Brian Greenhoff (28 April 1953 – 22 May 2013) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Manchester United,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

18 times for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career

Manchester United

Greenhoff was born in Barnsley, and as a youngster played for Yorkshire Schoolboys. He joined Manchester United as a youth player in August 1968, and made his first-team debut against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

on 8 September 1973. He helped Manchester United win the 1977

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, by which time he had developed a partnership with

Martin Buchan Martin McLean Buchan (born 6 March 1949) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Born in Aberdeen, he played for Aberdeen, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He also played in 34 international matches for Sc ...

in central defence. He was very versatile, starting his career as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and finishing it as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

of international class. Greenhoff scored 17 goals in his Manchester United career and played 271 games between 1973 and 1979. His brother, Jimmy, also played for Manchester United. Greenhoff was brought to Manchester United as one of the last of the

Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United F.C. chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of ...

, scouted by Joe Armstrong - his childhood affinity with United, due to Barnsley born Tommy Taylor starring, played a huge role in persuading him to join the European Champions despite interest from the more local club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, managed by

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

. A succession of injuries prevented him from making his debut as a teenager until Docherty took over at Old Trafford. Upon greeting Greenhoff, Tommy exclaimed, "I've got you at last. The long way round, but I've got you at last." Following his debut at

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internation ...

, Greenhoff was essentially an ever-present, one of the most vital components of Docherty's exciting young team. Despite relegation in the 1973–74 season, Greenhoff's performances had been one of the few plusses, causing him to be named the Supporters Player of the Season. Though used more often in midfield, Greenhoff was more comfortable playing at centre half - due to his talent on the ball and willingness to work hard for the team, he ended up being played in every position for the United first team - including in goal, when Alex Stepney was injured in a game at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. Eventually Greenhoff was moved back into his preferred centre half position - by accident, according to Docherty, as his team were chasing a goal in a cup tie - and the modern United centre half was born. Disappointment in the

1976 FA Cup Final The 1976 FA Cup Final was the 95th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 1 May 1976 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Manchester United and Southampton. United had finished third in the First Division that season, and were strong fav ...

, where the image of a tearful Greenhoff being consoled by his manager became an iconic one, was followed by the best season of the player's career in 1976–77. A man of the match performance against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in the UEFA Cup came in a strong start to the season, where he also became a regular at the heart of the defence in the England national team. In the

1977 FA Cup Final The 1977 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1976–77 FA Cup, the 96th season of England's premier cup football competition. The match was played on 21 May 1977 at Wembley Stadium, London, and it was contested by Manchester United and Liver ...

, it is commonly agreed that Greenhoff was the man of the match.

Leeds United

Greenhoff left for

in 1979 for £350,000, which at the time was a record transfer for anyone leaving Manchester United. He was given a free transfer when Leeds were relegated in 1982. During his time with Leeds there had been concerns expressed about his weight. He returned to the game as player-coach at

after his brother had been appointed player-manager in 1983. He left the club when Jimmy was sacked in March 1984 but stayed in the area.

International career

He won 18

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for

, and appeared once for England B. Greenhoff played four times for the England under 23 team, scoring once and made his debut for England on 8 May 1976 in a 1–0 win at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. His last game came on 31 May 1980 in a friendly against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney.

Non-League football

Following his retirement from the professional game, Greenhoff coached semi-professionally at a local level and was also able to dedicate some time to his other sporting love, cricket, at a semi-professional level for Norden. His match-winning exploits in a local rivalry game against Heywood made the local press.

Retirement

After his retirement altogether from playing sports, Greenhoff was regularly seen in the media giving his thoughts on Manchester United. In 2012, he released his autobiography, ''GREENHOFF!'' with the title dedicated to the chant that was given to him by the

Stretford End The Stretford End, also known as the West Stand, at Old Trafford, the stadium of Manchester United Football Club, takes its name from nearby Stretford. The stand is divided into two tiers and, in common with the rest of the stadium, has a cantile ...

Death

On 22 May 2013, Greenhoff died at his home in

, England.

Honours

Club

;Manchester United . Football League Second Division Championship : 1974-1975 *

: 1976–77 * FA Charity Shield:

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

References

External links

Leeds profile
at Leeds United F.C. History {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenhoff, Brian 1953 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Barnsley English footballers England international footballers England B international footballers Expatriate footballers in Finland Manchester United F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Rovaniemen Palloseura players Rochdale A.F.C. players English Football League players England under-23 international footballers Association football defenders FA Cup Final players