Don Revie biography tells story of controversial manager
Don Revie was Jose Mourinho, Sam Allardyce, Kenny Dalglish and many more in one. But nowadays many younger football …
Don Revie was Jose Mourinho, Sam Allardyce, Kenny Dalglish and many more in one. But nowadays many younger football fans cannot name him or point out why he is relevant. Except, of course, that he was played masterfully and villainously by Colm Meaney in The damn United.
For many fans, especially those who support Leeds United, Revie is a legend. Revie is the man who put their club’s name in British football history. He modernized the game, in some cases forced it to adapt to the times in a positive way, he made the difficult transition from star player to star manager, he invested time and energy in the game in the Middle East.
But in addition to all these positives, there were the scandals, real and perceived. To many, he was a match fixer (or attempted match fixer). He quit his clubs when times got tough, he did it for the money, he introduced a cynical, dirty style of play that defined the English game in the 1960s and 1970s, he really was the foil for better more progressive managers like Brian Clough and Bill Shankley.
So who is the real Revie, or is he a combination of both stories? A newly available biography on Don Revie attempts to answer this question. Written by Christopher Evans, Don Revie: the biography draws on fresh interviews and diverse source material to attempt to present a more complete version of the man.
Don Revie biography formatted
Many times with biographies, the writer presents the subject in a particular light. I often say that biographers take their subjects and write a story to make a point. Rarely do you get a biography that is a straightforward life story, instead drawing elements from someone’s life to make a bigger point.
Evans tries to stay away from this, for which he deserves credit. The book’s prologue begins with Revie attending a match in West Germany shortly after his appointment as England manager, perhaps the pinnacle of his managerial career. It then swings back to 1944 and the beginning of his career as a player. From this point on, Evans takes us almost year by year, or team by team, through the rest of his life. We don’t deviate from the story like we would in a movie. Rather, readers watch as Evans builds on each life chapter to show what type of man Revie is meant to become.
For those who didn’t know, Revie was a good player. He had a few caps with England at a time when calls to see players were not that common. For a time, fans considered him one of the game’s rising stars. But he had two blows to him as a player which is not uncommon in the game — he had injury problems and he wanted to move regularly to improve his salary. Wanting a transfer in 2023 to make more money is nothing special. In 1950 that labels a player in a certain way.
Revie and Leeds United
Eventually he ends up at Leeds United, a club with little history and mountains of financial problems. Unable to pay a manager after a vacancy opens up, the board hires Revie as player-manager based on recommendations from his teammates. His playing career ends soon after, but his managerial career begins. Revie leads Leeds United from the second division to not only promotion, but regular domestic and European trophies. His key Leeds players were regularly capped and became stars, with many going on to manage in later life. What Wrexham claims to want to do today, Leeds did in the 1960s.
It was not without cost though, Revie played early in his career with a defensive, aggressive style that earned his club the nickname . There were sometimes rumors of match-fixing attempts, which were reinforced by the telling interviews of disgruntled goalkeeper Gary Sprake in later years. And in something that would make Antonio Conte shrug, Revie was accused of constantly playing against other clubs with vacancies outside Leeds to improve his salary and contract.
However, success comes with consequences. The opportunity to coach England was too tempting for Revie to pass up. Revie inherited a team in transition, one with a pool of players behind many top European teams and one he couldn’t micromanage as he did with Leeds. His record looks good, but in the end England were on track to fail to qualify for the 1978 World Cup. Instead, Revie took a lucrative contract with the UAE and left England just before critical World Cup qualifiers, drawing criticism again.
Facts vs stories
As you can see, a biography of Don Revie provides ample opportunity to paint a robust portrait of a type of person. Evans’ uncomplicated biography, however, fails to do so. What we get with an abundance of facts, we lose in exploring the nuance of the man. Rather than chapters detailing every result of the club Revie led (and I do believe it was every or almost every result), I would have preferred some exploration and discussion of the different sides of the man.
Evans draws from extensive interviews with players and family members to attempt to draw this portrait. Yet he does so in a scattered way. During the story, Evans brings up a controversy. A few characters discuss it and the story continues. The full story of the man is not explored until the epilogue. Even then, his analysis is too short and limited. Evans’ ends by naming Revie as one of the five greatest ever England managers. However, the argument put forward for this is weak.
I struggled with how to recommend this book, but came to this conclusion: football fans should read this book. Don Revie is too interesting a person not to learn more about him and the impact he had on the game. Just be prepared for a biased, pro-Revie story that doesn’t do the job of convincingly selling that opinion.
Don Revie’s biography is available through Amazon and all good booksellers.
Photo credit: IMAGO/Colorsport
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