Dedicated to the football fans of Scotland,
Leeds United, Hull City and Doncaster Rovers
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BREMNER CHANTS
THE BALLAD OF BILLY BREMNER
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
1 IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS … BILLY BREMNER
2 THE EARLY DAYS
3 MARCHING ON TOGETHER
4 ARISE SIR DON!
5 MOVING ON UP
6 SCOTLAND THE BRAVE
7 WE LOVE YOU LEEDS – LEEDS – LEEDS
8 ‘LEADING LEEDS UNITED WAS MY DESTINY’
9 THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER
10 SIDE BEFORE SELF EVERY TIME
11 UPS AND DOWNS
12 TO ELLAND BACK
13 OVER THE HILL AND NOT FAR AWAY
14 THE MANAGEMENT GAME
15 MANAGERIAL MERRY-GO-ROUND AT LEEDS
16 THE KING RETURNS
17 ROVERS RETURN
18 BILLY'S MOST MEMORABLE GAMES
19 WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT HIM
20 WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THEM
PLAYING CAREER TABLES
COPYRIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book could not have been completed without one outstanding individual, namely William John Bremner. Footballer, family man and a decent all-round human being. Billy was a true gentleman off the pitch and a colossus and leader of men upon it. His every football performance was filled with passion and a genuine desire to succeed, not only for himself, but for his club, his country and more importantly for the tens of thousands of fans who would spend their hard-earned money to marvel at his consistent top-quality performances. To thousands of football supporters around the world Billy Bremner was (and remains) a hero, a legend and a god. Anyone arriving at Elland Road football stadium, home of Leeds United AFC, is greeted by the brilliantly captured clenched fist (Keep Fighting) life-size statue of Leeds’ favourite son. His name and image are synonymous with the West Yorkshire side's football successes of decades past. Elsewhere around Elland Road one can find a commemorative plaque bearing his name, Billy's Bar and an abundance of Billy Bremner memorabilia on sale in the Leeds United club shop, bearing testament to the influence and adulation he is still awarded by the Leeds faithful.
Such memories are not solely confined to the postcode LS11; in the district of Raploch in his home city of Stirling there exists a further commemorative plate and the annual Billy Bremner Regeneration Trophy, a youth football competition that was first introduced in 2006 to commemorate Billy Bremner. It would have given him some satisfaction to note that the 2007 winners of the trophy were Raploch-based Castleview.
This book was originally penned in 1998 but never made the bookshelves at that time. Now, over a decade later, it is with the utmost pride that I am able to put into print the results of dozens of those interviews I held with Billy since I first met him back in 1968 and the thoughts, recollections and anecdotes of many of the real football superstars of the Billy Bremner era, but more of that later.
This work could not have been achieved without the help of an entire Premier League size-squad of support. I would like to thank each of the following for their contributions, thoughts, opinions and assistance in the completion of this work and in particular: Mandy, Mark Daniel and Paula Jayne Harrison. Sincere appreciation must go to: Bingo, Angel and George, Mason and Blossom, Will Scott, the late Don Revie OBE, Mrs Isabel McDonald, Howard Wilkinson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Pele, the late John Charles CBE, the late Bertie Mee OBE, the late Brian Clough OBE, the late Albert Johanneson, Eddie Gray, Peter Lorimer, Paul Reaney, Norman Hunter, Franz Beckenbauer, Billy McNeill MBE, Bobby Lennox MBE, the late Jimmy Johnstone, the late Willie Henderson, the late Bob Stokoe, John Greig MBE, Jimmy Hill OBE, the late Don Weston, the late Ian Hutchinson, Dave Mackay, the late Alan Ball MBE, the late Keith Newton, the late Derek Dougan, Craig Brown CBE, Tommy Gemmell, the late Bobby Murdoch, David Hay, Gordon McQueen, Jimmy Armfield CBE, Trevor Francis, Jim Smith, Graham Carr, the late Joe Baker, Barry Fry, Dave Bassett, Howard Kendall, Michel Platini, Joe Royle, Sammy McIlroy, Gordon Strachan OBE, Colin Todd, Graham Taylor OBE, Graham Kelly, George Burley, Glenn Aitken, Dickie Guy and Raymond Blaylock. Many thanks also go to the Football Associations of England and Scotland and in particular to Catherine Smith of the latter, Donald Morton of the Stirling Observer and staff of the British newspaper library (ex-Colindale). Finally, my eternal thanks go to the thousands of supporters of Leeds United who have shared terrace and seat space alongside me at countless stadiums across the United Kingdom and Europe. I hope each and every one of you enjoy this treasure trove of football nostalgia as a fitting tribute to, and courtesy of, the late great Billy Bremner.
Paul Harrison
Now 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 black and blue
As Leeds go Marching On.
His eyes they shone like diamonds
Lived a man, who played for Leeds,
Billy Bremner was his name,
The best wing half you've ever seen.
We all live in a white Scratching Shed
A white Scratching Shed.
There's a red-headed tiger known as Billy,
And he goes like a human dynamo.
One Billy Bremner
There's only one Billy Bremner.
THE BALLAD OF BILLY BREMNER
There's a tale I'm goin’ to tell you
All about a brave young man
Who was born and bred in 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 whisky 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.
PREFACE
(BY THE LATE JOHN CHARLES)
When Paul Harrison approached me to write a few words about my old friend, the late Billy Bremner, I didn't hesitate to say yes and agree. Both Billy and Paul had one thing in common, a genuine passion for Leeds United, and it is a real privilege for me to be able to add my own thoughts.
If the
re is one person who truly sums up all that Leeds United stands for, then that person has to be Billy Bremner. Throughout the years I knew him, Billy remained extremely passionate about three things in his life: his wonderful family, Leeds United, and his beloved Scotland. I've never known a more committed and driven person, in everything he did Billy gave his everything. Never more so than when he pulled on the legendary all-white shirt and playing kit of Leeds, or blue and white of Scotland.
As a footballer, he was tough and resilient, never failing to give anything but 100 percent he would run through brick walls for the sake of Leeds United and Scotland. Loyal and genuine, he was admired as both a man and as a sportsman. Very few people in life deserve to be called a legend, Billy Bremner is the exception to the rule. To this very day, the mere mention of his name commands immediate respect.
Billy may be gone, but he will never be forgotten, and this book is a fine tribute to him, immortalising his spirit and fine character as only a true fan and supporter could.
John Charles
Summer 2003
INTRODUCTION
Billy Bremner was someone I hugely admired and one of my first childhood heroes. Along with Batman, he provided me with a huge amount of positive childhood memories and happiness. Unlike the caped crusader, Billy was tangible. Week in, week out, he thrilled football audiences with his passion and desire to win. He was the perfect role model for a young aspiring footballer – strong, resilient and determined, he could score goals too. In fact, on a football pitch it seemed to me that he could achieve anything.
I wasn't alone in my adulation; he was revered by all football supporters and, even if they weren't Leeds fans, privately Billy Bremner was the player they would all have loved to have had in their team. Even the late Brian Clough found it in himself to tell me in a private interview:
‘Billy Bremner was the greatest ever footballer and man to play for Leeds United. When he spoke everyone listened, including me, and it takes someone very special to get me to shut up and listen. Billy Bremner had that quality. I didn't always agree with his aggressive playing style but he was the most influential footballer of his era and the mainstay of the Leeds side through-out two decades.’
The football fraternity in general has been more than keen to provide glowing testimonials to a very special person and to one of the most gifted footballers of his generation; a player who many still refer to as the ‘wee man’. The impact he had on people was immense and some of those interviewed for this book openly wept whilst discussing their own personal memories of him as a footballer and man. Billy Bremner was not simply a footballer or a football manager, he was a genuine human being, a devoutly loyal husband, father and a man who cared for and put his family first and foremost. He was a friend to many and a figurehead to entire communities in what was essentially viewed as a working-class game. We shall never truly know how many youngsters and adults Billy Bremner inspired but the great respect in which he is still held is rarely so consistently sustained in the memory of football fans. Billy is a qualified member of a most elite football body, ‘the greatest ever’, an accolade afforded to less than a dozen British football icons since the game first began.
Despite the popular image of him being a ‘hard’ and ‘angry’ footballer, emotions that are possibly better described as passionate, Billy was in fact a thoughtful schemer, with a tactical awareness that instilled fear into the most disciplined of opposition. Chris Balderstone, the ex-Huddersfield Town and Carlisle United player (and professional cricketer) described Billy as:
‘The most difficult player to mark in football. You couldn't stick with him throughout an entire game, he was like “Will o the Wisp”, one minute he would be right in front of you shouting for the ball, the next he was gone, ghosting past players and running into gaps that he had created. He had incredible stamina and vision, an awareness of what was happening on the pitch around him. The complete package really.’
Whether it was for Leeds United, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers and not forgetting his beloved Scotland, Billy was fiercely competitive. He wanted to win, to succeed. It is no coincidence that the title of his 1969 autobiography is You Get Nowt for Being Second.
Off the field he continued to display his leadership qualities. Management and motivational skills are not something that you simply buy off the shelf, read about in a book or are trained in. It takes a variety of skills and experiences to be able to consistently lead and inspire, not the least of which is respect. No one could ever suggest that Billy didn't command respect. He naturally motivated everyone through his enthusiasm be it team mates in training, the women who washed the playing kit or the staff of the Elland Road café where playing staff congregated before and after training sessions. He knew full well that a kind and supportive word here and there made a difference, and one of the things he truly enjoyed was making people happy.
Of course he was no angel on the pitch. He could and did mix it with the best of them, yet to a man, each and every player I have spoken with who played against him in a competitive game or during a training session reiterated the same thing – that he generally gave as good as he got. If someone kicked him during a game, rarely would you see him rolling about on the floor feigning injury. He would simply make a mental note of who it was and would get up and play on, all the while biding his time and awaiting the opportune moment to return the kick. And he would often retaliate twice as hard so that the offending party would think twice about doing it again! Reasoned justice, one could say.
There can be no doubting the fact that he was very often targeted by opposition managers, players, fans and even match officials before a ball was kicked. With his fiery red hair, vocal opinions and exuberant character, he had the ability to wind up opponents in pre-match warm-ups, as he confidently strutted around the pitch displaying his ‘Keep Fighting’ attitude; motivating colleagues with the odd snippet of personal detail about opposition players. He was a warrior going into battle and few teams could boast such players in their ranks. Without doing anything untoward or wrong, Billy Bremner could intimidate any opposition in their own stadium.
Managers and experienced players would openly say in prematch talks that they were going out onto the pitch with the intention of stopping Bremner from playing his natural game. If successful, and his threat was eliminated, the chances were that this would temporarily stall the finely tuned cogs of the Leeds United football machine and prevent it from operating efficiently. Not that Leeds was a one-man team, but the Billy Bremner influence was so great that his mere presence on the pitch would often raise the standard of his colleagues’ game.
The late Don Revie once told me that Billy Bremner's presence in the dressing room and on the pitch would produce a charged atmosphere throughout the Leeds team (never mind their opponents), making them an even tougher, motivated and focused proposition to encounter:
‘Billy liked to generate passion in his team mates; he could lift their spirits or dampen them with a solitary glance. If we didn't play well then some of them would be more concerned as to how he would react afterwards in the dressing room than they were of me as manager. In the build-up to every game he was driven and focused, inspirational. He knew the strengths and weakness of other teams and the individual players; his own game would revolve around exploiting those weaknesses. He was a visionary and I never managed a footballer or a man like him. An exceptional person.’
Once on the field, it was time for battle. Afterwards, irrespective of what had occurred previously or during the ninety minutes, Billy would very often be the first to greet and shake hands with his adversaries. The infamous encounters with Dave Mackay at White Hart Lane, in August 1966, and with Liverpool's Kevin Keegan at Wembley in August 1974, are now part of football folklore. Yet neither incident created serious disharmony between any of those involved. The Wembley incident with Keegan was part of an ongoing spat that had been present from kick-off, and whilst many supporters of Leeds and Liverpool believe it to have
been a nonsensical refereeing decision, it wasn't quite as innocent as it appeared. Keegan had given out, and taken, a few whacks (often retaliatory) throughout the game. He had earlier tangled with and felt the full force of Johnny Giles’ wrath as the two clashed, resulting in Giles lashing out at the striker whose response was to react as though he had been struck at close quarters by a charging hippopotamus. This reaction certainly riled some of the Leeds players, whilst their Liverpool counterparts pleaded complete innocence.
Later in the game, Keegan attempted to outmuscle Bremner on the edge of the Leeds penalty area and once again he came out second best – not only losing the ball but taking a retaliatory smack to his upper body, Bremner's response to the attempt to force him off the ball. He took his frustration out on the Leeds captain and puffing his chest out like a turkey cock he elected to confront him. Both men exchanged expletives in a face-to-face encounter. Then, without warning and in full glare of the match officials, Keegan threw a right-fisted punch that landed on the left side of Bremner's face. For a split second time stood still and Wembley stadium fell silent, only to erupt moments later as a scuffle between the two players ensued. Leeds players Norman Hunter, Gordon McQueen and David Harvey moved swiftly to break up the spat and hold back both men. The rest, as they say, is history. Match referee Bob Matthewson intervened, calmly pulled both players to one side and gave them a stern dressing down before sending the pair of them off. It was Keegan's second sending off in four days.
In emotionally petulant displays both players pulled off their club shirts and threw them to the ground in blatant disgust, before walking disconsolately from the pitch. From Bremner's point of view the shirt removal was symbolic – he had let down his manager and the club. He was genuinely ashamed of the incident, the shirt removal was one of respect that he wasn't fit to wear it after his actions.
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