1969–70 Leeds United A.F.C. season

Leeds United
1969–70 season
ChairmanPercy Woodward
ManagerDon Revie
StadiumElland Road
First Division2nd
FA CupRunners-up
League CupThird round
European CupSemi-final
FA Charity ShieldWinners

The 1969–70 season was Leeds United's 43th season in the Football League, and their sixth consecutive season in the First Division. Along with the First Division, they competed in the FA Cup, Football League Cup and the European Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 1969 to 30 June 1970.

Background

Season summary

At the beginning of the 1969–70 season Don Revie completed the signing of Allan Clarke from Leicester City, in the hope of trying to win all three of the major competitions – the League, the FA Cup and the European Cup. In the end, they won none of them – in the League, Leeds were runners up to Everton, and in the European Cup they went out in the semifinals to Celtic. Leeds also reached the FA Cup final and, despite a memorable performance from Eddie Gray, lost to Chelsea after a replay. Revie's Leeds were victims of their own success; FA rules at the time stipulated that a squad of only 20 players could be used, and as a consequence some of the Leeds players took part in 62 competitive games that season. Additionally, FA rules only allowed the use of one substitute, and even then only in case of injury. Other factors, such as fixture congestion and the FA's insistence that Leeds play 9 games in 22 days (the 1969–70 season was foreshortened by England's early departure to Mexico to defend the World Cup) meant that Revie was often forced to field tired players. Geoffrey Green of the Times wrote: "It has been a strenuous slog, greatly pressurised by the loss of a month because of the demands of Mexican acclimatisation for England's players in the World Cup. None have suffered more than Leeds United's players ... At the beginning of March, Leeds looked capable of winning everything and anything, including the General Election. At that time they seemed unbeatable, but in the end a condensed programme of highly competitive fixtures overwhelmed them. Should it be any consolation to them, Leeds have now probably won something more in defeat as good losers than they would have done in many hours of victorious celebrating – universal public sympathy."[1]

At the end of the season, Leeds won only the Charity Shield, although consolation came in the form of Manager of the Year and Player of the Year awards for Revie and Bremner respectively.

Competitions

First Division

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Everton (C) 42 29 8 5 72 34 2.118 66 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Leeds United 42 21 15 6 84 49 1.714 57 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
3 Chelsea 42 21 13 8 70 50 1.400 55 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
4 Derby County 42 22 9 11 64 37 1.730 53 Qualification for the Watney Cup[b]
5 Liverpool 42 20 11 11 65 42 1.548 51 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Chelsea qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1969–70 FA Cup winners.
  2. ^ Derby County and Manchester United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

Matches

Win Draw Loss
First Division match results[2]
Date Opponent Venue Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
9 August 1969 Tottenham Hotspur Home 3–1 Bremner, Clarke, Giles (pen.) 35,804
13 August 1969 Arsenal Home 0–0 37,164
16 August 1969 Nottingham Forest Away 4–1 Clarke, Giles (pen.), Gray, Lorimer 34,290
19 August 1969 Arsenal Away 1–1 Lorimer 45,160
23 August 1969 Newcastle United Home 1–1 Jones 40,403
26 August 1969 Burnley Away 1–1 Jones 28,000
30 August 1969 Everton Away 2–3 Bremner, Clarke 51,797
6 September 1969 Manchester United Home 2–2 Sadler (o.g.), Bremner 44,271
13 September 1969 Sheffield Wednesday Away 2–1 Clarke, Gray 31,998
20 September 1969 Chelsea Home 2–0 Giles (pen.), Lorimer 33,130
27 September 1969 Coventry City Away 2–1 Clarke, Gray 36,091
4 October 1969 Stoke City Home 2–1 Giles (2, 2 pens.) 35,860
11 October 1969 West Bromwich Albion Away 1–1 Jones 33,688
18 October 1969 Crystal Palace Away 1–1 Lorimer 31,910
25 October 1969 Derby County Home 2–0 Clarke (2) 44,183
29 October 1969 Nottingham Forest Home 6–1 Lorimer (3), Charlton, Bates, Hibbitt 29,636
1 November 1969 Sunderland Away 0–0 31,842
8 November 1969 Ipswich Town Home 4–0 Giles, Jones, Hunter, Gray 26,497
15 November 1969 Southampton Away 1–1 Jones 23,963
19 November 1969 Sunderland Home 2–0 Jones, Lorimer 25,890
22 November 1969 Liverpool Home 1–1 Giles (pen.) 43,293
29 November 1969 Manchester City Away 2–1 Gray, Jones 44,590
6 December 1969 Wolverhampton Wanderers Home 3–1 Holsgrove (o.g.), Charlton, Clarke 33,090
13 December 1969 Sheffield Wednesday Home 2–0 Clarke (2) 31,114
17 December 1969 West Ham United Home 4–1 Lorimer (2), Clarke, Giles 30,699
26 December 1969 Newcastle United Away 1–2 Giles 54,527
27 December 1969 Everton Home 2–1 Jones (2) 46,770
10 January 1970 Chelsea Away 5–2 Clarke, Cooper, Giles (pen.), Lorimer, Jones 57,221
17 January 1970 Coventry City Home 3–1 Clarke (2), Charlton 34,295
26 January 1970 Manchester United Away 2–2 Jones, Bremner 60,514
31 January 1970 Stoke City Away 1–1 Giles 35,908
10 February 1970 West Bromwich Albion Home 5–1 Gray, Jones, Giles (2), Lorimer 31,515
14 February 1970 Tottenham Hotspur Away 1–1 Lorimer 41,713
28 February 1970 Crystal Palace Home 2–0 Jones (2) 37,138
7 March 1970 Liverpool Away 0–0 51,435
21 March 1970 Wolverhampton Wanderers Away 2–1 Jones, Clarke 35,057
28 March 1970 Southampton Home 1–3 Lorimer 38,370
30 March 1970 Derby County Away 1–4 Kennedy 41,011
2 April 1970 West Ham United Away 2–2 Clarke (2) 26,140
4 April 1970 Burnley Home 2–1 Gray (2) 24,691
18 April 1970 Manchester City Home 1–3 Belfitt 22,932
21 April 1970 Ipswich Town Away 2–3 Hibbitt, Gray 16,875

FA Cup

Win Draw Loss
FA Cup match results[3]
Round Date Opponent Venue Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
Third round 3 January 1970 Swansea Town Home 2–1 Giles, Jones 30,246
Fourth round 24 January 1970 Sutton United Away 6–0 Clarke (4), Lorimer (2) 14,000
Fifth round 7 February 1970 Mansfield Town Home 2–0 Giles, Clarke 48,093
Sixth round 21 February 1970 Swindon Town Away 2–0 Clarke (2) 27,500
Semi-final 14 March 1970 Manchester United Neutral 0–0 55,000
Semi-final replay 23 March 1970 Manchester United Neutral 0–0 62,500
Semi-final second replay 26 March 1970 Manchester United Neutral 1–0 Bremner 56,000
Final 11 April 1970 Chelsea Neutral 2–2 (a.e.t.) Charlton, Jones 100,000
Final replay 29 April 1970 Chelsea Neutral 1–2 (a.e.t.) Jones 62,078

League Cup

Win Draw Loss
League Cup match details[4]
Round Date Opponent Venue Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
Second round 3 September 1969 Fulham Away 1–0 Charlton 20,446
Third round 24 September 1969 Chelsea Home 1–1 Madeley 21,933
Third round replay 6 October 1969 Chelsea Away 0–2 38,485

European Cup

Win Draw Loss
European Cup match details[5]
Round Date Opponent Venue Result
F–A
Scorers Attendance
First round, first leg 17 September 1969 Lyn Home 10–0 O'Grady, Jones (3), Clarke (2), Giles (2), Bremner (2) 25,979
First round, second leg 1 October 1969 Lyn Away 6–0 Hibbitt (2), Belfitt (2), Jones, Lorimer 7,595
Second round, first leg 12 November 1969 Ferencváros Home 3–0 Giles, Jones (2) 37,291
Second round, second leg 26 November 1969 Ferencváros Away 3–0 Jones (2), Lorimer 5,400
Third round, first leg 4 March 1970 Standard Liège Away 1–0 Lorimer 38,000
Third round, second leg 11 March 1970 Standard Liège Home 1–0 Giles (pen.) 48,775
Semi-final, first leg 1 April 1970 Celtic Home 0–1 45,505
Semi-final, second leg 15 April 1970 Celtic Away 1–2 Bremner 136,505

FA Charity Shield

Leeds United2–1Manchester City
Gray 55'
Charlton 58'
Report Bell 90'
Attendance: 39,835
Referee: K. H. Burns
Leeds United
Manchester City
GK Wales Gary Sprake
RB England Paul Reaney
LB England Terry Cooper
RH Scotland Billy Bremner (c)
CH England Jack Charlton
LH England Norman Hunter
OR England Paul Madeley
IR England Allan Clarke
CF England Mick Jones
IL Republic of Ireland Johnny Giles
OL Scotland Eddie Gray
Substitute
Scotland Peter Lorimer
Manager:
England Don Revie
GK England Joe Corrigan
RB England Tony Book (c)
LB England Glyn Pardoe
RH England Mike Doyle
CH England Tommy Booth
LH England Alan Oakes
OR England Mike Summerbee
IR England Colin Bell
CF England Francis Lee
IL England Neil Young
OL England Tony Coleman
Manager:
England Joe Mercer

References

  1. ^ "Treble heartbreak". mightyleeds. mightyleeds. 28 October 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  2. ^ Jarred, Martin (1987). Leeds United: A complete record, 1919–1986. Derby: Breedon Books Sport. pp. 110–111. ISBN 0-907969-17-8. OCLC 20934819.
  3. ^ Jarred, Martin (1987). Leeds United: A complete record, 1919–1986. Derby: Breedon Books Sport. pp. 151–152. ISBN 0-907969-17-8. OCLC 20934819.
  4. ^ Jarred, Martin (1987). Leeds United: A complete record, 1919–1986. Derby: Breedon Books Sport. pp. 158–159. ISBN 0-907969-17-8. OCLC 20934819.
  5. ^ Jarred, Martin (1987). Leeds United: A complete record, 1919–1986. Derby: Breedon Books Sport. p. 163. ISBN 0-907969-17-8. OCLC 20934819.