William 'Billy' John Bremner born in Stirling, joined Leeds United in 1959 after being turned down by Arsenal and Chelsea for being too small. He made his debut against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in January, 1960, and won the first of his 54 Scotland caps in 1965. Billy began his career as a right winger, partnered at Inside Forward by a man nearly twice his age, a certain Don Revie.

Billy  was scouted by Leeds while playing schoolboy football in Scotland and signed for the Elland Road club in 1959, the day after his 17th birthday.

He made his first-team debut in 1960 and was a permanent fixture on manager Don Revie's team sheet for more than 15 years thereafter unless injured or suspended. He quickly established himself as an uncompromising player, tough in the tackle and often going beyond the rules to get the better of a skilled opponent. He also had the stamina to work from one end of the pitch to the other and could pass with precision and timing. He also weighed in with his share of goals, and had an extraordinary ability to score crucial goals in the biggest games, including winners in four major semi-finals.

As Leeds United began their revival in the early 1960s, Billy was at the heart of it. In 1964 they won the Second Division title and then the following year came might close to a "double" of League championship and FA Cup. They missed out on both, losing the league title to Manchester United on goal average. Had the title been decided on goal difference, Leeds would have been crowned champions. Leeds therefore needed to win at Wembley to earn a trophy for the season. Following extra time, Liverpool eventually won 2-1, but Billy got his moment, scoring the equaliser with a sweet half volley which left opposing goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence stranded.

In 1966, Billy took over the captaincy from Bobby Collins. With their fiery No.4 acting as leader and mentor on the pitch, true Roy of the Rovers style, Leeds entered their halcyon period at the end of the 1960s, winning the League Cup and Fairs Cup in 1968 and the League Championship in 1969. That season they lost only two of their 42 league games.

In 1970, Leeds ended up with no trophies - losing the League title to Everton, the FA Cup final after a particularly violent replay against Chelsea, and the European Cup semi-final to Celtic, a team Bremner supported with a passion.

As if to emphasise the style of play for which Billy was renowned, one of football's most famous photographs shows a young Bremner pleading his innocence with a terrified look on his face after Tottenham Hotspur's no nonsense midfield player Dave Mackay grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up following a late tackle by Bremner. Mackay was just back from a second broken leg. The picture was taken in 1966.

Leeds were huge underachievers. For example Billy played in four FA Cup finals, but Leeds only won one. They reached a European Cup Winners Cup final in 1972, but were undone by a referee who had been bribed by A.C. Milan.

In 1972, a 1-0 victory over holders Arsenal in the FA Cup final earned Leeds their first and only success in the competition (and completed Billy's domestic medal set) but three days later, with only a draw required to seal the "double", Leeds lost their last League game to Wolves and the title went to Derby County.

Billy and his Leeds team mates finally put the near-misses aside and easily won the 1974 League championship, setting a record of 29 unbeaten games to start the season which was only beaten by Arsenal in 2004.  As champions, Leeds contested the 1974 Charity Shield curtain raiser game against FA Cup winners Liverpool at Wembley - and Billy was infamously sent off for a clash with Kevin Keegan, which also saw the Liverpool striker dismissed. Both players removed their shirts on departure to express their shame. As a last chance at glory, before the team grew too old and broke up, Leeds reached the European Cup final in 1974, but lost controversially to Bayern Munich.

Don Revie had quit Leeds a year earlier to take over the England job from Alf Ramsey and the team started to break up. Billy finally left Leeds United in the late summer of 1976 to join Hull City. He had played 772 games for Leeds, putting him second behind Jack Charlton in the club's all-time list.

His arrival at Hull was big news locally and he scored on his debut for the club. Though winding down his career, he emerged as a big success at Hull over two years before he joined Doncaster Rovers, managing an admirable four seasons with them before retiring at the age of 39.

As an international, Billy was at the forefront of Scottish football's rise in the 1970s after years in the wilderness. He made his Scotland debut in 1965 against Spain, played in the famous 3-2 victory against world champions England at Wembley in 1967 and captained his country at the World Cup in West Germany in 1974. His last cap came against Denmark in 1975 - an incident in Copenhagen after the game led to a lifetime ban from international football. He won 54 caps in total, scoring three goals and is in the Scotland Hall of Fame.

Billy's life after playing was mainly notable for his topsy-turvy spell as manager of Leeds United, following in the footsteps of old team-mates Allan Clarke and Eddie Gray to try to restore happier days to the club after their relegation in 1982. They never regained promotion under Billy but came close, losing a play-off final to Charlton Athletic in 1987 and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in the same season, losing to eventual winners Coventry City.

He was sacked in September 1988 to make way for Howard Wilkinson. Billy then went back to Doncaster as manager, but left in November 1991.

Billy then settled into the columnist and after-dinner circuit. At the beginning of December 1997, he suffered a heart attack at his Doncaster home and was rushed to hospital, but died two days before his 55th birthday. Just about every major figure from Scottish football, past and present, attended his funeral and there was citywide mourning in Leeds due to the extremely high esteem in which he is held by Leeds United fans.

A statue of Bremner in celebratory pose was erected outside Elland Road as a tribute to the club's greatest captain and, according to an official poll of supporters via the club website, he is the club's greatest ever player.

Billy was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact on the game.

Tenacious, combative and inspirational, true Roy of the Rovers qualities. Billy Bremner is a worthy member of the Roy of the Rovers Hall of Fame.