History of Leeds United A.F.C. - 1982-88 Gray and Bremner: Seeking Promotion

1982-88 Gray and Bremner: Seeking Promotion

Runners Up: Second Division Play Off Final (1986/87)

Semi-Finalists: FA Cup (1986/87)

Clarke's spending had left Leeds in a precarious financial situation, and Gray was forced to concentrate on youth development to rebuild the team. Most Leeds supporters would give Gray the benefit of the doubt during this period as he had no money to spend on team building, and those players he developed were often sold off as well. Young players to emerge during this period included Neil Aspin, Denis Irwin, John Sheridan, Scott Sellars and Bob Taylor - who all enjoyed considerable success at other clubs after leaving Leeds. The 1984-85 season saw Leeds take the promotion battle to the final game, but lost 1-0 away to Birmingham City. However, that game will be remembered for all the wrong reasons by both clubs due to a high profile hooliganism incident at St Andrew's stadium. Leeds fans rioted at the game, causing a wall to collapse and crushing a 14-year-old boy to death. 96 policemen were injured, hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused by vandalism and graffiti, and the collapsed wall also crushed several parked motor vehicles beyond repair.

However, Leeds started the 1985-86 badly and relegation to the Third Division became a real possibility, causing Gray to be sacked in favour of another Revie legend, former Leeds and Scotland captain Billy Bremner. Bremner carried on where Gray had left off, but found it just as difficult to achieve promotion, though he did bring the club close to success. Under Bremner, the club were defeated 2-1 in the 1987 play-off final, after extra time, against Charlton Athletic and, in the same year, were beaten 3-2 (after extra-time) in the FA Cup semi-final, losing to eventual winners Coventry City. In October 1988, with the team standing at 21st position in the Second Division, Bremner was fired to make way for Howard Wilkinson.