`` . . . to be fair", said Billy Bremner, the old spitfire himself, ``the best team won." These are heroic words coming from the hyper-competitive former Leeds and Scotland captain, who stayed with the Yorkshire club for 19 years while they gathered fame, silverware and a reputation for virulent tackling. ``We were", the flame-haired warrior said, ``Wimbledon with skill."
They were also hot favourites south of Hadrian's wall when Celtic, the 1967 European champions, went to Elland Road for the first leg of that semi-final. Leeds, under Don Revie, were chasing a mighty treble: the European Cup, the League and the FA Cup. Nobody appeared to notice that the date was April 1.
But they noticed when Celtic won. Within 30 days the Leeds treble had dwindled to nothing. ``It was unfortunate for us," Bremner said. ``The gaffer, God rest his soul, was such a perfectionist. With hindsight, he might have been better off picking and choosing his trophies. But we always had to be going on all fronts ... be the best ... create records." And so Revie's dearest wish to win the European Cup, as Jock Stein's Celtic had done was never fulfilled.
But while the fans may have viewed Celtic as push-overs, Revie and his team never made such a mistake. ``Oh, we knew how good they were," Bremner, born in Stirling and bred a Celtic fanatic, said. In fact, they were so good that Revie decided to try a few tricks. When Celtic arrived at Elland Road, they wer white. Revie offered them orange or blue. ``If our gaffer did that on purpose it rebounded on him because I know how I'd feel if I'd been a Celtic player," Bremner said. ``Maybe that's what got them so pumped up."
The pumping became evident within 40 seconds, when George Connelly scored the only goal of the game, for Celtic. ``But the crucial setback had happened before the match," Bremner said. ``Norman Hunter didn't make it. Injured. It was a real blow to us because Jimmy Johnstone had a field day for Celtic. Normally anybody who went past Terry Cooper had to confront Norman and he was a fearsome proposition. He'd remind them they were in a game."