Billy Bremner
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional
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, rugb ...
and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great
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 ...
s, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stamina. He played for
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 ...
from 1959 to 1976, serving as captain from 1965, in one of the most successful periods in the club's history. At Leeds, Bremner won the First Division (1968–69 and 1973–74),
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
(1963–64),
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ( ...
(1968 and 1971),
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 compet ...
(1972),
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
(1968) and
FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...
(1969). The club also finished second in numerous competitions, being runners-up five times in the English league and seven times in cup finals, including the 1975
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
. He was also named as the
FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...
in 1970 and was listed on the
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...
in 1973–74. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the south-east corner of their
Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...
stadium. He has also been included in the
Football League 100 Legends The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Football League and Premier League football. The players were selected in 1998 by a panel of journa ...
and is a member of both the
English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and m ...
and
Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...
. Bremner played for
Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
from 1976 to 1978, before being appointed player-manager at
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
in November 1978. He spent seven years as Doncaster manager, guiding the club to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1980–81 and 1983–84, before he took on the manager's job at Leeds United in October 1985. He failed to gain promotion to the top flight and left the club in September 1988. He returned to Doncaster in July 1989, ending his second spell in charge in November 1991. Bremner is on the
Scotland national football team roll of honour The International Roll of Honour is a list established by the Scottish Football Association recognising players who have gained 50 or more international caps for Scotland. The roll of honour was launched in February 1988, when 11 players had alrea ...
for having won more than 50 caps for
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. He captained his country at the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
, where Scotland failed to advance from the group stage despite being unbeaten in the competition.


Club career


Leeds United

Born in
Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
,
Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...
, Scotland, to James and Bridget Bremner, he attended
St Modan's High School St Modan's Roman Catholic High School is an S1-S6 Catholic high school in Stirling, Scotland. History In September 1933, St Modan's High School was officially opened by Archbishop McDonald of St Andrew's and Edinburgh. It was located in Barnsda ...
and represented Scotland Schoolboys. His father forbade him from joining
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
as he did not want him involved in the religion-based rivalry with Rangers, and Bremner rejected both
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
and
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
as he did not enjoy his stay in London during trial spells with the two clubs, and was instead convinced to join
Bill Lambton William Lambton (2 December 1914 – 16 September 1976) was an English football player and manager. He played in goal for Nottingham Forest, Exeter City and Doncaster Rovers, although he made just three Football League appearances in total with ...
's
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 ...
in 1959. He joined along with his friend
Tommy Henderson Thomas Gibson Henderson (13 October 1887 – 14 August 1970) was an Independent unionist politician. He served in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1925 to 1953 in vigorous opposition to the Unionist governments on all issues othe ...
, who would return to Scotland due to homesickness without making a first team debut. Manager Jack Taylor gave him his debut at outside-right in a 3–1 win against
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
at Stamford Bridge, at the age of 17 years and 47 days; ''
Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' is a daily evening publication (delivered to newsagents every morning) published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The paper provides a regional slant on the day's news, and traditi ...
'' reporter Phil Brown noted that Bremner showed "enthusiasm, guts, intelligence, most accurate use of the ball and unselfishness" despite poor weather conditions. A ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' headline later dubbed him as " 10st of barbed wire" due to his tenacity and tough tackling. Regular outside-right Chris Crowe was sold to
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
in March 1960, allowing Bremner to take his place on a permanent basis. However, Leeds went on to be relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1959–60 season. Dropped following an opening day defeat by
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
at
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...
, Bremner had to win back his first team place later in the 1960–61 season after meeting with Jack Taylor to explain his frustration at being left out of the team. Taylor resigned in March 1961, and 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 mana ...
was promoted to manager. Revie rejected an approach of £25,000 from Hibernian for Bremner, despite the player wanting to return to Scotland to be with his fiancée. Leeds struggled in the 1961–62 campaign, finishing just three points above the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
relegation zone, despite 12 goals in 45 appearances from Bremner, who finished as the club's joint top-scorer alongside centre-half
Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...
. One bright spot was the signing of Bobby Collins in March, who helped form the "win-at-all-costs" attitude that defined Leeds and Bremner throughout the rest of Revie's 13 years as manager. United had a more promising 1962–63 campaign, finishing four points shy of promotion, though Bremner was limited to 24 appearances. He was out of form and dropped from the first team during the end of season run-in, which contained a disproportionately large number of games due to the high level of postponements that occurred during the harsh winter. Revie moved Bremner to central midfield, and bought
Manchester United 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 ...
's
Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as t ...
to create what would prove to be one of the most highly effective central midfield partnerships of the next 12 years. With Bremner, Collins and Giles in midfield, Leeds went on to win promotion as champions in the 1963–64 season. The club won no friends in doing so however, and the following summer were labelled by
the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
's own ''FA News'' as "the dirtiest eamin 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 ...
. In November of the 1964–65 season Bremner featured heavily in a win at Everton that was marred by violent clashes on the pitch, the game was stopped for a short spell ten minutes before half-time as the referee felt that a spell of cooling down was needed to prevent further violence; despite the referee only giving 12 Leeds fouls to Everton's 19 the match helped to cement United's reputation as a dirty and overly physical team. A run of victories put the club top by the new year, however they lost the title on goal average to Manchester United after drawing the last game of the season with already-relegated
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 ...
. The Manchester club would become a keen rival, one which intensified after Leeds knocked them out of the
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 compet ...
at the semi-finals after two physical encounters. Leeds faced
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
in
the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
, and the game went to extra-time after a 0–0 draw; Bremner scored a half-volley in the 100th minute to cancel out
Roger Hunt Roger Hunt (20 July 1938 – 27 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Eleven years with Liverpool, he was the club's record goalscorer with 286 goals until being overtaken by Ian Rush. Nonetheless, ...
's opener, but Ian St John won the game for Liverpool in the 113th minute. In October 1965, Leeds skipper Collins was injured in an
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ( ...
game against
Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
and Revie gave the captaincy to Bremner after initially handing the armband to Charlton for the remainder of the season; Charlton was keen to give up the captaincy as it prevented his superstitious ritual of coming out of the tunnel last on match days. Revie and Bremner had a strong bond of trust, which was why the manager gave him the captaincy at such a young age. Leeds finished second in the league in the 1965–66 campaign to Liverpool, who had finished six points clear at the top. A poor start to the 1966–67 season prevented another push for the title, and Leeds eventually finished in fourth place. They made it to the FA Cup semi-finals, before Chelsea knocked them out with a 1–0 win. In Europe they beat DWS (Netherlands),
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
(Spain),
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
(Italy) and
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
(Scotland) to reach the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final against
Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinam ...
(
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
); Zagreb won 2–0 at the
Stadion Maksimir Maksimir Stadium ( hr, Stadion Maksimir, ) is a multi-use stadium in Zagreb, Croatia. It takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir. The venue is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top club of the country with 23 le ...
and held Leeds to a 0–0 draw at Elland Road to leave Leeds with another second-place finish. The club had a slow start to the 1967–68 season but soon picked up, particularly so with a 7–0 victory over Chelsea, though for the second successive season they ended up in fourth spot. Success instead came from the cup competitions, as they first knocked out
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
, Bury,
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
,
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
and
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
in the League Cup en route to
the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
against
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
at Wembley; Leeds won the game 1–0 in a dour defensive manner but striker Jimmy Greenhoff later said it was the most memorable of the club's trophies due to it being the first such success. The second soon followed, despite a disappointment of exiting the FA Cup at the semi-final stage with defeat by Everton, as they reached
the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by beating CA Spora (
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
),
FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
(Yugoslavia), Hibernian (Scotland), Rangers (Scotland), and
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
(Scotland). They beat Ferencvárosi (Hungary) 1–0 at Elland Road and held them to a 0–0 draw at Népstadion to win the club's first European trophy. Revie targeted the title for the 1968–69 campaign and played Bremner in every league game as Leeds finished six points clear at the top to become champions of England for the first time. The title was secured with a 0–0 draw with title rivals Liverpool at
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...
on 28 April, after which Bremner led the players to applaud the Liverpool fans who responded by chanting "Champions, Champions, Champions ...". Leeds set a number of records: most points (67), most wins (27), fewest defeats (2), and most home points (39). A still-unbroken club record is their 34 match unbeaten run that extended into the following season. The 1969–70 season opened with victory in the
1969 FA Charity Shield The 1969 FA Charity Shield was the 47th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Football League and FA Cup competitions. The match was contested by the league champions, Leeds United, and Ma ...
, as Bremner captained Leeds to a 2–1 victory over
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 t ...
. With new arrival Allan Clarke played upfront alongside Mick Jones and
Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...
Revie had to instruct Bremner and Giles to resist the temptation to get forward and attack. It took the team some time to gel, as only two wins came from the opening eight league games, and Leeds eventually finished a distant second to champions Everton. They chased Everton all season only to give up on the title after a home defeat by
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
late in the campaign. In the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
Leeds recorded a club record 10–0 win over Norwegian side
Lyn Ubisoft Montpellier is a French video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Castelnau-le-Lez. Founded in 1994 as Ubi Pictures, it is best known for developing the ''Rayman'' and '' Beyond Good & Evil'' series. At 350 employees as of ...
, with Bremner netting two of the goals. However they exited the competition at the semi-final stage after two defeats to
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
; Bremner levelled the aggregate score by putting United 1–0 ahead in front of a competition record 136,505 spectators at
Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
, but Celtic came back to win the game and the tie with two second half goals. Further disappointment came in the 1970 FA Cup Final, where Leeds were beaten 2–1 by
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in extra-time of the replay at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...
. Bremner was named as
FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...
for the season. The league title in the 1970–71 season was decided in mid-April in front of the ''
Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...
'' cameras at Elland Road, when Leeds lost their lead at the top with defeat by
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
. The Leeds players blamed the referee for costing them the title as offside was not given for
Colin Suggett Colin Suggett (born 30 December 1948) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played as a midfielder in the Football League for Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City and Newcastle United. Born in Chester-le-St ...
for
Jeff Astle Jeffrey Astle (13 May 1942 – 19 January 2002) was an English professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a centre-forward for West Bromwich Albion. Nicknamed "the King" by the club's fans, he played 361 games for them and ...
's winner, and despite Bremner saying "But we fight on. Make no mistake about that, it is not over yet" Leeds could not overtake Arsenal, who went on to win the Double. Success instead came in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as Leeds knocked out
Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neig ...
(
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
),
Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Ka ...
(
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
),
Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...
(
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
), Vitória (
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
) and Liverpool to reach
the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
with
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...
(Italy). Bremner recovered from an ankle injury just in time to face Liverpool in the semi-finals, and scored the only goal of the two-legged tie with a header at Anfield. Leeds won the final on the
away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
after recording a 2–2 draw at the
Stadio Olimpico di Torino The Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino ( en, Grande Torino Olympic Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Turin, Italy. It is the home ground of Serie A club Torino Football Club. The stadium is located in Piazzale Grande Torino, in the dist ...
and then a 1–1 draw at Elland Road. Leeds finished second in the league for the third successive season in the 1971–72 campaign, despite playing some of the best football in the club's history. They knocked out
Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...
, Liverpool,
Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
,
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and
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 ...
to reach the
1972 FA Cup Final The 1972 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the centenary final (although only the 91st final due to the world wars) and the 44th to be played at Wembley. It was contested between cup holders Arsenal, who had won t ...
with Arsenal; they then won the trophy for the first time in the club's history with Allan Clarke scoring the final's only goal. Two days after the final Leeds could have secured the Double by winning a point against
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...
at Molineux, but a 2–1 defeat handed the title to
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
. On 3 February 1982, Bremner won £100,000
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
damages, along with legal costs, after he sued the ''
Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...
'' newspaper for publishing an article on 11 September 1977 that alleged he tried to fix football matches, including the May 1972 game at Wolves. Bremner donated the damages to a Leeds Hospice. The title was nowhere near as close in the 1972–73 season, which saw Leeds finish third, seven points behind Liverpool. However more runners-up medals came from the FA Cup and the
European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
. After Bremner scored the only goal of the semi-final clash with Wolves, Leeds went on to lose the
FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
1–0 to Second Division
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. They were then beaten 1–0 by Italian side
A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
at the
Kaftanzoglio Stadium Kaftanzoglio Stadium ( el, Καυτανζόγλειο στάδιο) is a sports stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. The stadium was built with money donated by the Kaftanzoglou Foundation, in honour of Lysandros Kaftanzoglou, hence its name. At th ...
in the European Cup Winners' Cup Final, though Bremner missed the final due to suspension. Revie instructed Bremner to be more attacking in the 1973–74 campaign, and the result was 11 goals in 52 appearances, his biggest goal tally in 12 years. The manager focused entirely on the league and told his team the aim was to go the season unbeaten, and although they lost three games they secured a second league title by a five-point margin on second-place Liverpool. Bremner was named on the
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...
and finished second in the FWA Footballer of the Year voting to
Ian Callaghan Ian Robert Callaghan MBE (born 10 April 1942) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) ...
. At the end of the season he was given a
testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...
against Sunderland which raised him £32,500; he had chosen the opponents in an attempt to avenge defeat in the previous year's FA Cup final. Manager Don Revie took the
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 ...
management job in July 1974. Bremner applied for the vacant Leeds job after Johnny Giles had been named by Revie as his successor, but instead the board surprised everyone by appointing
Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...
, who went on to a disastrous 44-day spell in charge of Leeds at the start of the 1974–75 season. Revie's departure was tough for Bremner, who had a strong bond with his manager. Leeds lost the 1974 FA Charity Shield in a penalty shoot-out to Liverpool, but more significantly Bremner and
Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...
were sent off for fighting and received eleven game suspensions. By the time Bremner was allowed to play again
Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...
was the manager, though he refuted the accusation that he had attempted to undermine Clough as "ridiculous". Teammate
Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...
insisted that the only criticism he had of Bremner was in applying for the management job against Giles, which had caused to board to look elsewhere for fear of dividing the dressing room by choosing between Bremner and Giles. Results improved with Bremner back in the side, and though they ended the season in ninth place, they were only eight points behind champions Derby. The club's biggest aim would be success in the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, and they made it to
the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
after knocking out
FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...
(Switzerland),
Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungarian professional association football, football club, based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in Nemzeti ...
(Hungary),
Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
(Belgium), and
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
(Spain). Their final opponents at
Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
were defending champions
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
(Germany), who beat Leeds 2–0; United had a goal controversially ruled out for offside and the tie ended in rioting by United fans. With most of the Revie built team retiring or moving on to other clubs, Armfield had to rebuild the squad, though Bremner would still play 38 games in the 1975–76 campaign. However, he missed a lengthy spell in the new year due to injury and results dipped during this time and ultimately ended the club's title hopes; they went on to end the campaign in fifth spot.


Hull City

Bremner signed with
Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
for a £25,000 fee on 23 September 1976, manager John Kaye feeling that Bremner's experience would benefit his youthful Second Division side. His debut at
Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a football stadium in Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the KC Stadium. In later years, financial constraints forced Hull City to allow Kwik Save and Iceland superma ...
came against Brian Clough's
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
, and Bremner was credited with scoring the winning goal of the game with a free-kick, though it seemed to have gone in with a significant deflection. Despite the good start results dipped midway through the 1976–77 season and the "Tigers" ended the season in 14th place. Despite suffering with a back injury Bremner was appointed as captain and played 32 games. He missed the 1977–78 pre-season with a knee injury, but recovered well enough to make 36 appearances throughout the campaign. Kaye was sacked after a poor start to the season, and was replaced by Bremner's former Leeds teammate Bobby Collins, who had joined the club as assistant manager in the summer; as at Leeds, Bremner had applied for the vacant managerial role, but was rejected. After being turned down for the job he announced his intention to retire as a player at the end of his contract in June 1978. The season was a disaster, and though Collins was sacked and replaced by youth coach
Ken Houghton Ken Houghton (born 18 October 1939, Rotherham) is a former football player and manager. A striker, he played for Rotherham United, Hull City and Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club ba ...
in February, results did not improve and Hull were relegated in last place, ten points from safety.


International career

Bremner was well established in the Scotland set-up, playing in a trial match against the
Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...
and winning four under-23 caps, before he made his senior debut for
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in May 1965, in a 0–0 draw with
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
at
Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
. He went on to feature in qualifying games for the
1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
, but defeats to
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
left Scotland second in their group, which was not enough to qualify. He also played in friendlies against
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, and received a black eye from
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...
's elbow in a clash during a high ball; despite this being an accident it still demonstrated to Bremner how he had failed to intimidate Pelé as he had done to many other great players of the day. The
England–Scotland football rivalry The England–Scotland football rivalry, between the England and Scotland national football teams, is the oldest international fixture in the world, first played in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. Scottish nationalism has been a factor in t ...
was intense throughout his playing career, and so great media attention came upon Bremner and the rest of the Scottish players after they beat world champions
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 ...
3–2 at Wembley to become the " unofficial world champions" on 15 April 1967. Many teammates said that Bremner held this match as one of the proudest moments of his career. Placed in a tough
group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
for
qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
to the
1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May t ...
, Scotland failed to qualify after finishing in second place. Bremner captained his country throughout the process, having first taken up the armband in a friendly defeat by
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. He scored his first international goal in a 2–1 qualifying victory over
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
at Hampden Park, his first game as captain. This game was followed by two victories over
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
and a 1–1 draw with
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, however a 3–2 defeat by West Germany in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
ended their hopes of making it to the World Cup. Bremner's second international goal came in a 3–2 win over
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
in a
British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
game at the
Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...
. Scotland were the only home nation to qualify for the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...
after finishing ahead of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and Denmark in their group. However, Bremner was nearly not selected by manager
Willie Ormond William Esplin Ormond (23 February 1927 – 4 May 1984) was a Scottish football player and manager. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s an ...
after Ormond found him drunk in a bar not long after
Jimmy Johnstone James Connolly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years, and was part of the 'Lisbon ...
had to be rescued by the
coastguard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
having gotten stranded in a rowing boat during a night out following a home international match against
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. Having been selected, Bremner captained Scotland to a 2–0 win over
Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
at the
Westfalenstadion Westfalenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA competitions, the n ...
. He was later accused by Zairian player
Ndaye Mulamba Pierre Ndaye Mulamba (4 November 1948 – 26 January 2019) was a association football, football midfielder from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire. He was nicknamed "Mutumbula" ("assassin") and "Volvo". Football career Mulamba ...
of racially abusing him during this match, as well as spitting at Mulamba and Mana Mamuwene. A highly creditable 0–0 draw against world champions Brazil left Scotland with high hopes of qualifying to the second round. Yet a 1–1 draw with
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
sent Scotland out of the competition unbeaten due to Brazil and Yugoslavia finishing level on points but with superior goal difference. Bremner's last cap came against Denmark on 3 September 1975. An incident in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
after the game where several players were ejected from a nightclub for an alleged fight led to a lifetime ban from international football by the
Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
; four other players, Willie Young,
Joe Harper Joseph Montgomery Harper (born 11 January 1948) is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he won the three main domestic trophies once each and became the club's record goalscorer with 20 ...
,
Pat McCluskey Patrick McCluskey (13 April 1952 – 24 August 2020) was a Scottish footballer. He spent most of his career in the Scottish League, except for part of one season in Ireland and one season in the United States. Career In 1970, McCluskey began h ...
and
Arthur Graham Arthur Graham (born 26 October 1952) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a left winger for Aberdeen, Leeds United, Manchester United, Bradford City and the Scotland national team. Club career Graham was raised in the C ...
also were banned for life (Graham and Harper later had their bans overturned). Bremner maintained his innocence, stating that the incident had been blown out of proportion by the SFA.


Management career


Doncaster Rovers

Bremner was appointed manager of struggling Fourth Division side
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
in November 1978. He oversaw a 1–0 win over
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 ...
at Belle Vue in his first match in charge. Results fluctuated during the 1978–79 season, demonstrated by a 7–1 defeat by struggling
AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
punctuating a run of five wins in six games. Rovers ended the season in 22nd place, though 11 points ahead of
Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
and
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
, and successfully applied to the Football League for re-election. He introduced massages and changed the canteen and team kit for the 1979–80 campaign. With no money available for transfers he was forced to turn to the youth team for new players, though he could afford to take on
Ian Nimmo Ian Nimmo (born 25 July 1985) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays as a lock forward. Nimmo moved to Perthshire, Scotland at the age of 14. He has been capped by Scotland at Under 19 and Under 20 levels and was included in the Scotland un ...
, Hugh Dowd, John Dowie and Billy Russell on free transfers. He appointed former Leeds coach Les Cocker as his assistant. The season started poorly, but the squad bonded following Cocker's death on 4 October and went on a run of six straight wins, for which Bremner was credited with the Fourth Division Manager of the Month award. However a run of just one win in 15 games followed, for which Bremner blamed his small squad and lack of training facilities. A mounting injury crisis caused him to make a return to playing on 29 March for the visit of Bournemouth, a game in which 16-year-old
Ian Snodin Ian Snodin (born 15 August 1963) is an English football manager, former professional player and sports analyst. As a player he was a midfielder, notably playing in the top flight for Leeds United and Everton, appearing in the Premier League f ...
was named on the bench. Rovers ended the season in 12th place. A disappointing opening sequence of the 1980–81 season was followed by six wins in six games in September, and Bremner won his second Manager of the Month award. The good results continued for the rest of the campaign, and Rovers were promoted in third place. He signed
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...
's Colin Douglas for the challenge of Third Division football, but otherwise remained loyal to his promotion squad for the approaching 1981–82 season. Another strong September, six wins seeing the club rise to second in the table, won Bremner the Third Division Manager of the Month award. However a lean spell would follow, and from November to February Doncaster failed to win in the league. Results again picked up with only two defeats in the last 14 games, and they ended the campaign in 19th spot, three points above the relegation zone. Strong competition promoted from the Fourth Division –
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...
,
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
and
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...
– made the 1982–83 campaign a tough prospect. A weak defence saw an unusual sequence of high-scoring matches early in the season: 6–1 win over
Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
, 7–5 win over
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, 6–3 defeat by Wigan, and a 4–4 draw with
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
. Only seven wins from the last 36 games of the season left Doncaster relegated in 23rd place, 16 points behind 20th-place
Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
. To try and win immediate promotion during the 1983–84 season Bremner signed veteran forward
Ernie Moss Ernest Moss (19 October 1949 – 11 July 2021) was an English footballer, most associated with his home town club, Chesterfield, where in three separate spells he made 539 appearances, scoring a club record 192 goals. He was later voted PFA ...
(who had won three promotions out of the division), Andy Kowalski, left-back
John Breckin John Breckin (born 27 July 1953) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is the uncle of Nottingham Forest defender, Ian Breckin and is also the great uncle of Manchester City midfielder, Kian Breckin (who c ...
, experienced defender Bill Green, and young midfielder Mark Miller. Investment by new director Peter Wetzel allowed Bremner to spend £120,000 on three players in March: £60,000 on
Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...
defender
John Philliben John Philliben (born 14 March 1964) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Career A schoolboy international, Philliben started his career at Stirling Albion. In 1982, he was part of the Scotland under-18 side which won ...
, £25,000 on young Celtic midfielder
Jim Dobbin James Dobbin (26 May 1941 – 6 September 2014) was a British Labour Co-operative politician and microbiologist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Heywood and Middleton from 1997 until his death in 2014. Early life Jim Dobbin was ...
, and £35,000 on
Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
defender Alan Brown. Promotion was secured in comfortable fashion, as they finished as runners-up to runaway champions
York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
, ten points above fifth-place
Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
. Building for the 1984–85 campaign, Bremner signed former Leeds striker Aiden Butterworth and winger John Buckley (£25,000 from
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
). Doncaster won five of their opening seven games, and though they were unable to sustain a promotion push they showed their ability with a 1–0 win over eventual champions Bradford at
Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they c ...
on Boxing Day and a 1–0
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 compet ...
win over First Division side
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on 5 January. Rovers finished the season in 14th place, some distance from the promotion and the relegation places. To pay for stadium upgrades necessitated by the aftermath of the
Bradford City stadium fire The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday, 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...
Doncaster were forced to sell Ian and
Glynn Snodin Glynn Snodin (born 14 February 1960) is an English football coach, and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1977 to 1998. He played for Doncaster Rovers and later made just under 100 appearances for Leeds United an ...
, who went to Leeds and
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
and respectively for a total of £315,000. To replace then he bought Dave Rushbury from Gillingham for £10,000 and spent £60,000 on
Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
defender Dave Cusack.


Leeds United manager

Bremner was appointed as Leeds United manager in October 1985, having impressed the boardroom with his work at Doncaster, particularly his negotiation skills during the sale of
Ian Snodin Ian Snodin (born 15 August 1963) is an English football manager, former professional player and sports analyst. As a player he was a midfielder, notably playing in the top flight for Leeds United and Everton, appearing in the Premier League f ...
; Leeds paid Doncaster £45,000 in compensation. The club had declined during his absence; Leeds had dropped down into the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
, sold
Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...
to the council to raise money, and club supporters picked up a reputation for violence after regular hooligan riots in the stands. He quickly reinstated
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 mana ...
's philosophy and his little traditions, for example he reinstated the sessions of carpet bowls on Friday evenings. Despite this he appointed
Ian Snodin Ian Snodin (born 15 August 1963) is an English football manager, former professional player and sports analyst. As a player he was a midfielder, notably playing in the top flight for Leeds United and Everton, appearing in the Premier League f ...
as club captain, and dropped former captain and teammate
Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...
from the starting line eleven. He also moved on the young players signed by former manager and teammate Eddie Gray, choosing to sign experienced players in their place. Five key young players to leave the club were
Scott Sellars Scott Sellars (born 27 November 1965) is an ex English football coach and former professional footballer who is ex Technical Director at Wolverhampton Wanderers. As a player, he was a winger who made more than 500 appearances, notably playing ...
(£20,000 to
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
),
Terry Phelan Terrence Phelan (born 16 March 1967) is a football coach and former professional footballer. He is the technical director of Indian I-League 2nd Division side South United FC. Nicknamed "The Scuttler", he played as a left-back In the sport ...
(free transfer to Swansea City),
Denis Irwin Joseph Denis Irwin (born 31 October 1965) is an Irish former professional footballer and sports television presenter. As a player, he played as a full-back from 1983 to 2004. Irwin is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester ...
, Tommy Wright and
Andy Linighan Andrew Linighan (born 18 June 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1980 until 2000, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal and Crystal Palace. He also played in the Football League for Hartlepool ...
(all to
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...
for £60,000, £55,000 and £80,000 respectively). The money raised allowed him to buy central defender Brendan Ormsby (£65,000 from
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
), and also sign David Rennie,
Brian Caswell Brian Caswell (born 13 January 1954) is an Australian author of young adult fiction. Biography Brian Caswell was born in a village called Gwernaffield in Wales, on 13 January 1954. His family moved to England, when he was 5 years old. When he ...
and Ronnie Robinson. Leeds struggled in the 1985–86 season, but managed to steer away from the relegation zone to finish in 14th place. During the 1986 close season, Bremner spent £125,000 on 29-year-old
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
striker Keith Edwards, and a further £80,000 to bring in 31-year-old
Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
defender Jack Ashurst and
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 ...
defender
Peter Haddock Peter Murray Haddock (born 9 December 1961) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League as a centre back or right back for Newcastle United, Burnley and Leeds United. Haddock was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and joined h ...
. Other new arrivals were winger Russell Doig (£15,000 from
East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...
), goalkeeper
Ronnie Sinclair Ronald McDonald Sinclair (born 19 November 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. As a player he made 275 league and cup appearances in a 16-year professional career in the English Football League with N ...
(free transfer from
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
) and midfielder John Buckley (£35,000 from Doncaster Rovers, having also signed him whilst at Doncaster). Aiming for a promotion push in the 1986–87 campaign, Leeds were stuck in mid-table by February after selling Snodin to Everton for £840,000. This sale though allowed Bremner money for further signings and he took left-back Bobby McDonald from
Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
, full-back
Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...
from
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
for £110,000, and striker John Pearson and defender
Mark Aizlewood Mark Aizlewood (born 1 October 1959) is a Welsh manager and former professional footballer who currently manages Cymru South side Carmarthen Town. Having started his football career at his hometown club Newport County, making his professiona ...
from
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
for £72,000 and £200,000 respectively. A 2–1
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 compet ...
Fifth Round victory over First Division side
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
then raised belief in the players, and they qualified for the play-offs by the end of the campaign. The FA Cup run continued into the semi-finals, where they were knocked out 3–2 by Coventry City at Hillsborough in a close-run game that ran into extra-time. After overcoming Oldham in the play-off semi-final their opponents in the play-off final were Charlton Athletic, and after 1–0 home wins in both legs the tie went to a replay at St Andrew's. John Sheridan put Leeds ahead in extra-time of the replay, but two late goals from
Peter Shirtliff Peter Andrew Shirtliff (born 6 April 1961) is an English football coach and former player. As a player, he made more than 500 appearances in the Football League playing as a central defender for Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic, Wolverham ...
changed the game and denied Leeds promotion. Bremner signed a new three-year contract in the 1987 close season. New arrivals at the club were
Glynn Snodin Glynn Snodin (born 14 February 1960) is an English football coach, and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1977 to 1998. He played for Doncaster Rovers and later made just under 100 appearances for Leeds United an ...
(£150,000 from
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
), winger
Gary Williams Gary Bruce Williams (born March 4, 1945) is an American university administrator and former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Maryland, the Ohio State University, Boston College, and American University. I ...
(£230,000 from
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
) and Bobby Davison (£350,000 from
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
), as well as
Jim Melrose James Millsopp Melrose (born 7 October 1958) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Melrose made nearly 400 appearances in the Scottish and English Football Leagues between 1975 and 1990, scoring nearly 100 goals. ...
and Ken DeMange. A more significant new face was
David Batty David Batty (born 2 December 1968) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Batty played for Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. Whilst with Leeds he was part of the team that won the ...
, a key player of the future who was given his debut from the youth team. United started the season inconsistently, but five straight wins in December won Bremner the Second Division Manager of the Month award. The inconsistent results returned however, and Leeds finished the 1987–88 season in seventh place, eight points outside the play-offs. Bremner did not enjoy a good relationship with the club's board, who felt him to be uncommunicative with them, and after a poor start to the 1988–89 season he was sacked in September 1988. His successor,
Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...
, was given money to spend by the board and Leeds went on to win promotion in 1990.


Return to Doncaster Rovers

In July 1989 Bremner went back as manager to
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
, who had fallen back into the Fourth Division during his absence. He signed Lincoln City winger John McGinley and Leeds midfielder John Stiles, and led the club to a 20th-place finish in 1989–90, which represented a small improvement on the previous season. Greater success came in the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
, Rovers reaching the area finals, where they were beaten by Third Division leaders
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
. New additions for the 1990–91 campaign were
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
goalkeeper
Paul Crichton Paul Andrew Crichton (born 3 October 1968) is an English football coach and former footballer. He is he goalkeeper coach of National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride. Aa a player he was a goalkeeper from 1986 to 2011. During his playi ...
,
Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
defender
Andy Holmes Andrew John Holmes (15 October 1959 – 24 October 2010)Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
midfielder
Eddie Gormley Eddie Gormley (born 23 October 1968) is an Irish football coach and former player who is currently manager of Cabinteely. Early career Educated at Cabinteely Community School where he played for the School Junior & Senior teams, and also pla ...
, as well as his former Leeds captain Brendan Ormsby. Rovers were top of the table at the turn of the year, but injuries and lack of form caused results to fall away, as did hopes of promotion, and Doncaster finished the campaign in 11th place. Rovers started the 1991–92 season badly and Bremner tendered his resignation on 2 November, with the club sitting bottom of the Football League.


Personal life

He married Vicky Dick in November 1961. He had a ghost-written column in ''
Shoot In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the spri ...
'' throughout the 1970s. After retiring from football in November 1991 he took up work as an after dinner speaker. At the beginning of December 1997, Bremner was rushed to hospital after suffering from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
, but suffered a suspected
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at his
Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
home in the small village of
Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...
and died two days before his 55th birthday. His funeral, attended by many of Bremner's former team-mates and other football players and coaches, was held four days later in the Yorkshire village of New
Edlington Edlington is a town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, lying to the south west of Doncaster and Warmsworth. It has a population of 8,276. The original parish town of Edlington is now known as ''Old Edlington ...
.


Legacy

A statue by sculptor Frances Segelman of Bremner in celebratory pose was erected outside
Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...
in tribute in 1999. In 1988, the Football League, as part of its centenary season celebrations, included Bremner on its list of 100 League Legends. He was inducted into both the
English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and m ...
and the
Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...
. He was inducted into the
National Football Museum The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia. The museum was originally b ...
Hall of Fame in 2004, with the acknowledgement that: "his priceless precision passing, stamina and skill led him to become a Leeds United legend and one of the games' greatest midfielders" and that he "was not simply tough but a skilful player with an ability to score in crucial games". In 2006, he was voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time. In September 2013 he was voted as the greatest captain in the Football League's history. Bremner was portrayed by
Stephen Graham Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...
in the 2009 biographical drama film ''
The Damned United ''The Damned United'' is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel ''The Damned Utd'' – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian ...
'', directed by
Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Hooper began making short films as a teenager and had his first professional short, ...
and starring
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage role ...
as Brian Clough. In late 2021 and early 2022, the University of Stirling began research into Billy Bremner’s life. They have consulted local sources, including former St Modan’s pupils as researchers, which is where Bremner attended high school.


Career statistics


Club


International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bremner goal.''


Managerial statistics


Honours


As a player

Leeds United *
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
: 1968–69, 1973–74 *
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 compet ...
: 1971–72 *
Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
: 1967–68 *
FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...
: 1969 *
Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...
: 1963–64 *
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ( ...
: 1967–68, 1970–71 *
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
runner-up: 1974–75 Individual *
FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...
: 1970 *
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...
(First Division): 1973–74 *
Scotland national football team roll of honour The International Roll of Honour is a list established by the Scottish Football Association recognising players who have gained 50 or more international caps for Scotland. The roll of honour was launched in February 1988, when 11 players had alrea ...
: 1974


As a manager

Doncaster Rovers *
Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
third-place promotion: 1980–81 *
Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
second-place promotion: 1983–84 Individual *
Football League Fourth Division Manager of the Month Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
: October 1979, September 1980 *
Football League Third Division Manager of the Month The Football League Third Division Manager of the Month award was a monthly prize of recognition given to association football managers in the Football League Third Division, the fourth tier of English football from 1992 to 2004. The award was anno ...
: September 1981 *
Football League Second Division Manager of the Month The Football League Second Division Manager of the Month award was a monthly prize of recognition given to association football managers in the Football League Second Division, the third tier of Football in England, English football from 1992 to 2 ...
: December 1987


See also

*
List of footballers in England by number of league appearances The following is a list of the 900 footballers who have made at least 500 domestic league appearances in English league football. This includes the appearances and goals of current and former players in the Premier League and English Football Lea ...
(500+) *
List of Scotland national football team captains This article lists all the captains of the Scotland national football team. As of 16 November 2022, Scotland have played 816 officially recognised international matches and have had 155 different team captains. George Young captained Scotland m ...


References

General * Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Bremner, Billy 1942 births 1997 deaths People educated at St Modan's High School Footballers from Stirling Scottish footballers Association football midfielders Leeds United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scotland under-23 international footballers Scotland international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players English Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish football managers Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers Leeds United F.C. managers English Football League managers FA Cup Final players