Keep Fighting

by paul harrison

  Jack Taylor selected his first eleven: Wood, Ashall, Hair, Cush, Charlton, Gibson, Bremner, Revie, McCole, Peyton and Meek. It was the vastly experienced centre forward Don Revie who roomed with the young Bremner the night prior to the game and whose advice and guidance were to be so influential on him:

  ‘Don the player was professional and sincere; he was grateful for possessing football ability and did his utmost to make sure he was fit and ready for every game. He insisted on getting an early night, and told me that a good night's sleep before a game was extremely important if you were to perform to the best of your ability. I had a lot of respect for what he had achieved as a player so listened to him and acted on a lot of what he said. We did have an early night but it didn't matter as I didn't sleep a wink. I was so excited and couldn't wait for the game and to get out onto the pitch.’

  In the Leeds dressing room, as he pulled on the number seven shirt, both Wilbur Cush and Revie advised the youngster to play it easy and to stick to the easy option, two-touch football:

  ‘Don Revie was with me all the way, he told me how Stamford Bridge had a shit hole of a pitch when it was wet or evenly mildly damp. Wilbur said that the Chelsea fans were an unsporting, noisy and abusive lot and I was told to ignore anything they yelled at me or the team. Neither were wrong, Chelsea, not just the pitch, was a shit hole, and over the years I was to find that with the slightest rainfall, puddles would build up on that surface, causing the pitch to cut up until eventually it resembled a ploughed field more suitable for keeping pigs than for football, an environment that would be like home to their fans!’

  Prior to kick-off, heavy rain fell, and the Stamford Bridge pitch began cutting up during the pre-match warm-up; huge divots of turf were present across all areas of the pitch. The more experienced Leeds players knew how physically exhausting ninety minutes on that surface could be. Neat passing football was totally out of the question, hard work and determination were needed if any kind of result was to be ground out. The rain continued to fall throughout the game and it was surprising that an attendance as high as 18,963 turned out in atrociously wet conditions.

  Some of the Chelsea staff and players mocked the diminutive ginger-haired Leeds winger making his debut, crudely referring to him as the ‘ginger-haired dwarf-kid’. It was to be a game that Billy would never forget:

  ‘It's difficult to know what to think when you make your first-team debut; the pitch was dreadful. I thought other teams would be as professional as we were, but instead I found that Chelsea would stoop to any level to intimidate and bully. It riled me and ensured that I was all the more determined to get one over on them.

  ‘All I wanted at the start was to get my first touch of the ball out of the way. Fortunately this happened fairly quickly and when I laid a pass on to Don Revie I immediately settled down into my game. Wilbur Cush constantly reminded me to ignore abusive and foul comments made by the Chelsea players and their crowd. He reminded me that the abuse should be taken as a back-handed compliment, as it meant they saw me as a threat and that I was playing well. By the end of the game I was being nasty to the Chelsea players who had been having a go at me and they didn't like it one bit!’

  With Revie and Cush playing alongside him, Bremner displayed composure and finesse with his possession and passing. The two experienced professionals literally nursed him through the game, ensuring that simple passing options were always available. In fact he almost snatched a goal. When a misplaced Chelsea clearance fell to him he at once turned this into a Leeds attack, pushing forward at the Chelsea defence, before shooting at goal. The press reported of his performance: ‘The lightweight boy came through well; he used the ball speedily, generally accurately and always intelligently.’

  It may not have been the most spectacular of debuts, but Billy Bremner had not looked out of place. He had achieved what he wanted, to get one over on Chelsea. Leeds had been too good for the west London outfit, and had comfortably won the game by three goals to one. Afterwards, he was to recall:

  ‘It was excellent, everybody congratulated me on having a good solid game. I had been rattled by the abuse, but first and foremost stayed focused on my game. It was nice to walk off that pitch a winner and letting the Chelsea losers know the utter contempt I had for them.’

  The following week Billy made his Elland Road league debut, at home to West Bromwich Albion, and again he was wearing the number seven shirt. The thrill of a winning start to his first-team career disappeared before 23,729 despairing Leeds supporters, as the home side capitulated against an unusually rampant Albion, who ran out winners by four goals to one.

  ‘Oh Jesus,’ Bremner recalled, ‘it wasn't a game I can recall with any fondness. That day, if I am to be honest, West Brom ran us ragged, and the Leeds crowd really got on our backs, which made us all a bit nervous. I couldn't assert myself on the game and struggled to get into any rhythm. The Albion boys were fighting for every ball. I wasn't ready for it and it was a relief when the final whistle sounded, to get off the pitch, albeit to a chorus of booing and angry swearing of discontented Leeds supporters. In the dressing room afterwards there was absolute silence. We were shit; we played like shit and felt like shit. It was horrible and I vowed that never again would I want to endure such bad emotions and an awful dressing-room atmosphere.’

  With Chris Crowe again fit, Bremner found himself dropped from the first eleven for the following two league games:

  ‘When I was dropped I asked the manager and players if I was being blamed for the result against West Bromwich. He told me I wasn't to blame, and that I had to realise that a player of Chris Crowe's quality couldn't justifiably be left out of the first team. I was disheartened. I knew inside that I was being made the scapegoat for the defeat. I also knew that I hadn't made enough of an impact to prove myself a capable alternative. I knew that I was a better player than Chris Crowe but opted to keep my own counsel on that belief and to keep fighting to win back a place in the first team.’

  Within the space of a few weeks, Chris Crowe was sold to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £25,000. The club accepted the bid as they knew that in Bremner they had an all-round better player. Finally, the youngster from Stirling had secured a regular first-team place, making a total of eleven league appearances during the remainder of that season and scoring two goals. His euphoria at breaking into the first eleven was dampened by the club's relegation from the First Division:

  ‘It was an awful feeling. Being relegated is the worst feeling in the world. The mood throughout the club was miserable and I have to confess that I still missed Scotland and was looking at sounding out a move to Stirling Albion. My mate Alex Smith put me straight on that one and told me not to be so bloody stupid and to give Leeds a chance. Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing to me – give Leeds a chance.

  ‘Jack Taylor must have realised how I was feeling, not that it was any kind of secret, because he went out of his way to make me feel comfortable about everything at the club and assured me that I had a bright future in the first team at Leeds. Going into the summer I felt fairly confident about how my career was mapping out. I believed Jack Taylor was going to be instrumental in that career. I was very wrong.’

  Despite Taylor's apparent warmth towards him, Bremner made just two league appearances in the first thirteen fixtures of the 1960-61 season:

  ‘I had taken a knock or two in training and needed some treatment – nothing too serious, but enough for Jack Taylor to drop me from his plans. I was really pissed off about it but continued to train hard. I often stayed behind after sessions to try to build up my fitness and body strength. Still Jack Taylor ignored me.

  ‘It got to the stage where I had to take the bull by the horns and confront the manager. In straightforward language I asked him why I wasn't playing in the first team. It was my first glimpse of a manager under duress. I was expecting a blazing row but, instead, he told me I had been dropped because it was character building, adding that I would be back in the first
team for the next game and it was up to me to prove that this was where I should be every game.’

  It goes without saying that he did impress as it marked the start of an ever-present run of thirty-two consecutive first-team outings.

  ‘Despite everything else, I still missed the comfort Raploch offered; I went home as often as I could to see my family and mates. On one trip back I went out for a night to the Plaza in Stirling. Issy, Alex and a couple of other mates were there too. I saw this lovely looking girl and asked Issy if she knew who she was. Issy told me that she was known as Vicky Dick, and that she had won a John Player Beauty Competition. I wasn't surprised, as she was a real stunning-looking girl and still is. I was reluctant to approach her so I did the cowardly thing and asked Issy to ask her to go out with me.’

  Isabel takes up the story: ‘Billy asked me to ask her to go out with him and I told him not to be daft and to ask her himself. A short time later I went to the toilet to get myself ready to go home and Vicky came in. I spoke to her and she asked me if I knew anything about the young lad with reddish-coloured hair from Raploch who had asked her out. She said he had given her some story about playing for Leeds United and owning his own car. She didn't believe him as no one from Raploch owned a car – if they needed one they just stole one. I put her straight and told her that he did own a car and he did play for Leeds United. It didn't impress her at all. Eventually she relented to his advances and they became a couple, and a really nice couple too. After a short romance they married in November 1961. Both of them were nineteen years old when they wed. Alex Smith was Brock's best man on the day. I couldn't make the wedding ceremony as I had joined the forces and wasn't allowed leave to attend. I was really upset at missing it.’

  On the football side of matters, it was all change at Leeds once more, as manager Jack Taylor resigned on 13 March 1961. Just four days later he was replaced in the manager's office by a new personality.

  4

  ARISE SIR DON!

  The new manager of Leeds United was soon revealed as Bremner's team mate, and room mate, Don Revie. It was a move which was to prove more than influential to the football career of Billy Bremner:

  ‘I couldn't believe it when Jack left and Don got the job. There were a lot of rumours about the new manager of course, but no one really expected Don to be given the job like that. He had a great relationship with the directors and staff, so maybe that is what swung it for him in the end; whatever, it came as a bit of a surprise. I wasn't sure how he would treat me or the rest of the boys. He had been good to me as a player but now things were going to be different, he was the boss.’

  Don Revie recalled his first managerial talk with Bremner:

  ‘He was an impudent little sod at times and I thought he may give me a bit of trouble. Keeping all his enthusiasm in check was a full-time job. I talked to all the players and they were right behind me as manager. I told Billy that I wanted us back in the First Division and that his role in that was pivotal to the team's success. He told me he wanted to be part of that success but he still missed Scotland. I told him that he should focus on himself and Leeds United and put Scotland behind him for now. He said he would, but I didn't really believe him He was so patriotic and devoutly loyal to his family and friends up there. I was fortunate to have him at Leeds and didn't want to lose him. I realised at that early stage that it was going to be a real battle keeping him at the club.’

  Bremner recalls Revie's first managerial talk with the players who were previously team mates and pals:

  ‘It was a bit strange, none of us knew how he would be. He had our respect as a player and a colleague but now he was the manager things had to be different. He called all the players together for a meeting, and informed us how he wanted to make us formidable opponents. That got a bit of a cheer. At some point he told us that we could no longer call him “The Don” (which was our nickname for him), or any other personal title or pseudonym. Someone piped up and asked whether we could call him Mr Revie. He didn't like the term “Mr Revie” – he thought it still had an air of informality about it! Finally he said, “I want you all to call me Boss.” He seemed embarrassed to be making the request, but as a group of players, a family almost, we were all okay with it. So Don Revie was no more, he was now the boss!’

  The following season, 1961-62, saw Billy Bremner notch his highest-ever goal tally for a complete season, twelve in all competitions. His consistent and battling performances in the Leeds attack hadn't gone unnoticed, his quick feet and vision had attracted many admirers. Hibernian manager, Walter McMurray Galbraith, had heard the rumour that the player was unsettled in England, and was yearning for a return to Scotland. Hibernian, who were regarded as a very good side, made a cheeky bid of £25,000 for the player.

  ‘I was actually quite keen on the move north of the Border, the boss knew I wanted to go home and a move to Hibs seemed a good move to me. I was going in the right direction. The boss told me that Hibernian had formally submitted a bid for me – he looked devastated when he told me. I honestly believed that my days at Elland Road were numbered. The next day the boss had me in his office. He clearly wasn't happy one little bit about the move and told me that he wanted me to stay at Leeds. He looked at me straight in the eye and told me that I had “what it takes to make it to the top.” There was something about the way he said it that made me realise he believed what he was saying. For someone like Don Revie to say something like that to me was a real compliment. He stood looking at me, almost pleading with me to stay. For a few seconds I wavered a little and had misgivings about wanting to leave but, for me, I was still a slip of a lad, Scotland was my home and I believed that home was where I would be happiest. With a heavy heart I had to tell him that I was interested in the move to Hibernian. He looked a broken man.’

  Revie later recalled: ‘It was a dreadful situation, here we had a player who had the makings of being a top-class footballer and he didn't really know how highly his colleagues across the game regarded him. As well as that, just about every manager of the teams we played would comment on how good a player he was, and subtly ask whether he was available on transfer. I always gave a resounding “No” to that question and would have to tell them to bugger off.

  ‘Unfortunately, the board of directors were keen to accept the bid, it was a good fee, and the money would help the club. I was dead set against it; it filled my thoughts every day. I wanted the directors to realise how much I wanted him to stay with us, how important he was to my team-building plans. Hibernian gave a deadline for the response and the directors said they would wait for my decision before responding. I waited until the last possible moment then told them to take not a penny less than £30,000. It was a gamble, but my sources in Scotland told me that they were stretching their finances to their very limits at £25,000, so an extra £5,000 would hopefully be a bridge too far and end their interest.’

  The manager was right, the transfer faltered and never progressed, the £30,000 fee terrified Hibernian and they eventually withdrew the original offer of £25,000. It was not the news Bremner had wanted to hear:

  ‘The boss called me in the next morning and he seemed a lot happier. He wasn't looking at me when he said it, but he told me that Hibernian wouldn't meet the club's asking price for me so, until that happened, I would remain a Leeds player. I was absolutely fuming and disappointed that the move was off.

  ‘As I stood there I wanted to tell him to shove Leeds United up his arse; my emotions were about to explode when he looked up and told me to sit down. Eye contact at last. This, I thought, would be my opportunity to let him see my dissatisfaction. Instead, I began to listen to what he was saying. First, he told me that he felt it was in my best interests to see the job through at Leeds, and that he wanted success and would not settle for anything less from any of his players. I had heard that story before from different Leeds managers. This time, I have to say, I believed it. He casually added that he wanted to build the team around me, a team capable of
winning and challenging for the Football League Championship and European honours. At that moment I realised that I was going to stay and help him achieve success, and would give everything to attain it myself, even though I still I yearned for Scotland!’

  So began the manager-player relationship that was built on respect and was to last for a lifetime. It has been well recorded that Don Revie was so keen to keep Bremner within the ranks of his Leeds team that he drove to Stirling and personally spoke with the player's wife, Vicky. Explaining his long-term plans for the club and for her husband Billy Bremner. Whatever was said between the two appears to have worked as Billy Bremner, the footballer and person, settled into his Yorkshire surroundings and began to enjoy his new life.

  The 1961-62 season was one of struggle, and much later, in 1973, it became the subject of much controversy. Then Bury manager, Bob Stokoe, made public allegations that Don Revie had tried to bribe him, with £500 for his team to ‘go easy’, before a league game on Good Friday 1962. Stokoe claimed to be incensed by Revie's cheating, and so began his professional and personal hatred for the Leeds boss that was to last his lifetime. Stokoe was to cash in on the story when he later sold his version of events to the Daily Mirror.

  Bremner was quick to defend his manager:

  ‘I know the history of the whole Bob Stokoe thing. I never quite got on with him as a person or a manager, and he was a bit eccentric and very much a loose cannon. That's why he never managed at the very highest level. I crossed paths with him many times and on each occasion he would hurl abuse towards me, calling me Don Revie's favourite son and a mini-cheat.

  ‘It got so bad that eventually I had to confront him at a Football League event somewhere in Park Lane, London. I was sat in the reception of the hotel talking to a couple of reporters from a football magazine. Up comes Stokoe, mad as a hatter and says to the reporters, “You want to believe nothing this cheat tells you.” Then he struts off. That was it for me. I jumped up and followed him into the gents toilets and asked him what his problem was. He turned on me again, this time his face was all gnarled up in anger, spittle flying from his mouth. He looked at me and said, “You are nothing but a little shit, Bremner, Revie's ponce, doing his dirty work. Now get out of my sight before I f—— drop you.” I laughed at his comments and replied by telling him to f—— off to see his mate Brian Clough, who curiously enough he had also accused of being a cheat. Stokoe was really angry now and I was waiting for him to thump me. Instead, the dirty bastard spat at me but thankfully he missed. I didn't. I wasn't privy to what happened between him and the boss, the boss rarely talked about Bob Stokoe, but when he did it was clear he believed him to be irrational, out of his depth and out of control. Someone else said he was an attention seeker, an underachiever as a player and destined to a life in the lower levels of the football league. I never told the boss about what had happened between me and Stokoe – he would have had a fit at me for reacting to his inane ramblings.’