History of Leeds United A.F.C. - 1961-74 Don Revie: "The Glory Days"

1961-74 Don Revie: "The Glory Days"

Honours Won: First Division Championship (1968/69) (1973/74), FA Cup (1971/72), League Cup (1967/68), Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1967/68) (1970/71), Charity Shield (1969/70), Second Division Championship (1963/64)

Runners Up: First Division (1964/65) (1965/66) (1969/70) (1970/71) (1971/72), FA Cup (1964/65) (1969/70) (1972/73), Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1966/67), European Cup Winners Cup (1972/73)

Semi-Finalists: FA Cup (1966/67) (1967/68), Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1965/66), European Cup (1969/70)

Under Revie, Leeds enjoyed their most successful period, yet his stewardship started in adverse conditions; the club was in financial difficulty, and in the 1961-62 season only a win in the final game of the season saved the club from relegation to the Third Division.

Revie developed a new team around Jack Charlton and Scottish midfielder Bobby Collins, whilst bringing through a crop of outstanding youngsters including Norman Hunter, Paul Reaney, Gary Sprake, Billy Bremner, and acquiring Johnny Giles from Manchester United. In 1964 this new team won promotion once more to the First Division.

Leeds made an immediate impact; they finished the 1964-65 season as runners up to Manchester United, losing the title on goal difference. They also reached the FA Cup Final but were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool in a dour game, best remembered for the appearance of Albert Johanneson, the first black player to play in an FA Cup final.

The 1965-66 season saw Leeds consolidate their place in the First Division, finishing as runners up in the league again, and progressing through to the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

The 1966-67 season saw Leeds finish 4th in the league, as well as reaching the FA Cup Semi-Finals and making an early exit from the League Cup. In addition, their European campaign ended as beaten finalists in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing 2-0 to Dinamo Zagreb.

Revie's first trophies were won in the 1967-68 season; although Leeds finished 4th in the league, and were beaten in the FA Cup semi-finals, they won the League Cup, with Terry Cooper's goal being enough to beat Arsenal 1-0. There was also European success; Leeds beat Ferencvaros over two legs in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with Mick Jones scoring the deciding goal. Leeds were the first English team to win the trophy.

Leeds won the First Division Championship for the first time in the 1968-69 season; they lost only two league games, and were unbeaten at home which was the best record in the 20th century. The price of such consistency in the league was reflected in poor cup runs, as Leeds exited the FA, League and Inter-Cities Cup competitions in the early stages.

The 1969-70 season is best remembered as a glorious failure. Revie tried to win all three of the major competitions - the League, the FA Cup and the European Cup, and failed to capture any of them. In the League, Leeds were runners up to Everton, and in the European Cup they went out in the semi-finals to Celtic. Leeds also reached the FA Cup final and, despite a memorable performance from Eddie Gray, lost to Chelsea after a replay. Revie's Leeds were victims of their own success; FA rules at the time stipulated that a squad of only 20 players could be used, and as a consequence some of the Leeds players took part in 62 competitive games that season. Additionally, FA rules only allowed the use of one substitute, and even then only in case of injury. Other factors, such as fixture congestion and the FA's insistence that Leeds play 9 games in 22 days (the 1969-70 season was foreshortened by England's early departure to Mexico to defend the World Cup) meant that Revie was often forced to field tired players. In the end, the only trophy that Leeds captured was the Charity Shield.

In the 1970-71 season Leeds were runners up in the league again, in controversial circumstances. With four games to play, Leeds were two points clear at the top of the league. Whilst playing West Bromwich Albion, a Leeds pass was intercepted by West Bromwich player Tony Brown. Brown paused, as his team mate Colin Suggett was running back from an offside position - the linesman flagged for offside, and the majority of players stopped when they saw that the flag was raised. Referee Ray Tinkler overruled the linesman, allowing Brown to play the ball to Jeff Astle, who scored what proved to be the winning goal. Both Revie and the Leeds fans were so enraged at the decision that they invaded the pitch to protest, and consequently the FA banned Leeds from playing their first five home games of the following season at home. Leeds lost the title to Arsenal by 1 point. In addition, Leeds went out of the FA Cup in the 5th round in a shock 3-2 defeat by Colchester, who were in the Fourth Division at the time. There was consolation in Europe though; Leeds won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, beating Juventus over two legs, with Mick Bates, Paul Madeley and Allan Clarke scoring the winning goals.

As a result of the pitch invasion against West Bromwich Albion, Leeds were banned from playing their first five home games of the 1971-72 season at home, and only managed to pick up 2 points from those games. However, they still managed to mount a challenge for the Double; an Allan Clarke goal was enough as Leeds beat Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Cup Final, but once again fixture congestion and rigid FA regulations meant that Leeds had to play their final league game of the season less than two days afterwards. Leeds only had to draw their last game to win the League, but were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers. The league title went to Derby County - by 1 point. Based on their home record of previous seasons, if Leeds had been allowed to play their first 5 home games at Elland Road, it is likely that they would have won the league.

Leeds finished 3rd in the league during the 1972-73 season, and lost two cup finals. Sunderland beat Leeds 1-0 in a shock result in the FA Cup Final, and Leeds were beaten 1-0 by A.C. Milan in the European Cup Winners Cup final. The latter game was dominated by dubious refereeing decisions; Norman Hunter was sent off, and Leeds had two clear cut penalty appeals turned down. It was later discovered that Greek referee Christos Michas had been bribed by AC Milan. Michas was subsequently banned from refereeing for life by UEFA; AC Milan were not penalised.

Revie's final season in charge saw Leeds win the league at a canter; they went 29 games unbeaten from the start of the 1973-74 season, and lost just 4 league games all season. In 1974, Revie left Leeds to take up the role of managing the English national team.

In his thirteen years in charge, Revie guided Leeds to two Football League First Division titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one Football League Second Division title and one Charity Shield. He also guided them to three more FA Cup Finals, two more FA Cup Semi-Finals, one more Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Semi-Final, one European Cup Winners' Cup Final and one European Cup Semi-Final. The team also finished second in the Football League First Division five times, third once and fourth twice.

Leeds reputation was built on strong organisation, physical toughness (at a time when football was more physical than it is today) and skill. Most of Revie's team went on to become internationals; in 1970 the squad contained 17 full internationals. This was at a time when squads never had more than 20 players, when players from outside the British Isles were rare in English football, and international players correspondingly more rare.

In a survey of leading football writers, historians and academics by Total Sport magazine, Revie's Leeds United were voted as one of the fifty greatest football teams of all time.