'Dirty Leeds' by Rob Endeacott
December 2009

Readers might wonder why there’s an interview with a South Leeds lad inside a magazine for East Leeds people. The answer is pretty straightforward really: Leeds United has lots of links with this side of the city, including famous players who were born and bred nearby or even lived here when they’d ‘made it’ at Elland Road. And of course there are loads of Leeds fans everywhere too.

"'Dirty Leeds is a novel, a mix of fact and fiction covering Don Revie & Leeds United from 1961 to ’74, combined with the fictional story of a young Beeston kid called Jimmy O’Rourke. It’s my third novel (after ‘One Northern Soul’ and then ‘No More Heroes’) but already seems to be the most popular, and it’s been receiving great reviews which makes me proud as … a peacock.

With the crucial help of chairman Harry Reynolds and the directors, Don Revie made the club truly great and a national institution just about, and I’ve always loved reading and writing about my sporting heroes. Even though my Dad (Barry) was on the Leeds ground staff for 26 years, I’ve never felt that I had a ‘right’ to write about Leeds but with ‘Dirty Leeds’ I just felt the record needed putting straight, about the club and Don Revie, as so much negative rubbish has been written about them over the years. No one else seemed to be considering this story so I volunteered myself. David Peace’s great novel ‘The Damned United’ came out while I was planning my own Elland Road epic and it certainly helped me decide what exactly I wanted to write in Dirty Leeds.

And David Peace has always been a brilliant help. One personal aim was to write about how the ‘dirty’ tag came about, as well as wanting to write a dramatic and entertaining story about Leeds. Do you know what football would have been like without Don Revie and Leeds United?It would have been like watching paint dry, I’m sure of it - and I don’t mean Gary Edwards’ paint either!

Football would have been so drab, because there has never been a team to stir up historically so much passion and drama as Revie’s Leeds. And yes that includes Man U and Liverpool. And not only did I want to celebrate the greatest times of the greatest, most interesting club, I wanted to tell a story about an ambitious lad (Jimmy O’Rourke) growing up and being near obsessed with football and especially Leeds.

I’ve been asked many times why I used ‘dirty’ in the title. Well, it’s definitely meant ironically, I can confirm! If anyone really thinks I’m trying to insult the club or offend any of the men I grew up idolising then they need to think again. I’m a season ticket holder, I’m hardly likely to sully the name of our club! I want to watch the games and nurse my hangover, not look over my shoulder nursing my bruised head after some irate supporter has lamped me! My attitude with ‘dirty’ is that, regardless of whether I used it or not, it’s a jibe which stuck with the club since 1964, so I don’t think it matters much what my thoughts are on using it as a book title.

Most Leeds fans know the truth, and I really hope that people reading the book will learn that same truth too. Besides, I think it’s a great title for a book!

The whole story is indirectly intended as a tribute – to quite a few individuals. When he joined Leeds, Bobby Collins was as important on the pitch as Don Revie (and Harry Reynolds) were off it. But there wasn’t just him of course, I try to pay respect to lots of Leeds United related people too, including Elland Road groundsmen who my Dad worked for over the years, like the late Ces Burroughs for one, plus of course John Reynolds and Ray Hardy who are both still very much alive, I’m pleased to say! I’ve spoken to John lots of times about the book and he’s been a fantastic help. Anyone who knows him would expect that though. And of course, in addition to the famous names within the book, there are men who are usually overlooked in the club’s history, despite their major influence. Revie’s coaches and backroom staff and the late chairman Harry Reynolds especially. With Bobby Collins, even though unfortunately I’m not old enough to have seen him play, his impact on the club should never be forgotten. If Leeds had failed to sign him from Everton in ’62 then I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that there probably would never have been the world famous Super Leeds team in the history books. You hear people talking about phoenixes rising from the ashes etc, well it was Bobby Collins who provided the spark to start the fire in the first place! My Dad has always said that I was christened Robert after Bobby C, though my Mum has always disputed it.

As long as it wasn’t after Stokoe, I’m not that fussed! As a kid, I grew up idolising all the famous Leeds players, with Lorimer, Gray, Charlton and Madeley probably being the favourites, depending on what my mood was. Thousands of same generation kids across Leeds and the UK will have had similar obsessions as me. I’ve often wondered: if you asked a knowledgeable football supporter to name either the England eleven who won the World Cup or the Super Leeds eleven, which would be the quickest correct answer? Personally, I think it would be the Leeds team.

Without giving too much away of the plot of Jimmy’s story, I’ve played Sunday league football for well over twenty years so I would hope that some of my observations about ‘pub football’ do ring true, plus I’ve had some bizarre and pretty nasty injuries in football as well. Too many in fact, and I’ve retired from playing for my team (Cross Flatts XI) just recently. I made some great friends over the years playing for that team, notably many of the lads who played for Swarcliffe WMC who we used to have some real battles with but good times away from kicking lumps out of each other too.

I’m currently working on two new books, one a novel about England FC in the 70s and one a factual ‘alternative history’ of my favourite current band The Stranglers. I chucked in ‘proper’ employment in 2008 so as to concentrate on finishing Dirty Leeds. At the time I was working for a charity organization in Middleton – I’m hoping to return to similar work in the not too distant future, but for now I’ve got too many books to finish! "

‘Dirty Leeds’ by Robert Endeacott is available online from Tonto Books or Amazon, plus all good bookshops, including the LU Retail shop. He would like to stress that there is very little ‘X Certificate’ material in this particular book!

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