Gordon Strachan, Derby County, 1990 ⭑ Great Leeds goals
Gordon Strachan had his name on the if-you-know-Lee-you-know-Lee list, because he believed in what big Lee Chapman was doing in Derby County's penalty area, and believed in how it could pay off for him.
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David Rocastle (part two) ⭑ From A-Z since '92 ⭑ A flick of a surgeon's knife had restored Strachan's place as one of the best wide midfielders in the league, so with Batty, McAllister, Speed, Hodge and David Rocastle, Leeds had six international class midfielders. It didn't fit.
David Rocastle (part one) ⭑ From A-Z since '92 ⭑ It said a lot that was true about David Rocastle's ability that he was transferring from the champions of 1991 to the champions of 1992.
Mick Jones, Crystal Palace, 1970 ⭑ Great Leeds goals ⭑ Jim and Gill had met, the previous summer, while they were both on holiday in Majorca. Gill had moved to London for love, and now they were back in Leeds for the love of football — and to be married.
Chapeau | Lee Chapman, lost in France ⭑ Free podcast from Leedsista Libre
This is about Leeds United fans voting Gordon Strachan's goal from November 1990, in a 3-0 win over Derby County, the 74th best Leeds United goal of all time, in 2003. And, without taking anything away from the excellence of the goal itself, about wondering why.
There's an argument that the third goal, by Gary Speed, was better; there's a mystery about a match in November 1990 recurring in fans' memories 23 years later. The match wasn't televised, the highlights were buried when the Premier League rewrote history in 1992. This wasn't the title-winning season or even the promotion-winning season but the one between.
Of Strachan's six goals in this 2003 top-100, three were voted above this one, and he certainly scored better ones for Leeds, some that didn't make the list. The voting — for a Whyte & Mackay sponsored DVD — was definitely impacted by the recency bias of 2003, so that the recent UEFA Cup campaigns feel overrepresented. Yet this goal still made it through the contemporary adoration of Alan Smith and Robbie Keane, arriving proudly in their midst.
And I think it's all about Lee Chapman. Because the goal was set up by him, in a way that people don't normally associate with Lee Chapman. A six-foot-two lumberer towards tap-ins and, much to fans' despair, tap-wides, when Chapman was off-form he was dreadful and he'd been off-form too often in his career, especially as a youngster making a big money move to Arsenal. And then when he was spectacular it was acrobatic, launching his bulk into the air there to twist it and throw it and dive to score breathtaking goals from powerful crosses.
This was nothing like that, from a player who was rebuilding his First Division confidence and showing sides of his game that nobody but he, and manager Howard Wilkinson, thought he had. Although you have to add Gordon Strachan to the if-you-know-Lee-you-know-Lee list, because he believed in what big Chappy was doing in Derby County's penalty area, and believed in how it could pay off for him.
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