Don Revie
Donald George Revie was an English football player and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the England national football team manager for three years.
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 the 1954–55 season, 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 that had never won a major trophy. Under Revie's management, Leeds became a major force in English football, winning the Second Division in the 1963–64 season, the First Division in the 1968–69 and 1973–74 seasons, the FA Cup in 1972, the League Cup in 1968, the FA Charity Shield in 1969, and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1968 and 1971. Additionally, Leeds were First Division runners-up five times, three times FA Cup runners-up and runners-up in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup. In July 1974, he accepted the job as the England manager. He had an unsuccessful three years in the role before quitting in highly controversial circumstances to take the management role with the United Arab Emirates. He later had spells in Middle Eastern club football with Al-Nasr and Al-Ahly.
As Leeds manager, he was criticised for his teams' physical and often negative approach, though the period was noted for its highly physical football across the country. His resignation as England manager fuelled criticism of him as money-obsessed, and unproved allegations of bribery and financial misconduct tarnished his reputation. He retired in 1984 but was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in May 1987, which led to his death two years later. He remains a highly popular figure in Leeds and has a stand named after him at Elland Road and a statue outside the ground.
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 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.