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But in 1961, new Leeds manager Don Revie did something very similar. Leeds were then just a struggling Second Division club, more than £100,000 in debt, and flirting with relegation. Revie, keen to change the downcast mood surrounding the club, decided to ditch United’s traditional yellow and blue colours in favour of the all white of Real Madrid – the club he wanted Leeds to emulate.
Real’s five successive European Cup triumphs from 1956 meant they were the club everyone aspired to be. For Revie to aim so high seemed ludicrous. But the great man did just what he promised. Promotion in 1964 was followed by a wonderful decade as Leeds won two League titles, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, an FA Cup and a League Cup. Cruelly, Leeds were denied the number of honours their dominance deserved as they finished as runners-up an amazing five times in the League. They were also beaten finalists twice in the FA Cup and once in the Cup Winners' Cup.
Revie left to manage England in the summer of 1974 and the team he had built went on to reach the European Cup final the following year only to lose to Bayern Munich.
Revie would have loved to have seen his Leeds side take on the great Real Madrid in European competition for the first time, but it was not to be. Instead, that honour went to the man we all hope will bring those glory days back to Elland Road, David O’Leary.
The Irish defender initially joined Leeds as a player in the summer of 1993. A Highbury legend after making a club record 558 League appearances for Arsenal, O’Leary’s career in West Yorkshire was short-lived. He played just ten games before retiring due to injury and we all presumed that would be the last we’d see of him. But George Graham’s arrival at Elland Road as manager in September, 1996, brought O’Leary back to Yorkshire as the club’s new assistant boss. The pair started the long process of turning Leeds’ fortunes around. When Graham quit to manage Spurs two years later, his assistant was also expected to return to North London.
Leeds had initially wanted Martin O’Neill to replace Graham, but Leicester refused us permission to speak to their manager. As fans we made it clear who we wanted, with O’Leary’s name being sung long and loud during matches at home to Leicester (ironically) and then in the UEFA Cup against Roma. O’Leary was duly appointed, gave the all-conquering youth side their chance and the progress since then has been startling.
The point gained in Milan had brought about a general shift in the mood around Leeds. Knocking out Barcelona and taking four points off AC Milan meant the inferiority complex of the first group phase had given way to a much more confident air. We were worthy after all.
Despite this new-found confidence, the draw for the second group phase still brought a sharp intake of breath around the city. I had been hoping we’d draw another of Europe’s biggest clubs, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as tough. We were in Group D with the Champions League holders Real Madrid, Serie A champions Lazio, and Belgian champions Anderlecht.
The format of the Champions League sees two of the second phase group games take place in November and December before the competition enjoys a ten week break. It then resumes in mid-February with the final four matches taking place inside just five weeks. This means the opening two games set the tone for the whole group with a couple of early defeats making qualification almost impossible.
Unfortunately for Leeds, the visit of Real Madrid to Elland Road being followed by a trip to Rome and a meeting with Lazio meant points would be at a premium.
Qualification for the second group phase had not only boosted the Elland Road coffers, it had also stoked the fires of ambition in the boardroom. The build-up to the visit of Real Madrid centred on Leeds trying to prise Rio Ferdinand away from West Ham with a world record £18 million bid. Just a few short years ago Leeds’ idea of a new signing was someone who had once played for either Sheffield Wednesday or United and had reached what is politely known as ‘the veteran stage’. Or what was known on the Kop as being shit. The likes of Nigel Worthington, John Pemberton and Mark Beesley could never be faulted for effort, but they were also hardly the signings on which to build our golden future. Every time Howard Wilkinson made another signing in the mid-1990s, the club seemed to take a step back. Ferdinand was different and the attempt to sign such a talented player, allied to the boost of qualifying for this stage, meant we approached Elland Road full of renewed hope ahead!
of the clash with Real Madrid.
Excited talk filled the night as we walked across the footbridge that runs over the M621 just five minutes from the stadium.
"The atmosphere will be something special tonight. Real Madrid might play in front of 90,000 Spaniards every week, but they won’t have heard anything like us tonight . . . "
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