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John Giles remembers late pal Peter Lorimer with great '72 Cup story

John Giles spoke glowingly of his late former teammate Peter Lorimer, the Leeds United legend who...



Soccer

John Giles remembers late pal Peter Lorimer with great '72 Cup story


John Giles spoke glowingly of his late former teammate Peter Lorimer, the Leeds United legend who passed away this week.

Giles and Lorimer terrorised teams up and down England under Don Revie, and Giles remembered what made him so special.

Peter Lorimer

"It's been a bad year, and Peter being the latest one in it," Giles said of his late teammate and friend Lorimer.

"He was a good pal, a great player and a really, really good lad."

 

"He was unbelievable. They had a contest in Peter and my time at Leeds, in the Midlands for the 'hot shot.'

"Peter won it with 90 miles an hour. 90 miles an hour on his right foot, and about two miles an hour on his left foot! But you can only kick the ball with one foot at a time!

"He was unbelievable in that way. When he was a young lad, he came along with Eddie Gray and a couple of young lads - both inside-forwards.

"Because Bobby Collins, Billy [Bremner] and myself played in midfield, Don would fit him in at right and left-wing. Unbelievably well, Peter scored 238 goals from the right wing!

"Funnily enough, when he played on the right wing that he was such a good kicker of the ball with his right foot, he didn't have to beat the left-back. All he had to do was make half a yard, get the ball in and he would make the goals from that!

"All he needed was half a yard to get the ball, and had a fierce cross. He was brilliant at that."

238 goals

Lorimer is Leeds United's record goalscorer, with a staggering 238 goals - John let us know his secret: was it long-range efforts or timing his run?

"A bit of both, if he timed his run and was getting a shot away near the box, it was unstoppable," Giles said.

"Peter could score goals from 40 yards out. He was the only player I played with - bar Bobby Charlton - that if you saw him having a shot from 40 yards you would say 'yes, go ahead!'

"He had a great approach to the game and to life. Norman Hunter and I were a little fanatical if we lost. Peter would always be the first up to get ready; Saturday afternoon, he'd be up in the mirror, whistling away, saying going 'a few jars tonight!'

"Norman and I wouldn't look at each other, and how we didn't punch him... but that's the way he was!

"We won the Cup in 1972, we were playing Wolves on the Monday. We needed a point for the Double, and we didn't do it, it got away.

"Going back on the bus, I think I was sitting next to Peter. Don Revie had organised a few drinks at the Queen's Hotel in the middle of Leeds. So we got there and it was like going to a funeral!

"Peter said: 'John, are you coming in?' I said 'No, I don't think so..' and Peter said 'Come on - if someone told us we'd win the Cup and finish second in the league, would you have taken that?'

"I said 'Yeah, definitely," so he said 'Come on, we're going in" - we went in and had a few with him.

"That was Peter: 'It's gone, we did our best, we had a great season'. Funnily enough, when we won that Cup we didn't celebrate it because we were straight on the bus to Wolverhampton, so we couldn't even have a drink!'

"He was a great player and he had that attitude: 'I'm going out tonight, and that's it!'"

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John Giles Leeds Leeds United Peter Lorimer