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Billy
Bremner -
and the
number 4 shirt.
I
looked at my Mum and I looked at my Dad, and suddenly it
dawned on me ... I wasn't going to be tall.
About this time Leeds United were winning everything in
sight in the football world. Well more accurately, were
coming second in everything in sight. Leeds would reach
the final of all the competitions using 12 players, 3 of
which would be too worn out to play the final and there
it was - another runners-up medal.
And I was deciding which football team I was going to
support. I already had a Man United shirt because our
school team played in red. I wore it, but I wasn't
convinced. It was too obvious, and anyway in 1970, Man U
were on their way out.
Then there was Brentford a few miles down the M4 and
Reading a few miles the other way. My own town's
Maidenhead United were former FA Cup Quarter Finalists,
but were now resolutely non-league. Let's face it your
first team has to be in the First Division...
Ok, well in 1970 Liverpool were on the brink of total
domination - but not yet. Derby County - you are kidding,
right ? Spurs - were my Dad's team, and that would have
been too obvious again. Which only seriously left Arsenal
- a team at their peak whom everyone else chose, Chelsea
- favoured by boot boys (I was NOT a boot boy), and Leeds
United.
So why did I choose Leeds United ? I can think of three
reasons.
1. When I say everyone chose Arsenal, well everyone
except me and the mates around me that mattered. Mates to
whom I'm still friends now over thirty years later (even
though one did do the unthinkable and became a Liverpool
fan when none of us was looking). Bound by quirky humour
and a love of Leeds United, logical choice of football
team probably never occurred to us.
2. My grandmother (who lived to 99) and grandfather were
from Leeds. Imagine the scene as my Mum dragged me before
them saying ' go on tell them who you're going to
support'. I got such sounds of approval I couldn't
possibly go back.
and 3. Well I knew I wasn't going to be tall. The
football stamps album I had, said the captain of Leeds
United, Billy Bremner, was only 5 foot 5 and a half
inches tall. What a hero ! Not only that, but he was
always getting into trouble in the very way that I never
dared to, and he ran around with a never say die
determination that filled me with awe.
I so wanted to be 5 foot 5 and a half inches tall when I
grew up, it was the only ambition I ever remember having
in primary school. As with many of my subsequent
ambitions, I so nearly succeeded, too. Sadly the final
half an inch growth went beyond my ambition and I grew to
five foot six. I'm sure that by the end of a long day, my
shoulders will have drooped down that extra half inch,
and when I get older I'll shrink for good. But my hero,
Billy Bremner, will be 5 foot 5 and a half forever.
After I had suggested Leeds United as a possible
favourite team I was soon to be given a Leeds United kit
as a birthday present. Of course on the back was Billy's
No.4. That was it my team was chosen.
If I had not have chosen Leeds would my sister have
taunted me relentlessly that she was a Chelsea fan ?
Would my grandmother even have cared ? More significantly
would I have moved here to Leeds at the first available
opportunity? Who knows.
I do know Arsenal, Man U., Liverpool and probably Chelsea
have all won more cups than Leeds United since then and I
would have had more to celebrate, but NOTHING could make
me change now. It would be Leeds United or no team at
all. That's how it goes in life, we make choices and have
to stick by them for better or for worse. (Unless your my
mate Andrew.)
As for Billy, well he died a few years back, I'm sad to
say. I saw him play and I saw him manage the club, but I
never got chance to thank him in person for those early
years of inspiration. So through the means of cyberspace
I'll say THANKS BILLY your inspiration extended beyond
that of the football pitch, cheers !
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