Mighty Leeds Weblog

ONLY ONE PERSON FOR IT Written by: Andy P One way or another, Eddie Gray has been inextricably linked with my entire Leeds United life. Our relationship by proxy began at my first home game against Chelsea on a freezing cold afternoon in February 1983. And even though his playing career started almost twenty years before that, and the familial dynasty continues to this day, my preferred memories of ‘us’ still usually stem from his (first) time as manager. Although by this point he was a highly distinguished former member of Don Revie’s incomparable side, it’s worth repeating that it counted for little in wider football terms. This wasn’t because football’s residual distrust of Revie, the man who had broken so many of the game’s post-war norms, had somehow evaporated — far from it. But this was an age when, following the club’s relegation from the old First Division, you had to go to a library to find out about the era’s bad luck, bribed referees, and echoes of the brutally scinti...

CQN today concludes its EXCLUSIVE series to salute Celtic’s Greatest-Ever skipper Billy McNeill. Author Alex Gordon, who has had fifteen Celtic books published, including ‘Caesar and The Assassin‘ and ‘Lisbon Lions: The 40th Anniversary Celebration‘, interviewed many of the club legend’s team-mates and opponents for his tribute tome, ‘In Praise of Caesar‘, which was published in 2018. In the final instalment of CQN‘s long-running feature, former Leeds United and Scotland winger Eddie Gray has his say. Please enjoy. BILLY McNEILL was a tremendous leader of a fabulous Celtic team. I grew up in Glasgow watching the club and have never hidden my admiration of the Parkhead club. If Don Revie hadn’t persuaded me to join Leeds United in 1965, then who knows if I might have gone to my boyhood favourites? Fate decreed otherwise. I played against Billy several times in the late sixties and early seventies. I recall a challenge game being moved from Celtic Park to Hampden to accommoda...

ONE LAST TIME Written by: Rob Conlon We’re a cynical bunch at the best of times. It’s a shame Jesse Marsch seems to have only just learned that lesson now it’s too late. Even Jesse has realised there’s only so much talking a man can do, and his more recent press conferences have become shorter. The problem is, Leeds United’s position means the livestream of his pre-Brentford press conference was full of comments begging him to stop before he had even started. And then he began by congratulating Everton. As far as things Jesse Marsch has said as Leeds manager go, one of the least annoying has been congratulating Everton, “for a hard fought last couple of months for them, but what a game to come back and show resolve and belief and manage to keep themselves in the league.” Yeah, whatever. It’s the kind of thing football managers obligingly say, then we all go home and get on with the rest of our lives. Coming the morning after Leeds dropped back into the relegation zone, a little o...

BEEN HERE BEFORE Written by: Rob Conlon If there’s one person who can keep a healthy perspective on Leeds United’s 2021/22 season, it’s Eddie Gray. The weekend marked two anniversaries with very different vibes for Gray at Leeds. He was among the heroes of 1972 parading the pitch pre-match, celebrating fifty years since the club’s only FA Cup win, now immortalised by plaques outside the East Stand designed by Paul Trevillion (and, cough cough, a special issue of The Square Ball). But Sunday’s draw was played forty years on from a fixture involving eerily familiar circumstances: Brighton visiting Elland Road, the penultimate game of the season, Leeds facing the all too real prospect of relegation. Gray was wearing the number 7 shirt that day against Brighton in 1982, 34 years old, the glory years he spent under Don Revie consigned to a different era. Just like on Sunday, Brighton were winning 1-0 at half-time, and going into the final ten minutes Leeds were looking doomed. Allan...

Eddie Gray says Marcelo Bielsa’s legacy will never leave Leeds United, even though the Argentinian has. By Stuart Rayner Gray believes excitement has always been important at Elland Road, and Bielsa could never be accused of not providing that. He was sacked in February after a remarkable three-and-a-half seasons which saw him take the club back into the Premier League after 16 years away, finish ninth in their first season back in the top flight, then get embroiled in a relegation battle this term. But it was about more than just results with Bielsa, it was the football he played and his eccentric personality which endeared him to Elland Road. Few people are better placed to put events at the club into their proper historical context. The Glaswegian joined the club as a 16-year-old winger, and spiritually at least, never left. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players to wear the white shirt, he was a stalwart of Don Revie’s most successful teams, and was on the pay...

YorkshireSquare A fifth round FA Cup tie against Mansfield town fifty years ago may not seem like it should be one of the most important in Leeds United’s history, but it stands out for one reason. Everyone can name the great Revie era team can't they? The one that trips off the tongue; Sprake, Reaney, Cooper, Charlton, Hunter, Bremner, Giles, Lorimer, Gray, Clarke and Jones. Well those eleven were only at the club together for four years between 1969 when Allan Clarke joined and 1973 when Jack Charlton left. Saturday, 7th February 1970 at Elland Road against Mansfield was the only occasion that famous eleven started a game together. It was one of the few games missed by Don Revie’s Rolls-Royce, Paul Madeley. A near ever present during those four seasons, Madeley was most versatile player ever to wear the Leeds shirt. He made 724 first team appearances, spread over an incredible 17 year span at Leeds, scoring 34 goals, playing in every position except goalkeeper. Perhaps the Ma...

He was a revolutionary manager who made Leeds into a top club before he was blacklisted from the English game... here's how Don Revie became the first victim of CANCEL culture People are quick to forget the playing career of Don Revie, the creative forward As a manager he, to this day, remains one of the best as he thrived with Leeds Revie took Leeds to two league titles, won the FA Cup and had success in Europe Things soured later on when he was painted as a money-grabber with England By MATT BARLOW As a footballer, he was a creative, deep-lying forward currently the height of fashion in the Premier League. As a manager, he resides among the finest born on these shores and architect of the great Leeds United team. They won the title twice, succeeded in Europe and this year celebrate the 50th anniversary of their one and only FA Cup triumph. Yet he found himself branded a traitorous money-grabber upon his exit from the England job. The FA issued a 10-year ban and th...

April’s fixture between Leeds United and Liverpool was a first league clash between the two sides at Elland Road for over 17 years. By Lee Sobot There were, though, no supporters in the famous ground’s stands. But that will all change tomorrow when the Whites and Reds lock horns before a packed crowd in Yorkshire for the first time in a league game since February 2004, when Erik Bakke and Mark Viduka were both on target in a thrilling 2-2 draw. Back then, a familiar face came back to haunt Eddie Gray’s Whites for the opener as Harry Kewell fired home for Gerard Houllier’s visitors in the 21st minute. Jamie Carragher broke forward down the left flank and delivered a pass to Milan Baros who was afforded plenty of space running at United’s back four. Baros, though, opted to pass to Kewell on the right hand edge of the Whites penalty box and the Australian took two touches before sending an unstoppable curled effort into the top left corner. Leeds, though, were level just eig...

'It's hard to lose people you've grown up with but I know the boys who have left us would love Bielsa's Leeds': Lorimer, Charlton, Hunter, Cherry - and now Cooper - all recently gone... but their old friend Eddie Gray has some comfort in resurgent Whites Eddie Gray was part of Don Revie's iconic Leeds side who won two titles In recent times, many of the stars from that side have passed away Jack Charlton, Norman Hunter and Peter Lorimer have all sadly died   Gray takes solace in knowing the modern Leeds are doing his pals proud By JOE BERNSTEIN Even at 73, Eddie Gray does a decent pre-season. Most mornings, he runs five miles in the glorious countryside around Kirkby Overblow in North Yorkshire, followed by a dip in the pool. Gareth Southgate, who lives in nearby Harrogate, is among those familiar with the Leeds United legend jogging along as they drive through the village. It is nearly 60 years since Gray left the Castlemilk council estate in ...

Times Online - Newspaper Edition  Jonathan Northcroft at Elland Road FORM is temporary; crisis, for Leeds, seems permanent. This was a fixture they had not lost for eight seasons, but there was an inevitability about the trend being bucked yesterday. Even in the throes of their own torments, Tottenham had just a little too much for Eddie Gray’s side who, with Portsmouth winning, are now stranded five points from safety inside the relegation zone. This was their last home game before January 19, the day the standstill agreement with their creditors expires, and they have to begin once again to repay their £82m debt. There seems more hope for the Beagle Two Explorer, lost down a crater on Mars. A further problem is that forward Mark Viduka will fly home to Australia this morning to be with his father, who is seriously ill. He will be away, according to Gray, “for as long as he needs to be”. Meanwhile, talk of director Allan Leighton putting together a rescue consortium, including ...

Sport  The Interview James Milner: Leeds United's young jewel can glitter just as much as Everton's, but has been seen rather less. Until now. Nick Townsend meets him 04 January 2004 Just one thought taunts you as you journey to Elland Road to meet a Leeds United player: will he still be an employee of the club by the time you arrive? The "knockers" are, by all account, parked outside, all ready for this particularly desirable property clearance. Friday's back pages are festooned with speculation. Alan Smith to abandon the stricken vessel for Old Trafford or St James' Park; Paul Robinson bound for the City of Manchester Stadium; Mark Viduka a target for any number of English and foreign clubs. Even James Milner, the subject of the journey, has, at the tender age of 17 when we meet - hecomes of age today - been mentioned in several dispatches as being coveted by Manchester United. When you arrive, your interviewee regards such reports with the insouciance of ...

ThisisLondon   23 December 2003 Leeds acting-chairman Trevor Birch today promised to consider an independent inquiry into the running of the club over the last five years. With John McKenzie stepping down as plc chairman at the annual general meeting at Elland Road, albeit remaining on the football club board as a director, Birch has now assumed overall control and a new job title. Initially appointed as chief executive, Birch will be in temporary charge until at least January 19, the deadline agreed with creditors while a buyer is sought for the club currently £78million in debt. Birch's appointment as a director was overwhelmingly agreed by shareholders, who understandably voiced their anger and frustration at how the club had managed to find themselves in such a financial mess. One shareholder described the Leeds board, primarily harking back to the era under Peter Ridsdale, as "inept" and "incompetent", while another claimed they were now "the lau...