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Leeds United: Don Revie statue plan on track
A Leeds United fan has used his people tracking skills to lend a helping hand to the Don Revie statue appeal.
Appeal head Jim Cadman issued a plea in the Yorkshire Evening Post in June for assistance in finding legendary Leeds boss Revie’s ‘nearly men’.
He was struggling to contact some of the unsung heroes of the club’s glory years, who he wanted to invite to a major fundraising dinner at United’s Elland Road ground.
After hearing about the request for help, Ryan Shaw offered the services of his FinderMonkey company to the search.
Based in Oulton, Leeds, it specialises in tracking down long-lost relatives and other hard-to-find people.
And the firm proved its mettle by quickly locating a dozen players who have more or less faded from public view since hanging up their boots. They included Peter McConnell, who was on United’s books from 1954 to 1962, and Alan Peacock, a key figure in the club’s Second Division title win of 1964.
Challenge
Lifelong Leeds fan Ryan told the YEP: “We’re used to being called in to help find missing relatives, tenants who have absconded or to clean up business databases.
“This was a very different challenge but we knew we had the expertise to help out.”
Jim said: “We’d managed to get in touch with many, many players but then we came to a dead end.
“Thankfully Ryan was able to find plenty of addresses for us.
“When we contacted the players, they were delighted to learn they were being invited to the dinner.
“It will be great for the fans to see them again because some of these guys haven’t appeared in public for a very long time and they’ve all got really interesting stories to tell and memories to share.”
High-profile Revie era stars invited to October 20’s dinner include Johnny Giles, Eddie Gray and Jack Charlton.
Proceeds will go to the appeal to raise the £90,000 needed to pay for the 7ft-tall bronze statue of Revie planned for Elland Road.
For more details about the dinner, visit the www.donreviestatue.com website or ring 01562 887323.
Revie spent 13 trophy-filled years in charge at Elland Road before leaving to take over as England manager in 1974.
He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1987 and died two years later, aged just 61.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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