LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

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Selby White
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LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by Selby White »

No great surprise that our 2nd inductee following the Don is non other than King Billy as Leeds legends go he is at the top of the pile.

Nominated by DavyCC and voted in by the forum members -
Davycc wrote:I'll go for Billy (the only Billy) even my old mum who had no interest in football and only watched because I had it on would say, "that wee man never stops running about!" high praise from a no aficionado. Where Don was Mr Leeds off the pitch he was just that on the pitch.
Like Davy I remember Billy was a firm favourite of my Mum, always her No1 player, not bad judges our Mums :thumbup:

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Here is a bit about Billy taken from the National Football Museum website -

Billy Bremner was the fiery midfield dynamo whose tireless energy spurred on Leeds United during their most successful years, under the management of Don Revie. His priceless precision passing, stamina and skill led him to become a Leeds United legend and one of the games' greatest midfielders. Bremner is honoured by a commemorative statue outside the South East corner of Leeds United’s Elland Road.

At just 5' 5" tall, Bremner was rejected by Arsenal and Chelsea for being too short before signing for Leeds at the age of 17. The two London clubs were soon to regret the decision as the diminutive Scot helped Leeds to promotion to the top-flight in 1964. Bremner became captain in 1966 and remained so until he left the club.

After several disappointments through the mid-60s, Leeds finally won a European competition (the Fairs' Cup) in 1968, which was also the year Bremner guided them to League Cup success. In 1969 Leeds won the League. He won the 1970 Footballer of the Year award as United narrowly missed a unique treble of League, F.A. Cup and European Cup.

With Johnny Giles alongside Bremner, Leeds had a magnificent midfield. The club had, however, gained a negative image: the press labelled them "Dirty Leeds", with Bremner viewed as being at the forefront of a physical, confrontational style.

"LITTLE BILLY BREMNER IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE CREW
FOR THE SAKE OF LEEDS UNITED HE WOULD BREAK HIMSELF IN TWO
HIS HAIR IS RED AND FUZZY AND HIS BODY'S BLACK AND BLUE
BUT LEEDS GO MARCHING ON." - GLORY GLORY LEEDS UNITED SONG
Bremner tasted FA Cup glory in 1972 and added another Fairs Cup and League Championship before the midfield dynamo’s glittering Elland Road career came to an end in 1976 with a move to Hull. He had been the most successful skipper in Leeds' history.

"NO MANAGER COULD WISH FOR A GREATER LEADER OR A GREATER PLAYER. IF I WAS IN THE TRENCHES AT THE FRONT LINE, THE MAN I WOULD WANT ON MY RIGHT SIDE IS BILLY BREMNER” DON REVIE

As an international, Bremner was at the forefront of Scottish football's rise in the 1970s. The World Cup in Germany 1974 saw Britain represented by Scotland. The team were eliminated without losing a match, and put in some fine performances including a draw against Brazil. Pele was full of praise for Bremner. In 1975 however he was given a lifetime ban from international football along with four other players, Willie Young, Joe Harper, Pat McCluskey and Arthur Graham after an incident involving a nightclub in Copenhagen. He won 54 caps in total, scoring three goals.

Although his passionate nature was a driving force it also got him into trouble on several occasions; most memorably during the 1974 Charity Shield at Wembley, when he and Liverpool's Kevin Keegan were centre-stage in a foul-laden match, during which punches were exchanged and the pair were sent off. Bremner nonetheless was not simply tough but a skilful player with an ability to score in crucial games.

In the official ‘Leeds United 100 Greatest Leeds Players’ Billy Bremner is listed at number one. 772 appearances, 115 goals, 11 years as captain: it's unlikely anyone will ever knock Billy off top spot.

Clubs: Leeds United, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers.
Caps: 54 (Scotland), 3 goals
Honours: 2 Fairs Cups, 2 Divisions One Championships, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup


Among his many goals for Leeds came in important games (he put us in the FA cup final 3 times with the semi winner in 65, 70 & 73).
Also scored twice in European Cup semi-finals, in the defeat against Celtic at Hampden in 1970 and the home victory over Barcelona in 1975.

Here is a Youtube tribute a good watch if you have time-


My own little story is when I was at school as part of my art lesson (i wasn't artistic trust me) as a project i did a number of sketches of Leeds players and to be honest most were rubbish however the one of billy was a cracker and earned me top marks. My Mum had it framed and took pride of place on the sideboard for a few years,
Sad ending though over the years it as gone missing with house moves and such, really wish I could put my ands on it today (probably going for millions at Sotherby's ;) )

Lets finish with a sing song :D -


Please feel free to add your comments on this thread about our great captain
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by ChilwellWhite »

Mr Leeds United for me. He was everything that was great about the club. As Leeds fans we love a player that gives 110% every game and BB gave that. The moment I remember most was at the 1974 Charity Shield and the infamous punch up with Keegan. Many a time I’ve sat on his statue and let my mind wander back to those halcyon days when Billy was king. It’s hard to imagine what would have happened had he returned to Scotland as a young lad, homesick I think ?
His eyes they shone like diamonds...
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by Westminster »

Obviously, we Leeds fans love Billy Bremner but he is, more generally, hugely underrated, at least in my opinion.

A lot of people just see Bremner as a midfield terrier but he was so much more than that. Yes, he was aggressive and could be nasty, but Bremner had great skill, he could pass, shoot, tackle, dribble; he had tremendous vision, a great engine and was surprisingly good in the air. He was superb.

Not only could Bremner play deep or as an attacking midfielder but he could do the business on the wing or upfront as well. A brilliant motivator and leader too, obviously. Basically, he had it all, one of the world's great footballers IMO.

ps. I remember seeing Billy Bremner play for Doncaster Rovers in the early-1980s. They had an injury crisis and Bremner was pressed into a comeback, having retired some years before. He played at sweeper, hitting 40 yard passes and by far the best player on the field despite the fact he was pushing 40 (and looked 50). You could just see the gulf in class.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by NottinghamWhite »

One of my all time favourite players, Jack was numero uno for me what was there to critise about Billy, absolutely nothing. As has been said he always game 110% every game but also had the skill to match. I saw him play many times & score some really important goals for us. It was clear for all to see the other squad members admired him as a player & captain. For all his fame he still enjoyed a pint & a game of dominoes.
Sadly I never got to meet Billy but I remember I was in Preston they day that his passing was announced & I cried like a baby. Today I just remember all the fantastic memories he gave me & thousands of others.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by Westminster »

Stupid people compare David Batty to Billy Bremner.

No disrespect to Batty, he was a very good holding midfielder and an integral part of the team that won the title in '92. Batty, however, scored, what 2 or 3 goals for Leeds? Bremner got nearly 100.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by Selby White »

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Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by The Fonz »

Billy had everything the complete footballer, should be mentioned when talking about the World's elite.
Would be first name on the team sheet with any current Prem team, priceless in today's overpriced player market.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by johnh »

My two outstanding memories of Billy are: 1. When he scored the winner against Man U in the FA Cup Semi-final at Notts Forest ground. 2. Playing a European cup game at ER (can't remember who it was against). Billy was about a yard inside his own penalty area, but right over in the front corner. A long overhit through ball reached him. There was no opposition player within 30 yards of him. He moved to bring the bouncing ball under control and it bobbled up and hit his hand. Definite penalty and the ref gave it. There was total silence at ER. Can't remember who we were playing but they scored. Can't remember the score either, though I think we lost. Both these are outstanding because if I close my eyes I can see them as though I am watching television.
What a player.
What a captain.
What a man.
I once played against Don Revie.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by Leicester White »

Great reading the stories of those lucky enough to see him play live. I remember his class as a manager when the final whistle blew on our 1987 FA Cup run. Fantastic semi-final performance against the eventual winners, Coventry City, which could've gone either way and Billy was gracious and dignified in defeat.
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Re: LufcTalk Hall of Fame Inductee - Billy Bremner

Post by Selby White »

From the Daily Record -

Leeds United legend Billy Bremner: the best Scottish players of the 1970s

Bremner had a hard man reputation but when Pele described him as the best player at a World Cup it showed he was so much more.

Ten stones of barbed wire. That’s how Billy Bremner was described in one newspaper when he burst on to the scene at Leeds United.
And he was spiky all right. The very epitome of a tartan terrier – five foot five, snapping at ankles and barking at team-mates and rivals alike.

But anyone who believes that’s all the Leeds United and Scotland captain was about clearly didn’t see Bremner at the peak of his powers. He could play.

In fact, Pele once described him as being the best player he saw at the 1974 World Cup and that was a tournament that featured Cruyff and Beckenbauer in their pomp.

Bremner, a pale skinned, freckled, ginger dervish, wasn’t as pleasing on the eye as those two with a ball at his feet but ask anyone in Leeds who they’d rather have in their team and the lad from Stirling, who never kicked a ball professionally in his homeland, would get the nod every day of the week.

He is idolised inside Elland Road and immortalised in bronze outside it. He might not have been a prophet in his own land, but he was in England, where he played 773 times for Leeds, most of them as captain in the most successful period in the Yorkshire club’s history.
Only one of those appearances was from the subs’ bench and in one spell he played 50-plus games a season for five years in a row.

Bremner was leader of a Scottish pack that included Frank and Eddie Gray, Peter Lorimer, David Harvey, Gordon McQueen and Joe Jordan in the 70s. He led them by example as they became the most-feared team in the country with a mixture of their power, pace and panache.

Their manager, Don Revie, gave him the armband and this tribute: “No manager could wish for a greater leader or a greater player. If I was in the trenches at the front line, the man I would want on my right side is Billy Bremner.”

There’s no doubt there were times he played on the edge, sometimes overstepping it. In the 1974 Charity Shield clash with Liverpool, Bremner and Kevin Keegan had a full-scale square-go on the Wembley pitch and each copped 11-game bans.
He also fell foul of Scotland team-mate Dave Mackay, immortalised in that famous photo where the Spurs captain has him by the scruff of the neck, looking as if he’s about to lift him and hang him on an imaginary coat-hook.

Bremner’s Scotland career also ended ignominiously as one of the Copenhagen Five, who got involved in a nightclub fight after a match against Denmark and was handed a life ban from the international arena.
It drew a line under a career that saw him win 54 caps and produce a sensational show against Brazil in the 1974 World Cup; a display that was to later draw the ultimate praise from the onlooking Pele.

And yet, what might have been Bremner’s finest hour was overshadowed by his worst miss. Well, that’s the perception but the fact is when Joe Jordan’s header was saved by Emerson Leao and rebounded to the midfielder a couple of feet from the goal, the ball hit him and bounced wide.
The match ended 0-0 and Scotland eventually went out at the group stages on goal difference. Bremner was made the scapegoat but his team-mates knew better.
Davie Hay once said: “Even now I don’t think it was a chance. We certainly never blamed Billy. The ball just came at him and he never had time to draw his foot back.
“The ball bounced off his leg and went wide. I felt so sorry for Billy and he blamed himself.
“But any criticism of him was harsh. If he’d been able to pull his leg back and shoot properly then maybe it would have been fair enough to see it as a bad miss.
“Billy was only about three or four feet from goal – but he was unlucky. It wasn’t a tap-in.
“Billy couldn’t react quickly enough. It’s as simple as that. He was a great player and a great captain.
“Nobody had the courage to make fun of him later for what had happened. Billy always commanded nothing but respect.”
Commanded it, and earned it.

Leeds won two league titles under his captaincy; two Fairs Cups, an FA Cup and League Cup.
He was named Player of the Year in England in 1970 and led them to the European Cup Final in 1975, where they still insist they were robbed by Bayern Munich.

One of the most hurtful defeats came in the 1973 FA Cup Final against Sunderland. It rattled Bremner so much that when he was asked to choose his testimonial opposition the following year, he picked them in order to gain revenge.
A year earlier, in his first testimonial, he had taken Leeds home to face Stirling Albion, an indication that for all his success Bremner had never forgotten his Raploch roots.
He was to go on to manage Hull City and Doncaster as well as his beloved Leeds, who had fallen on harder times when he returned in the 1980s.

But it was his playing career in that white shirt with the No.4 on his back that made the little Scot such a massive part of Leeds’ history.
In 2006, he was voted their greatest player of all time. In September 2013 he was named as the greatest captain in the Football League’s history.
Bremner wasn’t alive to accept the honours. Tragically, he died of a heart attack just two days before his 55th birthday in December 1997.
His death was mourned across the football world.
Rarely, have so many people looked up to a man who was 5ft 5in tall. But Bremner was a giant in almost every sense of the word.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
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