Billy Bremner
Encyclopedia
William John "Billy" Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish
professional footballer
, most noted for his captaincy
of the Leeds United
team of the 1960s and 1970s. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the South East corner of Elland Road
. He has also been included in the Football League 100 Legends
and is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame
. Bremner was voted Footballer Of the Year in 1970, and was also voted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame
as one of its first inductees in 2004,. He is on the Scotland national football team roll of honour due to having won more than 50 caps for Scotland
.
club in 1959, the day after his 17th birthday. He was brought up in the Raploch
area of Stirling
where he attended the Catholic junior school, St. Mary's. He had previously been rejected by Arsenal
and Chelsea
for being too small, as he was only 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) tall.
He made his first-team debut in January 1960 and was a permanent fixture on the team sheet for more than 16 years thereafter unless injured or suspended. Bremner quickly established himself as an uncompromising player, tough in the tackle and often going beyond the rules to get the better of a skilled opponent – a Sunday Times headline dubbed him as "10st of barbed wire". But he could play too – he had a stamina
to work from one end of the pitch to the other and could pass with precision and timing. He also weighed in with his share of goals, and had an extraordinary ability to score crucial goals in the biggest games, including winners in four major semi-finals.
title and then the following year came tantalisingly close to a "double" of League championship
and FA Cup
. They lost the league title to Manchester United
on goal average, and lost the FA Cup Final despite Bremner's equalising goal, losing to Liverpool 2-1 in the final at Wembley. Leeds were not in the 1964 cup final. That was West Ham v Preston. Leeds did not win the FA cup until 1972!
was injured in a Fairs Cup
game against Torino and manager Don Revie
gave the captaincy to Bremner. Collins never got it back. With Bremner acting as leader and mentor on the pitch, Leeds entered their halcyon period
at the end of the 1960s, winning the League Cup
and Fairs Cup in 1968 and the League championship in 1969. That season Leeds lost only two out of 42 league games.
, which had not been achieved before in the English game – indeed, this was the first season when any team had come close. However, Leeds ended up with nothing – losing the League title to Everton
, the FA Cup final after a particularly violent replay against Chelsea, and the European Cup semi-final to Celtic
.
During this period, Leeds had a reputation for being dirty, with Bremner at the forefront alongside equally uncompromising players such as Norman Hunter.
As if to emphasise the style of play for which Bremner was known, one of football's most famous photographs shows a young Bremner pleading his innocence after Tottenham Hotspur's bulky Scottish midfield player Dave Mackay grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up following a late tackle by Bremner. Mackay was just back from a second broken leg. The snap was taken on 20 August 1966.
The early 1970s saw Leeds dominate but lose as much as they won. In 1971, Bremner lifted the Fairs Cup but Leeds were the victims of one of the FA Cup's biggest shocks when they lost a fifth round tie at lowly Colchester United
, although Bremner did not play. They then watched helplessly as Arsenal
took the League championship from them with a 1–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur (prior to winning the FA Cup to complete the second "double" of the 20th century). Had the game ended in a score draw or an Arsenal defeat, the League would have gone to Leeds.
In 1972, Leeds again chased the League and FA Cup double but again were left both elated and disappointed. A 1–0 victory over holders Arsenal in the FA Cup final earned Leeds their first and only success in the competition (and completed Bremner's domestic medal set) but two days later, with only a draw required to seal the "double", Leeds lost their last League game to Wolves
and the title went to Derby County
. In 1973 Leeds were only chasing the FA Cup and success in Europe – Liverpool were too strong in the League – but were beaten by A.C. Milan in the Cup Winners Cup final in Salonika, Greece and then lost the FA Cup final to second division Sunderland
. Bremner picked up more runners-up medals.
Bremner played magnificently as Leeds finally put the near-misses aside over the previous six seasons and won the 1974 League championship at a canter, setting a record of 29 unbeaten games to start the season which was only beaten by Arsenal in 2004. Looking back years later, in August 1995 for the Match of the Seventies TV programme, Bremner considered the 1973–74 Leeds team as good any British team since WWII. As champions, Leeds contested the 1974 Charity Shield
curtain raiser game against FA Cup winners Liverpool at Wembley – and Bremner was sent off for a clash with Kevin Keegan
, which also saw the Liverpool striker dismissed.
The following year, Leeds were not in contention for domestic honours but reached the European Cup final, which they lost in more controversial circumstances to Bayern Munich. Leeds were denied what seemed a certain penalty, had a goal disallowed (after the referee decided that Bremner was offside) and Bremner suffered his own personal nightmare when Sepp Maier produced an astonishing point-blank save from just six yards.
job from caretaker boss Joe Mercer, who had assumed the post after the dismissal of World Cup winning boss Sir Alf Ramsey
. Brian Clough
took control and the team started to break up. Bremner finally left Leeds United in September 1976 to join Hull City
. He had played 772 games for Leeds, putting him second behind Jack Charlton
in the club's all-time list.
, managing an admirable four seasons there before retiring at the age of 39.
, which was two days after Leeds United had won the FA Cup. Leeds lost the game 2–1 and Derby County
became champions for the first time in their history. Wolves mid-fielder Danny Hegan
and Leeds United goalkeeper Gary Sprake
had claimed in a newspaper article that Bremner was involved in an attempt to bribe Wolves to lose the match, but both refused to repeat these allegations under oath in court. Former team mates Jack Charlton
, Allan Clarke
and Johnny Giles
all spoke up for Bremner. So did Wolves player Derek Dougan
, who had scored against Leeds in the match in question. Dougan testified that no attempt was made to bribe Wolves and that the claims were nonsense.
debut in 1965 against Spain
, played in the famous 3–2 victory against world champions England at Wembley in 1967 and captained his country at the World Cup in West Germany in 1974. After beating Zaire 2-0 and drawing 0-0 with Brazil a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia saw Scotland eliminated on goal difference. His last cap came against Denmark
in September 1975 – an incident in Copenhagen
after the game led to a lifetime ban from international football along with four other players, Willie Young, Joe Harper
, Pat McCluskey
and Arthur Graham
. The five allegedly were ejected from a night-club for rowdy behaviour. This was after breaking a 1am curfew to indulge in a bout of heavy drinking. Then, an SFA official was none too pleased when he entered the room of Bremner and McCluskey to find them turning a bed upside down in a drunken prank. Ronald McKenzie, the Scottish team trainer, resigned his post as he admitted to being involved as well. The ban was lifted in 1976 but Bremner never played international football again. He won 54 caps in total, scoring three goals, and is in the Scotland hall of fame
.
, who would go on to guide Doncaster to its most successful spell in the third tier until recent times. He returned to manage Doncaster in 1989, staving off relegation to the Conference in his first season in charge before a major improvement in the 1990–91 season, in which Rovers were promotion contenders for much of the season before finishing 11th. He left Doncaster the following season.
and Eddie Gray to try to restore happier days to the club after their relegation in 1982. As manager he quickly reinstated Don Revie
's philosophy and his little traditions, for example he reinstated the sessions of carpet bowls
on Friday evenings. They never regained promotion under Bremner but came close, losing a play-off final to Charlton Athletic
in 1987 and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in the same season, losing to eventual winners Coventry City
.
In June 1986, interim Scotland manager Alex Ferguson
rejected the offer to manage the national side on a permanent basis (having been in charge since the sudden death of Jock Stein
nine months earlier) and Bremner's name was linked with the job, but it went to long-serving coaching staff member Andy Roxburgh
instead.
Bremner was sacked in September 1988 to make way for Howard Wilkinson
who would within four years not just achieve promotion but would bring the League championship back to Elland Road in April 1992.
as manager, coincidentally succeeding Dave MacKay, but left in November 1991. This was the last position Bremner held in football.
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. Just about every major figure from Scottish football, past and present, attended his funeral
in Edlington
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 9 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
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.
European Cup
European Cup Winners' Cup
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Football League First Division
Football League Second Division
FA Cup
Football League Cup
FA Charity Shield
, Glory Glory Leeds United, contains the following verse which summed up Bremner's role at the club:
The Ballad of Billy Bremner
|1959–60
||rowspan="18"|Leeds United
||First Division
||11||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1960–61
||rowspan="4"|Second Division
||31||9||||||||||||||||
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|1961–62
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|1962–63
||24||10||||||||||||||||
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|1963–64
||39||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1964–65
||rowspan="13"|First Division
||40||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1965–66
||41||8||||||||||||||||
|-
|1966–67
||37||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1967–68
||36||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1968–69
||42||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1969–70
||35||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|1970–71
||26||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1971–72
||41||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1972–73
||38||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|1973–74
||42||10||||||||||||||||
|-
|1974–75
||27||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1975–76
||34||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1976–77
||4||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1976–77
||rowspan="2"|Hull City
||rowspan="2"|Second Division
||30||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1977–78
||31||4||||||||||||||||
648||96||||||||||||||||
772||115||||||||||||||||
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
professional footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, most noted for his captaincy
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
of the Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
team of the 1960s and 1970s. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the South East corner of Elland Road
Elland Road
Elland Road is an all-seater football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has been the permanent residence of Leeds United A.F.C...
. He has also been included in the Football League 100 Legends
Football League 100 Legends
The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Premier season of League football...
and is a member of the English Football Hall of Fame
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...
. Bremner was voted Footballer Of the Year in 1970, and was also voted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame
Scottish Football Hall of Fame
The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Inductees are picked each year by fans and a committee selects the eight finalists who are inducted at an annual dinner....
as one of its first inductees in 2004,. He is on the Scotland national football team roll of honour due to having won more than 50 caps for Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
.
Going south of the border
Bremner, a diminutive but hard midfield player, was scouted by Leeds while playing schoolboy football in Scotland and signed for the Elland RoadElland Road
Elland Road is an all-seater football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has been the permanent residence of Leeds United A.F.C...
club in 1959, the day after his 17th birthday. He was brought up in the Raploch
Raploch
The Raploch is a district of the city of Stirling, which lies to the south of the River Forth in central Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to by people from outside the area as "Raploch"....
area of Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
where he attended the Catholic junior school, St. Mary's. He had previously been rejected by Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
and Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
for being too small, as he was only 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) tall.
He made his first-team debut in January 1960 and was a permanent fixture on the team sheet for more than 16 years thereafter unless injured or suspended. Bremner quickly established himself as an uncompromising player, tough in the tackle and often going beyond the rules to get the better of a skilled opponent – a Sunday Times headline dubbed him as "10st of barbed wire". But he could play too – he had a stamina
Endurance
Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...
to work from one end of the pitch to the other and could pass with precision and timing. He also weighed in with his share of goals, and had an extraordinary ability to score crucial goals in the biggest games, including winners in four major semi-finals.
The first rewards
As Leeds United began their rise in the early 1960s, Bremner was at the heart of it. In 1964 they won the Second DivisionFootball League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
title and then the following year came tantalisingly close to a "double" of League championship
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
and FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. They lost the league title to Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
on goal average, and lost the FA Cup Final despite Bremner's equalising goal, losing to Liverpool 2-1 in the final at Wembley. Leeds were not in the 1964 cup final. That was West Ham v Preston. Leeds did not win the FA cup until 1972!
'Captain of the Crew'
In 1966, Leeds skipper Bobby CollinsBobby Collins
Robert Young "Bobby" Collins is a Scottish former football player, best known for his successful spells at Celtic, Everton and Leeds United...
was injured in a Fairs Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
game against Torino and manager Don Revie
Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
gave the captaincy to Bremner. Collins never got it back. With Bremner acting as leader and mentor on the pitch, Leeds entered their halcyon period
Halcyon Days
Halcyon Days is a collaborative album by the ambient musicians Steve Roach, Stephen Kent and Kenneth Newby. This album was recorded in the period from December 17 to 28, 1995...
at the end of the 1960s, winning the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
and Fairs Cup in 1968 and the League championship in 1969. That season Leeds lost only two out of 42 league games.
The treble that never happened
In 1970, Leeds chased the historic "treble" of League championship, FA Cup and European CupUEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, which had not been achieved before in the English game – indeed, this was the first season when any team had come close. However, Leeds ended up with nothing – losing the League title to Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, the FA Cup final after a particularly violent replay against Chelsea, and the European Cup semi-final to Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
.
Bremner and Mackay
As if to emphasise the style of play for which Bremner was known, one of football's most famous photographs shows a young Bremner pleading his innocence after Tottenham Hotspur's bulky Scottish midfield player Dave Mackay grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up following a late tackle by Bremner. Mackay was just back from a second broken leg. The snap was taken on 20 August 1966.
Under-achievement
For all their honours, comparatively Leeds were huge under-achievers. They won two League titles – in 1969 and 1974 – but missed out on further championships in dramatic last-game climaxes in at least three other years, primarily due to fixture congestion and inflexibility by the FA. Bremner played in four FA Cup finals, but only won one. They won two Fairs Cups, and lost another final; Leeds also reached a European Cup Winners Cup final in 1973 but allegedly lost due to a bribed referee. As a last hurrah, before the team aged and broke up, it reached a European Cup final two years later but lost controversially to Bayern Munich.The early 1970s saw Leeds dominate but lose as much as they won. In 1971, Bremner lifted the Fairs Cup but Leeds were the victims of one of the FA Cup's biggest shocks when they lost a fifth round tie at lowly Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....
, although Bremner did not play. They then watched helplessly as Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
took the League championship from them with a 1–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur (prior to winning the FA Cup to complete the second "double" of the 20th century). Had the game ended in a score draw or an Arsenal defeat, the League would have gone to Leeds.
In 1972, Leeds again chased the League and FA Cup double but again were left both elated and disappointed. A 1–0 victory over holders Arsenal in the FA Cup final earned Leeds their first and only success in the competition (and completed Bremner's domestic medal set) but two days later, with only a draw required to seal the "double", Leeds lost their last League game to Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
and the title went to Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
. In 1973 Leeds were only chasing the FA Cup and success in Europe – Liverpool were too strong in the League – but were beaten by A.C. Milan in the Cup Winners Cup final in Salonika, Greece and then lost the FA Cup final to second division Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
. Bremner picked up more runners-up medals.
Bremner played magnificently as Leeds finally put the near-misses aside over the previous six seasons and won the 1974 League championship at a canter, setting a record of 29 unbeaten games to start the season which was only beaten by Arsenal in 2004. Looking back years later, in August 1995 for the Match of the Seventies TV programme, Bremner considered the 1973–74 Leeds team as good any British team since WWII. As champions, Leeds contested the 1974 Charity Shield
FA Community Shield
The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
curtain raiser game against FA Cup winners Liverpool at Wembley – and Bremner was sent off for a clash with Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
, which also saw the Liverpool striker dismissed.
The following year, Leeds were not in contention for domestic honours but reached the European Cup final, which they lost in more controversial circumstances to Bayern Munich. Leeds were denied what seemed a certain penalty, had a goal disallowed (after the referee decided that Bremner was offside) and Bremner suffered his own personal nightmare when Sepp Maier produced an astonishing point-blank save from just six yards.
From Elland Road to Doncaster
Revie had quit Leeds a year earlier to take over the EnglandEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
job from caretaker boss Joe Mercer, who had assumed the post after the dismissal of World Cup winning boss Sir Alf Ramsey
Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966...
. Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
took control and the team started to break up. Bremner finally left Leeds United in September 1976 to join Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
. He had played 772 games for Leeds, putting him second behind Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL is a former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup...
in the club's all-time list.
Hull City
Bremner's arrival at Hull was big news locally and he scored on his debut for the club. Though winding down his career, Bremner emerged as a big success at Hull over two years before he joined Doncaster RoversDoncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
, managing an admirable four seasons there before retiring at the age of 39.
Wins libel action
On February 3, 1982 Bremner won £100,000 libel damages, along with legal costs, after he sued a Sunday Newspaper for publishing an article in September 1977 that alleged he tried to fix football matches, including the May 1972 game at WolvesWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
, which was two days after Leeds United had won the FA Cup. Leeds lost the game 2–1 and Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
became champions for the first time in their history. Wolves mid-fielder Danny Hegan
Danny Hegan
Daniel "Danny" Hegan is a Scottish-born former professional footballer, who represented Northern Ireland at international level....
and Leeds United goalkeeper Gary Sprake
Gary Sprake
Gareth Sprake is a Welsh former professional footballer. A goalkeeper, he played for Leeds United and Birmingham City and also won 37 caps for Wales....
had claimed in a newspaper article that Bremner was involved in an attempt to bribe Wolves to lose the match, but both refused to repeat these allegations under oath in court. Former team mates Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL is a former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup...
, Allan Clarke
Allan Clarke (footballer)
Allan John Clarke , nicknamed "Sniffer", is a former footballer who played in the Football League for Walsall, Fulham, Leicester City, Leeds United and Barnsley, and won 19 international caps for England.-Early career:Clarke started his career at Walsall and made his debut aged 17, in 1963...
and Johnny Giles
Johnny Giles
Michael John "Johnny" Giles is a former association footballer and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s...
all spoke up for Bremner. So did Wolves player Derek Dougan
Derek Dougan
Alexander Derek Dougan was a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers....
, who had scored against Leeds in the match in question. Dougan testified that no attempt was made to bribe Wolves and that the claims were nonsense.
Scotland
As an international, Bremner was at the forefront of Scottish football's rise in the 1970s after years in the wilderness. He made his ScotlandScotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
debut in 1965 against Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
, played in the famous 3–2 victory against world champions England at Wembley in 1967 and captained his country at the World Cup in West Germany in 1974. After beating Zaire 2-0 and drawing 0-0 with Brazil a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia saw Scotland eliminated on goal difference. His last cap came against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
in September 1975 – an incident in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
after the game led to a lifetime ban from international football along with four other players, Willie Young, Joe Harper
Joe Harper (footballer)
Joseph Montgomery Harper is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he became the club's record goalscorer.-Club career:...
, Pat McCluskey
Pat McCluskey
Pat McCluskey is a retired Scottish footballer. He spent most of his career in the Scottish League, except for part of one season in Ireland and one season in the United States....
and Arthur Graham
Arthur Graham
Arthur Graham is a former Scottish professional footballer who played for Aberdeen, Leeds United, Manchester United, Bradford City and the Scotland national team. He played as a left winger...
. The five allegedly were ejected from a night-club for rowdy behaviour. This was after breaking a 1am curfew to indulge in a bout of heavy drinking. Then, an SFA official was none too pleased when he entered the room of Bremner and McCluskey to find them turning a bed upside down in a drunken prank. Ronald McKenzie, the Scottish team trainer, resigned his post as he admitted to being involved as well. The ban was lifted in 1976 but Bremner never played international football again. He won 54 caps in total, scoring three goals, and is in the Scotland hall of fame
Scotland Football Hall of Fame
The Scotland national football team roll of honour is a list set up by the Scottish Football Association which recognises players who have gained 50 or more international caps for Scotland. There are currently 26 players on the roll of honour, with Kenny Miller the most recent addition...
.
Doncaster Rovers
In 1978, Bremner became manager of Doncaster Rovers, where he stayed for seven years. Under his management, Doncaster managed promotion to the Third Division in 1981 where they remained for two seasons, and again in 1984 before making way for Dave CusackDave Cusack
David Stephen "Dave" Cusack is an English former footballer and manager who is currently chairman of Essex Senior League side Basildon United...
, who would go on to guide Doncaster to its most successful spell in the third tier until recent times. He returned to manage Doncaster in 1989, staving off relegation to the Conference in his first season in charge before a major improvement in the 1990–91 season, in which Rovers were promotion contenders for much of the season before finishing 11th. He left Doncaster the following season.
Manager of Leeds
Bremner's life after playing was mainly notable for his topsy-turvy spell as manager of Leeds, following in the footsteps of old team-mates Allan ClarkeAllan Clarke (footballer)
Allan John Clarke , nicknamed "Sniffer", is a former footballer who played in the Football League for Walsall, Fulham, Leicester City, Leeds United and Barnsley, and won 19 international caps for England.-Early career:Clarke started his career at Walsall and made his debut aged 17, in 1963...
and Eddie Gray to try to restore happier days to the club after their relegation in 1982. As manager he quickly reinstated Don Revie
Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
's philosophy and his little traditions, for example he reinstated the sessions of carpet bowls
Carpet Bowls
Carpet Bowls is a variant of Indoor Bowls. It is played particularly in the South of England, although it is played at League and County level in East Anglia, the Midlands and the North...
on Friday evenings. They never regained promotion under Bremner but came close, losing a play-off final to Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
in 1987 and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in the same season, losing to eventual winners Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
.
In June 1986, interim Scotland manager Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
rejected the offer to manage the national side on a permanent basis (having been in charge since the sudden death of Jock Stein
Jock Stein
John 'Jock' Stein CBE was a Scottish association football player and manager. He became the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967...
nine months earlier) and Bremner's name was linked with the job, but it went to long-serving coaching staff member Andy Roxburgh
Andy Roxburgh
Andy Roxburgh is a former Scottish football player and coach. He has been UEFA Technical Director since 1994.- Playing career :...
instead.
Bremner was sacked in September 1988 to make way for Howard Wilkinson
Howard Wilkinson
Howard Wilkinson is a former English football player and manager, and has recently stepped down as a Non-Executive Director at Sheffield Wednesday after formerly relinquishing the chairman role to Milan Mandaric...
who would within four years not just achieve promotion but would bring the League championship back to Elland Road in April 1992.
Return to Doncaster Rovers
In July 1989 Bremner went back to DoncasterDoncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
as manager, coincidentally succeeding Dave MacKay, but left in November 1991. This was the last position Bremner held in football.
Later years
Bremner settled into the columnist and after-dinner circuit adorned by many high-profile ex-footballers during the final years of his life. Despite his uncompromising nature (both vocally and in the tackle) on the pitch, he emerged as a dignified and grateful figure, claiming that despite not winning as many honours as he could have, his memories would be the envy of many players.Death
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, but suffered a suspected heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at his Doncaster home in the small village of Clifton, South Yorkshire
Clifton, South Yorkshire
Clifton is a small village to the south-west of Doncaster, within the boundary of the civil parish of Conisbrough Parks, which has a population of 385.Whilst Clifton is within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, its postal address is styled Rotherham....
and died two days before his 55th birthday. Just about every major figure from Scottish football, past and present, attended his funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
in Edlington
Edlington
Edlington is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, lying to the south west of Doncaster. It has a population of 8,276...
and there was citywide mourning
Mourning
Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate...
in Leeds due to the extremely high esteem in which he is held by Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
fans.
On 13 December 1997, Leeds United played away at Chelsea. In a typically bruising encounter between the two clubs, Leeds were down to 9 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
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
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
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
of supporters via the club website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, the club's greatest ever player. On 9 December 2006, which would have been Bremner's 64th birthday, at the Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
vs Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
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
Elland Road
Elland Road is an all-seater football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has been the permanent residence of Leeds United A.F.C...
.
In 1988, the Football League, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Bremner on its list of 100 League Legends
Football League 100 Legends
The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Premier season of League football...
. Bremner was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...
in 2004 in recognition of his impact on the game.
Honours
(player and manager) European CupUEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
- Runner-up: 19751975 European Cup FinalThe 1975 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Parc des Princes, Paris, on 28 May 1975 between Leeds United and Bayern Munich.-Background:...
European Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
- Runner-up: 1973
Inter-Cities Fairs CupInter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
- Winner: 19681968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup FinalThe 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the tenth edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was played on 7 August and 11 September 1968 between Leeds United of England and Ferencváros of Hungary. Leeds United won the tie 1–0 on aggregate....
, 19711971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup FinalThe 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the eleventh and last Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was played on 28 May and 3 June 1971 between Juventus F.C. of Italy and Leeds United A.F.C. of England... - Runner-up: 19671967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup FinalThe 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the ninth edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was played on 30 August and 6 September 1967 between Dinamo Zagreb of Yugoslavia and Leeds United of England...
- Play-off: 1971Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-OffThe last Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was contested in the 1970-71 season before it was replaced by the UEFA Cup, and a new trophy. The old trophy had not been won by any club permanently, so a one-off play-off game was arranged between FC Barcelona, who were the original winners and had held the trophy...
runners-up
Football League First DivisionFootball League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
- Champion: 1968/69, 1973/74
- Runner-up: 1964/65, 1965/66, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1971/72
Football League Second DivisionFootball League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
- Champion: 1963/64
- Play-offs: 1987 runners-up
FA CupFA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
- Winner: 19721972 FA Cup FinalThe 1972 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the Centenary final and the 44th to be played at Wembley....
- Runner-up: 19651965 FA Cup FinalThe 1965 FA Cup Final took place on 1 May 1965 at Wembley Stadium. It was the 93rd year, 84th final and the 37th to be played at Wembley...
, 1970, 1973
Football League CupFootball League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
- Winner: 19681968 Football League Cup FinalThe 1968 Football League Cup Final took place on 2 March 1968 at Wembley Stadium. It was the eighth final and the second to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Arsenal and Leeds United....
FA Charity ShieldFA Community Shield
The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
- Winner: 19691969 FA Charity Shield-References:...
- Runner-up: 19741974 FA Charity ShieldThe 1974 FA Charity Shield was a football match played on 10 August 1974 between 1973–74 champions Leeds United and 1974 FA Cup Final winners Liverpool...
Song
A Leeds United club songSong
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, Glory Glory Leeds United, contains the following verse which summed up Bremner's role at the club:
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.
The Ballad of Billy Bremner
There's a tale I'm goin' to tell you
All about a brave young man
Who was born in bonny Scotland
That's where history began
He once cheered the Glasgow Celtic
Just the soon as he could talk
And he'd kick a paper football
Just the soon as he could walk
And his name is Billy Bremner
We will never forget his deeds
He was made to play for Scotland
Now he captains United of Leeds
So he came to Leeds United
And they made Don Revie the boss
All the Elland Road fans were excited
and wor gain was Celtic's loss
Many giants have tried to slay him
When he fights for every ball
But he knows the famous saying
When they're big the harder they fall
And his name is Billy Bremner
We will never forget his deeds
He was made to play for Scotland
Now he captains United of Leeds
When they talk of Matthews and Pele
Of Lawton and Finney and James
Like a whiskey in your belly
He will glow amongst those names
He will lead our lads to glory
He will lead our lads to fame
When they sing United's story
You will always hear the name
And his name is Billy Bremner
We will never forget his deeds
He was made to play for Scotland
Now he captains United of Leeds
And his name is Billy Bremner
We will never forget his deeds
He was made to play for Scotland
Now he captains United of Leeds
Portrayals
- Stephen GrahamStephen Graham (actor)Stephen Graham is an English actor from Kirkby, Liverpool. He is best known for his roles as Tommy in the movie Snatch, Combo in This Is England and its four-part television sequel This Is England '86, Danny Ferguson in Occupation, Billy Bremner in The Damned United, notorious bank robber Baby...
played Bremner in the 2009 film The Damned UnitedThe Damned UnitedThe Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's tenure as manager of Leeds United...
, which focused mainly on Brian CloughBrian CloughBrian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
's ill fated 44-day spell as manager of Leeds United in 1974.
Career statistics
|-|1959–60
The Football League 1959-60
-Overview:The 1959–1960 season was the 61st completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="18"|Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||11||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1960–61
The Football League 1960-61
-Overview:The 1960–1961 season was the 62nd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="4"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||31||9||||||||||||||||
|-
|1961–62
The Football League 1961-62
-Overview:The 1961–1962 season was the 63rd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||39||11||||||||||||||||
|-
|1962–63
The Football League 1962-63
-Overview:The 1962–1963 season was the 64th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||24||10||||||||||||||||
|-
|1963–64
The Football League 1963-64
-Overview:The 1963–1964 season was the 64th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||39||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1964–65
The Football League 1964-65
-Overview:The 1964–1965 season was the 65th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="13"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||40||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1965–66
The Football League 1965-66
-Overview:The 1965–1966 season was the 66th completed season of The Football League.This season is notable for Liverpool winning the title with only 14 squad players.-Final league tables :...
||41||8||||||||||||||||
|-
|1966–67
The Football League 1966-67
-Overview:The 1966–1967 season was the 67th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||37||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1967–68
The Football League 1967-68
-Overview:The 1967–1968 season was the 68th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :For the first time since 1937 Manchester City won the league title, finishing two points clear of their local rivals Manchester United. Fulham finished bottom of the league and were relegated along...
||36||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1968–69
The Football League 1968-69
-Overview:The 1968–1969 season was the 69th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Leeds United won the League for the first time in their history, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool...
||42||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1969–70
The Football League 1969-70
The 1969–1970 season was the 70th completed season of The Football League.Everton won their seventh title, finishing nine points clear of Leeds United with Chelsea in third and newly promoted Derby County in fourth. Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland were both relegated.Huddersfield Town claimed...
||35||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|1970–71
The Football League 1970-71
-Overview:The 1970–1971 season was the 71st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Arsenal won the league championship at the home of their bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, with Ray Kennedy scoring the winner. This would soon be followed by their FA Cup final tie with Liverpool...
||26||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|1971–72
The Football League 1971-72
-Overview:The 1971–1972 season was the 72nd completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Brian Clough, 37, won the first major trophy of his managerial career by guiding Derby County to their first ever league championship. They overcame Leeds United to win a four-horse race also...
||41||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1972–73
The Football League 1972-73
-Overview:The 1972–1973 season was the 73rd completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool cruised to another championship triumph in Bill Shankly's penultimate season as manager despite competition from Arsenal, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers.Manchester...
||38||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|1973–74
The Football League 1973-74
-Overview:The 1973–1974 season was the 74th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Don Revie marked his last season as Leeds United's manager by guiding them to league championship glory, before taking over from Sir Alf Ramsey as the England national football team manager, with...
||42||10||||||||||||||||
|-
|1974–75
The Football League 1974-75
-Overview:The 1974–1975 season was the 75th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:David Mackay guided Derby County to their second league title in four years having overcome strong competition from Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Everton, Stoke City, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough in...
||27||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1975–76
The Football League 1975-76
-Overview:The 1975–1976 season was the 76th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won their first major trophy under Bob Paisley by narrowly winning the league title after heated competition from Queens Park Rangers. They also lifted the UEFA Cup for the second time in...
||34||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1976–77
The Football League 1976-77
-Overview:The 1976–1977 season was the 77th completed season of The Football League.As of this season, goal difference was used to separate the clubs finishing level on points. The earlier system, used from the season 1894–95 until the 1975–76 had been the so-called goal average , or more properly...
||4||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1976–77
The Football League 1976-77
-Overview:The 1976–1977 season was the 77th completed season of The Football League.As of this season, goal difference was used to separate the clubs finishing level on points. The earlier system, used from the season 1894–95 until the 1975–76 had been the so-called goal average , or more properly...
||rowspan="2"|Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
||rowspan="2"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||30||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1977–78
The Football League 1977-78
-Overview:The 1977–1978 season was the 78th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest side took on the First Division by storm, by winning the League Cup on 22 March and confirming themselves as league champions the following month...
||31||4||||||||||||||||
648||96||||||||||||||||
772||115||||||||||||||||
Managerial stats
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers F.C. Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in... |
|
25 November 1978 | 1 October 1985 | 319 | 121 | 105 | 83 | 63.01% |
| Leeds United Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system... |
|
11 October 1985 | 28 September 1988 | 143 | 63 | 52 | 28 | 49.38% |
| Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers F.C. Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in... |
|
3 July 1989 | 2 November 1991 | 115 | 33 | 54 | 28 | 28.69 |