Mel Sterland reflects on Leeds United's title-winning victory at Bournemouth that fulfilled Howard Wilkinson's promise

THERE was no danger of defender Mel Sterland over complicating things as Leeds United stepped out against Bournemouth on May 5, 1990.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

By his own admission, the no-nonsense right-back did not care about other teams and rarely looked at the league table.

All that mattered, said Sterland, was that Howard Wilkinson’s side won.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thirty years ago today, Sterland knew a Whites win under clear blue skies at a red-hot Dean Court would seal Leeds’ promotion to English football’s top tier.

CHAMPIONS: Lee Chapman races away to celebrate what proved the winning goal for Leeds United at Bournemouth on May 5, 1990 which sealed the Whites promotion as Division Two title winners. Picture by YPN.CHAMPIONS: Lee Chapman races away to celebrate what proved the winning goal for Leeds United at Bournemouth on May 5, 1990 which sealed the Whites promotion as Division Two title winners. Picture by YPN.
CHAMPIONS: Lee Chapman races away to celebrate what proved the winning goal for Leeds United at Bournemouth on May 5, 1990 which sealed the Whites promotion as Division Two title winners. Picture by YPN.

Thanks to Chris Kamara’s cross and Lee Chapman’s header it was job done and, says Sterland, the completion of boss Wilkinson’s promise that United would win the league.

United were beginning their eighth consecutive season in Division Two as they headed for an opening-day clash at Jim Smith’s Newcastle United on August 18, 1989 in which goals from Bobby Davison and Ian Baird counted for little in a 5-2 defeat.

Yet the Leeds class of 1989-90 were to prove something rather different to anything else seen in the 1980s in Wilkinson’s first full season in charge and Sterland was very much part of his revolution with the Whites.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nine months after former Sheffield Wednesday boss Wilkinson had taken over the Leeds hot seat, Sterland was recruited to the club after just four months at Glasgow Rangers under Graeme Souness to be reunited with Wilkinson who had been Sterland’s boss for six seasons at Hillsborough.

CUTTING IN: Mel Sterland as he so often did from the right hand side. Picture by YPN.CUTTING IN: Mel Sterland as he so often did from the right hand side. Picture by YPN.
CUTTING IN: Mel Sterland as he so often did from the right hand side. Picture by YPN.

Four months after signing Gordon Strachan, Wilkinson’s message to Sterland, as the duo met for talks at a hotel in Nottingham with Whites managing director Bill Fotherby, was clear – Leeds would win the league.

By May 5, victory at Bournemouth would ensure exactly that bar a Herculean effort from Dave Bassett’s second-placed Sheffield United who began the day level on points with Leeds but with a 10-goal inferior goals difference as they lined up at Leicester City.

What really mattered was that United kept their promotion destiny in their own hands by winning as Newcastle began the day just two points behind in third ahead of a north-east derby at Colin Todd’s Middlesbrough.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Chapman’s winner meant matters concerning the Magpies were irrelevant as Wilkinson’s promise was delivered successfully as part of a day that Sterland says he will never forget on the south coast.

UNBELIEVABLE JEFF: Chris Kamara celebrates in the dressing room after providing the assist for Lee Chapman's winner. Picture by YPN.UNBELIEVABLE JEFF: Chris Kamara celebrates in the dressing room after providing the assist for Lee Chapman's winner. Picture by YPN.
UNBELIEVABLE JEFF: Chris Kamara celebrates in the dressing room after providing the assist for Lee Chapman's winner. Picture by YPN.

As it happened, Newcastle were beaten 4-1 at Middlesbrough but United’s win at Bournemouth proved crucial in sealing the title with the Blades running amok 5-2 at David Pleat’s Leicester.

“I can’t believe it’s been 30 years,” Sterland told The YEP.

“Wowie. That’s frightening.

"I have been retired 26 years, I’m 59 this year and it’s absolutely scary that it has been that long.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"But I can remember winning the league obviously. It was amazing, when you have worked hard all season with the players that Howard fetched in.

“We had some great players and, to be honest, Howard said to me when I signed that he was going to win the league.

“When he brought me from Glasgow Rangers and I signed, I went down to have talks with Queens Park Rangers and I could have gone back to Sheffield Wednesday but Howard said we were going to win the league.

“I met Howard at a hotel in Nottingham and we sorted a deal out there and then with Mr Fotherby who was a great, fantastic guy.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"He said we were going to sign some good players and we did sign some good players as well.

“Howard signed players he could trust and a lot he had worked with before, ie a lot of Sheffield Wednesday players.

“But we had Gordon Strachan, the best player I have ever played with as a player and a footballer and a gentleman with a lovely family. We had some good players.

“We had Batty in midfield, Speedy bless him, Mervyn Day, some great players. I could keep naming them but we were all good players.

“Howard trusted us and we trusted him.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Reflecting on what he could remember of the final-day connotations heading to Bournemouth, Sterland said: “I think Sheffield United were playing at Leicester but, to be honest, I never, ever got nervous.

“Even when we won the league, I didn’t give a damn about anybody else, all I was bothered about was us winning the football game.

"I didn’t even look where we were in the league, I wasn’t bothered, I didn’t give a damn. As long as we won, that’s all I was bothered about.

“Going down there to Bournemouth and going to the ground, I can remember, it was a red-hot day and the fans, we could have filled that stadium 10 times.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There were that many fans that wanted more tickets and it was red hot and on the beach. It was just amazing, amazing scenes and obviously there was the goal.

“Kammy went down the right-hand side and did my job!

"That was my job to get down the right and cross it but Kammy got down the right to cross it and there was big Chappy to head it in and the scenes were magnificent after.”

United were given 4,000 tickets for the clash at Dean Court and those tickets sold out within two hours after queues began at 5am on the day of them going on sale.

Aware of the huge number of Whites fans unable to get tickets, United club officials arranged for the game to be screened live to more than 5,000 supporters at venues across the city of Leeds.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But, desperate to see their side end an eight-year exile from the top flight, an estimated 10,000 Whites fans travelled to Bournemouth over a Bank Holiday weekend, taking over the seaside town in sweltering weather.

The weekend’s trouble off the pitch, including clashes with police, has been well documented since but Sterland says he only had fond memories of United’s supporters as Leeds sealed the title in front of an attendance of 9,918.

“To be honest, Leeds fans get slaughtered anyway wherever they go don’t they?” said Sterland.

“It’s a joke really, it’s not right.

"Because it’s Leeds United, I think they made a lot of rubbish out of it which they usually do but I just remember all the good things, seeing the fans happy, smiling, some were crying.

"It was just magnificent seeing their faces.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"They had travelled up and down the country to see us play and they obviously deserved something.

“We gave them something back and you don’t forget that and you don’t forget the fans. They are different class.”

And nor did Sterland forget that evening’s celebrations – a journey back home to Yorkshire to remember with Leeds ultimately heading for a place back in the country’s top division – of which they would then prove champions in another two years’ time.

There was, though, plenty of partying in the week that followed Bournemouth.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I can remember that I was p*ssed for about four or five days,” said Sterland.

“The trip on the way back was great, there was champagne and booze and it was never-ending knowing that we were playing the big boys the season after.

“There was a lot of hard work, it’s a long season and to finish up champions was super.

"It was just fantastic and they are memories that you don’t forget.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.