BILLY BREMNER

1960- 76 GAMES 773 CLUB LEEDS

BEFORE A pre- Don Revie Leeds weren’t that mighty: without a major title in their history when Bremner made his debut in 1960 – and relegated to the second tier within months.

LEGACY That wispy 17- year- old – all 5ft 5in of him – stuck around for 16 years as the star and captain of Leeds’ stunning ascent under Revie: two- time First Division and Fairs Cup champions, FA and League Cup victories, and a European Cup final by 1975. Yet it may have gone very differently had a freshly installed Revie not immediately snubbed £ 25,000 from Hibernian for a lovesick Bremner, missing his girlfriend, in March 1961. Instead, Revie drove north to convince his player’s future wife to settle in Yorkshire.

Back then, jug- eared prodigy Bremner was a goalscoring outside- right until Revie moved him into central midfield, melding his lively exuberance with that of 1963 arrival Johnny Giles. Together, the pair forged one of English football’s all- time great partnerships lasting 12 years. Common conjecture says Bremner was the tireless guard dog for Giles’ artistry, but the Scot’s skill is often overlooked in the fearsome teams he skippered. “Side before self, every time,” was his mantra, while Revie added, “No manager could wish for a greater leader or player. If I was in the trenches, the man I’d want on my right side is Billy.”

True, one of his most infamous episodes involved introducing Kevin Keegan to his fists in the 1974 Charity Shield. Derby legend Dave Mackay once told FFT that his compatriot was a “brilliant little player but dirty little bastard”, although no one would disagree that he was the mainspring behind Revie’s fine sides of the mid- 60s and beyond.

Dirty or otherwise, Leeds won both at home and abroad. Bremner, powered by his usual beans on toast in bed on Saturdays, was their lion- hearted ever- present as they topped the First Division in 1969, a season after lifting the Fairs and League Cup.

After six successive top- three finishes, they lost to Bayern Munich in a European Cup final marred by refereeing controversy. It was the end of an era; Giles left, followed a little over a year later by Bremner. Leeds came higher than ninth only once in the next six seasons, ending with relegation in 1982.

BEST MOMENT Winning 1970’ s FWA Player of the Year award as Leeds narrowly missed a historic treble ( but alas, won nothing at all).