The Unforgiven: The Story of Don Revie's Leeds United

by Rob Bagchi (Author), Paul Rogerson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $11.75

  Everyone who knows anything about football - wherever in the UK they live - has heard of Billy Bremner and Jack Charlton: two of the greatest and grittiest footballers Britain has produced. Don Revie was not only a controversial England manager but also, above all, one of Britain's finest club managers and one of its most idiosyncratic, if not downright eccentric individuals. How Revie turned Leeds from a struggling Second Division club into League Champions and UEFA Cup winners is the tale of how one man invented modern football as we know it. Revie's legendary Leeds team took no prisoners, pioneering a ruthless, win-at-all-costs professionalism symbolised by the legendary scything tackles of Norman Hunter. And Leeds' unfashionable, outlaw status was hardly unearned, given Revie's bizarre way of running a football club. Team-building sessions meant taking players like Johnny Giles, Terry Cooper and Paul Madely for endless rounds of bingo and carpet bowls. The manager's superstitious rituals included a pre-match stroll to a certain set of traffic lights in Leeds and the exorcism of a gypsy's curse on the ground. But whenever his side were let of the leash - toying with Southampton, for example, to inflict a 7-0 defeat now enshrined in Match of the Day mythology - their sheer brilliance made for a spectacle to compelling it was almost cruel. Now the authors of this book, both lifetime Leeds supporters, tell the full story of one of the most defiantly unconventional sides in British football.

• Used

  Paperback
  2009

  $3.37

  They were the team from nowhere...In 1961, when Don Revie became manager of Leeds United, they were a struggling Second Division club. By 1974 they had won two League Championships, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (twice), the FA Cup and the League Cup, and players like Jack Charlton and Billy Bremner were household names. Yet this was a team that inspired not admiration, not grudging respect, but a deep and visceral loathing, matched only by the bellicose devotion of their own supporters. The undeniable artistry of players like striker Alan Clarke was overshadowed by a ruthless - and thoroughly modern - professionalism, symbolised by the scything tackles of Norman Hunter. The new Leeds - especially in the intimidating arena of Elland Road - took no prisoners. At the heart of their outlaw status was the eccentric, superstitious personality of Revie himself. Clad in his lucky blue suit, a man for whom team-building meant rounds of carpet bowls, here reigned less a football manager than, in his own estimation, the 'head of the family'.But whenever his great Leeds United side were let off the leash - the 7-0 humiliation of Southampton is enshrined in Match of the Day mythology - their brilliance was compelling. So compelling it was almost cruel. The Unforgiven is the full story of the most defiantly unconventional team in British football. The book is reissued to coincide with the release of BBC Films' adaptation of David Peace's bestselling The Damned United (9780571224333) - starring Michael Sheen as Brian Clough and adapted by Peter Morgan (The Queen). It includes a new chapter detailing the aftermath of the Revie era - including Brian Clough's infamous 44 days at Elland Road; Revie's tenure as England manager; and his continuing influence on Leeds' fortunes to this very day.