|
‘DisRepute – Revie’s England’
by Robert Endeacott
Synopsis
The true story of Don Revie’s three years as England manager, 1974-’77; the
follow-up to Dirty Leeds.
July 1974, Don Revie
leaves Leeds United to take over the England job from
the sacked Sir Alf Ramsey. The departure upsets
many Leeds people, he is The Don after all, while his
England appointment is not exactly met with universal
approval either. Already with enemies within the
Football Association, the Football League, the game
itself and of course the media, he needs to win over a
lot of people, and quickly. Undaunted, he vows to
restore the nation’s team to its former heights as well
as win over all the doubters and the cynics. But
it doesn’t take long for him to realise that there might
be too many obstacles in his way to achieve the success
he craves, and he can only look on helplessly as his
beloved Leeds United slides alarmingly too.
Seemingly forever
maligned as being too ‘professional’ and obsessed with
money, Revie learns that two reasons for England’s
downfall have been the lack of professionalism
and the mismanagement of the sport by its penny-pinching
and not entirely honest rulers.
Numerous reports and
theories abound about Revie’s time as England manager:
the players he selected or dropped, the tactics, the
dossiers, money, why he resigned and if he was pushed,
and the ‘deceitful’ manner of his leaving. DisRepute
addresses the myths and rumours and allegations, to
paint a clearer, more honest picture. Truth is stranger
than football!
The main storyline
of the book consists of the trials and tribulations
endured by Revie’s England from 1974 to ’77, the High
Court in 1979 is revisited too to recount Revie’s appeal
case against the FA after their 10-year ban on him from
club management after he walked out on England. Revie
won the appeal case but took a harsh and unjust verbal
beating from the judge nonetheless.
Working from
numerous books and biographies, as well as (more
importantly) previously unpublished notes written by Don
Revie and Les Cocker, DisRepute – Revie’s England
tells the truth about his exit from Leeds, his time as
England boss and his departure to take charge of the
United Arab Emirates national team. The story, which is
told from Jimmy O’Rourke’s perspective, sets records
straight, corrects myths and rumours and puts right
certain ‘selective memories’.
Dirty Leeds
by Robert
Endeacott
A Synopsis
Players such as Gary Sprake.
Paul Reaney. Terry Cooper. Billy Bremner. Jack
Charlton. Norman Hunter. Peter Lorimer. Allan Clarke.
Mick Jones. John Giles. Eddie Gray. Paul Madeley.
Bobby Collins, John Charles, Willie Bell, Albert
Johanneson, Mick Bates. All managed by Don Revie. The
famous Leeds United AFC - the team they love to hate,
run by the man they love to hate. Thirteen years,
thirteen chapters. Thirteen, unlucky for some…
Dirty Leeds is the
novelisation of Revie’s thirteen year reign as Leeds
manager, entwined with the tale of Jimmy O’Rourke, a
local lad with the rare ambition of playing for his
favourite, his only, football team Leeds United. And he
is good enough.
March 1961, Don Revie plans to
leave Leeds. They want him out anyway so he will beat
them to it and sign for Bournemouth. The truth though,
is that Leeds chairman-to-be Harry Reynolds wants him to
stay as Leeds’ player-manager. It’s an offer that Revie
can’t refuse, and big improvements at the club soon
follow. But not on the football pitch, as a torturous
two seasons sees the team sink to its lowest ever
point. And then comes the arrival of Bobby Collins,
heralding a slow but sure and startling recovery. By
1964, newly promoted Leeds are battling for the League
and FA Cup while Revie is revered by the fans. That
popularity is uncommon away from West Yorkshire however
- to many, he is ruthless, corrupt, bizarrely
superstitious, and obsessed with money. His and the
club’s reputations are not helped by the tag ‘Dirty
Leeds’, inadvertently given them by the FA in a
misleading report. Despite Leeds’ miraculous rise,
Revie becomes one of the most maligned men in the
history of sport.
Eleven year-old Jimmy O’Rourke
lives next door to Leeds’ Elland-road stadium. His mum
died when he was a baby and his father fled, leaving
Jimmy’s grandma to look after him on her own. Jimmy,
inspired by the success of local boy Paul Madeley,
trains twice a day as well as craftily uses the club’s
facilities thanks to the generosity of Ces, the head
groundsman, and his assistant John. At fourteen,
playing well for a ‘pub’ team, Jimmy’s progress is
monitored by various club scouts until at fifteen he
gets a trial with Leeds, the chance he has dreamed
about. He plays well in that trial, and his prospects
of success look genuinely good. But it all goes
nightmarishly wrong when he is violently fouled by an
opponent. His leg and ankle are broken. He has to
endure torturous pain and a long lay off from playing
football. The club doesn’t abandon him though and he is
eventually given casual work with the Leeds ground
staff. Physically and mentally he slides into
depression, finding pain-killing solace in booze, much
of which he gets for free from Aitch, the generous,
sympathetic landlord of the Old Peacock pub on Elland-road.
April 1974, Leeds manager Don
Revie, his team about to win the League Championship, is
the unwitting subject of Eamonn Andrews’ This Is Your
Life programme. Revie is forced to look back on his
life. Jimmy O’Rourke tells his story at the same time.
Dirty Leeds covers major
events in the lives of Don Revie, Jimmy O’Rourke, Leeds
United and the city and its people. It is the famous
players, memorable matches and battles, jibes,
allegations and insinuations. It is pollution,
high-rise and redbrick squalor, cobbled streets, tainted
landmarks. It is truths and lies, friends and enemies,
saints & sinners. Dirty Leeds is a secret history of
Leeds.
|
