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Season
1948/49
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Living
dangerously
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Half-back Tommy Burden, recommended by former manager Willis
Edwards, was signed from Chester in July 1948 and eventually appointed
captain, although it was the middle of September before he made his Leeds
debut. Burden, who had played as a forward at Chester, was a reliable,
intelligent, even tempered player - though quite capable of standing up
to Buckley - and an excellent passer of the ball. He became a popular
captain. 'He had a nice way of encouraging people not by bollocking them,
but through leading by example. He was a wonderful lad,' full-back Jimmy
Dunn recalls. Buckley had known Burden since he was a teenager from his days at Wolves
and he was only one of a number of new men whom Buckley brought to Elland
Road that summer. He signed centre-halves Jack Marsden and Roly Depear,
half-back David McAdam and winger Peter Harrison before the end of August.
He continued making changes throughout the season. There were also a number of departures with Ken Willingham retiring and
Buckley raised £20,000 through the sale of internationals Aubrey Powell
to Everton and Con Martin to Aston Villa. Leeds started off the new season badly, with a disappointing 6-2 defeat
at Leicester, but picked up a point in their next match, a goalless draw
at home to Bradford City. They then won three games in a row. Ken Chisholm,
who had arrived from Partick in January 1948, was in good form, hitting
six goals in those first five matches, and he got good support from John
Short, who had managed four. The two of them formed a spearhead alongside
centre-forward Albert Wakefield, with Irish winger David Cochrane supplying
much of the ammunition. Three other Irishmen, 34 year old Jim Twomey in
goal, versatile Con Martin (before his departure) and Jim McCabe, who
had cost £10,000 from Middlesbrough in March 1948, were in the side. 34
year old centre-half Tom Holley was a massive presence in front of the
consistent and reliable full-back partnership, Jimmy Dunn and Jim Milburn.
That side was more or less the one that Buckley had inherited, but despite
the reasonable start he was soon making changes. His new signings, Burden and McAdam came into the side in September and
Martin, Short and Chisholm were all off before the turn of the year. 20-year-old
reserve Len Browning was drafted in as centre-forward and Ray Iggleden
arrived in a swap deal that took Chisholm to Leicester. Full-back Grenville
Hair (who went on to make over 400 League appearances for Leeds) arrived
in November, although it was more than two years before he made his debut.
January was a very busy month with goalkeeper Harry Searson and forwards
Peter Vickers, Eddie McMorran, Ralph Harrison and Jack Moss all arriving
at the club. While Buckley was working on improving his personnel for the future during
the autumn and winter, his current side was struggling. By New Year's
Day they He had used 30 players in all and blooded 17-year-ld John
Charles at centre-half in the last three matches of the campaign.
Buckley had always been a keen advocate of youth at football clubs and
the massive young Welshman clearly had both a lot of potential and exactly
the right attitude. He had natural ability, but never took it for granted
and showed immense dedication in honing his abilities to make them even
greater. Charles had been spotted as a 16-year-old at Swansea by one of Buckley's
scouts, Jack Pickard, and taken to Elland Road for trials around Christmas
as he turned 17. He was to prove one of the biggest British talents of
the next decade. It was notable that the only player over 30 in Buckley's team for the
last game of the season was Jim McCabe. He was also one of just two survivors
of the side from the opening day. Clearly the Buckley revolution was well
under way. The Elland Road crowd evidently thought so, because the average
attendance set a record for the second successive season, rising to more
than 29,000. Given the amount of interest that Buckley was stirring in West Yorkshire
and even nationally, the long suffering supporters of Leeds United were
justifiably convinced that the new broom would be good for the club. They
had had enough of under achievers and managers who were not equipped for
the big time. There was a lot of confidence in Buckley and his ability
to get the club to the top, as he had done a decade earlier at Wolverhampton
Wanderers, but what was even more certain was that while he was around
there would never be a dull moment at the club. Elland Road was in need
of a good shaking. It had fallen badly into disrepair since the time of
Fairclough and Ray and Buckley's innovative, visionary approach was exactly
what the board were seeking. Other Football Highlights from 1948/49 |