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| ALTHOUGH HARRY REYNOLDS was no longer chairman of Leeds United - he had to relinquish his position on the board due to ill-health - his ambitious plans were still being pursued, and this was illustrated with the construction of a new Spion Kop stand at considerable expense. The club had paid off its heavy debts of five years before, and when manager Don Revie had required money to purchase a player it was forthcoming, for though United were not rich they were putting any profits back into the club so that playing strength and spectator facilities could be improved. |
August 1968: It's the Hungarian team Ferencvaros who are playing in the white strip here as United's Mick Jones forces the ball over the line for the only goal of the delayed Fairs' Cup final. |
| When the Fairs' Cup final, first leg, match with Ferencvaros of Hungary was played at Elland Road in early August 1968, the new stand was only just ready for use but it received a good christening with Leeds winning a close game when Mick Jones forced the ball in, after both Jack Chariton and the goalkeeper Geczi had moved out to meet a corner-kick and the ball dropped behind them. The match was rather physical and in the second-half Johnny Giles had to leave the field injured, before Geczi rushed from his goal in one United attack and felled Jones with a crude challenge which could have resulted in a penalty. It didn't but it did result in Jones being carried off. United had gone into that game very confident, four days after taking on Glasgow Celtic in front of 75,000 at Hampden Park and beating them 2-1, despite giving the Scots a goal start in what was a very meaningful friendly. |
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Ferencvaros were generally accepted as being among the top three teams in Europe and many felt that a single goal lead would not be enough to win Leeds the European Fairs' Cup when the second leg in Budapest was played the following month, but those doubters were proved wrong as Ferencvaros played some dazzling soccer in vain against a United defence that proved it was definitely Europe's finest. And so Leeds United prevented their opponents from scoring to deservedly lift their second trophy in the space of six months, and consequently convince themselves that the League Championship was there for the taking as well. Don Revie had been impressed by the boldness of Manchester City when they were playing away from home on the way to winning the previous season's Division One title, and he decided that United needed to pick up a few more points on their travels in order to emulate City's success. On one of United's visits - to Nottingham to tackle Forest - the two teams really set the ground alight, and with the scores level at one-each the game had to be abandoned at half-time with the main stand being engulfed by a fire which eventually gutted the structure. That particular League fixture was the fifth of the 1968-69 season, and it followed four successive victories by Leeds which had given them a great start to the campaign and this was maintained until Manchester City defeated them at Maine Road. That began an uncomfortable Autumn spell for United which saw them go out of the League Cup in round four at Crystal Palace, and then crash 5-1 at Turf Moor to a youthful Burnley side that was then riding the crest of a wave. However, well before Burnley came to Elland Road nine weeks later, United had fully recovered and were themselves riding high, whilst the Lancashire club had been having an indifferent period and they were crushed with Peter Lorimer two, Johnny Giles, Billy Bremner, Mick Jones and Eddie Gray all indulging in a six-goal scoring riot, that fully avenged the humiliation suffered at Turf Moor. Leeds United had by now developed into the best team in England, with ten individuals able to boast of full international honours, and it is true to say that at club level they were probably the hardest side in the world to beat as their record over the next few months would prove. It appeared that the only thing that could prevent Leeds from winning the First Division title, was involvement in the kind of chaotic fixture tangle that they had struggled with in each of the seasons since promotion, and with this in mind many fans were surprised, but not unduly disturbed, when Sheffield Wednesday won an F.A. Cup third round re-play at Elland Road in January. This defeat meant that the only other distraction to contend with was the Fairs' Cup and when United made their exit from that 1968-69 competition at the quarter-final stage against Ujpest Dozsa, it really cleared the decks for the run-in to the 'big one'. |
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