Don Revie

Early life

Revie was born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, on Sunday, 10 July 1927. His father, also named Donald, was a joiner who found himself frequently out of work during the Great Depression. His mother, a washerwoman, died of cancer on 27 November 1939, aged 50. He played youth football for Newport Boys' Club and then Middlesbrough Swifts, who were coached by influential manager Bill Sanderson. He learnt the rudiments of the game using a small bundle of rags in the tiny yard behind his home. This influenced his thinking in later life, and he argued that young players should learn using smaller footballs on smaller pitches so they would be more adept in control when progressing to a bigger football.

Club career

Leicester City

He signed as a professional footballer for Leicester City in August 1944, choosing them ahead of local club Middlesbrough primarily due to the close links between Middlesbrough Swifts and Leicester City; he also worked as an apprentice bricklayer. Leicester originally thought he was not good enough to turn professional, but he was taken under the wing of Leicester player Sep Smith, who mentored Revie on many of his ideas about the game. Smith instructed Revie that "When not in position, get into position; never beat a man by dribbling if you can beat him more easily with a pass; it is not the man on the ball but the one running into position to take the pass who constitutes the danger; and the aim is to have a man spare in a passing move. Soccer would then become easy." He played in the wartime league before making his debut in the Football League on the opening day of the 1946–47 season, a 3–0 defeat to Manchester City, who would go on to win the Second Division that season. He showed good form at Filbert Street before breaking his right ankle in three places after a tackle from Tottenham Hotspur's Ron Burgess; the injury could have ended his career, but he recovered to full fitness within 19 weeks.

Manager Johnny Duncan identified Revie as the player to build his team around for the 1947–48 and 1948–49 seasons, and though the Foxes fared poorly in the league they managed to reach the 1949 FA Cup final. Revie scored the opening goal of the semi-final victory over First Division champions Portsmouth, having been told pre-match that opposition goalkeeper Ernest Butler tended to palm the ball over the attacker's head before reclaiming possession Revie positioned himself to take advantage of the situation when teammate Jack Lee challenged Butler for the ball, leaving Revie with a simple conversion. However Revie suffered a nasal haemorrhage caused by a burst vein one week before the final, and the condition became so severe it would threaten his life and see him miss his first chance to play at Wembley. He could only listen on the radio as Leicester lost 3–1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final. Revie left Leicester after Duncan left the club, having already been dissatisfied with the club's lack of progress in the league.

Hull City

In November 1949, he joined Second Division club Hull City for a transfer fee of £19,000. He chose to join the Tigers ahead of bigger clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City, who had shown interest in signing him since Hull were managed by Raich Carter, who had been a great player before and after World War II. Carter did improve Revie's game but was not a success as Hull manager, as City finished mid-table in the 1949–50 and 1950–51 seasons, before becoming involved in a relegation battle in the 1951–52 season. Teammate Andy Davidson later said Revie failed to fulfil his potential at Boothferry Park as he was not a tough player. The rest of the Hull team were not physically dominant enough to protect him and allow him to dictate play with his accurate passing. As at Leicester, Revie felt the time had come for him to move on and handed in a transfer request once Carter departed.

Manchester City

Revie was sold to First Division side Manchester City for £25,000 (including a part-exchange for Ernie Phillips, valued at £12,000) in October 1951. The Citizens struggled in the 1951–52 season and then went on to finish just one place above the relegation zone in the 1952–53 campaign. Revie was often isolated from the rest of the team due to his lack of pace. The sale of Ivor Broadis then allowed Revie to drop deeper down the field and allowed manager Les McDowall to put Revie in what eventually proved to be a pivotal role, introducing to English football the position of deep-lying centre forward. This evolved into the so-called "Revie Plan", with Revie as the central figure. His role derived from the more traditional inside right position and was based on the style of the successful Hungary national team, and in particular Nándor Hidegkuti, who invented the role. Revie devoted 20 pages to analysing and explaining the plan in his autobiography Soccer's Happy Wanderer written in 1955.

Revie had improved his goal tally to 13 in the 1953–54 season, but only once the Revie Plan was implemented in the 1954–55 campaign were Manchester City able to fully make use of his abilities. The new tactic opened with a 5–0 defeat to Preston North End, but then Ken Barnes replaced John McTavish at inside-forward and the team clicked. Though the tactic was named after Revie, it had initially been introduced at the reserve team level by Johnny Williamson. However, Revie's superior passing talents meant Williamson was overlooked for the position at first team level. City's league title campaign fell away, but they went on to reach the 1955 FA Cup final at Wembley, where they were beaten 3–1 by Newcastle United; a first-half injury to Jimmy Meadows left City down to ten men and unable to compete effectively. At the end of the season, Revie was named as FWA Footballer of the Year.

McDowall fined Revie £27 for missing two weeks of training for a family holiday in Blackpool, which infuriated him as he had received permission from trainer Laurie Barnett and had promised to train whilst on holiday. McDowall dropped Revie for much of the 1955–56 season, preferring instead to play Bobby Johnstone. Revie played only one FA Cup match that season before being named in the team for the 1956 FA Cup final against Birmingham City, with Johnstone being moved to the wings. He provided the assist for Joe Hayes's opening goal and instructed Ken Barnes to deviate from the manager's instructions at half-time, with the result being a more dominant second half display and a 3–1 victory; Revie was named as Man of the Match. However the rift with his manager was not forgotten, and he was moved to right-half in the 1956–57 campaign, leaving him to seek a move away from Maine Road.

Sunderland

In October 1956, Sunderland manager Bill Murray bought Revie for a £22,000 fee. Poor results left the Rokerites facing relegation towards the end of the 1956–57 campaign, but a late seven-game unbeaten run lifted them to safety, just one place above relegated Cardiff City. A financial scandal over illegal payments to players resulted in harsh sanctions at Roker Park from The Football Association and forced Murray's resignation. His replacement, Alan Brown, preferred a more physical style of play that did not suit Revie. Sunderland suffered relegation from the First Division for the first time in the club's history in the 1957–58 season, and Revie was dropped for the 1958–59 Second Division campaign in favour of a youth policy. In September 1958, he rejected the opportunity to sign for hometown club Middlesbrough – had he joined the club then he would have played alongside captain Brian Clough and goalkeeper Peter Taylor.

Leeds United

Revie returned to the First Division when he joined Leeds United in November 1958 for a £14,000 fee, seven years after their first attempt to sign him from Hull for £25,000 had been rejected. Manager Bill Lambton had hoped that Revie's creativity would help the Peacocks to turn their poor form around and appointed him as captain. Leeds avoided relegation in the 1958–59 season, but new manager Jack Taylor took Leeds down in the 1959–60 campaign with the division's worst defensive record. Revie recognised his playing days were coming to an end and relinquished the captaincy to Freddie Goodwin.

International career

In October 1953, he was called up to The Football League XI to face the League of Ireland XI at Maine Road, and scored a hat-trick in a 9–1 victory. He went on to play for the England B team in March 1954. He scored on his England debut on 2 October 1954, in a 2–0 British Home Championship victory over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park. He also scored during his second appearance on 2 April 1955, a 7–2 victory over Scotland at Wembley Stadium. He made three further appearances that year, playing in defeats to France at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir and Wales at Ninian Park, and scoring twice in a 5–1 win over Denmark at Idrætsparken. His sixth and final cap came in a 1–1 draw with Northern Ireland on 6 October 1956.

He was one of many signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958, opposing "the policy of apartheid" in international sport and defending "the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games".

Management career

Leeds United

Revie was made player-manager at Leeds United in March 1961 following the resignation of Jack Taylor, who left after Leeds found themselves struggling in the Second Division. He had initially applied for the vacant job at Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, but they were unable to find the £6,000 Leeds demanded, and the Leeds directors decided to appoint Revie as manager instead. At the time the club was in debt and was located in a rugby league territory, with very little football tradition. Fewer than 7,000 turned out for the final home game of the 1960–61 season, while Leeds Rhinos' championship game of the 1960–61 Rugby League season had an attendance of over 50,000. He immediately began to institute radical changes, such as ensuring the players stayed at higher-quality hotels. He instilled a "family atmosphere" at Elland Road, making sure to take an interest in the lives of everyone at the club, from the cleaning staff to the star players and ensuring there were no "big egos" at the club. He showed trust in his players, leaving them mainly to their own devices, though he always made sure he was fully informed as to what they were up to off the pitch, even going so far as to tell them to dump their girlfriends if he viewed them as unsuitable. He also introduced lengthy dossiers on opposing teams to ensure his players knew every detail about the opposition and were able to exploit weaknesses and nullify threats. Other changes were based on some of his many superstitions, such as his belief that birds were bad luck which resulted in him getting rid of the owl on the club badge and the discontinuation of the "Peacocks" nickname in favour of the "Whites".

Leeds struggled in the 1961–62 season, as aside from Billy Bremner and Jack Charlton, his playing squad was filled with journeymen pros; he did though inherit a good coaching staff that included Les Cocker, Maurice Lindley and Syd Owen who would all spend many years with Revie at Leeds. He developed a youth policy at the club, notable graduates of which would be Eddie Gray, Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer and Paul Reaney. He had a difficult task in persuading young players to join Leeds over more glamorous clubs. Still, he made sure he put in extra effort to make the youngsters feel happy at Leeds, and in one instance, drove to Scotland to talk to Bremner's girlfriend to successfully persuade her to encourage Bremner to stay at Leeds rather than return to Scotland to be with her. Revie played his last game in March 1962 before concentrating entirely on management.

After new investment at board level, Revie was able to spend £25,000 on Everton's Scotland international Bobby Collins, who he installed as captain. Other arrivals included former Manchester City teammate Billy McAdams, forward Ian Lawson and left-back Cliff Mason. He spent £53,000 to bring John Charles back from Juventus. Though he proved not to be as effective as during his first spell at Leeds, Revie was able to sell him on to Roma for a £17,000 profit within just a few months. Leeds pushed for promotion in 1962–63, but the harsh winter caused many postponements and a backlog of games at the end of the season proved too much for Leeds, who fell away to finish in fifth place.

England

In July 1974, Revie accepted the offer of the England manager's job, succeeding Alf Ramsey and caretaker-manager Joe Mercer. The Football Association, particularly Ted Croker, were impressed with Revie's personality and ideas. He was a popular appointment with the press and supporters; noted journalist Brian Glanville wrote that "Revie was the obvious choice". Revie attempted to build a relationship with the media, and also invited 81 prospective and established England players to a meeting in Manchester to make everyone feel included, where he announced that he would establish extra pay for international players as well as bonus payments for wins and draws. He held a meeting with Alan Hardaker, chairman of the Football League, but Hardaker had long resented Revie and was very reluctant to accept his proposal to rearrange league fixtures to benefit the England team. He also had difficult relationships with figures within the FA, most notoriously with chairman Sir Harold Thompson, who allegedly attempted to influence Revie's team selections and undermine him publicly. As well as this he found difficulty in his attempts to introduce the Leeds traditions into the England camp, such as carpet bowls and bingo, which were met with resentment and disdain by some England internationals. Colin Todd stated that Revie was ill-suited to the England job, with his strengths lying in the day-to-day contact found only in club management rather than the politics and committee meetings of international management.

For UEFA Euro 1976, England were drawn in a tough qualification group including Czechoslovakia, Portugal and Cyprus, with only the winner progressing to the finals. England began the campaign well with a 3–0 victory over Czechoslovakia at Wembley, Mick Channon and Colin Bell scoring the goals. However, a 0–0 home draw with Portugal was a minor setback, despite Malcolm Macdonald scoring all the goals in a 5–0 win over Cyprus following a morale-boosting 2–0 friendly win over 1974 FIFA World Cup champions West Germany. Kevin Keegan scored the only goal of the game at the Tsirion Stadium to secure maximum points in Cyprus and leave England in a strong position going into the two tough final group games in Czechoslovakia and Portugal. Though only drawing with Wales and Northern Ireland, a 5–1 victory over Scotland secured England the 1974–75 British Home Championship title and left England in confident mood for the crucial qualifying games. However, despite Channon opening the scoring, they fell to a 2–1 defeat to the Czechoslovaks in Bratislava after playing with what was for Revie uncharacteristic attacking tactics. A 1–1 draw in Lisbon then allowed Czechoslovakia to clinch the group with a win over Cyprus. Czechoslovakia then went on to win the whole tournament. Revie was criticised for his constant changing of players during the qualifying group, particularly his decision to drop captains Emlyn Hughes and Alan Ball from his squad entirely, his mistrust of flair players like Charlie George and Alan Hudson, and his willingness to play players out of position.

Middle East

His contract at the United Arab Emirates ensured him a £340,000 four-year contract, though caused irreparable damage to his reputation in England. Selling the story to the Daily Mail also earned him £20,000, but only furthered the criticism that he was a "mercenary". In April 1979 the UAE finished sixth in the seven-team 5th Arabian Gulf Cup in Iraq, but it was his work in helping to improve the footballing facilities in the country in the long-term that were more important, helping the UAE qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He left the UAE coaching role in May 1980 as the UAE searched for an Arabic speaking manager. He returned to club management with Dubai club Al-Nasr of the UAE Arabian Gulf League, but was sacked in 1984 with the club sitting third in the league. The next year he had a brief stint with Egyptian Premier League club Al-Ahly of Cairo, but did not settle in Egypt and returned home to England. He was approached to replace Alan Mullery as Queens Park Rangers manager by chairman Jim Gregory, but the deal was not completed, and Revie never worked in football again.

Personal life

Revie married Elsie, the niece of Leicester City's Scottish manager Johnny Duncan, on 17 October 1949. They had a son and a daughter. Elsie died of cancer on 28 March 2005 at the age of 77.

He published an autobiography, Soccer's Happy Wanderer, in 1955. He was appointed an OBE for his services to football. In April 1974, shortly before departing from Leeds for the England job, Revie was a special guest on the TV guest show This Is Your Life. Revie was an active freemason attending Leodiensis Lodge No. 4029 based at Westbourne House in Otley from 1965 until his death.

Illness and death

After living in Surrey for two years, Revie moved to Kinross, Scotland, in 1986, where he intended to spend his retirement. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in May 1987. He publicly announced his illness in August of that year and made his final public appearance on 11 May 1988 at Elland Road in a wheelchair, at a charity football match held to raise money for research into the disease. He died in Murrayfield Hospital in Edinburgh on 26 May 1989, aged 61, and was cremated four days later at Warriston Crematorium in Edinburgh. Though his funeral was well attended by representatives of Leeds United and many others involved in football such as Kevin Keegan, Brian Moore, Lawrie McMenemy, Denis Law and Alex Ferguson, The Football Association did not send any representatives.

Legacy

The family atmosphere Revie instilled at Elland Road ensured that many Leeds United players remained friends and fiercely loyal to Revie long after their playing days had ended; his players also generally avoided financial, addiction or family problems, enjoying largely stable lives even after retirement. In May 2012, a statue of Revie was unveiled outside Elland Road. The North Stand of Elland Road is formally known as the Revie Stand.

In a survey of leading football writers, historians and academics by Total Sport magazine, Revie's Leeds United was voted one of the 50 greatest football teams of all time. James Corbett of the Guardian wrote that Revie "had been the most innovative manager of his generation" and "not until Arsène Wenger would a manager exert such a profound influence on his club - and the English game as a whole".

Criticism

The combative nature of his teams earned United the moniker of "dirty Leeds", as key player Eddie Gray admitted that "it was brutal stuff and, definitely win-at-all-costs". Alan Peacock said that one of the attractions for joining Leeds was that he would not have to play against them and "then they won't be kicking me". In 1963 Leeds were labelled by the Football Association's own FA News as "the dirtiest [team] in the Football League". On more than one occasion referees had to order Leeds players off the pitch for a break mid-match to break up mass brawls. His teams were notorious for dour play and playing to defend 1–0 leads, though he allowed a more attacking style later in his career. Nevertheless, the unpopularity and poor reputation stuck with Leeds throughout Revie's time as manager and afterwards. George Best said that he "hated playing against them" and that the only time he needed to wear shinpads was when he was playing against Leeds.

One of Revie's most notable critics was Brian Clough, who initially gave some degree of praise to Leeds following the 1969–70 season in which Clough managed Derby County to fourth place, commenting that "they have made the season". However, Clough's attitude soon changed as the competition between their clubs intensified, and in subsequent seasons he would use his newspaper columns to attack Revie and Leeds. A particular example of this was in August 1973 in which he branded the Leeds players "cheats" and called for the club to be relegated to the Second Division on disciplinary grounds, though Clough would surprisingly succeed Revie as Leeds manager in 1974 in an ill-fated tenure that lasted only 44 days. In 2009, Revie was portrayed by Colm Meaney in the film The Damned United, which focused on Clough's reign as manager of Leeds United.

"When people talk about Leeds being dirty, they forget that was the culture back then. You had to look after yourself. There were so many players around who would now be suspended all season long. We just made sure nobody ever managed to bully us."

Revie's reputation suffered in the late 1970s after his highly controversial England resignation. Both the Daily Mirror and The Sunday People claimed that Revie had attempted to bribe Wolverhampton Wanderers players to lose a crucial match in May 1972. The papers quoted Wolves midfielder Danny Hegan and former Leeds United goalkeeper Gary Sprake's claims that Revie's captain Billy Bremner had tried to arrange a bribe. Bremner sued for libel and won £100,000 libel damages and legal costs after both Hegan and Sprake refused to repeat their allegations under oath in court. Wolves player Derek Dougan, who had scored against Leeds in the match, testified that he had heard no mention of the alleged bribes. Neither the police nor FA investigations found any evidence of wrongdoing.

Career statistics

International

Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Revie goal.

Honours

Player

Manchester City

FA Cup: 1955–56; runner-up: 1954–55

England

British Home Championship: 1954–55, 1955–56 (shared), 1956–57

Manager

Leeds United

Football League First Division: 1968–69, 1973–74

FA Cup: 1971–72

Football League Cup: 1967–68

FA Charity Shield: 1969

Football League Second Division: 1963–64

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1967–68, 1970–71

England

British Home Championship: 1974–75

Individual

FWA Footballer of the Year: 1954–55

Officer of the Order of the British Empire: 1969