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LEEDS
UNITED FC - HISTORY |
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Leeds City
Leeds United's predecessor club, Leeds City FC, was formed in
1904 by the committee and supporters of an even earlier club,
Hunslet FC. The 1904-05 season saw them playing within the West
Yorkshire League. In October 1904, Leeds City began playing at
Elland Road football ground, formerly the home of a rugby league
team, Holbeck RFC, which had disbanded after failing to win
promotion that year.
In April 1905, the club was floated as a limited company, and on
5 June, the club was officially formed as a limited liability
company. Gilbert Gillies, previously manager of Chesterfield,
was appointed manager. When the Football League extended its
second division to 20 clubs, Leeds (at this point the largest
city in England without a football league club) were elected as
one of the new members, alongside Chelsea, Clapton Orient, Hull
City and Stockport County.
Despite modest success in the second division, between 1910 and
1912 increasing financial pressures led to the company being
handed over to a receiver in April 1912. A new manager, Herbert
Chapman, was appointed (to replace Frank Scott-Walford, who had
in turn taken over from Gillies, but who had quit for reasons of
ill-health).
Chapman continued as Leeds manager till 1919 (although during
the First World War he took a break to work in a munitions
factory). However, in that year, a disgruntled former player,
Charlie Copeland carried out a threat to inform the Football
League of irregularities over excess payments made to Leeds
players during the war. In fact no evidence was ever offered of
such activities; however the Football League so concerned that
its pay cap might have been broken that the unfortunate club was
expelled and disbanded, and replaced in the league by Port Vale.
Leeds City as a company was wound up, and all assets (including
the players) were sold at auction. The star player, Billy
McCleod was sold to Notts County for £1,250. Herbert Chapman
went on to become a managerial legend at Arsenal.
Formation of Leeds United
Shortly after the collapse of Leeds City, a new club, Leeds
United, was formed and shortly began playing in the Midland
League, taking the place vacated by Leeds City's reserve team.
Yorkshire Amateurs AFC, who now occupied Elland Road, offered to
make way for the new team under the manager of former player
Dick Ray. In 1920, Leeds were acquired by Huddersfield Town's
then chairman, Hilton Crowther. Crowther brought in a new
manager, Arthur Fairclough, from Barnsley, and in May 1920 the
new club was elected to the Football League, along with Cardiff
City.
Before Revie
Over the following few years, Leeds consolidated their position
in the Second Division and in 1924 won the second division title
with 54 points. However, they failed to establish themselves
there, being relegated in 1927, thereby setting the pattern for
yo-yo'ing between the divisions over the next 30 years or so. In
1956, Leeds once again won promotion to the First Division, with
a team which included the brilliant John Charles and then
emerging defender Jack Charlton. However, Charles was sold to
Juventus, Leeds once again went into decline and were once more
relegated to the second division in 1960. In March 1961 the
club's directors appointed former England centre forward Don
Revie as player-manager.
The Revie Period - "the Glory Days"
It was under Revie that Leeds enjoyed their most successful
period, and during which they became probably the leading
English football club. Revie's stewardship started in some
difficulty; the club was in some financial difficulty and in the
1961-1962 season only a win in the final game of the season
saved the club from relegation to Division 3.
However, Revie developed a new team around the Scottish striker
Bobby Collins, bringing through a crop of outstanding
youngsters, including Norman Hunter, Paul Reaney, Gary Sprake
and Billy Bremner, and acquiring winger Johnny Giles from
Manchester United. In 1964 this new team won promotion once more
to Division 1.
Leeds reputation was built on strong organisation, physical
toughness (at a time when football was more physical than it is
today) and considerable skill. Most of the team went on to
become full internationals; in 1970 the squad contained 17 full
internationals (and again, it should be born in mind that this
was at a time when players from outside the British Isles were
rare in English football, and international players were
correspondingly more rare). Further players to emerge included
Terry Cooper, Peter Lorimer and Eddie Gray, while key
acquisitions included Allan Clarke (at the time for a British
record transfer fee) and Mick Jones.
They also developed a reputation for under-achievement. During
the late 1960's and early 1970's Leeds won the league
championship twice, and the FA cup once. Many times the club
came within proximity of success only to lose it at the last;
their record during this period includes an inordinate number of
second placings. However, under Revie Leeds won promotion to
Division 1 in the 1963-64 season; two league championships:
1968-69, 1973-1974, League Cup in 1968, Fairs Cup 1968 and 1971,
FA Cup in 1972 and FA Charity Shield in 1972.
Revie's last season at Elland Road concluded with Leeds' winning
the championship. In 1974, Revie, as the leading English manager
of his day (comparable figures such as Matt Busby and Bill
Shankly were Scottish) left Leeds to take up the role of
managing the English national team.
The Post Revie period - Slow Decline
Revie had recommended Johnny Giles as his replacement, and the
thoughtful Giles went on to become a successful manager
elsewhere. However, the club's board made the major error (which
its successors would later repeat several times) of appointing
the biggest, rather than the most appropriate, name. Brian
Clough was at the time one of the most successful and outspoken
English managers. Unfortunately he openly despised Revie, his
team and his players. The team (and its supporters) returned the
compliment, and after a few weeks of deadlock Clough was
dismissed with (not for the last time for a departing Leeds
manager) a significant pay off. He was replaced by former
England captain Jimmy Armfield, who took Revie's team to the
final of the European Champion's cup, where it was defeated by
Bayern Munich after seeing a goal controversially disallowed.
Armfield (with noted coach Don Howe) rebuilt Revie's team, and
though it no longer dominated English football, it remained in
the top 6 for subsequent seasons. However, the board was
impatient for success and dismissed Armfield, replacing him with
another managerial legend Jock Stein.
Unfortunately once again Stein remained in the role for only a
short period of time, leaving (on far better terms than Clough)
to take up an invitation to manage the Scottish national team.
The board turned to Jimmy Adamson, a long term manager at
Burnley but not from the "top tier" of management. At this point
the decline shifted a gear. In 1980 Adamson was in turn fired,
and replaced by former Leeds and England star Allan Clarke.
Clarke, despite spending freely on players, was unable to stem
the tide and the club was relegated at the end of the 1981-1982
season. Clarke was in his turn replaced by former team mate
Eddie Gray.
Gray's concentration on youth development turned round Leeds'
precarious financial situation, without winning them promotion
from the second division. 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. However the board again became impatient
and sacked him in 1985, replacing him with another former Revie
star, former Leeds and Scotland captain Billy Bremner. Bremner
carried on where Gray had left off, but found it just as
difficult to achieve promotion. In October 1988, with the team
standing at 21st position in Division 2, Bremner was fired to
make way for Howard Wilkinson.
The Wilkinson Period - re-emergence
Wilkinson, with extra money to spend, set about building a team
capable of promotion, one which combined youth and experience,
and toughness with guile. Key acquisitions included winger
Gordon Strachan from Manchester United, around whom he built the
team, well known "hard man", Vinnie Jones, right back Mel
Sterland, striker Lee Chapman and centre half Chris Fairclough.
He also began to bring players through from the youth team,
including David Batty (actually a product of the Bremner era)
and Gary Speed. The following season Leeds finally won promotion
back to the first division, after an absence of 8 years.
Wilkinson continued to rebuild the team, discarding players such
as Jones who had been brought in to specifically deal with
physicality of second division football, and bringing in
goalkeeper John Lukic (the club's first £1m signing), defender
Chris Whyte and promising midfielder Gary McAllister. The club
finished its first season back in the first division in fourth
place, and the board continued to make money available to
Wilkinson, allowing the purchases of England left back Tony
Dorigo, England midfielder Steve Hodge and striker Rod Wallace.
In 1992 Leeds once again won the league championship and looked
set to re-emerge as a dominant force.
However, the following season was a poor one, and this was
compounded by the sale of Eric Cantona, the talented and
charismatic - but highly disruptive - French star at what by
this time was recognised as a low fee of £1.2m to Manchester
United, Leeds' principal rival since the late 1960s. While
Cantona proved to be the essential final jigsaw piece in
Manchester's emerging team, Wilkinson's subsequent teams failed
to gel, despite inspired signings such as Nigel Martyn, Lucas
Radebe and Lee Bowyer. Additionally other key players, such as
Speed and Batty, left to fuel Wilkinson's transfer strategy.
Wilkinson's position with the board had become more precarious
with the sale of the club in 1992 to a new consortium, and
wasn't helped by a chronic, negative display in the 1996 League
Cup final which saw star striker Tomas Brolin left on the bench
and Aston Villa win 3-0. Early in the 1996-1997 season, after a
particularly painful Cantona-inspired 4-0 home defeat by
Manchester United, Wilkinson was fired.
George Graham
Leeds controversially appointed George Graham, rescuing him from
the football scrap heap; Graham had been out of a job since
being accused of accepting illegal payments at his former club
Arsenal. When Graham arrived, he stepped into a club where the
players' morale was low; he started work immediately by sorting
out the team's defence and he became the "bore draw" specialist.
At the start of the season, Graham brought in some bargain buys,
notably Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for £2 million (GBP). Graham
introduced Australian youngster Harry Kewell from the youth team
and he quickly became a fan favourite with his pace, skill,
enthusiasm and eye for goal. At the end of the season Leeds
booked its place in the UEFA Cup for the next season. The
1998-99 season saw Leeds scrape past Maritimo in the UEFA Cup;
however, stories were circulating that George Graham had
accepted an offer from Tottenham Hotspur. Graham denied this,
but a week later he was indeed manager of the north London club.
The O'Leary Period - "Living the Dream"
Leeds searched for a new manager for weeks with Martin O'Neill
seeming certain to take the job; however pressure from Leicester
City fans meant O'Neill stayed on as their manager and
subsequently snubbed Leeds United. Leeds opted for David
O'Leary, George Graham's assistant manager.
Under O'Leary the glory days seemed likely to return. On the
pitch he let his team do the talking. He introduced promising
youngsters like Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Smith and Stephen
McPhail to complement the likes of Harry Kewell and Ian Harte,
who were already established first teamers. The fans and pundits
saw a new vigorous and dynamic Leeds United side. A young and
inexperienced Leeds side narrowly lost in Rome against Italian
giants A.S. Roma and Leeds was unable to break the deadlock a
week later at Elland Road.
With David O'Leary in charge the 1999-2000 season approached and
was looking good for Leeds. O'Leary put himself across to the
media as "naïve" and his squad were just "babies". But those
"babies" played fast-paced, attacking football under the
coaching of Eddie Gray. Leeds were again paired with A.S. Roma
in the UEFA Cup and they were beaten this time over two legs.
The superb run in the UEFA Cup was complemented by good form in
the league, with a win at Watford sending Leeds top of the
league. Leeds secured 3rd place in the league that season
sending the club into the Champions League for the first time.
The Champions League campaign was marked by victories over
Anderlecht and Deportive La Corunua on a run to the Semi-Finals.
However, if there ever was a point in Leeds United's history
that would change the club it occurred during January of 2000.
Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer were involved in an incident in
Leeds city centre outside the Majestyk nightclub, which left an
Asian student in hospital with severe injuries. The fact that
the victim of the attack was Asian meant the players, fans and
the club were under the spotlight as the tabloid press among
others were suspicious that the attackwas racially motivated,
even to the point of assuming this was the case unless it was
proven otherwise. Leeds ever since have been labelled "racist"
and "dirty" in certain tabloid newspapers, a large percentage of
supporters boycott the Daily Mirror because they strongly deny
this and find the accusation offensive. It took nearly two years
to resolve as the start-stop court case came to a close. Bowyer
was cleared and Woodgate convicted of affray and sentenced to
community service. Bowyer played some of the finest football of
his career during the trial and would often drive straight from
court to play for Leeds; however, Woodgate’s form deteriorated
and he had to sit out games due to pressure.
Leeds’ UEFA Cup run continued beating Slavia Praha in the
quarter finals, Leeds reached their first European semi-final in
25 years and were paired against Turkish champions Galatasaray,
notorious for their fanatical support. Another dark moment in
Leeds’ history was around the corner when two Leeds United fans,
Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were brutally stabbed to
death before the game in Istanbul. The Turkish FA and
Galatasaray's actions showed how they didn’t care and ordered
the game to go ahead that night, Leeds lost 2-0. The return leg
in Leeds had the most charged, emotional yet poisonous
atmosphere. Outside the ground saw running battles between
police and fans and there were attacks on Turkish TV crews, the
game saw Harry Kewell sent off and a 2-2 score wasn't enough for
Leeds, as they went out of the competition.
In recent years they have been rebuilding with young
players,including midfielders James Milner (born 1986), who
broke Wayne Rooney's record for youngest player to score in the
Premier League,and Aaron Lennon (born 1987), the youngest player
ever to play in the league.
Following their appearance in the Champions League semi-final
against Valencia Leeds' fortunes started to change. Although the
general public were unaware, the club under the leadership of
Peter Ridsdale had taken out loans worth extremely large sums of
money. In reflection this was not a smart move at all. Leeds
started the 2001-2002 season needing to qualify for the
Champions League after missing out by one spot to Liverpool the
previous season.
However this was not to be, Leeds started well and on New Years
Day 2002 were on top of the Premiership. From here on things
went downhill and eventually Leeds finished 5th, missing out on
the much coveted Champions League spot again. Following Rio
Ferdinand's strong performances at the World Cup there was
rumours circulating that he would be sold. Eventually in July
2002 he was sold to Leeds' hated rivals Manchester United for a
sum of approximately 30 million pounds. David O'Leary was also
sacked for a number of reasons and replaced by Terry Venables.
After O'Leary - Decline and Fall
Under Venables, Robbie Keane was sold to Spurs; this was only
the start of the fire sale due to increasing debts and an
unsustainable wage bill. In the January 2003 transfer window
Robbie Fowler, Olivier Dacourt, Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate
all left the club in a bid to ease the financial burden. The
sale of Woodgate particularly upset Venables, who had been
promised by Ridsdale that Woodgate would not be sold. Tensions
mounted between the pair, eventually resulting in the sacking of
Venables, who was replaced by Peter Reid. With his no-nonsense
style of management, Reid helped Leeds retain its top flight
status and was given a contract. During this time the now hated
Peter Ridsdale resigned from the Leeds board and was replaced by
Prof. John McKenzie.
During the 2003 summer Harry Kewell controversially left Leeds
for Liverpool for a paltry sum; what exactly happened is still
unknown, but many Leeds fans feel Kewell and his agent Bernie
Mandic acted immorally.
An unsuccessful start to the 2003/04 season saw Peter Reid
dismissed, following a 1-6 defeat at Portsmouth in early
November with fans' hero and former manager, Eddie Gray, taking
over as caretaker manager - appointed until the end of the
season.
A period of serious financial difficulty ended in early 2004
with a takeover by a consortium, led by new chairman Gerald
Krasner. Nevertheless, the team continued to struggle on the
field and were relegated to the Football League Championship at
the end of the 2003/2004 season, ending a fourteen-year run at
the highest level of the English football league system that
included the first twelve seasons of the Premiership.
Following confirmation of the club's relegation, Gray's reign as
caretaker manager was terminated. His former assistant, Kevin
Blackwell, was appointed caretaker manager for the final match
of the season, and afterward permanent manager.
Goalkeeper Paul Robinson was sold to Spurs at season's end, and
Alan Smith to Manchester United. Dominic Matteo was sold to
Blackburn Rovers, Mark Viduka was sold to Middlesbrough, and
even Milner, who Leeds had been intent on keeping, has been sold
to Newcastle United. In their place, Leeds has been signing
players with lower wages.
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