Legends to get medals ... but Gray says: No
LEEDS legend Eddie Gray has told the club he doesn’t want the title medal he is now eligible for – 47 years after helping Don Revie’s side become champions.
Gray, 73, and younger brother Frank both failed to play the 14 required games when Leeds topped the old First Division in 1974.
But the EFL have relaxed their regulations in line with the Premier League and will recognise champion players who appeared five times.
Yet former Scotland international Gray has told Leeds he did not feel it right to pick up a piece of silverware almost 50 years after the event. He made eight appearances as the Yorkshire club finished five points clear.
His younger brother, Frank, 66, is also eligible after making six appearances during 1973-74.
And former Elland Road striker Rod Belfitt could also benefit after scoring two match-winning goals in the eight games he played during Leeds’ title win five years earlier.
Historian
Sunday People Sport revealed last October how football historian Ian Ross discovered that no fewer than 26 players could be granted retrospective title medals.
Wolves have already presented 90-year-old Ron Stockin with a medal for the six appearances he made during their title win in 1954.
Manchester City are looking for a suitable date to hand medals to Paul Hince, Bobby Kennedy, Stan Horne and relatives of the late
Harry Dowd, for the role played in the club’s 1968 title win.
Everton’s Roger Kenyon and Frank D’arcy will be honoured for the 1970 title-winning season, while Paul Wilkinson and Warren Aspinall helped the Toffees become champions twice in the mid-1980s.
Liverpool have nine ex-players who are eligible, including Chris Lawler, Terry Mcdermott, Alec Lindsay, Sammy Lee, John Wark, Paul Walsh and Jan Molby.
Former Manchester United stars David Gaskell, David Sadler, Jimmy Ryan and the late Maurice Setters are in line to be recognised.
Portsmouth’s late Jamaica-born winger Lindy Delapenha could also be awarded a medal posthumously for their 1950 title success.
Leeds v Liverpool