Super Sniffer and cup win built on bowls and bingo

LEEDS UNITED’S bid for glory on the centenary of the FA Cup started with a game of bingo and carpet bowls – and ended with one of the most iconic goals of all time.

Match-winner Allan Clarke remembers the 100th anniversary of the world football’s most famous knockout competition as the reigning double winners Arsenal were swept out of their way.

As the two old foes line up at the Emirates tomorrow night, memories are turned back to the clash in 1972 that was settled by one of the most famous diving headers by one of English football’s premier goalscorers.

Clarke, then aged 26, was at the peak of his powers. Already the subject of two British record transfer fees, ‘Sniffer’ was one of the game’s most feared strikers.

But the goal which became etched in the memories of

Leeds’ supporters – during what is still the first and last time they lifted the trophy – almost never came about.

Clarke said: “The night before the Final, we had our usual game of bingo and carpet bowls. That was something our gaffer, Don Revie, never changed.

“He was determined to keep our routine the same. It was a clash between arguably the two best sides in the country.

“Arsenal had won the double the year before and their team – like ours – was full of household names.

“And, of course, I’ll never forget that goal.

“It came eight minutes into the second-half. Mick Jones took on Bob McNab and crossed. As it was coming towards me I thought, ‘Volley – right-foot volley’.

“Then, all of a sudden, it started to dip and I thought it wasn’t going to reach me. I just thought, ‘Dive’. I just took off and headed it. It fitted perfectly into the corner of the net. It was one of those games where you just didn’t want to come off at the final whistle – you didn’t want to go into the dressing-room – you just wanted to stay on the pitch and celebrate.”

Revie (below) had an uncompromising approach which earned him the adoration of his players and the Leeds public. But it was also divisive. The club picked up the moniker ‘Dirty

Leeds’ and Clarke feels that overshadows the achievements of a side that should have been recognised as one of the greats.

He added: “We did have a reputation as being a dirty team. That came from Chelsa. They kept calling us ‘Dirty Leeds’ and if you say something often enough, it sticks.

“What people don’t realise is that when we crossed that white line with Billy Bremner, we would have died for that club. I imagined opposition managers saying to their players, ‘If you try and play football with this lot, they’ll paralyse you’. So, they tried to beat us up. And we’d beat them at that, too.

“If you were in that Leeds team and one of us was kicked, nine of us would respond. We knew the referee couldn’t book all of us. When one bled, we all did. And if we didn’t get you in that game, we’d get you in the next one.

“We had big Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter. “But they were softies compared to Johnny Giles. You never knew when he was coming.”

That game was followed by a Final defeat 12 months later to Sunderland, and although the club lifted the league title in 1974, the team began to break up.

The Leeds board turned to Brian Clough, who had masterminded Derby County’s success, but his stint in the job lasted 44 days amid accusations that player-power had done for ‘Old Big ’Ed.’

Clarke added: “The first thing Cloughie said to me was, ‘How many goals did you score last season, Allan?’

“I replied, ‘Twenty-six’. And he said, ‘Right, well I want 27’. And I didn’t mind that. The board obviously felt he was the right man to replace the gaffer but it was an impossible job to follow the gaffer. Brian Clough was the right manager at the wrong time.

“He never realised how close we were. He went through us all one by one saying we were all dirty.”

Clarke, now 73, remains the only man to have scored the winner for Leeds in an FA Cup Final.

He added: “We won silverware but not as much as we should have. We left a lasting impression though.

“And I’ve always thought that Leeds team was one of the greatest the country has seen.”