Beating the Leeds booze ban and the day I told Norman Hunter to **** off!
Ian Baird is a cult hero at Elland Road, but as one of the architects of little Sutton's Cup adventure he would enjoy it even more if they can create another giant killing
FROM Billy Bremner’s storytelling to Howard Wilkinson’s alcohol ban and the unusual pre-match rituals of Gordon Strachan, former Leeds United striker and Elland Road cult hero Ian Baird is steeped in the traditions of one of English football’s great clubs.
Yet in a strange twist of fate that seems to be the preserve of the FA Cup, he will be hopping around the technical area at Gander Green Lane this afternoon trying to urge non-League Sutton United to cause a major fourth-round upset against his beloved former side.
Part-time Sutton are one of the Cup’s most famous giantkillers, knocking out Coventry City when they were a topflight team in 1989, but face a serious test against opponents riding high in the Championship.
Baird, who scored 58 goals in two spells for the Yorkshiremen between 1985 and 1990 and played in their last FA Cup semi-final, is Sutton’s head coach these days but probably knows more about Leeds than anyone in Garry Monk’s line-up.
His first two managers after joining from Southampton as a robust young centre-forward were Eddie Gray and Bremner, both part of Don Revie’s legendary team of the Seventies.
Indeed, Bremner was captain of the side that played some of the best football ever seen in England during their heyday but were also dubbed ‘Dirty Leeds’ by rival fans.
‘I was from a generation brought up on the great Leeds side,’ says Baird. ‘When I played for Billy Bremner, he was still the best player in training even though he’d retired and couldn’t run. Peter Lorimer was still playing and Norman Hunter would come in on a Friday morning, so youngsters like myself and Denis Irwin thrived in this environment.
‘After training, Billy would just sit in the dressing room telling you stories, drinking tea and smoking a cigarette. He’d tell you the antics Allan Clarke would get up to, stamping on players’ feet and pulling them up by their ears. How Billy and Johnny Giles would pick out one player in the opposition and get into their head.
‘But for all their antics, when you trained with them, you realised what great players they were. We’d train on Fullerton Park by Elland Road and it would be that heavy, we’d all need long studs on. Billy would wear a pair of adidas trainers, his balance was that good.
‘And he was brilliant for the young players. On away trips, we’d play cards, I’d lose money, Ian Snodin would lose money, and he would give us a tenner each to go out with in the evening. It was a lot of money for us and he’d tell us to go out and enjoy ourselves. He was unbelievable.’
Leeds were in the Second Division during Baird’s first spell and had fallen on hard times following the glory years under Revie. The title of his autobiography, Bairdy’s
Gonna Get Ya, gives a clue to his passionate approach to the game, and he collected 11 red cards during a colourful career with 10 clubs.
At Elland Road though he was loved. Fans still wear Baird shirts and he will get a big ovation from the travelling support in a capacity crowd of 5,200.
In 1987, Leeds narrowly missed out on a place in the final against Tottenham, going down 3-2 to Coventry City at Hillsborough in the semi-final.
Baird says: ‘After the game on the coach, one of our older players Bobby McDonald, who’d played in the 1981 final for Manchester City, said it didn’t seem like defeat had hurt us enough. I disagreed with that but he said these games didn’t come along very often and we might not get another chance. And I never did. I always remember that and it turned into a nightmare season because we also lost in the play-offs to Charlton to get into the First Division.’
Leeds’ poor finances saw Baird sold to Portsmouth for £285,000 but they resigned him a year later and soon after Howard Wilkinson was appointed to take the club on a journey that ended up with them being champions. Baird played in the first half of the 1989-90 promotion season that got Leeds into the top flight. ‘Howard started bringing in all the information about diets and how to look after your body that players take for granted these days,’ he says. ‘He banned alcohol on away trips after games and brought in vitamins. He came in with a clean broom, got rid of the old pictures.
‘Before Howard, we’d have pints in the players’ lounge after matches and we’d have booze on the coach on the way back. When Howard banned it, we’d still try to sneak on cans of lager but he was nobody’s fool, was he?’ Wilkinson’s new signing, Strachan from Manchester United, was another big influence.
‘Before a game, he’d walk around the dressing room in his shorts and he’d be pressurising the top of his breastbone and down the sides. With his fair skin, you’d see the red marks and I’d say “What the f*** are you doing Strach?” He’d never tell us but it transpired he’d gone to see a doctor or someone and they
said you’d feel better if you pressed these places in your He's body living proof that it worked — he played he was 40!’
Vinnie Jones was also signed and left an impression on Baird ‘He always wanted to be the loudest in the dressing room but deep down he was a very nice lad. He’d be first to the bar and would always buy cakes and stuff for the tea ladies.’
Leeds were pushing for promotion when Baird then made ‘He always made decision of his career, demanding a transfer midway through the campaign after learning that Wilkinson was signing another striker, Lee Chapman
‘I was very headstrong back then had it in my mind that Wilkinson was out of order,’ he says with regret. ‘I couldn’t see the wood from the trees and it didn’t matter what anybody said
‘In hindsight, I was absolutelyridicu after lous because two weeks after I went to Middlesbrough another forward, Bobby Davison, got injured and I would have played. It was just me spitting the dummy out and Howard was right to sign Chappy, absolutely.’
That was the end of Baird at Elland Road, though his legend at the club was further enhanced when he scored for Boro against Leeds’ promotion rivals Newcastle at the end of the season, ensuring Wilkinson’s men went up. Having