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Don Revie
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Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989), was a football player for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United (1961-1974) with great success, his reign becoming known as Leeds' "Glory Years", he managed England from 1974 until 1977.
e was born in Middlesbrough on 10 July 1927 and first signed as a footballer for Leicester City in 1944.
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Encyclopedia
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989), was a football player for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United (1961-1974) with great success, his reign becoming known as Leeds' "Glory Years", he managed England from 1974 until 1977.
Playing career
Revie was born in Middlesbrough on 10 July 1927 and first signed as a footballer for Leicester City in 1944. From there he went on to play for Hull City in 1949 (transfer fee £20,000), Manchester City in 1951 (£25,000), Sunderland in 1956 (£22,000) and Leeds United in 1958 (£12,000). The combined transfer fees paid over his career were at the time (i.e. in 1958) a record in English football.
He won six caps for England, was Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1955 and won an FA Cup winners medal with Manchester City in 1956. At Manchester City the playing tactic of using a deep-lying centre-forward (Revie's position, evolved from the more traditional inside-right), and based on the style of the successful Hungarian national team, and in particular Nándor Hidegkuti, who invented the role, became known as the "Revie Plan".
This tactic was of enormous significance in the development of football, moving permanently from the old 2-3-5 and WM tactics to 3-3-4, then 4-2-4 and 4-3-3 tactics.
Management career
Leeds United
Revie was made player-manager in March 1961 at Leeds. Although his tenure didn't get off to a flying start, he won the Football League Second Division within 3 years as manager and once promoted took them to second in the league and the FA Cup final in their first season in the top division. He developed the team that would by the early 1970s be the major force in English football. He was named English Manager of the Year in 1969, 1970, and 1972, and was awarded the OBE in 1970.
All in all Don guided Leeds to two Football League First Division titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cup titles, one Football League Second Division title and one Charity Shield. He also guided them to three more FA Cup Finals, one more Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final and one Cup Winners' Cup Final.
He was occasionally linked with other clubs during his tenure, most notably Everton in 1973, but his loyalty was unwavering.
England
In July 1974 Revie was offered the job of England national football manager ahead of such luminaries as future Leeds boss Jimmy Adamson, but was unable to reproduce the success he had enjoyed at Leeds. England failed to qualify for Euro 1976 under his reign, and he was vilified for lying about his whereabouts during qualification for the subsequent World Cup.
Middle East
In 1977 he controversially quit the role to become coach to the United Arab Emirates. The FA suspended Revie from football for 10 years on a charge of bringing the game into disrepute, which Revie successfully overturned in court. After leaving the UAE coaching role in 1980 he took over management of Al Nasr, followed in 1984 by the Egyptian club Al Ahly of Cairo. He left within a year because his wife was ill at the time.
After football
In 1987 he revealed that he was suffering from motor neurone disease, and he died in Edinburgh in May 1989, aged 61.
A controversial figure in his time, his team was criticised for its violent play and gamesmanship, most notably by Brian Clough (who like Revie hailed from Middlesbrough), although it was widely recognised as among the finest of its day. Revie's reputation suffered following his retirement due to the U.A.E. scandal and also because of highly controversial allegations that Revie had attempted to bribe opposition players and managers during his career - these allegations have been made by several senior players and coaches, such as Bob Stokoe, Jim Barron, Revie's own goalkeeper Gary Sprake and more recently Frank McLintock, who also said that on the whole his memories of Revie are good ones. These claims have not been proven. In the years following his death, Revie's reputation has at least partially recovered in spite of these scandals and he is now considered as one the finest managers in English football history.
Revie continues to be worshipped by the Leeds supporters and beloved by his former team. The kop at Leeds United's ground, Elland Road, is named after him. Revie was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact as a manager on the English league.
Career statistics
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|1946-47||rowspan="4"|Leicester City||rowspan="4"|Second Division||32||7||||||||||||||||
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|1947-48||15||2||||||||||||||||
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|1948-49||36||16||||||||||||||||
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|1949-50||13||0||||||||||||||||
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|1949-50||rowspan="3"|Hull City||rowspan="3"|Second Division||22||0||||||||||||||||
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|1950-51||41||8||||||||||||||||
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|1951-52||13||4||||||||||||||||
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|1951-52||rowspan="6"|Manchester City||rowspan="6"|First Division||26||5||||||||||||||||
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|1952-53||32||6||||||||||||||||
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|1953-54||37||12||||||||||||||||
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|1954-55||32||8||||||||||||||||
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|1955-56||21||4||||||||||||||||
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|1956-57||14||2||||||||||||||||
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|1956-57||rowspan="3"|Sunderland||rowspan="2"|First Division||16||2||||||||||||||||
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|1957-58||39||12||||||||||||||||
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|1958-59||Second Division||9||1||||||||||||||||
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|1958-59||rowspan="4"|Leeds United||rowspan="2"|First Division||20||2||||||||||||||||
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|1959-60||35||7||||||||||||||||
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|1960-61||rowspan="2"|Second Division||14||1||||||||||||||||
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|1962-62||7||1||||||||||||||||
474||100||||||||||||||||
474||100||||||||||||||||
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Honours
As a player
Manchester City
As a manager
Leeds United
Domestic Honours
European Honours
- European Cup Winners' Cup
Managerial statistics
External links
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