisle United: ‘Arsenal can boast players such as Alan Ball, Bob McNab, Charlie George, George Graham, Frank McLintock, everywhere is a household name.’ Bremner and Leeds, unlike Carlisle, were acutely aware of the entire Arsenal threat: ‘We were pleased to meet Arsenal in the final; after all we had a 100 per cent Wembley Cup final record against them. The game went by so quickly and soon it was just a memory. David Harvey had taken over in goal, and we felt much more secure as a unit. The boss gave his usual team talk asking for commitment and determination and, of course, goals. We knew from experience that Arsenal could mix it so it was never going to be an elegant game as we were really up for the fight that day.
‘A fair few tackles were flying in early on and I thought I had better make my presence known and assert myself in an attempt to stop someone from getting injured. The referee didn't like it and he booked me, telling me not to get carried away and to make it good clean final. He booked about four players in the first half to try to get both teams to think twice before jumping in. At half time the boss told us to keep running at them in the second half and not to give them any time or space. We got off to a great start and it wasn't long before Allan Clarke scored with that brilliant diving header to give us the lead. We kept it going and always looked dangerous on the attack. Arsenal did peg us back for a while but the handling of David Harvey was excellent and he played an outstanding game.
‘Towards the end of the game, Mick Jones collided with their goalkeeper and fell awkwardly on his shoulder and arm, dislocating the lot. I still cringe whenever I think about how much pain the boy was in. The game was all but over when it happened, and when the final whistle did blow we were all
ecstatic but worried about Mick as he was still down receiving treatment by the Arsenal goal. They strapped him up and, in agony, he went up to collect his FA Cup winner's medal. We couldn't celebrate our victory really because we still had one league game to play two days later, at Wolverhampton Wanderers.’