1972: Behind the Scenes at LEEDS UNITED | I Love Leeds | Classic BBC Sport | BBC Archive
Actor and screenwriter Colin Welland gets a look behind the scenes at his beloved Leeds United. During a toast at a banquet in honour of the 1972 FA Cup winners, the proud Lancastrian and rugby league die-hard explains what it is about this Yorkshire football club that appeals to him.
Over the course of the documentary, Colin plays dominoes in a local pub with Jack Charlton and Billy Bremner, joins a rigorous training session alongside the first team (to the point of vomiting), gets an equally rigorous rub-down from the boss, Don Revie and visits the club dressing room in the aftermath of a 3-3 draw against Ipswich Town, where he attempts to put a positive spin on the result to a frustrated Johnny Giles.
Clip taken from Sports Two: I Love Leeds, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 15 September, 1972.
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What a team! Don Revies Leeds United. Hated by many, loved by many, but must go down as one of the best English teams.
Leeds Utd of the early 1970s are the football team of my life.
My father was a West Ham Utd fan and regular at Upton Park but he said that that Leeds team were the greatest he’d ever seen..
As a boy I went to home games with my dad and uncle in this era. Looking back it was a great privilege to see these players and also legends from other teams play.
I was also very fortunate to have witnessed these legends 👍
Me too at White Hart Lane back in '74. What a great team. @@nicholasdavies6264
Amazing time to witness the best team and manager Leeds has ever seen......
That Leeds team is the most iconic club side in history. Say that as a Celtic fan. 🍀
Your Celtic team 1970 in European Cup semi final....I went to Glasgow extraordinary atmosphere great people and we love your support for Palestine, stay well
That Leeds team were special and Revie is on a par with all the great managers in league football! We were lucky to have Jordan, Hunter and Cooper at Bristol City after they left Leeds, they were absolutely incredible, so at their absolute prime at Leeds they must have been even better. Personally, I think this was the best time to watch football, I find today’s football mostly boring!!
Fascinating archives. Not a Leeds United fan but I grew up in the period. Possibly ones that will alwasy live in the memory from 1972 was the 5-1 hammering of Manchester United by Leeds United. Who also that season put on a passing exhibition for nearly two mins V Southampton who didn't get a touch. When non- Leeds fans recall it that's significant
As a youngster back then, Leeds were my favourite team, mainly because of the number of quality Scottish players they had. My favourite being Billy Bremner who always gave 110% and expected nothing less from his team, even when wearing the dark blue of Scotland his influence was incredible. I've got the greatest respect for Don Revie for literally knitting this team together, many who came from Scotland as schoolboys. It was more like a close family than a traditional football team. Thanks for the memories boys, for me, you were the best team ever.
Great archive stuff. The team of my boyhood and for life
Hated them back in the day, but no denying their status as a legendary team...
Opposing fans always hate successful teams. Ask any scum fan, when they were dominating only their fans liked them.
@@CB-xr1egAs true now as it was then.
I'm Manchester United fan but this is a brilliant insight. Can you imagine Ferguson giving Keane a massage after training not happening. Met Jack Charlton very nice fella.
Always found the enjoyment that Revie got from massaging players esp their thighs a bit worrying.
The EPL needs the Roses rivalry back to what it was in the 60's 70's . Don Revie , Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles , Peter Lorimer , Norman Hunter LEGENDS !!
Whenever there is talk of the great managers in English football, the names Shankley, Busby, Clough and the like always come up, the one man who never seems to get a mention, is Don Revie, what he did with that Leeds United team was extraordinary, imagine a club now going from the bottom of the Championship to the top of the Premiership, playing in major domestic and European finals in a space of half a dozen years , the man deserves to be granted more respect
Don created the first truly clinically professional team. At their best no one in England could touch them. Clough was a nasty individual. Shankley was over rated, Paisley was the brains at Liverpool. Busby was fortunate to have Best and Charlton, the rest of that team were average.
and in 72 they beat the team of Charlton, Best and Law 5-1 @@dodgeme4555
Leeds with Revie became the first Super team to stay at the top for a 10 year period with virtually the same players & only one sub is a tremendous achievement in a much harder playing field than today's billionaire owners.
Wonder why...
Revie is revered as one of the best managers ever!
Of course they were a great team. I remember as a kid them coming to Molineux and we stopped them doing the double. Then the following year 1973 we lost to them in the FA Cup semi final at Maine road. It was always a big game Wolves v Leeds and still is. I enjoyed football more in those days than now. At least every team had a chance whereas now we have the so called big 6 with all the money. Once again that was a great Leeds side.
Pure gold. Amazing footage.
Ah, The great Dublin brogue off Johnny Giles, brilliant 💚🤍🧡
May i as an old time lufc supporter who has seen the great players from all the clubs .since 1956 ,thank those supporters from these clubs who are high minded enough to pay tribute to us...we didnt have every great player ..we had a team in which all were great..others had some but not all great players..there wasnt a team we played against in the top flight that didnt have at least one player as good as ours, with the possible exception of bremner. but that was due to the leadership /inspirational as much as his skill factor.
Great team great manager . Elland roads golden years
Leeds are in my heart and soul a supporter since being a nipper, nearly 66 now and just as passionate. The fans are special, the atmosphere at Elland road is always fantastic. Marching on together.
Fantastic footage. I've always been a Liverpool supporter but Leeds would be my second team if push came to shove. Brilliant players, a great manager and even a wonderful strip.
Other way around for me. I've always supported Leeds United but if they weren't around for whatever reason, then Liverpool would be my team of choice. I've liked Liverpool since the Shankly days. Don Revie & Bill Shankly were great admirers of each other and often paid each other compliments.
Amazing Liverpool and fans....from Leeds fan..
I feel the same way about Leeds and Liverpool as an Arsenal fan either of the 2 would be my second team without a doubt
Thanks so much for this, it’s emotional as they were all my family, not just my Dad, great to see Colin Welland too whom I shared a few pints with
Is your dad the fitness coach?
I was going to either send you this on waccoe or on twitter - glad you've seen it! (And beaten me to it!)
Les Cocker I assume?
Legends
A couple of observations: JG's comment about losing the title by a point came true, but of course the home draw with Ipswich wasn't the only point they lost that year. Second, Welland's final comment about loosening the reins was something Revie admitted he finally did in that brilliant title win in the 1973-4 season.
I thought it was 1971/72 too - but it's actually from the start of the following season when they ended up third, seven points behind Liverpool.
@@ivantodd3037 Correct and we all know what happened in May that season still ranks with me losing you know what game.
Thanks for the correction@@ivantodd3037
Good post @Muninman , was thinking the exact same thing .
The words confidence & ability always comes to mind thinking of that Leeds team.
Big Jack....RIP!🍀🍀🍀
It’s amazing to see. What I love the most is the genuine love Don had for the players. It wasn’t a team, it was a family #MOT #ALAW
Not my team but what a team and full of characters. Amazing footage
The team I fell in love with when I was a little lass. Great team!
What fantastic footage - The Leeds team at this time were the most consistent side in the land..the camera crews followed them everywhere..surely there must be more archive gems like this waiting to be uncovered ?
As a Man United fan I literally despise Leeds cannot stand them but I do admire the team & manager they had back in the day. They were one hell of a formidable force back then had a cracking team. I do love the hatred between us when we play one another especially. That's proper football
Sniff Sniff. Weres that smell of prawn sandwich coming from Oh ye theres a man u fan on.
@@michaelpower4372 What's that smell of u Leeds fans??? Rotten curdled milk that's under a baby's neck lmao. Get a sign that says hazardous
@@chrissilvester5663 can't read your reply allergic to prawn sandwich make my eyes water so can see your reply.
@@chrissilvester5663 Alex Ferguson's, prawn sandwich eaters, Roy Keane, and the res, ye'r boys took one hell of a beating. 🤭🤣😅😆😁😄😃😀😂🙂😊☺
Leeds Utd brilliant 70s Team.See you March 9th-3.00pm🤜🤛🦉
Great video, so glad i watched football as a teenager in the 70’s, my dad hated Leeds, but as already said it was because they were so good back then. Big Jack with his cigar
Tbe ones who heated leeds were jealous that leeds were better than the teams they supported.
i think if don revie had signed gordon banks in 1967 leeds would have won the lot over the next 6 years and gone down as the greatest football side ever which to me the Revie side still are
I agree, either Banks or Shilton would have completed that team.
Statistically Gary Sprake was the best goalkeeper in the league from 1965 to 1970. Kept the most clean sheets of any goalkeeper. Bill Shankley said Gary Sprake's performance was key to Leeds winning the league in 1969 (Leeds only lost 2 games in the league all season) and both European trophies in that period. Gordon Banks was a proven world class 'international' goalkeeper. But his club record was no where near that of Gary Sprake. I doubt Leeds would of won many more trophies by swapping their goalkeeper in this period. Sprake made very few goalkeeping errors throughout his career but when he did, (Liverpool verses Leeds 1967 ) & (Leeds verses Chelsea FA Cup Final 1970) they got box office attention due to him usually being such a brilliant player. And you've got to ask yourself why Gordon Banks was never signed to play for a major top side even after winning the world cup? Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd, Everton, Leeds, Derby County? I agree Peter Shilton's arrival in the Brian Clough era would of made a difference but only if Peter Taylor was part of the management team. What happened later at Nottingham Forrest should of happened at Leeds 5 years earlier. Never mind, that's life...
They were tough, together, talented. Sure they pushed the boundaries a few times but so did other clubs. As a young man I still remember the match of the day game against Southampton when they were able to pass the ball at ease for such long periods, with the opposition chasing around like flies never getting near them. Scary.
OLÉ! OLÉ! OLÉ!
I think the fella with the sideburns and moustache doing the speech was the schoolteacher in the film Kes.
Yes - Colin Welland.
Oscar-winning screenwriter of Chariots of Fire!
the best team ever imo of their time and now
Great team, great memories.
Norms really strong accent there. It mellowed in later years.
As a young Leeds fan at school, this was bloody fascinating...... really enjoyed this. So much to mention.....beer drinking, smoking.... probably only hours before a big game.👍
Hard as nails but skillful with it. As a Pompey fan I love watching Leeds vs Southampton 1971/1972, 7-0 to Leeds.
Football was a man’s game back then. Revie and Leeds were decent. (From a long time Chelsea fan who will never forget those FA cup games)💙💙💙
You only say it's a man's game because of the way Chelsea physically battered Leeds in the 1970 Cup Final. It still makes me wince to see how the animal known as Chopper Harris assaulted Eddie Gray in the replay. Gray had run rings around Eddie McCreadie in the first game so Chelsea set their pet Rottweiler on him. I've hated the Chelsea c*nts ever since seeing that.
This takes me back
Great to see them training on what was then known as Fullerton Park.....its now a car park
As a Derby fan growing up in the 70's the games against Leeds were the most nerve wracking. We didn't often beat them, particularly in the cup competitions
Even though the England national side was in the doldrums during the seventies I still love this period in English football, with its unpretentious and gritty players, muddy pitches, the commentary of Hugh Johns and great shirts. I think knackered old Colin Welland should have had the theme from Chariots of Fire playing in the background, when he was huffing and puffing around the Leeds training ground.
@davidfogarty. I joke that the kids wearing clomp soles, like Slade, to play football in the street, meant they could only toe poke and England team lost a generation. I always say to look at Madness video for Baggy Trousers.
@@alansmithee8831Good call.
english? David Harvey, Eddie Gray Andy Gray Gordon McQueen Peter Lorimer and of course Billy Bremner yeah engerlish football flourishing.
And now players head off to Saudi Arabia to sell their souls for money. I grew up watching teams who had soul, and despite all the bad things[hooligans/racism] of the time, I would rather this period than the sanitised fare we get delivered now.
.@@jimwatson3382 I was talking about the England national side and not the many fine Taff, Jock or Irish players in the national league.
One of the best teams ever to play in the Top flight after WORLD War 2 . DON REVIE was a manager Who was way head of his time never gets a mention it's always SHANK'S,Matt Busby, Cloughie Never the DON . His training methods and dietary was second to none The DON brought in his methods before anyone else. What a legendary Manager with Legendary player's Who played some of the best football this country has ever seen marching on together we all love Leeds keep fighting all Leeds aren't we 🦚🇮🇨👊✊🤍💛💙
He brought discipline and thoroughness to a fantastic bunch of players. They could be so clinical. Yes they had probably more hard men than the rest. If that team was playing now, the ref would probably red card half the team every game.
You are joking about the diet aren't you? This clip shows them boozing and puffing away the whole way through...
That was a team bonding moment. You can't do team bonding on mineral water and lettuce?@@Muninman
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 Jack Charlton and Billy Bremner were heavy smokers. Not sure about the others.
@@CB-xr1egDon Revie smoked,and Allan Clarke.
Greatest club side ever. Super Leeds. MOT
Always loved Leeds United since the days of Bremner Giles Madely. It's on my bucket list to go and see them play at Elland Road. All the best against Southampton
These were world class players despite the fact that most of them were smokers and enjoyed to drink and party. And Certainly far better football than todays game.
Leeds 7 Southampton 0 is still one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen by any team globally. Leeds players were holding onto the ball like they were 2012 Barcelona playing a school team.
Nice find. Thank you.
Giles was the cream- beautiful player
Total Class how time has changed. I only remember the training ground
My heroes from when I was a lad 50 plus years ago.... I got to see Billy and company play live..... unbelievable!!!!
What a team back in the day,my dad was a Leeds fan,he was not English,but was a big fan of Alan Clark. Y.n.w.a. Leeds Leeds Leeds.
Hey, thanks for uploading! Never seen this before. A clue in this clip told me it was from August 1972. Really interesting to see the styles and attitudes of the day.
So liked Colin welland brilliant actor
What Don Revie did at Leeds was extraordinary. Took a team that were languishing in the second division in a city where football wasn’t even the most popular sport being in the traditional rugby league heartland (Leeds United were getting attendances that barely cracked 10,000 while the rugby league side were drawing crowds of around 50,000) and he took them to the top of the first division and made them a side that won everything bar the European Cup (having been cheated out of it in 1975).
My dad and I had a session ticket in the West Stand for years. Halcyon days. Unfortunately, in about 1972 or '73, when i was leaving the ground and got onto Elland Road, the police baton charged the violently unruly crowd. I almost got trampled underfoot by a tsunami of humanity trying to get out of the way of the mounted police galloping towards us. After that, I never went to another match. The Hillsborough disaster (1989) came as no surprise to me. Football crowds were breeding grounds for cruel thugs and hooligans. I don't live in England any more. I do hope football has become a little more civilised. I've never seen such violence in Australia at football or rugby matches. - Spirited support, yes, but never the savagery, such as I witnessed in England.
Brilliant more please great team
This is a great video
What a great video
I see why Revie wanted Johnny Giles to be his replacement.
Great great team .
One of the best footballing, fighting, & dark arts teams I’ve ever seen. They literally had the lot. Up the Toffees!
Colin Welland's summing up of the club at the end sounded very perceptive.
Norwich fan here, but what a great manager your Don Revie was to you Leeds. Think you guys will shade tonights play offs, but not fussed if we lose or not. If you win then goodluck for the final, Farkes the man hopefully he'll be given cash to spend to invest in your team, unlike us at Norwch. OTBC!
When Revie said "Bend your knees" he put his feet in the air!😂
Legends.
I went to my first game at Elland Rd to watch Leeds when i was 13 and i'm 70 next year. I was there in 68 when we beat Arsenal at Wembley to win our first major trophy, i was also at Elland Rd for the record attendance of 57,892 v Sunderland FA Cup replay i think it was the 67-68 season. I still pop down to ER now when i can buy a ticket which unfortunately are a rare commodity. Roĺl on the ground expansion when we are again promoted at the end of this season 23-24. Great memories!
I was also at The League cup final at Wembley. It was a misty day and I was at the far end when Terry Cooper scored, so I could hardly see what was going on. Great days.
Wow, incredible footage. #MOT #ALAW #LUFC
I am scottish loved Leeds football club my class mate went to leeds at 15 Peter Lorimer from Dundee what a team
Brillant !
I am an evertonian,l loved this leeds team they were brilliant and should have won many more trophies especially that European cup final were that bent ref robbed them.
Fantastic clip. All the players seemed so down to earth. I don’t know if don revie had stayed would he have had the heart to move then on. ? Sad though how his life ended. Did he ever do a book ?
I don't think he wrote an autobiography, but there is a biography written by Christopher Evans. I've got it and it's worth reading.
That's how football was a man's game working class people playing football Great players playing what they loved football not for money like the prema donas now
I'd only seen small fragments of this event before.
Gor this on VHS, it came out when we win the division 1 league in 1992.
9:58 You'd have thought someone could have spelled Joe Jordan's name properly.
It’s mad, all the players look about 50 years old.. great team
Cigarette smoke everywhere.
The Leeds vs Ipswich 3-3 draw was on August 23rd 1972.
I grew up with this team. Mums side of my family is from Leeds. My grandad sent me a hat & scarf when I was 8. Hooked from then on. So by 1975 I cud see no reason for it not to continue. That corrupt European final seemed to be the start of the end. I love the club though.
Everyone looks so old!
All the Scot’s in that team… How we’ve never done well in the international tournaments with players like that (and the others in Liverpool, Man U, etc) is absolutely beyond me…
Yes He was
Matching on together
When I was last visiting Leeds, I was lucky enough to buy a lock of Billy Bremner's hair from a market stall in the town centre. It's tastefully done. Preserved under glass in a frame, complete with Billy's signature. The stallholder told me he'd already sold 2,000 that week (it was a Tuesday). Thinking it through though, either Billy had a very big head, or I've been swindled.
Can’t imagine Klopp or Pep massaging their players 😂
Great actor seen him in Sweeney
As a liverpool supporter growing up in the 70's i still think leeds should of won more silverware than what they did...fantastic side..
Allan Clarke Manager at Barnsley sacked n replaced with Norman Hunter. But still came back to Oakwell but with Eric Winstanley as Coach.
I wish I could have lived in an English England, I was born too late.
It was quite dull
Yes but beautiful at the same time@@hmq9052
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 Great music too.
@ashleyburns. I grew up at this time in Bradford, less than ten miles away. My neighbours were mostly eastern European refugees, some with southern Italian wives. The kids at school were mostly from parents born in other Commonwealth countries. See film East is East. With my name I always get asked about Leeds when I am away from Yorkshire. I point out my namesake, like me, moved over the Pennines for a while when older, to where that film was set and played with Paul Scholes, the same name as the kid I used to play football with at dinner break. In summer though, it was cricket with Masood and Dara and Khalad.
The roll call of names from this legendary football team....wow. Certainly the best team there has ever been that did not read like a Tapas Menu !. Money making greed ruined so called top level football. I go and watch my local non league football team nowadays. I will never go back to watching the professional game.
Smoke...drink............................train 😂
Repeat
and win, Repeat!@@davidberrell4725
Get rubbed down by the gaffer...
....repeat...
Don Revie - still # 1 mot.
I was privileged to have seen Revie's team play, owilcos team were good, alough i though oleary's team was the best after Revie, Bielsas team just magic entertainment. Four supremely good sides in 61 years. I have a feeling that with Farke we could be witnessing the birth of a fifth
Johnny Giles still doing a bit of punditry on a podcast by Eamon Dunphy and Off the Ball. Great man to listen to. He's 83
I was born in the now Zimbabwe in 75. In the 80s I would sit to watch with my Dad wat was then called Big League Soccer. Leeds was always a team we looked forward to watching never knowing if they had played that weekend. No social media then but BBC WORLD service. I think. Shocked seeing comments that Don Revie was and to be honest hardly ever mentioned. Awful that respect his name
notice Joe Jordan's name is spelt Jordon on his tracksuit?????
i didnt think it was haha, does look like him