A special occasion has been organised to fund a statue for the 1972 Leeds United FA Cup-winning skipper.
Leeds United legends, favourites and fans are set for a special get together in a bid to honour the club's greatest ever captain.
The Billy Bremner Gala Dinner will take place at Elland Road on Saturday, May 23, a day before Daniel Farke and his squad face West Ham in their final Premier League game of the season. All profits from the event will go towards the funding of a statue of the 1972 FA Cup-winning captain to be erected in Raploch, Stirling.
Bremner’s former Leeds teammates Paul Reaney, Allan Clarke, Mick Jones and David Harvey will share stories of their time at Elland Road. Glynn Snodin and John Sheridan will offer an insight into what it was like to play for the fiery Scotsman, while comedian Jed Stone will compère the evening.
A Billy Bremner print from Robert Endeacott up for grabs in the online raffle.placeholder image
A Billy Bremner print from Robert Endeacott up for grabs in the online raffle. | FollowmeandLeedsUnited.co.uk
“It was started by Gary Edwards and Chris Keene,” Leeds season ticket holder Heidi Haigh told the YEP. “They made a pilgrimage every year when going to Scotland, they'd always go and stop by Raploch to go and pay their respects to Billy.
“But obviously there was nothing they could find about him. They went into a local pub just saying what they wanted to do and it sort of spiralled from there, where they got in touch with the council there. There's quite a lot of groups that's involved now.”
Guest speakers will share their stories of playing with or under Bremner, while a raffle and fundraising activities will also take place to help generate funds for the statue. There is an online raffle and silent auction already live, with some interesting prizes including limited edition Billy Bremner wine and whisky and a print from Elland Road muralist Robert Endeacott.
“We've got some of Billy Bremner’s family coming as well,” Heidi added. “We've got his youngest daughter coming with some of the family. So again, it's trying to pay tribute to the greatest captain we've ever had. He instilled in me the love and loyalty of following my team and he always gave 110 per cent.
“The gala dinner is something to bring everybody together and I just thought those who played alongside Billy, it's nice to have them. It's nice to have the ones who played under him as well. So yeah, it's going to be great, and I'm looking forward to it.
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“Obviously the more tickets we sell, the better it is, the more money we can make, because all profits we're making are going towards the statue. None of us are making anything. It's all voluntary. We just want to make sure we get this tribute to Billy up in Raploch.
“We would like to get a blue plaque for Billy up where he lived in Temple Newsam as well. Obviously, there's a lot of things to do before that, and we just want to work with closer links between Raploch and East Leeds. So again, it's building relationships between the two places because of the link of Billy.”
Tickets for the Gala Dinner are £60 per person for non-VIP and £70 for VIP, the latter including a photo opportunity with the former players. All tickets include a one-course meal. Tables of eight and 10 can also be booked. More information on the event, including tickets, can be found at www.followmeandleedsunited.co.uk/gala-dinner.
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