page_title: Don Revie
section_title: Leeds United
hierarchical_section_title: Don Revie / Management career / Leeds United
caption_attribution_description: English: Ian Porterfield's goal in 1973.
context_page_description: Donald George Revie OBE was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974 which preceded his appointment as England manager.
  A forward, he began his career with Leicester City in August 1944, before a £19,000 move to Hull City in November 1949. He was sold on to Manchester City in October 1951 for a fee of £25,000, where he became the main focus of the "Revie Plan" which saw him named as FWA Footballer of the Year in 1954–55 after innovating the role of the first deep-lying centre forward in England. He won the FA Cup in 1956, having finished on the losing side in the 1955 final. He was bought by Sunderland for £22,000 in October 1956, before moving on to Leeds United in November 1958 for a £14,000 fee. In total he scored 108 goals in 501 league and cup appearances in an 18-year professional career, also scoring four goals in six England appearances as well as winning representative honours for the Football League XI and the England B team.
  In March 1961, Revie was appointed player-manager of Leeds United, then a Second Division club who had never previously won a major trophy.
context_section_description: 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, but Bournemouth were unable to find the £6,000 Leeds demanded, and the Leeds directors decided to instead appoint Revie as manager. At the time the club was in debt and was located in a rugby league territory, with very little football tradition. Less than 7,000 turned out for the final home game of the 1960–61 season whilst Leeds's 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 but 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, and 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.
  United secured promotion as champions of the Second Division in 1963–64, helped by the late signing of striker Alan Peacock from Middlesbrough for £53,000. However the overly physical approach typified by captain Collins earned Leeds a reputation as "dirty" that would shadow the club throughout Revie's tenure as manager and continue to this day. Leeds adapted well to the First Division early in the 1964–65 campaign, but caused controversy in Collins's return to Goodison Park as the game against Everton descended into a brawl and the referee ordered the players off the field after 35 minutes to prevent further violence. Leeds went on to maintain a strong title challenge, finishing second to rivals Manchester United on goal difference after failing to beat Birmingham City on the last day of the season. They also reached the final of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool at Wembl
caption: The 1973 FA Cup Final which Leeds surprisingly lost to Second Division Sunderland.
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