50 years ago

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NottinghamWhite
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by NottinghamWhite »

LAsouthcoast wrote:http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/07-02-197 ... age064.jpg

This was the squad that I grew up with and loved so much 8-)
So many happy memories those names gave me, I would love to see a Leeds side near them before I leave this life, here`s hoping.[/quote]

We really were a very lucky generation ;)
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guitarmark
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by guitarmark »

NottinghamWhite wrote:This is the only time the fabled Leeds starting eleven started a cup game against Mansfield Town.

Sprake
Reaney
Cooper
Bremner
Charlton
Hunter
Lorimer
Clarke
Jones
Giles
Gray

I knew they didn’t play together often but thought it was more than once.
Amazing fact - I had heard about this before, but never realised it was a fact - It is the definitive Revie era team that is known by other football fans who are familiar with the late 60's and early 70's Leeds team
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by hashtagleedsunited »

NottinghamWhite wrote:
LAsouthcoast wrote:http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/07-02-197 ... age064.jpg

This was the squad that I grew up with and loved so much 8-)
So many happy memories those names gave me, I would love to see a Leeds side near them before I leave this life, here`s hoping.
We really were a very lucky generation ;)[/quote]

Aye, from a relatively simple generation, lucky in that regard to have witnessed that LEGENDARY LEEDS squad, and who knows, maybe we will have a star studded team once again in the coming decades.

:thumbup:

It is funny how nostalgia comes flooding back, and how much this squad were respected - and feared - by so many other teams....

Ah well, onwards and upwards :D

#MOT
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NottinghamWhite
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by NottinghamWhite »

NottinghamWhite wrote:Met David Harvey after the dinner to commemorate the unveiling of Dons statue. He came across as a very unassuming gentleman. He went to be a Crofter & postman on Shetland. He was staying in the same hotel as us. Must dig out his autograph later & post it up.

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Phil147
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by Phil147 »

NottinghamWhite wrote:
LAsouthcoast wrote:http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/07-02-197 ... age064.jpg

This was the squad that I grew up with and loved so much 8-)
So many happy memories those names gave me, I would love to see a Leeds side near them before I leave this life, here`s hoping.
We really were a very lucky generation ;)
Wilko's title winning side was pretty good but didn't have the longevity.

The standard of the Revie side will never be replicated, anywhere, nevermind in Leeds. They are truly legendary and other than John Charles and maybe Nigel Martyn there would not be a Leeds player from any other era who could get into that side. IMHO of course...
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Phil147
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by Phil147 »

Phil147 wrote:
NottinghamWhite wrote:
LAsouthcoast wrote:http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/07-02-197 ... age064.jpg

This was the squad that I grew up with and loved so much 8-)
So many happy memories those names gave me, I would love to see a Leeds side near them before I leave this life, here`s hoping.
We really were a very lucky generation ;)
Wilko's title winning side was pretty good but didn't have the longevity.
The standard of the Revie side will never be replicated, anywhere, nevermind in Leeds. They are truly legendary and other than John Charles and maybe Nigel Martyn there would not be a Leeds player from any other era who could get into that side. IMHO of course...
Not sure what went wrong with the quotes in my first post...
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by guitarmark »

Phil147 wrote:
Phil147 wrote:
NottinghamWhite wrote:
LAsouthcoast wrote:http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/07-02-197 ... age064.jpg

This was the squad that I grew up with and loved so much 8-)
The standard of the Revie side will never be replicated, anywhere, nevermind in Leeds. They are truly legendary and other than John Charles and maybe Nigel Martyn there would not be a Leeds player from any other era who could get into that side. IMHO of course...

My earliest memories are the 69 season, followed by the 1970 FA Cup final, so glad I recall so many of those days - So yes that side is legendary for obvious reasons - And as with many great sides, in any sport, it is not just about the individuals, it is about how the team performed as a unit - Yet I believe a few LUFC players since then could have made an impact in Don's side, but probably never had the longevity at LUFC, for one reason or another

Would have been interesting to see Viduka settle in to Don's team - Kewell had the potential to do more but never quite matched the expectation - Dorigo and Kelly could have slotted into Don's team - Strong mention for the endless energy of Strachan, or the class of McAllister, as such they would have been interesting to watch in that side if Giles and Lorimer were not available for the odd match - Would have been great for Woodgate to have had a longer career at LUFC and see how he could have settled into that side -Could add one or two others

You certainly can't pick a greatest LUFC X1 without that side as the nucleus of the team - Plus based on achievements + near misses, then it has no equals
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NottinghamWhite
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by NottinghamWhite »

I know we've done this before but it's a while & we do have a lot of new posters. Any here's my favourite season.


The season 1969/1970 I was a young 17 year old and my love for Leeds United was really starting. Working at a local plastic factory in Pickering, North Yorkshire I earned enough to follow my team home and away that year. I became a fully paid up member of Scarborough Supporters Club which was under the stewardship of Maltese John.

It all started on a warm August afternoon and the opening game of the season at Elland Road, a small matter of the Charity Shield. Manchester City were our opponents, a crowd of over 39000 basked in the sunshine and a 2-1 victory gave us our first silverware. This was going to be our season we thought.

Our first 2 home games were against the North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal, 3 points were our reward. This was followed by my first ever visit to the city I now call home to play Nottingham Forest. A happy journey home ensued with a 4-1 victory under our belts.

In September I saw my first European opposition in the form of Lyn Oslo. A 10-0 win, yes ten, was a great start to my European journey. The away leg was a stroll in the park as Leeds won 6-0, I wasn’t in attendance, I hadn’t that much money to travel abroad. Our next game in the European Cup was against Ferencvaros of Hungary a 6-0 aggregate score was racked up. In the league it was business as usual with the highlight a 6-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest.

The FA Cup, in those days much more highly prized than it is today, started with me being lucky to get a ticket for our 4th round tie at Sutton United of the Isthmian League a proper David v Goliath game. No worries though as we cruised to victory 6-0. Interestingly enough John Faulkner the centre half for Sutton impressed Don Revie so much that a few weeks later John turned professional at Elland Road. 2 days later saw me watching Leeds grab a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in front of over 60000, a massive crowd for he time.

Our European journey continued with a 2-0 aggregate score against Standard Liege of Belgium. Things on the pitch were really on the up and there was much talk of Leeds winning not just the double but the treble, heady days indeed.

I am now into March 1970 on my fantastic journey and it was FA Cup semi final day, the opponents were Manchester United the venue was Hillsborough a 0-0 draw put pressure on the club as our fixture back log was building up. The trouble before and after the game was on a scale I had never witnessed before. A lot of fans reckon this was the game that sparked the bitter rivalry that still stands today. The replay was at Villa Park and another 0-0 draw ensued, it was going to take something special to break this stalemate. A favourite quote from this game came from The Mail I think “ There was barely time to light a cigarette in the wind for fear of missing something dramatic” The 2nd replay was at Bolton’s Burnden Park I said it would take something special to break the dead lock and it was a Billy Bremner goal. Again as with the other 2 semis the games were marred by serious crowd trouble before and after the game.

All these games were taking their toll and a lot of players were out with niggling injuries and points were being dropped in the chase for the league title. against Southampton several players were “rested” resulting in a £5000 fine from the Football League, no mention that the squad players could have played for any other club in the division.

April 1st 1970 and the visitors were Celtic in the European Cup semi final, Celtic had won the EC 3 years earlier. Despite Celtic’s allocation been 6000 it was believed well over 10000 made the journey south. My memories of the game Jimmy Johnstone aka Jinky, ran Terry Cooper ragged. Celtic won the game 1-0. The 2nd leg due to the number of Celtic fans who wanted tickets was moved from Parkhead to Hampden Park. We sent a lot of tickets back unable to sell them after the 1st leg defeat. 5000 of us made the journey north and we were initially rewarded with a Bremner goal but lost the game 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate. The crowd that night was an incredible 136,505, still a record today though many people believe it was even higher than that.


With us virtually having conceded the league for awhile to Everton we had one more big game the FA Cup final at Wembley against Chelsea. The game took place 4 days before our long trip to play Celtic. Some of players from the final have said since that they were physically and mentally exhausted. If this game had been played in todays touchy feely game most of the players from both sides would have been red carded such were the tackles flying all over the pitch. We as fans were pretty confident as to the outcome as we had already witnessed Leeds winning 5-2 at Stamford Bridge at the turn of the year. Leeds again dominated the game only for a late equaliser by Chelsea’s Hutchinson. Ex players today still say Gary Sprake was at fault for the goal. History was now in the making as extra time was going to be played for the first time in a Wembley final, just what the players needed another half an hour of football. The replay due to United’s commitments didn’t take place for almost 3 weeks.

So it was on to the replay at Old Trafford we were to witness another tense and fiercely contested game. Chopper Harris of Chelsea was doing a proper man marking game on Eddie Gray, some of the tackles were horrendous. A Mick Jones goal wasn’t enough as in extra time David Webb scored the winner, despite constant pressure in the 2nd half of extra time Leeds could not break through. A season that started on such a high had finished on a low.

What a season where Leeds played football light years ahead of their opponents. Alas though the league title eluded them, the FA Cup eluded them and the biggest prize of all the European Cup eluded them. Geoffrey Green of The Times said at the time “ Leeds like Sisyphus, have pushed 3 boulders to the top of 3 mountains and are now left to see them all back in the dark of the valley”

After all of the above I wouldn’t have missed that particular journey for the world. Little Billy, Big Jack, Norman, Eddie, Allan, Mick etc all thanks for the memories. Most of all to The Don who without we would never have had to success & near misses we did back then.

MOT
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ChilwellWhite
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by ChilwellWhite »

This really was a golden era for the club. I think the loyalty of the players is a real stand out. Players like Bates and Yorath could easily have walked into any other team in Division One but chose to stay at the club. Games like the Southampton victory ( 7-0) will go down in footballing folklore, what a day to be a Leeds fan. Eddie Gray’s wonder goal against Burnley was another real stand out moment. There’s at least three occasions where referees were responsible for us not winning more silverware. The 1975 European Cup final, the Cup Winners final in 1973 and West Brom in 1971 are stand outs how different our history would be if VAR was around then.
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Selby White
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Re: 50 years ago

Post by Selby White »

ChilwellWhite wrote: There’s at least three occasions where referees were responsible for us not winning more silverware. The 1975 European Cup final, the Cup Winners final in 1973 and West Brom in 1971 are stand outs how different our history would be if VAR was around then.
Would add the 1967 FA Cup to that list the referee in the Semi-Final robbed us blind.

Recall Leeds fans singing "We were robbed at Villa Park" for years afterwards. Started the intense Leeds/Chelsea rivalry in my eyes.

Convinced we would have beaten Spurs had we got to the final. :D

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