Don Revie's Leeds United: Dirty or Misunderstood? | Part Two
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 8 August 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast.
In Part Two of our series on Don Revie's Leeds United, co-hosts Rob Draper and Jonathan Wilson explore the origins of the 'Dirty Leeds' tag. This episode delves into the notorious 1964 match against Everton that cemented the club's aggressive reputation. It discusses the reactions from fans and media, the role of football associations, and Revie's responses.
Our conclusion also examines the cultural and tactical shifts in football during the 1960s and how Leeds' image became a point of controversy and unity for the team and its supporters.
Tune in to uncover the complexities behind one of football's most infamous labels.
Please remember to share, rate, review and comment to help It Was What It Was grow.
00:00 Introduction
01:36 The Dirty Leeds Tag
03:46 Don Revy's Management Style
27:43 Promotion and the Great Moral Panic
29:21 The Notorious Game against Everton at Goodison
30:37 Media and Public Perception
31:47 Football's Changing Landscape
33:04 The Birth of 'Dirty Leeds'
41:30 Revie's Reaction and Amplification
56:04 Conclusion and Legacy
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Any inquiry into our Everton match or the game generally we only be welcomed by us. |
| 0:12.2 | There's no excuse for the Everton spectators, but I do think they were helped into their shocking state |
| 0:18.1 | by the fact that the Football Association labelled us as the dirtiest |
| 0:22.0 | team of last season. Like everyone here at Ellen Road, I resent that description and it has given |
| 0:27.6 | crowds everywhere, a ready made excuse to attack our play at the slightest offence by our lads. |
| 0:34.1 | Well, welcome to it was what it was. I'm here with Jonathan Wilson and I'm Rob Draper and that was Don Revy, the Leeds United manager, speaking after a notorious, infamous 1-0 win at Everton in November 1964, which earns Leeds their famous Dirty Tag. |
| 0:52.8 | And you're listening to the second part of our series on Dirty Leeds. |
| 0:58.3 | Leeds United are returning to the Premier League. |
| 1:00.8 | Many people, particularly my generation, will know them as dirty leads. |
| 1:04.8 | Was that fair or unfair? |
| 1:06.2 | Jonathan Wilson is going to unpick that for us. |
| 1:09.2 | But before he does, please remember to rate or review us on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 1:15.1 | Do pass on the news about this podcast. |
| 1:18.5 | Share us and let your friends know because the more people who know about this, |
| 1:22.9 | the more podcasts we can make and hopefully the more people we can make happy with Jonathan's fine analysis of the football past. |
| 1:31.6 | And today, Jonathan, you're going to bring us up to date with Don Reve's the Leeds United manager. |
| 1:36.7 | How do Leeds get this reputation? |
| 1:38.3 | How does Don Revy get this reputation of being dirty? |
| 1:41.8 | Well, I think that game in November 64, the 1-0 winner Goodison, |
| 1:46.1 | that is when it really explodes in the published consciousness. |
| 1:49.5 | That's where everybody is aware of it. |
| 1:50.8 | As Révi says there, he feels the FA have given them the tag earlier that year. |
... |
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