A mural dedicated to the Leeds United FA Cup winning team of 1972 has been unveiled at Elland Road. Painted by artists Nicolas Dixon and Paul Trevillion it features portraits of the winning team with a surround of abstract blue and yellow patterns.
50 Years
Celebrating 50 years since the victory it remains the only time that the club have won the trophy. This all happened under the reign of Don Revie and featured a goal from Allen Clarke. During the unveiling of the piece, Clarke attended and signed the mural alongside fellow player from the 70’s, Paul Reaney.
Mural Trail
Supported by the Leeds United Supporters Trust, the piece forms part of a wider mural trail around the city of Leeds. Many of the pieces have been organised by the trust, but others have been created independently. In the area of the football ground itself, three more murals can be found including one from current player Mateusz Klich.
Nicolas Dixon
Both artists are long time supporters of the club. For Nicolas Dixon it’s also his third mural created as part of the trail. His distinctive abstract style connecting all three pieces and giving them a distinctive look. First painting in Wortley, he portrayed former manager Marcelo Bielsa as Christ the Redeemer. He then followed this up with a mural in Pudsey which paid tribute to players from the 70’s who had recently passed.
Paul Trevillion
For Paul Trevillion he has previously been best known as a sports illustrator. His drawings having appeared in many national newspapers since the 1960’s. His links with Leeds United however go back a long way. Hired in early 1972 by the manager Don Revie, his brief was to improve the perception of the club. Amongst innovations that Trevillion came up with was to introduce sock tags and names on the backs of the players shirts.
A Song for the Cup
Perhaps most impressively Paul Trevillion was charged with coming up with a song for the 1972 FA Cup campaign. Revie hadn’t given him much to go on other than the fact that he liked Tom Jones and so thought the people who made those records would be good to contact. He also wanted the song to include the words ‘we love you Leeds’ not once but many times.
Marching on Together
In the end Trevillion convinced Les Reed to make the make the record. Reed had co-wrote the Tom Jones hit songs It’s Not Unusual and Delilah so he certainly ticked that box. The end result ‘Leeds United’ was the main tune but it was to be the B side ‘Leeds, Leeds, Leeds’ that would turn out to be the one everyone remembered. Now better known as ‘Marching on Together’ it is the song sung at Elland Road before every home game. It also contains the words ‘We love you Leeds’.
The mural painted by Nicolas Dixon and Paul Trevillion was completed in early August 2022. All photos were taken on 28 August 2022.
FA Cup Mural Gallery
