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Manchester United v Leeds United 1981: Fans relive the win
Leeds United fans relive the last time the Whites beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The year was 1981. The score 1-0. And Brian Flynn scored the winner...
Were you at the game to see Brian Flynn scores the winner? Click here to email us your memories of the occasion.
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I went to the game with a fellow Leeds fan - Klebber - and a Man U fan - Kev Reap - who drove us there and then took us in the Paddock with all the Man U fans close to the Stretford End so it was quite a weird experience although the outcome was obviously brilliant!!
Don't remember too much about the game coz its so long ago but I do remember Brian Flynn's goal which totally silenced the Stretford End and the Leeds fans went berserk at the other end. Me and Klebber really wanted to be amongst them because we were unable to celebrate properly.
We were sitting on our hands and shaking about like lunatics and obviously gave Kev a lot of stick on the way home even though he'd been kind enough to take us. I'm going to the game on Sunday but this time I'll be with all the Leeds fans and can't wait to celebrate with them in style this time.
Klebber and Kev won't be there but I'll be thinking about them - great memories!!!!!
Chad, Wakefield
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The victory at Old Trafford was probably the best day out I have experianced as a life-long Leeds fan. I travelled by car from Lincoln with three fellow Leeds fans and after a good while looking for a parking spot finally took my place among the throngs of Leeds fans packed in near the corner opposite the stretford end.
The atmosphere was electric between both sets of fans and the noise level was something else.
The joy when The Mighty Flynn scored was made so much sweeter by the silence of the reds fans.
For security reasons we were all held back in the ground for around half an hour while the police cleared most of the masses from the stadium area and that was the start of the party.
Non-stop singing and dancing on the terraces while we waited was an ecstatic feeling which we carried all the way home and long into the night.
Loved every minute of that day and still carry the feeling...A big hello to all the other Whites who were there that day..
Patrick
Norway
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I went to the game at the age of 27 from York with three workmates, two of whom (Chaddy and Legs) were Man Utd fans and the other (Baz) the driver, who was a neutral but favoured Leeds as they were Yorkshire.
We were in the scoreboard end at the Theatre Of Egos and I remember Eddie Gray (by now a left back under Clarky), coolly playing his way out of trouble in his own area after being berated by one of their fans with a cry of "pack it in Gray you're too old".
I had a little chuckle to myself as even at the end of his career Eddie was still different class to anyone they had out on the pitch that day. The only other thing I remember is a rather rotund Leeds fan being abused by cries of "one Billy Bunter, there's only one Billy Bunter" which was quite amusing.
The game itself was like the Alamo as they lay siege to our goal but couldn't break us down thanks largely to Jon Lukic (the back pass rule which was his nemesis still hadn't been changed back then).
We scored with virtually our only shot on target through Flynny, a classic smash and grab victory! I forgot myself and jumped up and down cheering, then realised there were dozens more doing the same as well!
I was glad to get out of there alive though and stood firmly between my two MUFC scarf wearing mates who were also threatening to beat me up on the way back to York. I remeber a minibus full of Leeds fans getting pelted with stones and even a motorbike crash helmet as it sped away into the distance. Yes folks, they were still bad losers even way back then.
Happy days, I'm proud to say "I was there" and I lived to tell the tale.
Pete Hinds
Strensall
York
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I was 18 years of age and travelled from Leeds City Station on the football special train. Buses picked fans up and transferred us from the railway station in Manchester to OT.
I remember standing in the lower tier of the 'scoreboard end' as the Kiki Dee record 'Star' played out on the PA system.
The Leeds end was absolutely packed you couldn't get your arms down to your pockets we were that tightly packed in. As the teams came out i noticed something wrong with the kit we were wearing. We had white shirts, black shorts and white socks. It was only when we were defending a corner i noticed our players were wearing Man U shorts.
I think we forgot to take our away kit and that is the reason for borrowing the black shorts. I don't remember much about the game other than the goal. I remember Carl Harris flying down the right before squaring the ball to Flynn who had made the run from midfield at that moment the Man U defence was split open and Flynn hammered the ball from the edge of the box into the top corner of the net.
In all my years of supporting Leeds (1975 to present day and a current season ticket holder) i cannot remember a goal so wildly or more celebrated, it was mayhem and exstacy all rolled into one.
On that day although the lower tier was full of standing Leeds fans, the upper tier contained seated Man U fans and i remember a Man U fan taking his shirt off and turning his back to the Leeds fans to reveal a huge Man U badge tattooed on his back. What is annoying to this day was the lack of coverage the result got.
I know it was not chosen for match of the day so the only footage still available is poor.
Steven Warcup
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This was a memorable day, I travelled on one of the supporters club coaches, there must have been 10,000-11,000 Leeds fans there that day.
The Manchester United fans to our right (We were in the scoreboard end) had to be shunted up further towards the half way line to squeeze all of the Leeds fans in.
Leeds were completely outplayed to be honest and Flynn's winner was completely against the run of play, who cared though ? what a buzz.
It wasn't as big a deal then, winning at Old Trafford, we'd beaten them a couple of seasons before when Allan Clarke had scored the winner, it was a good day out though, capped off by a UFO gig at Leeds University the same night.
Doctor, doctor Please... was quite appropriate the next morning.
Andy K
Leeds
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At 18 years old and on YTS wages (less than a pittance!), I travelled from Oxford with some mates who support man utd. Sat with them in the seats above the Leeds fans, at the end where Flynn scored. I think that was one of only two goal attempts we had that day – the other being when Derek Parlane ran half the length of the pitch and shot tamely at their keeper. I remember standing on my seat with my (previously hidden) Leeds scarf held aloft after the goal. Surprised I got out alive!!
Kevin Prew
Bicester, Oxon.
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The upcoming FA cup 3rd round meeting between Man Utd & Leeds certainly brings back memories for me after spending 2 years in red, coaching youngsters between 2000-2002, along with similar work under the Bobby Charlton soccer schools banner. I headed to the red half of Manchester with an open football learning mind after gaining FA qualifications over 2 years at my beloved Leeds United
I crossed the pennines firstly to gain new coaching experiences & friends around the world with the organisation, but i can hardly say that it turned out to be the best times in my 14 year coachings. These fanatical reds fans (work colleges) certainly think that they are the top dogs in the world of football & i was constantly reminded of the clubs ever so large successes compared to our own.
The words 'Dirty Leeds' seemed to come in almost every spoken sentence in my direction & i was spending weeks upon weeks with these people too, both in a coaching capacity & socially between the work! All i ever heard was of how great they were even then & in the end it took it's toll, as i declined further work offers in a last ditch attempt to regain what sanity i might have left after all those verbal & hurtful roastings.
It's quite safe to say that the reds fans hate Leeds United & as the only LUFC fan among a 10 man coaching team of reds, this so called banter was born out way too much, to the point when i couldn't get away quick enough once my contract had ended!
Shame i couldnt be judged as just another coach looking to help their youngsters to be better players & people, but i suppose hatred can be a very undestimated emotion!
My earliest memory of games between us came on Saturday 28th February 1981. I was all of 16 & went to Old Trafford with 3 of my then LUFC supporting friends & fortunately witnessed the last victory that we had on thier haloed turf. I remember the day vividly too. Travelled to Manchester via train courtesy of our club service, then for some reason hundreds of our fans got off at Staleybridge. It was my first ever visit to Manchester, we got off with thees fans thinking that we had arrived. Our exitement soon turned to worry, as we witnessed some of the most horrendous vandalism, violence & looting that i have ever known in my life!
Here we were seeing cars turned over, windows smashed & the village shops being emptied as police fought to bring some kind of order to this appalling ongoing rioting by our so called fans.
Inside the stadium our fans chanted mercilessly of the 1958 munich disaster. We had a full end opposite the Stretford, with Man Utd fans in the seats above us & throwing stuff down at us.
This was all so new to me! Leeds fans burned MUFC scarves & offensive banners, as the atmosphere built & reached fever pitch before & during the game. Hostile it most certainly was!
The game was decided by a Brian Flynn penalty in the second half to give us a 1-0 win. I recall that our lads ended up taking the field in Man Utd black shorts due to a colour clash in the shorts department!Who else starred for the whites you ask? We had Lukic in goal, Eddie Gray, Paul Hart, Carl Harris, Derek Parlane, Arthur Graham, Byron Stevenson to name a few. The reds boasted Steve Coppell, Sammy McIlroy, Ray Wilkins, Gary Bailey in goals, Gary Birtles & Jimmy Nicholl was on show too.
It's only these days that i realise just how much this win means to us Leeds fans. Never in my wildest dreams did it ever occur to me that this game would be so pivotal as a result in our great history, but here we are today discussing it as our last win over there!
Hopefully a 3rd round cup win can put this one to bed once & for all eh? I sure hope so guys.
I still have the match programme from a great day for us (on the field!) & it's one of only a few that i've kept over the years. I'm not a collector, but taken this one from home to home throughout my football loving life & i'm sort of glad that i did now!
Rod Christopher
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Are you Gary Sprake in disguise? Click here to watch video of a remarkable goalkeeping gaff.
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