http://www.clarkeonenil.co.uk/06/2012/an-open-letter-to-leeds-uniteds-next-owners/
The editorial collective asks for a longer view (with thanks to GG).
Sir,
You may be based out of the country, out of Europe, even. But these days
you can’t escape English football wherever you go. So you immediately
know who the big clubs are, what they doing and you even find out about
Leeds after a while. If, dear new owner, you are under forty, you might
remember when Leeds were quite a big club themselves. If you are a bit
older, you might remember when there was no bigger club anywhere. Take
for example Real Madrid: great in the late fifties and early sixties but
the Revie Boys would have thrashed them from 1965 on.
But this is not another trip down Memory Lane. This is about today and
tomorrow. It’s about planning for the future.
It is now over fifty years since a 33 year-old Don Revie was appointed
Leeds United manager by a brave Chairman and Board who were committed to
the club. It was a risk that paid huge dividends. Meticulous planning
slowly began to pay off. The dominance Leeds achieved did not happen
overnight but you could clearly see it coming once The Don had begun to
influence everything. As time went by, simply being a Leeds fan was one
long joy. The point I’m trying to bring across is that, once in the
midst of greatness, everything about the club was great.
I daresay the Revie Boys themselves, now respectfully ageing, didn’t see
it quite the same as us fans since they were always struggling to
recover from knocks and never given time to properly get fit but for us
it was so exciting. It might seem now that we did really well in terms
of trophies but, at the time, we thought we could and should have won
everything we competed for. Watching the matches was fantastic but the
time between games was special, too. After a mighty encounter in the 6th
Round of the FA Cup, you just couldn’t wait till the Wednesday and
another huge European match. Then back to winning the League the
following Saturday. It didn’t always work out but it the whole adventure
was amazing.
And what do have now?
Leeds were in an even worse position in 1961 than we are today, a second
tier side. But they invested in the future with an ambitious young
manager whom they backed in the transfer market. The manager built a
team but also made the club one big family unit where everyone mattered.
Ground improvements came after the team built success on the field. The
nearest thing to a corporate box in those days was probably an old Air
Raid Shelter.
So, what exactly do we have now?
A manager who is less than 2 years away from a State Pension and a
not-so-go-ahead Chairman over the last 7 years who became a pensioner in
the last century (and who hopefully is selling to you as you read this).
We express no significant opinion either way on Neil Warnock but it is
very unlikely that he has the hunger, desire, ambition and the time
required that drove Revie to make Leeds a world class club from
absolutely nowhere.
They – well George Santayana says that, “Those who do not remember their
past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.” That’s what is worrying
about Leeds right now, we seem to have forgotten the bright times from
our past and that includes the Wilkinson/O’Leary era. We seem stuck in
the bad old habits that led us nowhere. I know most modern Leeds fans
are thinking only of this coming season, with a dim thought of the next
one. Don Revie was planning a revolution. He was planning for a time
when the second tier no-hopers were going to become part of Europes
elite. And, against all odds, he succeeded because of his strong
character and because his ambition was backed up.
And what do we have now? Who is going to your Don Revie? Over to you new
owner (stc).
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PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
