Alex Sabella Right Place, Wrong Time

Alex Sabella, now coach of Argentina, arrived at Leeds United on a wave of optimism. He left less
than two years later, almost unnoticed.

In the summer of 1980 Leeds desperately needed a flair midfielder. Just five years earlier, in May
1975, they had been cruelly robbed of victory in the European Cup Final. Leeds completely
outplayed a Franz Beckenbauer-led Bayern Munich in Paris but were twice hit on the break, after
a Peter Lorimer goal had been controversially disallowed. The months and years that followed
that defeat saw young stars like Jordan, McQueen and Frank Gray move on, whilst most of those
that remained from the Revie era retired. Leeds had become a mid-table team, struggling to
rebuild for the future.

Meanwhile, in 1978 Argentina had won one of the all-time classic World Cups. A mix of flair,
power and speed had blown away an excellent Holland team and the passion displayed by their
fans captivated and excited football supporters around the globe. Everyone suddenly wanted a
piece of South American magic. Even second division Sheffield United.

Having failed in an audacious bid to sign Diego Maradona for 160,000, the club turned its
attention to a little known attacking midfielder from Buenos Aires and so, in July 1978, Alejandro
Sabella became the first Argentinean ever to play professional football in England. At the same
time, 200 miles to the south, Tottenham bought Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa.

Sabellas performances at Bramall Lane soon attracted the attention of near neighbours Leeds
United. In January 1980, with both teams out of the FA Cup, Leeds and Sheffield United arranged
a friendly game to fill an empty Saturday afternoon. Leeds had wanted to take a look at two
young Peruvian trialists but it was a different part of South America that caught the eye.



Sabella was only small but his control of the ball and ability to pick out a pass were exactly what
Leeds needed. In the May of that year, Sabella moved the 30 miles up the M1 for a transfer fee of
400,000 and Leeds had their flair player.

Pre-season went well for Sabella as he settled in with his new team mates. In training he quickly
showed what he was capable of, with manager Jimmy Adamson stating flair is something no
manager can coach or teach, its an instinctive quality and its very much a part of Alexs game.
He does the unorthodox. One goal he scored in training had his colleagues bubbling with
excitement. The manager was also surprised by Sabellas strength and determination and his
ability to tackle. Leeds brought out a souvenir t-shirt suggesting that fans Samba with Sabella.
The Gelderd terraces were full of fat blokes with a new found latino style. In return, Alex scored
the winning goal for Leeds in a pre-season friendly in Spain. The future looked promising.

Sabella made his full debut for Leeds in the first game of the 80/81 season - a home encounter
with Aston Villa, who would go on to win the league in May and who would be crowned
champions of Europe the following season. Sabella appeared on the front cover of the match day
programme,



It was an inauspicious start: Leeds lost 2-1, Sabella was injured and was ruled out of the next
game. By the beginning of September Leeds had lost 4 of their first 5 league games and were
bottom of the table. Fans protested on the terraces. I made my first bed sheet banner: Save
Leeds United, sack Adamson! It worked - in mid-September the club dismissed the manager.

Sabella had returned to the team but found it difficult to play his natural passing game as Leeds
desperately tried to find some kind of form. So the arrival of Spurs at Elland Road was probably
well timed. The game was billed as the Battle of the River Plate as Sabella lined up against
compatriots Ardiles and Villa and a large crowd turned up to see Mundial 78 in Yorkshire.



But this was no exhibition game; it ended in a drab 0-0 draw and was the start of a sequence of
dogged draws carved out by new manager and former Leeds legend Allan Clarke. Away at
Ipswich the side dug deep and defended for almost the full 90 minutes to earn a 1-1 draw, with
Sabella scoring the first of his two goals for Leeds.

That game set a marker for the rest of the season but also sealed Sabellas fate. Leeds needed
points and a touch player like Sabella was considered too much of a luxury. Whilst he kept his
place until mid season, he was finding it increasingly difficult to play his natural game on poor
pitches, against more physical opponents. Sabella was dropped for the return game with Spurs in
February and only made one more appearance, as a substitute, all season. Sabella watched from
the bench as Clarke slowly ground out a ninth place finish.



In the summer that followed, Leeds brought in Peter Barnes for just short of 1 million and
Sabella was relegated to the reserve team. Later in the year, when war broke out between Britain
and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, Sabella returned home to Argentina and signed for
Estudiantes, where his career and his talents were finally able to flourish. Leeds though, endured
another poor season and were relegated to Division 2. Allan Clarke was sacked and Peter
Barnes moved to Spain.

In the summer of 1980 Alex Sabella ought to have been exactly the right player for Leeds.
Unfortunately, he arrived at a time when the club was in turmoil; he belonged in a team that was
confident and strong but Leeds in the two years that he was at Elland Road, was neither of those
things.

In total, Alex Sabella made 27 first team appearances for Leeds, scoring 2 goals. It would be a
further 30 years before an Argentinean was to thrill and captivate the crowd at Elland Road.