Date: Saturday, 7th October 1967

Date: Saturday, 7^th October 1967.

Venue: Elland Road, Leeds.

Competition: First Division.

Score: Leeds United 7 Chelsea 0

Scorers: Leeds United: Johanneson, Greenhoff, Charlton, Lorimer, Gray, Hinton (og), Bremner. Chelsea: Nil.

Attendance: 40,460.

Teams:

Leeds United: Sprake; Reaney, Madeley; Bremner, Charlton, Hunter; Greenhoff, Lorimer, Jones (Hibbitt), Gray, Johanesson.

Chelsea: Bonetti; Thomson, Hinton; Harris, Butler, Hollins; Boyle, Cooke, Osgood, Baldwin, McCreadie.

Referee: K.Dagnall (Bolton).

On the eve of Chelsea’s Division One game at Elland Road, their manager Tommy Docherty quit for ‘personal reasons’ within hours of being suspended by the FA over incidents on the London club’s tour of Bermuda. Ron Suart, who had joined Chelsea as assistant manager after many years at Blackpool took charge of the still shaken Chelsea players. Now the time was ripe for Leeds to take quick revenge against a shocked Chelsea team for that controversial FA Cup Semi-Final defeat five months earlier, but few could have envisaged such a one-sided rampage, as United scored seven without reply.

Although the wisecracking Docherty had hit the headlines, it was another Scot under impending suspension, Billy Bremner, who overshadowed events on the pitch. The fiery Leeds skipper was making his last appearance for United before starting a twenty-eight day ban for being sent-off against Fulham in September and he was at his impish best as Leeds turned on a superb attacking display. Eric Stanger of the Yorkshire Post reported, “Bremner teased and tormented them with his astonishing dexterity of foot and his remarkable sense of balance so that he could turn and twist on the proverbial sixpence”. It was Bremner’s spectacular Brazilian-style bicycle-kick eight minutes from time which crowned a five-star Leeds performance.

Chelsea were short of England forward Bobby Tambling, who was injured, and one of Suart’s choices for the clash saw twenty-year old Geoff Butler, a £60,000 full-back signing from Middlesbrough just two weeks previous, replace ex-Bury central defender Colin Waldron, who was made substitute. United were hampered by injuries. Neither Johnny Giles nor Mike O’Grady were fit but Gary Sprake and Jimmy Greenhoff both passed late tests to play in a game which saw United race to a three goal lead

First strike came after just five minutes as Billy Bremner released Paul Reaney with a reverse pass and the full-back unleashed a good centre for speedy winger Albert Johanneson, who had been recalled to the side, to produce a rarity by heading the ball home. Peter Lorimer laid on a goal for Jimmy Greenhoff in the eleventh minute and three minutes later Jack Charlton headed in from close range, after Peter Bonetti missed his grab for an in-swinging corner from Eddie Gray. United went into a 4-0 lead seven minutes from half-time when Peter Lorimer rounded off a splendid round of passing with a roaring angled shot that left Bonetti helpless. Eddie Gray got the fifth on the hour with a nineteen yard shot after good work by Jimmy Greenhoff, who had cut inside from the right. United’s biggest crowd of the season, 40,460, saw Chelsea hand United their sixth goal, in the eightieth minute, Marvin Hinton heading into his own net following a Peter Lorimer corner. It was left to the ubiquitous Bremner to round off the scoring two minutes later and, apart from the quality of Bremner’s spectacular overhead kick, the goal earned a place in the record books as it was the goal which made it the first time in the Football League in which seven different players had scored for one side.

One name missing from the scorers was centre-forward Mick Jones, a recent £100,000 buy from Sheffield United. He left the pitch injured midway through the game and was replaced by substitute Terry Hibbitt.