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Jimmy Armfield had been a loyal and successful player,
making around 600 appearances for Blackpool and picking up 43 England caps
at right back. He moved into management with Bolton, steering them to the
Division 3 title in 1972-73, and after long consideration, the Leeds board
decided to bring him in to steady the ship after the Clough turmoil.
By the time he took over, the poor start had already blown any hope of
retaining the League title, so he focused on going for the European Cup.
After cruising through the early rounds, Barcelona were beaten at home
and held to a 1-1 draw in the return at he Nou Camp, setting up a final
at the Parc des Princes against Bayern Munich. Revie's old team - and
Armfield's tactics - played extremely well together, and for much of
the match Leeds dominated the game. But several dodgy refereeing decisions
and a couple of sucker goals blew the game and the Leeds fans rioted in
disgust as they were certain they had been robbed.
Armfield gradually managed to find some replacements for Revie's
aging players and the likes of Tony Currie, Arthur Graham and Brian
Flynn came together to form a moderately successful side. Despite
taking the team to a semi-final in 1977 and again in 1978, he was
sacked at the end of his third full year in charge - the board wanted
success and they wanted it now! Armfield went on to become a leading
adviser to the FA and remains a regular radio commentator for the
BBC.
David Brunt says: personly i enjoyed his time at leeds and could
you remind me of the team sheet for the 75 european cup final to
settle an argument
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