White Rose Stories

The People’s History team were delighted to show off some of our stories at the White Rose Centre recently. We brought our exhibition boards and set them up in the main thoroughfare of the centre. Scores of people stopped to look at the boards and a few were interested enough to come and talk to us. By far the most popular was the Leeds United story about the 1975 European cup final in Paris - it helped that we were situated just outside the LUFC shop. Some fans were content to give us the thumbs up as they passed, others wanted to share their experiences of being fans. We even bumped into a couple of fans who were at the fateful Paris match. However, the stories people told us weren’t purely about football. One particularly poignant story was from Myran who grew up in a thriving Jewish community in Chapeltown. There are fewer Jews in the city nowadays so Myrna was pleased to be able to look back on a community that was thriving when she was a little girl.

Take a look at some excerpts from a few of the interviews we recorded.

“We had some fun times with the fans”

Jean’ Story

The LUFC boards sparked a memory in Jean – when she was younger, she worked for a couple of years at a tea bar at Elland Road.

We used to go and we'd collect pork pies and sachets of oxtail soup and go upstairs, set it all up and then sell during half time. We had some fun times with the fans and particularly, fans from the other team. I can always remember one, and it was a Liverpool game, and they jumped over the bar because they wanted the pork pies. We were lucky because on the other side they stole the tea urn and ran off with it!  Once it was all set up, then we could go up into the stand and watch the game. It was when Sniffer Clark and Billy Bremner and all that were playing, so there were some good games, it was good times.

Jean also has fond memories of going dancing in Leeds:

The Mecca was the dance hall in County Arcade in Leeds, so you could go from being like 13, or 14. Years ago, it used to be a tea-room and it had a great big fountain in the middle, with all the waitresses. Unfortunately, it closed and it moved up to the Merrion Centre and it was never quite as good as the old Mecca. My sister's a little bit older than me, so she taught me to jive. [The men in] suits, and we had, they were sort of like slip dresses in those days, the Mary Quant style.

“They were robbed”

Ian’s Story

Ian read the stories about the 1975 match in Paris and came to tell us that he had been to the match too!

I set off from Leeds about ten o'clock at night, Special train, all the way to Paris. Well, obviously I got on the ferry, and the train at the other end. We got there about one o'clock, two o'clock in Paris. We had cans, don't worry, we had plenty of those!

They were hard to get, tickets. Luckily, I were a season ticket holder, and I got one. We thought we would win, yeah. The kick-off was half seven then, it was a Wednesday night, yeah. We just went for a few beers and made our own way to the stadium. They were robbed, weren't they? If people look back at archives and that, they see how robbed they were. There was nothing wrong with the goal, and the referee disallowed it, and it seemed to me a bit of a fix. When Germany scored, there was a lot of trouble. We weren't sat where it was, we were at the side, but it was all behind goals. There were all sorts of flying seats and that. But it was a good experience, one you'll never forget in your life.

“It’s a long time ago, but it still hurts”

Gary’s Story

Gary was also at the cup match in Paris. He was only young but he remembers the violence from the fans when they thought the game was going against them.

I was only a kid, but it was kicking off all over. And it was bad. It started just before the end. Leeds fans started ripping everything up. It was the biggest game in their history, and they were being robbed. There were a lot of fighting going off around the ground. When we got on the outskirts, they were fighting all over. It was pretty bad. Our coach got stopped and some of their fans were trying to get us off.  They didn't have scarves on or whatnot, but I think they were Bayern fans. Leeds were guilty of smashing the place up, but it was their lot causing trouble outside. It was a quiet journey back.  We got banned from Europe after that, for four years. That was pretty much the end of us because Revie had just gone. And then it were lousy for years until Wilkinson came. But yeah, it's a long time ago and it still hurts.

“Being a Leeds fan is passion”

Paul’s Story

As a lifelong Leeds United supporter, Paul was keen to share his thoughts.

Being a Leeds fan is passion. Passion. I think where you're born should be your team. You know what I mean? Other teams’ fans, they chase glory. I've grown up with Leeds not really having glory. I've never chased victory. I don't care if we were in the third division, fourth division. I'm born and bred Leeds fan. Die as a Leeds fan.

“Nobody had a lot, nobody wanted a lot”

Myrna’s Story

Myrna noticed our boards and was fascinated by the project. She was very keen to share her own “people’s history” of growing up in a Jewish family in Chapeltown.

I was born in in Leeds. My grandparents were from Russia; they came over on the boat in the 1900s and they all ended up in the Leylands. They started this tailoring business. My father, he went into the business and so did my brother. My grandfather, he struggled. They were in sort of a one-bedroom property with five children and never complained. And then they moved to something which was a bit more salubrious, off Harehills Lane. I remember my grandma going into the cellar to fry all the fish. It didn't matter what the temperature was. It could have been freezing, snowing out there. She'd go down there to do it. And the chicken, especially for Friday night. It was, it was lovely. It was tradition.

We grew up in Chapeltown. And all those shops on the parade, they were all Jewish shops. There was Schiffer, the chicken man. He sold the chickens. And then there was loads of delicatessens that you could go in there and get your bagels. Malkin was one of them. They're all gone now. There was the fish and chips shop, Cantor’s. Chapeltown was all Jewish people. The community was together, all together. Nobody had a lot. Nobody wanted a lot. You were just happy to be the unit. And we were a unit. All the family: the aunts, the uncles, the cousins, they were all together. And then we moved, like most people did, we moved up to Moortown.

Thanks to Richard and Angie of the People’s History team and Samantha at the White Rose Centre