Club: | Leeds United |
Season: | 1988–1989 |
Chairman: | Leslie Silver |
Manager: | Billy Bremner (until 28 September) Peter Gunby (caretaker, until 10 Oct) Howard Wilkinson (from 12 October) |
Stadium: | Elland Road |
League: | Second Division |
League Result: | 10th |
Cup1: | FA Cup |
Cup1 Result: | Fourth round |
Cup2: | League Cup |
Cup2 Result: | Third round |
Cup3: | Full Members' Cup |
Cup3 Result: | Second round |
League Topscorer: | Bobby Davison (14) |
Season Topscorer: | Bobby Davison (17) |
Prevseason: | 1987–88 |
Nextseason: | 1989–90 |
Highest Attendance: | 33,325 vs Bradford City (1 March 1989, Second Division) |
Lowest Attendance: | 3,220 vs Shrewsbury Town (9 November 1989, Full Members' Cup) |
Average Attendance: | 21,811 |
The 1988–89 season saw Leeds United competing in the Football League Second Division.
Following two seasons in and just outside of the promotion play-off places, Leeds made a poor start to the season, taking six points from the first six games. A League Cup victory against Peterborough United was not enough to prevent manager and former team captain Billy Bremner from being sacked. Howard Wilkinson was appointed as the new manager on 10 October after a brief caretaker stint by Peter Gunby.
Leeds rose to mid-table by December and sat in 6th by mid-February, losing only two league matches in that time. The turnaround stalled in late February and early March as a winless streak saw the team fall back to 12th in the league table. Wilkinson brought Gordon Strachan, Chris Fairclough, and Carl Shutt into the lineup, and Leeds climbed the table back to 6th by 1 April. Although these new players would be involved in the successes of subsequent years, this season's resurgence did not last, and Leeds took just 11 points from the last eight games to finish the campaign in 10th.
Win | Draw | Loss |
See main article: 1988–89 FA Cup.
Win | Draw | Loss |
Brighton & Hove Albion | Away | 2–1 | Baird (2) | 10,900 | |||
Nottingham Forest | Away | 0–2 | — | 28,107 |
See main article: 1988–89 Football League Cup.
Win | Draw | Loss |
Peterborough United | Away | 2–1 | Snodin, Baird | 4,979 | |||
Peterborough United | Home | 3–1 (5–2 agg.) | Davison, Hilaire, Sheridan (pen.) | 8,894 | |||
Luton Town | Home | 0–2 | — | 19,447 |
See main article: 1988–89 Full Members' Cup.
Win | Draw | Loss |
Shrewsbury Town | Home | 3–1 | Davison (2), Aizlewood | 3,220 | |||
Millwall | Away | 0–2 | — | 4,242 |
Player | From club | Transfer fee | |
---|---|---|---|
Vince Hilaire | Portsmouth | £190,000 | |
Noel Blake | Portsmouth | Free | |
Andy Williams | Rotherham United | £175,000 | |
Gordon Strachan | Manchester United | £300,000 | |
Chris Fairclough | Tottenham Hotspur | £500,000 | |
Carl Shutt | Bristol City | £50,000 |
Player | To club | Transfer fee | |
---|---|---|---|
Bobby McDonald | V.S. Rugby | Free | |
Vince Brockie | Doncaster Rovers | £15,000 | |
Jack Ashurst | Doncaster Rovers | £10,000 | |
Mickey Adams | Southampton | £250,000 | |
Peter Swan | Hull City | £200,000 | |
Bob Taylor | Bristol City | £175,000 |