On this day 36 years ago, Leeds United made one of the most important decisions in the club’s recent memory. Having sacked legendary midfielder Billy Bremner, they poached Howard Wilkinson from Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
Wilkinson would take Leeds from Second Division strugglers to First Division title-winners in just four years, cementing his status as one of the club’s greatest ever managers. That title-winning squad has some very memorable names, but what about the players who kicked off Wilkinson’s reign?
Leeds’ first game under their new manager was a 3-1 League Cup win at home to Peterborough United on October 12. Take a look below to see what the starting-XI from that day got up to after getting Wilkinson’s spell up and running.

1. GK. Mervyn Day
Played more than 200 times for Leeds but missed out on the Division One title, having joined Luton Town on loan in 1992. Spent most of his post-playing career as assistant coach to Alan Curbishley at Charlton Athletic and West Ham. Re-joined Leeds as a first-team scout for a brief spell and had been in similar roles at Brighton and West Brom up until 2015. | Manchester United via Getty Imag

2. Def: Neil Aspin
Leeds academy graduate left for Port Vale the summer before Wilkinson's side were promoted to the First Division, having spent a decade coming through the ranks and playing for the first-team. Spent another decade there before spells at Darlington and Hartlepool. Joined Harrogate Town as a player-coach before taking over as manager. Also took charge of Halifax Town, Gateshead and Port Vale up until 2019. | Getty Images

3. Def: Mark Aizlewood
Left Leeds in 1989 and enjoyed spells at Bradford, Bristol City and Cardiff before falling down the Welsh pyramid. Was assistant to Ian Rush at Chester City before taking over at Welsh semi-professional club Carmarthen Town, where he is currently in charge.

4. Def: Noel Blake
Played 62 times for Leeds before leaving in 1990 for spells at Stoke City, Bradford, Dundee and Exeter City. Moved into management with the latter before taking charge of England U19 up until 2019. | Getty Images

5. Def: Glynn Snodin
Quickly fell behind Tony Dorigo in the pecking order, with loan spells preceding a move to Hearts. Then moved to Barnsley and Gainsborough Trinity. Has since taken on a number of coaching roles at Charlton Athletic, Southampton, Northern Ireland and most notably Leeds, where he worked under Simon Grayson during the 2009/10 League One promotion. Also worked with Grayson at Huddersfield, Sunderland and Bradford. | Hulton Archive

6. Mid: David Rennie
Left Leeds in 1989, going on to play for Bristol City, Birmingham and Coventry among others. Left the football world after retirement and currently works for a company specialising in employment law and health. | Getty Images