Keep Fighting (30 page)

I despised the way he always publicly taunted us with being a dirty team. We had every right to feel reticent when he came in; everyone in the game knew that the club had made a balls-up of the whole thing. I think we all expected someone to be promoted from within the ranks, Johnny Giles or me maybe. I won't deny I wanted it. Brian was a prick, he tried to change everything overnight, our style, our personality, and to suffocate the memory of the boss (Don Revie). He went missing, before, during and after games; not us – we were there, a consistent. Player power didn't get him the sack, his arrogant attitude and total lack of attention to detail cost him his job. We were like a rudderless ship lost at sea. He knows full well how I felt about him when he was at Leeds. I couldn't hide it or keep quiet about it. He wrecked the team, created an attitude of mistrust and back-biting, and brought in his own stooges, all of whom didn't meet the high standards we had set. Some of them were decent players, just not good enough for Leeds, that's all.

Brian was out of his depth but would never admit it. I tried to help him, tried to give him advice, tried to listen. What more did he expect me to do? I was glad when he left the club. Whenever I bumped into him, we always acknowledged each other's existence – with a casual glance or a dirty look, always without ever speaking. I never liked him before he came to Leeds, and I sure as hell didn't like him thereafter – an overrated, highly strung autocrat.

PELE

A gentleman and idol to all Brazilian soccer fans and football lovers worldwide. We met Brazil in one of their warm-up games for the 1966 World Cup at Hampden. I was ordered to stick to him like glue, and even if he went off the field for attention then I had to be there to pick him up when he came back on. The first chance I got I had to let him know I was on the park. I hit him with a real bone-cruncher of a tackle. If I thought that would be
enough to unnerve him, I was to receive a real shock. We both went for a high ball jumping together and I thought I held all the aces and he would pull out. I was wrong, the next thing I knew I was on the ground with a cracker of a black eye! No matter how close I got, he somehow made space for himself. There is no player in the world who could mark him out of the game, then or now!

BOBBY CHARLTON

He moves so sweetly with the ball I could watch him play all day. His change of pace and direction are phenomenal and there are goalkeepers who can vouch for the terrific power and accuracy he has in either foot. When Bobby figures on the team sheet of our opponents the boss does not come any of the patter about ‘not worrying about the others’. His instructions are sharp and right to the point: ‘Cut out Bobby and we are halfway there.’ And that is as big a tribute as Don Revie and Leeds United can pay to anyone.

ON THE CURRENT LEEDS UNITED (1995)

All the ex-players want Leeds United to do well. We are still very passionate. I'd love to see the club on the European victory trail again. The UEFA Cup is probably the hardest of all the European campaigns to win, partly because there are so many rounds.

FATHER (POP)

My father was the biggest influence on my football career, no one will ever come close to him, but Don Revie was a close second.

NOBBY STILES

Folk say I was a tough player but Nobby Stiles was far tougher than I ever was. He has the strength of a rhinoceros, especially when he went into the tackle, and clattered you from behind. Then he would get up; give you a cheeky smile, before helping you to your feet and shaking your hand, enquiring to see if you
are okay. If you dared say you were okay, then he would come back at you for more, later in the game. He had masses of energy and skill and he knew how to spoil a game. His timing in the tackle and positional sense would suffocate many forward lines, and I know some centre forwards who were just scared of him. Despite everything, Nobby is a real character and a good football man, who I have a lot of time for.

JOCK STEIN

I honestly used to tremble when I was in his company; the man is a true legend of Scottish and European football. The Celtic boys worshipped him, and rightly so. Jock knew everything there was to know about Scottish football and he scoured the land looking for fresh up-and-coming talent. He was a seven-days-a-week manager, his life was Glasgow Celtic and Scotland. He and the boss had mutual respect for one another, though they could also be damning. I once saw Jock lay into a well-known Scotland forward at a Celtic reserve match. It was a nothing game, and the player clearly wasn't going to push himself to the extreme and risk getting hurt playing for the reserves. He pulled out of a tackle, allowing the opposition to get the ball. It wasn't a major sin. Yet afterwards, big Jock was fuming and told the player he was in the reserves for a month until he had earned the right to wear the Celtic first-team shirt.

WILLIE HENDERSON

I used to love being with wee Willie on my Scotland trips; he was a right joker and character, always good for a laugh. Put a football his way and he could do magic with it. There will only ever be one Willie Henderson; they broke the mould when he was created. You would never share a secret with him – it would be passed around the dressing room within minutes. Away from the game he liked a dram or two and we shared a fair number between us. The best thing about Willie was that he could always put a smile on your face.

BILLY MCNEILL

I learned so much from Billy McNeill during the early part of my Scotland career. What a captain he was, nothing ever passed him by and he really rallied the players and got us all motivated. Tough as rhino hide too, nothing hurt him, insults, kicks, punches, Billy laughed them all off and could give a stare that would terrify Frankenstein. Over the years I have been fortunate to play alongside many captains and leaders of men; Billy McNeill stands out as one of the best. You just had to respect him, he had a dressing-room presence that made you listen to him because he knew what he was talking about. Why he never really succeeded as a manager I cannot say, a mystery.

ALAN BALL

He should have joined Leeds when he had the chance – we would have worked great together. I really liked Alan as a footballer and as a person and, although it pains me to say it, he has done well for himself at other, lesser clubs than Leeds. He was so easy to wind up on the pitch, and his squeaky voice would always get heard by the referee. I once faced him in a league game at Elland Road when he was running rings round us. So I moved up behind him as a throw-in was about to be taken. I called him a puff and a light-weight who I could knock down without knowing it. He didn't like that and turned round to confront me, in that high-pitched tone he screamed, ‘F—— hell, Bremner, I am going to do you in a minute.’ Of course the referee heard and came over to warn him. That kept him quiet for the rest of the game.

BOB STOKOE

The man is just odd. I have to say, it never sat well with me how he ran to the newspapers to sell his story about the boss and after our altercation at the Park Royal hotel. I generally saw him as a twat and a money grabber thereafter. I wasn't alone in the game in having no respect for the man. He really rubbed it in when his Sunderland team beat us at Wembley in the 1973 FA Cup final. Of all the f—— games we didn't want to lose, it was that one. I have
never heard any manager call opposition players and club staff such foul and abusive names as he did that day. Despite winning the Cup he was still very bitter, or could it be envious, certainly that is the only reason I can think why such an attitude prevailed.

FRANZ BECKENBAUER

What a man he was when he was playing. So thoughtful and yet so cynical he epitomised for me all that German football was about. Strong, disciplined and direct with clinical finishing. Franz orchestrated all that so that the players around him could deliver. He was as solid as a rock in the 1975 European Cup final and kept the referee on side with compliments on his fine decision making! As you know, it paid off and worked for them. I always thought he was a bit of a big girl's blouse though, looked the part but not altogether flawless.

SUPPORTERS OF LEEDS UNITED

I think they are the finest in the world, they stick with us through thick and thin and are fair enough to applaud good football, even if it comes from the other team. If we were able to win anything through passion then those supporters would have won us everything. They are the best.

BILLY BREMNER & LEEDS UNITED AFC

‘I have hit the headlines often enough since making my debut for Leeds United, and not always in a manner which I would wish. For I am blessed (or should it be cursed) with a temperament that matches my red thatch. Despite my size I'm a robust player by nature. It's something born and bred in me, and I cannot change it. I doubt if I would, even if it were possible, because then I feel sure I would lose the spark which has helped me to make such a success of professional football.’

‘I genuinely hate to see an opponent get the ball. It is my job to see that this doesn't happen, if possible. I go in hard, but fairly, but the temperament sometimes erupts in the heat of the moment.’

‘I've taken a bit of stick in my time from opponents and their supporters, but there's one thing I would like to get clear right now. I do not go out looking for trouble. In fact the way some folk describe me you would think I was a regular fire-eater. The plain fact is that I set out to do a job as a footballer. It's as simple as that.’

‘I make no apology for saying that I'm a Don Revie fan. To my mind, what this fellow has done for Leeds United since he took over as manager is little short of miraculous. I have known the boss ever since he took over at Elland Road, in his first managerial job, and I think along exactly the same lines as he does when it comes to soccer planning and tactics.’

‘They say that I have become indoctrinated with the Leeds brand of soccer, and that's true. I have been with the club since I left school in Stirling and I have known United in the bad days as well as the good ones. After emerging from the Second Division and establishing ourselves in the top flight, we have gone on to make a positive contribution to entertaining football.’

‘Team spirit is a big factor for any successful team and we have it here. Most of us were brought up together on the ground staff and that is an important factor in our success.’

‘Football is not all about the skill factor. It is about whether you are determined enough and have a greater desire to win games than the opposition.’

‘There has been so much more enjoyment for me in my football this season, and when we hardened professionals start to enjoy this game it's only a matter of time before the fans notice the difference. I never thought that the rather unfortunate image we had of back-chatting referees and refusing to accept decisions had an effect on my game. But it must have done. Once you show dissatisfaction and start to argue you're obviously not concentrating your whole attention on the game. You may as well be sitting in the dressing room.’

‘Looking back I was fiery because if I saw someone kick my own players I got a bit upset about it. Some teams had vendettas against us. They disliked us intensely because we were the team to beat in that era, so they always tried harder against us.’

‘It is rather fashionable these days to take a swipe at British football, but if there are things wrong with football, then it's these people, these onlookers with a death wish. There are, of course, things I would like to see altered, but a change in attitudes is the quality I would most like to see. I look round the game now and see that, technically and in fitness, it has never been more advanced.’

‘I loved Leeds and Leeds United, but boy, believe me, Scotland has everything any man could ever want. It's the world's greatest country.’

‘Side before self every time.’

‘If there was things I could change in my career? I would love that loose ball to go into the net (and not just wide) against Brazil in the World Cup finals; we deserved to win that game, I should have scored.’

‘I should never have taken the stick and abuse from Brian Clough and Bob Stokoe, I should have laughed in their faces before kicking them both in the bollocks and reminding them that there really was only one “Boss”.’

‘I would love to have lifted the European Cup trophy, as winners, for every Leeds United supporter in the land, and for my Pop.’

‘I would shake the hand of every Leeds United supporter and tell them to stick with the club and to always laugh in the face of adversity, you deserve the best, stay strong.’

‘Always remember, football is a wonderfully emotive game, and it's important, but your family is more important and all encompassing. Love and respect your family, love and respect your team thereafter.’

Billy Bremner was an idol to thousands of football supporters around the globe. Tenacity, enthusiasm, and absolute quality are attributes we rarely see in one footballer, yet Billy possessed the lot. He was an exceptional role model. I doubt if the great Leeds success story of the ’60s and ’70s would be have been so dramatic or occurred at all had it not been for him. He single-handedly masterminded many victories which ultimately took Leeds onto greater glories. Elland Road and football will never be the same without him.

Paul Harrison

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