Frank Scott-Walford resigned as manager at the end of 1911-12 after Leeds City finished one from bottom of the Second Division and thus were forced to apply for re-election to the Football League. The City Board managed to persuade Herbert Chapman to quit his position as boss of Northampton and take over as the third manager of Leeds City.

Chapman was to become one of the most successful bosses ever in English football and certainly the most renowned manager of the next two decades, but his great years were ahead of him. For now, he was a largely unknown quantity, with a reputation as an unremarkable player who had never settled for long at any club. But chairman Norris Hepworth had been excited by Chapman's success at Northampton, who won the Southern League in 1908-09 under his leadership. The two men hit it off immediately, and Chapman had bags of energy which he poured into rebuilding Leeds City when the club won re-election, topping the poll with 33 votes. He had campaigned vigorously on the club's behalf and brashly promised that he would get Leeds City promoted to the top division.

Chapman set out enthusiastically to address the shortcomings which had been all too evident in the previous season. Goalkeeper Leslie Murphy, full back Alec Creighton and inside forward Tom Mulholland were all shipped off to Ireland. Chapman had an instinctive feel for what was needed and recognised that success would only be achieved by proven performers. Scott-Walford had embarked upon a strategy of bringing in unknowns and gambling on their potential. Accordingly, Chapman's recruits instantly upped the standard of the squad. Newcomers included the Everton and Ireland goalkeeper Billy Scott, Scottish international full back George Law, former England centre half Evelyn Lintott, who came from Bradford City and was soon joined by team mate and inside left Jimmy Speirs (who scored the goal that won the FA Cup in 1911), and inside right Jimmy Robertson from Barrow.

The signing of Scott, Law and Lintott caused problems with the Football League as Chapman had agreed to pay each of them the full year's wage of £208 to the end of the following April. However, two months had already passed since the end of their previous contract and so the move fell foul of the maximum wage law. When they realised what had happened, City reported themselves to the League and were duly fined £125 plus expenses and the players were ordered to return the over-payments.

Before Christmas, Chapman brought in winger Simpson Bainbridge and inside forward Arthur Price, so the squad which the club had available for most of 1912-13 was much stronger than the previous year.

In addition Chapman brought an inspiring new leadership style to Elland Road, which paid almost immediate dividends.

back to top

The new era started shakily, as City lost their first match under Chapman 4-0 at Fulham, who had ended the previous season in 8th place, but they then put together an unbeaten run of 5 games. A 6-2 reverse at Hull City at the beginning of November was a major disappointment, but City were now winning more often than losing, and had started to improve their defensive form. They were also picking up more points on their travels and lost less than half of their away games. They ended up matching their best ever finish of 6th (back in 1905-06, their debut season) and ended a mere ten points off promotion.

Leeds City achieved some notable victories, including a 5-1 trouncing of eventual champions Preston, 4-1 over runners-up Burnley and 4-0 against third placed Birmingham. It was clear that in their Elland Road stronghold, City were a match for anyone. Billy McLeod had his best season so far, playing in all 38 League games and hitting 27 goals. Centre half Lintott was the other ever-present and Law, Fred Croot and Mick Foley played more than 30 games. Scottish inside forward Jimmy Speirs played 19 of the last 20 games after dropping down a division from Bradford City around the turn of the year and was second top scorer with 10 goals.

The verve with which Leeds City played drew spectators back to Elland Road. The average attendance rose from below 8,000 in 1911-12 to more than 13,000, enabling the club to record a small profit, a remarkable turnaround from the financial problems of the previous season. "Chapman ... has done a tremendous amount of good work for the club; he has gained the confidence of everybody," wrote the Yorkshire Post.

This was clearly more like it and the Board were convinced that they had finally got the right man for the job in Herbert Chapman. He had not achieved his stated aim of promotion, but he had clearly taken the club several massive strides in the right direction.

Other Football Highlights from 1912-13

• Sunderland won the League Championship with a record number of points, 54, after gaining only two from their first seven games
• The North East club failed to win the Double, however, when Championship rivals Aston Villa beat them 1-0 before a record crowd of 120,081 in the FA Cup final at Crystal Palace
• England lost to Ireland for the first time in an international, going down 2-1 in Belfast. Former Leeds centre forward Billy Gillespie, who moved to Sheffield United in December 1912, scored both goals for an Irish side reduced to ten men. The result didn't prevent the Home International title going to England, however
• Rangers completed a hat trick of League titles in Scotland

back to top