Fotherby on tour: John Scales
There were so many opportunities, and so many near misses, that if John Scales had been meant to play for Leeds, he would have.
Transfers are one of modern football's obsessions, because they represent football without its messy reality: why watch some donkey playing for your team, when you can imagine the difference being made by a prime stallion? The best players are usually out of reach for all but the richest clubs, but in the 1990s Leeds United's managing director, Bill Fotherby, had his own ideas about the word 'unattainable'.
As the Peacocks returned from Division Two to Europe with one of the best teams in our history, Fotherby's pursuit of top transfer targets created a shadow team of world stars fans could keep in the back of their minds while watching, say, Carlton Palmer instead.
For the next few weeks, we're going to follow Fotherby on his travels around Europe, chasing the biggest and best transfers, wondering how close he got to his targets, who we signed instead, and what might have been if Bill's will could have forced history into being just a tiny bit different.
In case you missed the previous parts, so far:
Diego Maradona ⭑ Pairing England's most-hated footballer with England's most-hated football club would have sunk the likes of Emlyn Hughes into tabloid column apoplexy for months. Which would have been fantastic.
Trevor Steven ⭑ It's easy to understand from the adjectives — diligent, hard-working, cultured-but-disciplined — why Trevor Steven appealed to Howard Wilkinson. Besides, he already had Steve Hodge, so might as well collect another midfielder Diego Maradona had run rings around in 1986.
Duncan Ferguson ⭑ Jim McLean wanted a clause in the deal with Leeds preventing them from selling Ferguson to Rangers. But Duncan Ferguson really, really, really wanted to play for Rangers.
Des Walker ⭑ "Howard Wilkinson has been very persistent," about coming from Arsenal, said David O'Leary. "He would like to pair me with Des Walker if they are successful with a bid to Sampdoria."
Who was signing?
If Leeds United had been a more patient club in the early 1980s, it might have become a very different one in the 1990s. A ludicrous list of young players were either moved on without playing a game, or sold when Billy Bremner took over from Eddie Gray. Better teams than Leeds were delighted to have David Seaman, John Lukic, Andy Linighan, Denis Irwin, Terry Phelan, John Sheridan, Scott Sellars, Ian Snodin and Tommy Wright, who all passed through Elland Road without cohering into a foundation of success. Bring them all together in the early 1990s and you'd have the makings of a formidable side.
That's why Leeds wanted to bring several of them back. Brian Deane had never been full-time with Leeds but chairman Leslie Silver had regarded his £2.7m transfer from Sheffield United as corrective. John Lukic had come back for £1m in 1990, after being replaced at Arsenal by David Seaman, and won the league. Buying David Rocastle instead of Trevor Steven meant Howard Wilkinson had a spare £950,000 to bring Scott Sellars back to Elland Road, prod him into a few ill-fitting holes, then let him go again.
Still out there, still ideal for Leeds, still temptingly out of reach, was John Scales. The Harrogate born defender had been allowed to go to Bristol Rovers in 1985 without ever playing for his local team. To be fair to Leeds, Scales said later, he didn't really know what he was at that point — a forward, a defender, a full-back. From Bristol he'd followed manager Bobby Gould to become part of Wimbledon's FA Cup winning side in 1988 — coming on as a substitute to bolster the attack — and an accomplished Premier League defender. By the mid-1990s he had played for the England B team and wanted more, more caps and more trophies, than he was likely to get while ploughing on at Plough Lane and Selhurst Park. In August 1994 he submitted a transfer request.
How close did we get?
Which time?
Scales did move in summer 1994 but it wasn't an easy process. Whether Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear had used a real or metaphorical toilet to flush Scales' letter was immaterial to chairman Sam Hamman's attitude. "Yes, John Scales is going," Hamman said. "He is going into Europe with Wimbledon, he is going to be part of the England squad with Wimbledon and he is going to get a new contract with Wimbledon." Whether he wanted one or not.
Liverpool, Spurs, Newcastle and Everton were all interested, while Leeds were long time admirers. They'd asked about him the previous summer after missing out on Des Walker, but Hamman was asking for record-breaking offers. That was still the routine in 1994 so, 'tired of waiting for Wimbledon to quote a sensible fee', Wilko had been trying to buy Richard Jobson from Oldham instead. That was also going nowhere, so when Scales took matters into his own hands, Leeds were ready and waiting, and grasping. At thin air.
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