PAUL MADELEY

Sometime ago I blogged about football films and last night I decided to watch "The Damned United" again (first seen on the big screen in 2009), having recorded it recently. There have been a number of terrific footy films and documentaries recently shown on the History Channel, in conjunction with the World Cup.

Here is my past blog:
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/kicking-off.html

In The Damned United Michael Sheen played a brilliant Brian Clough. Timothy Spall was the loyal Peter Taylor, Stephen Graham was Billy Bremner...a suitably squat and red headed "Scot", who really didn't look as though he could kick a ball, but it sort of worked. Chris Moore played Paul Madeley, the wonderfully versatile, Leeds United player who played for England too. It was the "quiet man's" opinion that persuaded the Leeds Utd board to ease Clough from Elland Road.

I hope for coincidences daily that might spark a suitable subject for this blog and sure enough this morning I heard of the tragic death of Paul Madeley. I probably would have done more on "Damned" and Clough, but today Paul deserves a memorial.

Born in Beeston Leeds in 1944, started at Farsely Celtic and then played for Leeds in 727 (this varies from report to report) games between 1963-80 scoring 25 times. Paul earned 24 international caps, which could have been more but he declined the invite to join the squad in Mexico, deciding he wanted to recover from a busy season with his beloved Leeds. He also declined the England captaincy in 1975.

Don Revie described him as a "Rolls Royce", a class act whereas the Leeds crowds sung about the "Eleven Pauls"; he could play in any outfield position....and he did.

In his first season he played in the Second Division with Leeds but as a one club man he won two First Division titles (1969,1974) was runners-up five times, the FA Cup in 1972, the League Cup 1968, when he scored against Arsenal wearing the number 9 shirt. He also won two Inter-City Fairs Cups and was runners up in the European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup once each.

Jimmy Armfield as Leeds manager was negotiating a contract with Madeley, who just signed a blank piece of paper and said "fill it with what ever you like. I want to play for Leeds!"

After football, he ran a family DIY business in the city which he sold in 1987 for £27m. then suffered a benign brain tumour in 1992 from which he recovered, then had a mild heart attack in 2002 and then Parkinsons in 2004. He was 73.