December 9th, 1942
William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game’s great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stamina. He played for Leeds United from 1959 to 1976, serving as captain from 1965, in one of the most successful periods in the club’s history.
Born in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, to James and Bridget Bremner, he attended St Modan’s High School and represented Scotland Schoolboys.
His father forbade him from joining Celtic as he did not want him involved in the religion-based rivalry with Rangers, and Bremner rejected both Arsenal and Chelsea as he did not enjoy his stay in London during trial spells with the two clubs, and was instead convinced to join Bill Lambton’s Leeds United in 1959.
He joined along with his friend Tommy Henderson, who would return to Scotland due to homesickness without making a first team debut.
Manager Jack Taylor gave him his debut at outside-right in a 3–1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, at the age of 17 years and 47 days; Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Phil Brown noted that Bremner showed “enthusiasm, guts, intelligence, most accurate use of the ball and unselfishness” despite poor weather conditions.
A The Sunday Times headline later dubbed him as “10st of barbed wire” due to his tenacity and tough tackling. Regular outside-right Chris Crowe was sold to Blackburn Rovers in March 1960, allowing Bremner to take his place on a permanent basis.
However, Leeds went on to be relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1959–60 season.
