The departed

The place to discuss anything that isn't football or LUFC
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Wigan White
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Re: The departed

Post by Wigan White »

Ex Liverpool player Tommy Smith has died aged 74.

Uncompromising defender from the Shankly era and beyond.
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Another Northern Soul
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Re: The departed

Post by Another Northern Soul »

Wigan White wrote:Ex Liverpool player Tommy Smith has died aged 74.

Uncompromising defender from the Shankly era and beyond.
I liked Tommy, he had some good stories and enjoyed plenty of battles with Don Revie's Super Leeds. The ITV news didn't mention that he was significant in the Paisley era too, I remember his goal in one EC Final very well. RIP
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johnh
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Re: The departed

Post by johnh »

Back in the 1990's I attended a Reading Football club Sportsman's Dinner. The guest speaker was Tommy Smith, sadly needed two walking sticks. He was very funny, almost as good as he was on the pitch. RIP.
I once played against Don Revie.
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PockWhite
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Re: The departed

Post by PockWhite »

RIP to a proper football hard man, one of many, from my youth!

I was privileged to witness many titanic battles between Leeds and Liverpool and TS was right in the middle of many of them.
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Selby White
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Re: The departed

Post by Selby White »

British Composer Les Reed has passed away.

Composed songs for many but of course a certain 1972 Football Anthem is what we all know.

RIP Les (or should we say MOT).
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: The departed

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

From the BBC news website:-

Songwriter Les Reed has died at the age of 83, his family has confirmed.

He was well known for co-writing Tom Jones hits Delilah and It's Not Unusual, as well as Engelbert Humperdinck's The Last Waltz.

Reed also served as a pianist in The John Barry Seven and conducted his own orchestra for more than 10 years.

"We are all so immensely proud of everything Les achieved in his incredible lifetime," his family said in a statement issued to BBC News.

"We know that his name will be remembered for what he did for music and that he will always live through his songs and compositions for the rest of time."

"So sorry to hear the news of the passing of my friend and colleague Les Reed." said Sir Tom Jones.

"Les was a gifted songwriter and arranger who was instrumental in penning many a hit, including two important songs for me... Les was a lovely man, a legend in the world of songwriting whose legacy will live through his music."

Reed was also well-known to Leeds United fans as the co-writer of Leeds! Leeds! Leeds! - originally the B-Side to the club's 1972 FA Cup final single.

The song became better known as Marching on Together and has been sung by fans on the terraces ever since.

Reed is survived by his daughter Donna and grandsons, Alex and Dom.

"A master of British songwriting has left us. Here's to the great Les Reed, a beautiful, gentle man who gave us giants like There's a Kind of Hush, Delilah and the Last Waltz," Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp wrote on Twitter.

He was "one of the most naturally gifted composer/arrangers I've ever known," said songwriter Mike Batt. "There will never be another one like him."

Lyricist Sir Tim Rice added: "He was composer of countless hits that will live on for years, decades, to come.

"All his music biz chums will miss him enormously and will never forget his songs, talent and generosity of spirit."

RIP Les.

Am sure MOT will be sung even louder on Friday.
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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: The departed

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

From Leeds live about Les Reed and what Marching on Together still means:-

Every craze or obsession needs a theme song - music so synonymous with that obsession and always ringing somewhere in the minds of those who live for it.

Marching On Together is that for Leeds United, writes LeedsLive publisher Matt Millington.

It's chorus is tattooed to the inside of the brain of every Leeds United fan, in the part which never forgets.

It is stitched into the strip of every player who takes to the field at Elland Road, and sung by thousands in the anxious moments before every single Leeds United game.

Les Reed, co-creator of Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!, later retitled Marching On Together, is therefore so influential in the Leeds United that followed the song's release in 1972.

His words are ingrained in this club, and in every high and every low experienced over the past five decades.

My first game was in the 2000s, and like every other fan I remember seeing Elland Road for the first time. And when you hear that song for the first time too, sung by over 30,000 fans, you get it. Instantly.

We're in this together, no matter the score, no matter the result.

'We've been through it all together' is one line which means so much more in 2019 than it did in 1972, as if Les Reed somehow knew how much we'd need those words in the years that were to come - the belief that we will make it through everything, together.

The acclaimed song writer penned hits such as Tom Jones' 'Delilah' and 'It's Not Unusual'. Over 50 years later and these pop classics might get a few people up on the kareoke once in a blue moon. Yet Marching On Together gets an entire stadium of fans on their feet. For that, this piece of work in Reed's extensive catalogue of chart successes means so so much more. At least for us it does anyway.

While Leeds United and supporters gear up for the most important weekend of football in arguably 20 years at Leeds, both the club and it's fan base took a moment away from football talk to pay tribute to Les Reed.

Some described the legacy he'd left for our club, others called for fans to sing it even louder in a packed Elland Road on Friday.

No matter the outcome of these crucial weeks ahead, there is one thing that will always remain the same. Like it has from 1972 until now, and from now onwards.

Thank you Les for encapsulating the Leeds United that we were and the Leeds United we were to become. Marching on together, side before self every time.
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kk white
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Re: The departed

Post by kk white »

Celtic European Cup-winning captain Billy McNeill has passed away aged 79
"An astonishing number of people despise Leeds United or what Leeds United stand for. But this club was never made for them." - Phil Hay
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Re: The departed

Post by Deleted User 728 »

I met Billy McNeill once and he was a proper gentleman.

A friend is a big Hoops fan and we travelled to Milan to see Celtic play AC at the San Siro.
I went to the ground as an 11-year old on a school trip, though we didn't go in but rather stood outside gawping up at this giant concrete bowl (as it was then, pre-Italia 90).
I saw Maldini play in the flesh which was one thing I always wanted to do, but my mate was in 7th heaven when Billy McNeill walked in to The Hilton bar with another of the Lisbon Lions, Bobby Lennox. We weren't staying there, but it was the only place we could find that was open. We all shook hands and my friend had a chat with the two of them for a while before offering to buy them both a pint. The rest of us held back a bit as it was his moment and he'd do the same for us if it was, say, Lucas Radebe. They then bought him a pint and continued the conversation.
We got utterly trollied afterwards, missed the flight home and had to buy another one but it was well worth it - great trip, brilliant memories and an old school genuine legend of the game.

RIP big man :(
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SCOTTISH LEEDS
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Re: The departed

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

Sad day for Celtic and Scottish football as 'Cesar' dies after battling dementia for a number of years.

His place in British football history is guarnteed.

RIP.
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