April 17 – Radebe to the Rescue
EMERGENCY ‘keepers – don’t you just love ‘em? Over the last few seasons we seen the likes of Rio Ferdinand, john Terry and even Dean Windass pick up the gauntlet (literally) and fill in between the sticks for various reasons, much to our amusement.
Today in 1996 Leeds United boss Howard Wilkinson’s gamble of not putting a sub goalie on the bench at Old Trafford backfired, as centre-back Lucas Radebe had to tend the Leeds goal for most of the game following Mark Beeney’s early red card.
Clashes between these two bitter cross-Pennine rivals are always intense affairs and although Leeds were heading towards a mid-table finish they wanted nothing more than to derail Fergie’s title ambitions after the Red Devils had clawed back Newcastle United’s 12-pont January lead.
This task was made all the more harder by Beeney’s 16th minute red card for handling outside the area. With recently dropped ‘keeper John Lukic not even on the bench, Wilkinson called on South Africa captain Radebe, nicknamed ‘The Chief’ at Elland Road, as he had played in goal as a youngster.
Radebe had made a brief cameo in goal the month before in Leeds’ 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough, and put in a confident display at Old Trafford, making several important saves to keep a dominant Manchester United side at bay.
With only 17 minutes left on the clock The Chief’s luck would run out however, as Roy Keane fired home to give his side the lead in what was the Leeds defence’s only real lapse.
Manchester United would hold on to their lead and the game would famously be the launchpad for a stressed-out Kevin Keegan’s infamous ‘I would love it” rant ten days later.
Leeds meanwhile, would think hard about putting a sub goalie on the bench and making the best use of Radebe’s many talents. Over the next few seasons Radebe would assume the captaincy at Elland Road, as the player who originally signed as company for Bafana Bafana team-mate Phil Masinga established his place as one of the Premier League’s finest defenders.
Radebe’s tireless charity work and commitment to Leeds have meant that his name is still sang at Elland Road week-in and week-out, despite his retirement in 2005 after 11 years in Yorkshire.
See a tribute to the man that Neslon Mandela described as ‘my hero’ below and see what else was happening in the big bad world of football today here.
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