Death
At the beginning of December 1997, he was rushed to hospital after suffering from pneumonia, but suffered a suspected heart attack at his Doncaster home in the small village of Clifton, South Yorkshire and died two days before his 55th birthday. His former Leeds United team-mates Allan Clarke, who read the lesson at the service, Bobby Collins, Norman Hunter, Eddie Gray, Trevor Cherry, Duncan MacKenzie, Paul Reaney, Mick Jones, Joe Jordan, Terry Cooper, Paul Madeley and Gordon McQueen went to his funeral in Edlington, along with Nobby Stiles, Asa Hartford, and Danny Wilson, and just about every major figure from Scottish football, past and present, Dave MacKay, Alex Smith, Denis Law and Alex Ferguson among them, and there was citywide mourning in Leeds due to the extremely high esteem in which he is held by Leeds United fans.
On 13 December 1997, Leeds United played away at Chelsea. In a typically bruising encounter between the two clubs, Leeds were down to nine men at half time (Alfie Haaland and Gary Kelly had been ordered off). Acknowledging that this was the type of game in which Bremner would have excelled, the travelling fans sang "We've got nine men and Billy!" Leeds held out for a 0–0 draw. Also for long parts of the match singing "Billy Bremner's barmy army"
A statue by sculptor Frances Segelman of Bremner in celebratory pose was erected outside Elland Road as a tribute to the club's greatest captain and, according to an official poll of supporters via the club website, the club's greatest ever player. On 9 December 2006, which would have been Bremner's 64th birthday, at the Leeds United vs Derby County match his eternal popularity amongst Leeds' fans was heard as the Leeds fans sang "There's only one Billy Bremner" as a tribute to Bremner was displayed on the big screen at Elland Road.
In 1988, the Football League, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Bremner on its list of 100 League Legends. Bremner was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact on the game.
Read more about this topic: Billy Bremner
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