Brett Ormerod jinxed himself - Square Ball 29/9/23

GLORY DAYS

Written by: Rob Conlon

Anyone who has listened to the sporadic Championship Manager 01/02 Extra Ball series will have fond memories of Brett Ormerod. He’s the striker the lads plucked from Blackpool to partner Alan Shearer in attack and latch onto through balls from Pablo Aimar (but rarely Joe Cole). In Champ Man, Ormerod became a virtual folk hero. In reality, he was briefly the bane of my childhood.

Ever since my second visit to Elland Road, I’ve associated red and white stripes with Ormerod, who joined Leeds on a one-month loan in September 2004 from Southampton and made his debut against Sunderland, after turning down Sheffield United. Rejecting the chance to move to Bramall Lane was a good start to his Leeds career, mainly because it upset Neil Warnock:

“Steve Wigley (Southampton boss) told me that Ormerod was going to Leeds and I am very disappointed. Perhaps I should have talked to the player first but it’s a lesson for me even at this stage of my career. Perhaps I shouldn’t do things legally.”

Ormerod had been signed by Gordon Strachan at Southampton after returning from a nasty double leg break to fire Blackpool to promotion. Under Strachan he’d scored in an FA Cup semi-final, played the full ninety of the defeat to Arsenal in the final, and scored twice in wins against Leeds in the Premier League. But he was out of favour under a new manager and spoke to former teammate Stephen Crainey before joining Leeds on loan, where Kevin Blackwell was unable to rely on a strikeforce of Michael Ricketts, Brian Deane, and Julian Joachim, who had scored only once between them.

“This will probably jinx me,” Ormerod said, “but I’ve been lucky enough to score on every debut in my career so far. I scored for Accrington Stanley on my debut and then scored against Wrexham in my first game for Blackpool. I moved to Southampton a couple of years ago and managed to score on my debut for them against Ipswich. It would be nice to do the same for Leeds but the most important thing is we get three points.”

Ormerod was put straight into the team for a Friday night home game against Sunderland, who had also tried to sign him to play ahead of their Leeds loanee Simon Johnson. I’d been to Elland Road for the first time with my friend and his dad a month earlier for a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, and now I was ready to see my first Leeds win powered by a new star striker. If only somebody had warned him jinxes can be powerful things in Beeston.

Eleven minutes in, Brian Deane headed in Danny Pugh’s corner to give Leeds the lead, only for the goal to be disallowed because Ormerod fouled Sunderland ‘keeper Mart Poom. Playing up front, he was in direct opposition with Stephen Caldwell, who had been relegated on loan at Leeds the previous season. “I played against Steve at the end of last season in Southampton’s final home game against Newcastle,” he said. “It was a hard game and I am sure it will be no different at Elland Road.” By half-time, he required stitches after clashing heads with Caldwell. If bad things come in threes, Ormerod took home the misery match ball in the second half, shortly after Carl Robinson had given Sunderland the lead. United were awarded a soft penalty when Caldwell held Clarke Carlisle at a corner. Jermaine Wright was Leeds’ designated penalty taker, but Ormerod snatched the ball from his arms, lined up the spot kick, and missed it.

To be fair to Ormerod, there was far too much bad LUFC juju going on that night. Sunderland went on to win the Championship, awarding their Player of the Year to future Leeds letdown George McCartney. Caldwell was competing for a place at centre-back with Neill Collins, while Michael Bridges made his second debut for the club coming off the bench at Elland Road. Simon Johnson was already on loan at Sunderland, who later that season also borrowed John Oster and signed Brian Deane. As a ten-year-old, I couldn’t grasp the context, but already understood enough about Elland Road to know that if Ormerod had let Wright take the penalty he’d have still missed it anyway.

Speaking post-match, Ormerod got straight to the point. “I want to do well at Leeds and after that debut things can only improve,” he said. Kevin Blackwell added: “Jermaine Wright is our designated penalty taker, but Brett took control of the situation. However, he is the penalty-taker for his club so I’m not going to condemn him for that. Earlier in the game he got five stitches put in a head wound so it was quite a welcome to Leeds.”

Despite the bad start, it wasn’t long before Blackwell and Ormerod were talking about extending the loan and potentially making the deal permanent, but a spate of injuries suffered by Southampton’s strikers meant they were desperate for him to return. Twenty-four hours after Ormerod played his final match for Leeds, he appeared for Southampton in the Premier League. By the time his loan ended, Ormerod was still waiting to score for Leeds, and didn’t sound too disappointed to be leaving. “If I’d stayed at Southampton I’d have been playing Premiership football for the last few weeks,” he said, “but you don’t have a crystal ball.”

A bit of foresight could have gone a long way for Ormerod. Later that season he joined Wigan on loan, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win at Leicester for a side that ultimately won automatic promotion by two points. Ormerod wasn’t allowed to enjoy his contribution. He was recalled by Southampton for their final Premier League fixture of the campaign, and played in a defeat to Scum that confirmed his parent club finished bottom of the table.

Halfway through the following season, Ormerod left Southampton for Preston, where he couldn’t escape his Leeds jinx. Playing against United in the second leg of the play-off semi-final, Ormerod broke his leg in a tackle with Jonathan Douglas. When he returned, Preston had signed Michael Ricketts, who collided with Ormerod during a game and fractured his new teammate’s cheekbone. Upon his return to Elland Road, he had the temerity to score the opener, then remained on the pitch while Leeds snatched a win through David Healy’s injury-time winner. I never wished Ormerod any particular ill for missing a penalty against Sunderland, but I think it’s fair to say we’re even.

He had the last laugh, anyway, and Leeds United was the punchline. In 2010, he scored the winner back at Blackpool in the Championship play-off final. On the pitch at Wembley, he celebrated winning promotion to the Premier League alongside teammates Stephen Crainey, Barry Bannan, and Paul Rachubka.