Dagens Moscowhite...
Eurostar: Leeds vs Crystal Palace, 9th May 1995GAZZA TO YEBOAH
Written by Moscowhite • Daniel Chapman
Artwork by Eamonn Dalton
February 8, 2021
The more games Leeds won, the further Leeds went up the Premier League table, the nearer Leeds got to UEFA Cup qualification, the busier Bill Fotherby became.
“It’s all very well clubs coming in now and saying they’ve made bids,” said United’s managing director, about news that Glasgow Rangers were close to signing Paul Gascoigne from Lazio. “If he feels Leeds can offer a better base for his England future, he’ll come here. I’m still confident we’ll get him.”
Fotherby was always busy and Fotherby was always confident, but in May 1995, his optimism was not out of place at Elland Road. This wasn’t like bringing Diego Maradona from Napoli to Division Two in 1986. Gazza in midfield with Gary McAllister, Gary Speed and Carlton Palmer felt like something that could happen.
Even just a couple of months earlier it might have been laughed off — same old Bill with the same old dreams. The season had seemed to be fading out during an aimless winter; after an inconsistent start to the season Leeds had found some rhythm, but it was a slow beat, one win from seven. Leeds were mid-table, although Howard Wilkinson thought his side was playing better than its results suggested.
A 4-0 win over QPR at the end of January supported his view. David White and Brian Deane scored one each, and when Phil Masinga scored his second with six minutes to go it gave Wilkinson security to introduce a new striker. The game was already won, and now came the turning point.
Fourteen starts. Nine wins, three draws, two defeats. 21 goals for the team, ten of them for Anthony Yeboah. “Goalscorers inspire a team,” said Gary McAllister. “Since Tony’s arrived, that is exactly what he has done for us.”
Yeboah hadn’t scored at the weekend, when victory at Elland Road had relegated Norwich City, and he wasn’t at his best. With ten minutes left McAllister had equalised with a penalty given, to Norwich manager Gary Megson’s great anger, for a foul on Yeboah, who was then replaced by Noel Whelan; it was up to Carlton Palmer to make it 2-1 to Leeds in stoppage time. But Wilkinson had been careful to embrace his striker as he came off, to put an arm around him, appreciate his efforts. Europe was the target and Gascoigne was the dream, but there wasn’t much more important than keeping Tony happy.
The conditions of Yeboah’s transfer were complicated. Leeds had paid £800,000 for him in January. To keep him, they would have to pay another £2.6m to Eintracht Frankfurt before the end of June. Yeboah also had a get-out clause for his first twelve months allowing him to leave if he wasn’t happy in Yorkshire. The Sunday tabloids were hinting he wanted out already, and when Eintracht manager Bernd Holzenbein arrived to watch the midweek match with Crystal Palace at Elland Road, he told Fotherby, “I want to take Tony back with me.”
A side effect of United’s improving form was a raising of stakes. The Premier League’s top five would qualify for Europe; Leeds were 6th, but victory could take them 4th. Palace ought to be routine fodder; they were freefalling into the bottom four that would be relegated to the Endsleigh League. But Leeds needed stoppage time winners — both from Palmer — to win their last two games, and with Frankfurt in attendance and the weekend’s substitution fresh in his mind, much would depend on Tony Yeboah’s feelings. Winning would take Leeds closer to the UEFA Cup, giving them the funds needed to sign him and the stage to keep him happy. But what if he wanted to go back to Frankfurt after all?
After six minutes Leeds had their answer. Palmer was almost lazy on the touchline, waving a long leg and lifting the ball vaguely into the penalty area. But all Yeboah needed was for the ball to come in his general direction. He span around Eric Young, then held the defender off as he tried dragging him back, following the ball to a tight angle close to Nigel Martyn’s goal, from where he jabbed it with the outside of his boot into the far corner. He ran off to celebrate, and why shouldn’t he, when scoring was this easy?
Increasing the score was made difficult by Martyn, who faced down shot after shot from Deane in particular, but just before half-time David Wetherall doubled the lead, heading in Tony Dorigo’s corner at the back post.
On the hour the game was all sorted, Yeboah again bringing definition to United’s fuzzy play. A scramble developed around the bounce of John Lukic’s goal kick, Deane and Rod Wallace trying to wrest control from Palace; when the ball rolled from Wallace’s run into Yeboah’s path, his action was emphatic. Thirty yards out he darted between the centre-backs with the ball at his feet, into the penalty area, where he calmly chipped over Martyn’s dive and into the net, before running off to take the acclaim from the Kop. Leeds did let Chris Armstrong pull a goal back, but they had confidence to play out the rest of the game with what one reporter dared to describe as flair.
Leeds had their answer, and so did Holzenbein. Fotherby had kept a close watch on him, making sure he didn’t get a chance to snatch away United’s star. “I was astonished at Frankfurt’s attitude,” he said. “I told them we would report the matter to FIFA if there was any attempt to approach him.”
Frankfurt was the one thing Yeboah wasn’t missing. “I’m happy here and I want to stay,” he said. “I’ll be seeing the manager next week,” about finalising his three-year contract.
“I’ve been delighted with the football side of things from day one. The fans have been magnificent, we’re close to a European place and I couldn’t be happier. The big question mark was whether my family would take to living in England. But my wife and little daughter have already settled in well. I can’t see any problems. I have decided I want to stay at Leeds — and if we can reach agreement over the next few days, that’s what I’ll be doing.”
With Holzenbein on the next flight home from Yeadon, one of Fotherby’s dreams was secure. Now for the next one. Because if Yeboah could do that with Carlton Palmer whacking the ball at him, imagine what he’d be like with Gazza in midfield? ◉
https://www.thesquareball.net/leeds-united/eurostar-leeds-vs-crystal-palace-9th-may-1995/