.jpg) Bremner lining up for Scotland in 1971 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William John Bremner[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 9 December 1942 | ||
| Place of birth | Stirling, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 7 December 1997 (aged 54) | ||
| Place of death | Clifton, Doncaster, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1959–1960 | Leeds United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1960–1976 | Leeds United | 587 | (91) |
| 1976–1978 | Hull City | 61 | (6) |
| 1980–1982 | Doncaster Rovers | 5 | (0) |
| Total | 653 | (97) | |
| International career | |||
| Scotland Schoolboys | 4 | (0) | |
| 1963 | Scotland XI[citation needed] | 1 | (0) |
| 1964–1965[3] | Scotland U23 | 4 | (1) |
| 1964[4] | SFA trial v SFL | 1 | (0) |
| 1965–1975 | Scotland | 54 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1978–1985 | Doncaster Rovers | ||
| 1985–1988 | Leeds United | ||
| 1989–1991 | Doncaster Rovers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stamina. He played for Leeds United from 1959 to 1976, serving as captain from 1965, in one of the most successful periods in the club's history.
At Leeds, Bremner won the First Division (1968–69 and 1973–74), Second Division (1963–64), Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1968 and 1971), FA Cup (1972), League Cup (1968) and FA Charity Shield (1969). The club also finished second in numerous competitions, being runners-up five times in the English league and seven times in cup finals, including the 1975 European Cup. He was also named as the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1970 and was listed on the PFA Team of the Year in 1973–74. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the south-east corner of their Elland Road stadium. He has also been included in the Football League 100 Legends and is a member of both the English Football Hall of Fame and Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
Bremner played for Hull City from 1976 to 1978, before being appointed player-manager at Doncaster Rovers in November 1978. He spent seven years as Doncaster manager, guiding the club to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1980–81 and 1983–84, before he took on the manager's job at Leeds United in October 1985. He failed to gain promotion to the top flight and left the club in September 1988. He returned to Doncaster in July 1989, ending his second spell in charge in November 1991.
Bremner is on the Scotland national football team roll of honour for having won more than 50 caps for Scotland. He captained his country at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where Scotland failed to advance from the group stage despite being unbeaten in the competition.
- ^ A Record of Post-war Scottish League Players 1946/47 to 2017/18. 7. John Litster and Scottish Football Historian magazine. 2018.
- ^ Sutcliffe 2011, p. 202
- ^ Scotland U23 player Bremner, Billy, FitbaStats
- ^ Ronnie McDevitt (2016). Scotland in the 60s: The Definitive Account of the Scottish National Football Side During the 1960s. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781785312458.[permanent dead link]