The Revie Plan was a tactical system in

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

used by

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the 1950s. The system was named after Manchester City player

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

, who had the most important role in it. In 1953, English football was astounded by the Hungarian team which beat

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 ...

6–3 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. The Revie plan was a variation on the tactics used by the Hungarians, involving Don Revie playing as a deep-lying

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, in a similar manner to Hungarian striker

Nándor Hidegkuti Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a ...

. Revie started attacks by coming into the centre of the field to receive the ball, drawing the opposing

centre-half 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 s ...

out of position. The role can be retroactively compared to the modern

false 9 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

role. The system was first implemented by the Manchester City reserve team, at the behest of

Johnny Williamson Johnny Williamson (8 May 1929 – 27 August 2021) was a footballer who played as a forward for Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers in the 1950s. Williamson made his Manchester City debut on 1 April 1950 in a 4–1 defeat against Arsenal. H ...

and Ken Barnes. Using the system, with Williamson playing the main deep-lying centre-forward, the reserve team went unbeaten for the last 26 games of the 1953–54 season. Before the start of the 1954–55 season, Manchester City manager

Les McDowall Les McDowall (25 October 1912 – 18 August 1991) was a Scottish football player and manager. He managed Manchester City between 1950 and 1963, and then Oldham Athletic until 1965. McDowall was the longest serving manager in Manchester City's h ...

called his team into pre-season training two weeks early to try the new tactic. Manchester City lost their first game using the system 5–0, but as the players became more used to the system it started to become more successful. Using the system Manchester City reached the

1955 FA Cup Final The 1955 FA Cup Final was the 74th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 7 May 1955 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Newcastle United and Manchester City. Newcastle won the match 3–1, thus winning the FA Cup for the third time in ...

, but lost to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

3–1. The following year City again reached the final where they played

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. Since 2011, the first te ...

, this time winning 3–1.

References

External links

* Association football terminology Association football tactics Manchester City F.C. {{footy-stub