Johnny Giles

Lore & Background

Giles grew up in Ormond Square, a working class area of inner-city Dublin. He was encouraged to enter the game through his father Christy who played for Bohemians in the 1920s and managed Drumcondra during the 1940s. Giles was spotted in Dublin playing for Stella Maris, before he began his English career with Manchester United, joining Matt Busby's team for a £10 signing-on fee in 1956. He was given an early first-team debut in 1959 after eight of the team died in the Munich air disaster in February of the previous year. After winning an FA Cup winner's medal under Matt Busby at Manchester United, Giles moved to Leeds in 1963 for £33,000. He played in midfield alongside captain Billy Bremner, forming a central midfield partnership which was one of the best in English and European club football. Giles and Bremner both scored 115 goals for the club. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as the senior analyst on RTÉ Sport's coverage of association football from 1986 until 2016.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at Elland Road hummed against a November drizzle. The ball sat on the spot eighteen yards out, the wall four men deep and tense. Giles walked to it, placed his boot flat on the grass, and for a heartbeat the whole ground went quiet. You could hear the rain ticking off the advertising boards. He took one touch back, then another, and the crowd rose as one. The strike was not a thunderclap; it was a whisper, a curve, a slow-motion arc that kissed the top of the wall and then fell, impossibly, into the far corner. The keeper's fingers brushed the leather. The net shivered. And in the terraces, a thousand voices that had been holding their breath finally exhaled, and the roar that followed shook the very foundations of the ground. That was the sound of Leeds United in their prime, and that was the sound of Johnny Giles.

Reader's Guide

Giles is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to have come out of the Republic of Ireland. High tributes have been conferred on Giles by hugely successful former managers such as Alf Ramsey, Matt Busby and Brian Clough. His status at Leeds United was noted when supporters there named him in the greatest Leeds XI of all time. His place in English football history was recognised in 1998 when the Football League, as part of its centenary celebrations, listed Giles on its list of 100 League legends. When Giles was quizzed as to the differences between himself and another highly regarded former Irish player, Roy Keane, he said: 'If forced to compare us, I'd say I was slightly more creative than him and he [Keane] was a better ball-winner.'

Did You Know?

• Giles never managed Leeds United; he was recommended as successor to Don Revie but the board appointed Brian Clough instead.
• Leeds won two First Division titles during Giles' time: 1968–69 and 1973–74.
• Giles scored 115 goals for Leeds United, the same number as Billy Bremner.
• He was nominated for the 1972 Ballon d'Or.
• Giles entered football punditry in 1986 after repeated encouragement from childhood friend Eamon Dunphy.