defeat. Bremner was cruelly adjudged tohave handled the ball in the penalty area, giving the Spaniards a penalty which was duly converted:
âIt was an absolute bloody joke that penalty, I never used my hand to intentionally stop it or control it, if someone strikes a ball at you there is little you can do to stop it hitting you, sometimes your reflexes cause involuntary actions. It was never a penalty. The referee got it wrong and I told him so; I told him he couldn't manage a game of tiddlywinks. I don't suppose he knew what that was! Ultimately, he bowed to player and crowd pressure in my opinion.â
The second leg at Elland Road resulted in a 2-1 Leeds victory, meaning the semi-final had finished all level at 2-2 on aggregate. A play-off game was necessary. Jack Charlton, who had been handed temporary captaincy following the injury to Bobby Collins, won the toss to give Leeds home advantage in the third and final game. From a Leeds perspective the game was very much a non-event. Zaragoza scored three times in quick succession, all inside the first thirteen minutes, to kill the game dead. As a spectacle the game was over but the fans did at least having something to cheer when a late consolation goal from Jack Charlton added a little respectability to the scoreline:
âIt was a depressing result, we quite simply did not get out of the starting blocks until half time by which time it was too late. We were taught a bitter lesson that game by a team with immense quality and focus. Thankfully we were willing scholars and profited from all of the experiences we encountered.â
8
âLEADING LEEDS UNITED
WAS MY DESTINYâ
The European tie against Torino was to have a great impact upon the playing career of Billy Bremner, far greater than he could ever have anticipated. He recalled a meeting with manager Don Revie shortly after the tie:
âThe boss asked me to give him half an hour for a chat and a catch-up meeting. He was worried about how the loss of Bobby's influence on the pitch had affected the rest of the lads. Big Jack had done a good job in covering the role, yet by his own admission, he had lost it completely against Valencia. It was obvious that Bobby was going to be out for a long time and that the boss wasn't comfortable with Big Jack as acting captain. I told him not to worry about it â as a set of players we would keep fighting and do our bit to make sure we pushed on. He said to me, âBill, I like that attitude, keep fighting. How do you feel about taking over the captaincy?â It came as a bit of a surprise as I hadn't considered the situation. He told me that he thought I was the natural leader of the team and that I would make a great team captain. I told him that I would not do it if Jack (Charlton) was going to be upset by the decision. I had a lot of respect for the big man, we had an excellent understanding on and off the field and there was no way I would deliberately hurt or offend him. The fact that he was about four foot taller than me hadn't escaped my attention either!
âLooking back, I can see that the boss was using his own management tactics to instil a more positive side to my game. I had, at times, an excitable temperament on the pitch, somepeople called it a short fuse. One reporter said I was a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode, but that was far from true in my opinion. If anything, I was too honest. If I saw someone commit a foul against a fellow Leeds player and the referee missed it, then I would have a word with the player, but sometimes, very often really, the other player disagreed with my opinion which would end up with me getting into trouble. As team captain I had to lead by example so if I was sent off or was too hot-headed then this would affect the team. I had to take responsibility and show self-control.
âFrom the day I took on the captain's role I felt that I matured as a person, it was a great honour. Looking back upon it now, it
âIt was an absolute bloody joke that penalty, I never used my hand to intentionally stop it or control it, if someone strikes a ball at you there is little you can do to stop it hitting you, sometimes your reflexes cause involuntary actions. It was never a penalty. The referee got it wrong and I told him so; I told him he couldn't manage a game of tiddlywinks. I don't suppose he knew what that was! Ultimately, he bowed to player and crowd pressure in my opinion.â
The second leg at Elland Road resulted in a 2-1 Leeds victory, meaning the semi-final had finished all level at 2-2 on aggregate. A play-off game was necessary. Jack Charlton, who had been handed temporary captaincy following the injury to Bobby Collins, won the toss to give Leeds home advantage in the third and final game. From a Leeds perspective the game was very much a non-event. Zaragoza scored three times in quick succession, all inside the first thirteen minutes, to kill the game dead. As a spectacle the game was over but the fans did at least having something to cheer when a late consolation goal from Jack Charlton added a little respectability to the scoreline:
âIt was a depressing result, we quite simply did not get out of the starting blocks until half time by which time it was too late. We were taught a bitter lesson that game by a team with immense quality and focus. Thankfully we were willing scholars and profited from all of the experiences we encountered.â
8
âLEADING LEEDS UNITED
WAS MY DESTINYâ
The European tie against Torino was to have a great impact upon the playing career of Billy Bremner, far greater than he could ever have anticipated. He recalled a meeting with manager Don Revie shortly after the tie:
âThe boss asked me to give him half an hour for a chat and a catch-up meeting. He was worried about how the loss of Bobby's influence on the pitch had affected the rest of the lads. Big Jack had done a good job in covering the role, yet by his own admission, he had lost it completely against Valencia. It was obvious that Bobby was going to be out for a long time and that the boss wasn't comfortable with Big Jack as acting captain. I told him not to worry about it â as a set of players we would keep fighting and do our bit to make sure we pushed on. He said to me, âBill, I like that attitude, keep fighting. How do you feel about taking over the captaincy?â It came as a bit of a surprise as I hadn't considered the situation. He told me that he thought I was the natural leader of the team and that I would make a great team captain. I told him that I would not do it if Jack (Charlton) was going to be upset by the decision. I had a lot of respect for the big man, we had an excellent understanding on and off the field and there was no way I would deliberately hurt or offend him. The fact that he was about four foot taller than me hadn't escaped my attention either!
âLooking back, I can see that the boss was using his own management tactics to instil a more positive side to my game. I had, at times, an excitable temperament on the pitch, somepeople called it a short fuse. One reporter said I was a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode, but that was far from true in my opinion. If anything, I was too honest. If I saw someone commit a foul against a fellow Leeds player and the referee missed it, then I would have a word with the player, but sometimes, very often really, the other player disagreed with my opinion which would end up with me getting into trouble. As team captain I had to lead by example so if I was sent off or was too hot-headed then this would affect the team. I had to take responsibility and show self-control.
âFrom the day I took on the captain's role I felt that I matured as a person, it was a great honour. Looking back upon it now, it
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