Leeds looking to add bright chapter to club’s history
WHEN JOHN Godkin is not busy guiding the fortunes of North End in local soccer circles, his devotion to Leeds United often takes him over to England to cheer on the team he has supported since his boyhood days.
One of my own Sarsfields club colleagues, Ian Donohue, is another avid follower of the Elland Road outfit, and the two men I have mentioned are among a large group of Wexford fans who are longing for a return to the Premier League.
In Bielsa they trust, and if the eccentric manager can get his team over the line in this latest attempt - having faltered down the home straight last season - then he will be an honorary Leeds man for the rest of his life.
The club celebrated its centenary in 2019, and they marked it fittingly in book form with the near 400-page hardback history, simply titled ‘100 Years of Leeds United - 1919-2019’.
It clearly was a labour of love for the author, Daniel Chapman, a native of the city who has edited a club fanzine since 2011 as well as writing a film and a book about Howard
Wilkinson’s title-winning team of 1992.
They were the last side to win the old Division 1 before the arrival of the
Premier League, with players like the veteran Gordon Strachan, the late Gary
Speed, the combative David Batty, and brave centre-forward Lee Chapman among those best remembered from that strong line-up.
The club has been on a downward curve ever since, so if supporters prefer to skip the last one hundred pages or so of this book, then that would be perfectly understandable.
However, 1992 wasn’t the only highpoint for a club that emerged quickly from the Ashes after Leeds City were expelled from the league more than a century ago. In the early days, they had to battle hard to win the hearts and minds of sports fans in a city where rugby league was the major attraction.
Those who hitched their allegiance to the football club had to be patient in terms of the arrival of titles, but there was a growing sense that something special was about to happen after their first real superstar, John Charles, was snatched from under the noses of his native Swansea and went on to light up venues all over England in the 1950s before his big move to Italy.
The man who must take most of the credit for the arrival of Leeds among the higher echelons of the game was their inspiring manager for much of the sixties and early seventies, Don Revie.
He assembled a formidable team including our own Johnny Giles, and several other legendary figures in the game such as Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner, Peter Lorimer and Allan Clarke.
All of those names will be instantly recognisable to football fans, and their exploits are fondly recalled in this well-researched history.
The only surprise was that Leeds didn’t win more with such a strong group, but they were the bridesmaids more often than being the brides despite boasting an array of talent.
It wasn’t all a bed of roses though, but Chapman thankfully doesn’t shy away from the accusations of the team being dirty, and the fact that their fan base was infiltrated by a very nasty hooligan element, just because he is an ardent supporter himself.
It’s written in chronological order, with single chapters for the triumphant seasons, and longer chunks for the not so successful times.
And whether they gain promotion or not in April or May, this is a worthy account of what has gone before in this Yorkshire stronghold. ALAN AHERNE
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