When David Batty made his emotional return to Leeds United in 1998, it was seen as the beginning of great things for the West Yorkshire club.
New manager David O’Leary brought Batty back to Elland Road from Newcastle United to add experience to his youthful team.
The gamble paid off and Batty played an integral part in helping Leeds into the Champions League and turning the Irishman’s outfit from perennial mid-table dwellers into a top four side.
The veteran midfielder even performed a vital task in keeping the club going during its high-profile financial meltdown, encouraging the rest of the squad to defer wages to stave off administration.
Leeds went into freefall in 2004, which continued long after Batty’s departure and subsequent retirement, dropping down to the Championship and then League One. The club also went into administration and has been taken over numerous times, at least twice by current owner Ken Bates.
Things have been on the up for the past two years however, following the appointment of Simon Grayson as manager in 2009. Leeds won promotion back to the Championship and finished seventh last season; the highest position of any club in Yorkshire.
But with a number of big-name departures this summer, Grayson is mulling over the prospect of emulating O’Leary and bringing back a number of Leeds legends to provide the experience necessary for a return to the Premier League.
Last season, Grayson regularly lamented his young squad’s naivety in matches and pinpointed this as one of the reasons the Elland Road side dropped important points in the race for promotion.
Former Leeds favourites Alan Smith, Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate have all been linked with moves to Elland Road and Grayson has confirmed he would be interested in doing deals with the trio, who helped the club become a powerhouse in the Premier League at the turn of the century.
But like Batty’s return, the signings of Smith, Bowyer and Woodgate would be a sizeable gamble for Leeds. Batty suffered from a rib and an Achilles tendon injury during his six years back at the club, which hampered the amount of games he played.
Smith and Woodgate have had a number of serious injuries during their careers and lengthy layoffs would be crippling to Leeds, who would need them to be fit and on top of their game for a majority of the season in order to mount a successful promotion push.
Leeds would also be loathe to pay the big wages the ageing stars would no doubt command if they spent most of the season in the treatment room.
Bowyer represents a much better investment having never really struggled with any injury during his career. He played a key role in Birmingham’s midfield last season and despite being 34 years old, would be a big upgrade on Bradley Johnson, who signed for Norwich, and Neil Kilkenny, who joined Bristol City.
But even with their injury histories, if Smith and Woodgate can prove their fitness the pair would be huge assets to any club and Leeds would be firmly in the box seat to sign them. Smith’s agent has already said that his next move will not be governed by money.
Signing ex-players is always a gamble. If it pays off the rewards can be great and can lift fan and squad morale – like Batty’s homecoming – but if it fails then it can haunt both club and player for many years to come.
Simon Grayson is wise to seek experience to fulfil Leeds’ ambition of rejoining the top table of English football, but the jury is out on whether going back to the future will prove to be the right avenue to accomplish this.
