Editing David Batty (section)

==Club career==
===Leeds United===
Born in [[Leeds]], West Riding of Yorkshire,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.11v11.com/players/david-batty-217/ |title=David Batty |website=11v11.com |publisher=AFS Enterprises |access-date=4 April 2021}}</ref>  Batty made his debut for Leeds in November 1987 as an 18-year-old during a 4–2 win over [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leedsunited.com/news/rewind-to-the-1980s-20090523_2247585_1665086|title=Rewind to the 1980s|publisher=Leeds United F.C.|access-date=24 January 2010|date=23 May 2009}}</ref> and quickly earned a reputation as a fiercely competitive midfielder in the mould of Leeds legend [[Billy Bremner]]. Perceived to be a bit lightweight, to build up Batty's strength Bremner would call him into his office every morning to drink [[sherry]] with a raw egg stirred into it.<ref>{{Citation|last=Swan|first=Peter|first2=Andrew |last2=Collomosse|title=Swanny: Confessions of a Lower-League Legend|publisher=[[John Blake (journalist)|John Blake]]|year=2008|isbn=978-1-84454-660-2}}</ref> Batty was a key member of the Leeds team that won promotion from the second division in [[1989-90 in English football|1989–90]], and a member of a midfield which included [[Gary Speed]], [[Gary McAllister]] and [[Gordon Strachan]], when Leeds won the first division championship in [[1991-92 in English football|1991–92]]. As a tireless and sometimes ruthless forager of the ball there were few equals, but there was more to his game than simply breaking up opposition attacks; having won the ball, his distribution was excellent, making him the springboard for many counterattacks.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} If there was one aspect missing from his game it was the lack of goals, as evidenced by cries of "shoot" from Leeds fans when Batty received the ball anywhere within the opponents half.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

In October 1993 Leeds manager [[Howard Wilkinson]] needed funds to finance the rebuilding of his team, and reluctantly accepted an offer of £2.75&nbsp;million for Batty from [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]], who were managed by [[Kenny Dalglish]]. Wilkinson used the funds to buy [[Carlton Palmer]] for £2.6&nbsp;million eight months later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-batty-effect-takes-over-at-blackburn-guy-hodgson-on-the-best-and-worst-buys-of-the-season-1431365.html|title=Football: Batty effect takes over at Blackburn: Guy Hodgson on the best and worst buys of the season|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=24 January 2010|date=25 March 1994|author=Guy Hodgson}}</ref>

===Blackburn Rovers===
At this point Blackburn were an emerging force in the newly created [[Premier League]] with players such as [[Alan Shearer]] and [[Chris Sutton]]. He suffered a broken foot which ruled him out of the majority of Blackburn's title-winning campaign in [[1994-95 in English football|1994–95]], only playing five games for them that season. He refused a winners medal at the end of the season, stating that his contribution had been minimal.<ref name="BorrowstalkSPORT2012">{{cite book|author1=Bill Borrows|author2=talkSPORT|title=The talkSPORT Book of Premier League Legends|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgjSH6A86WsC&pg=PT37|date=2 August 2012|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-84983-942-6|pages=37–}}</ref> By the following season Batty was available to help Blackburn's [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]] campaign. However, the team failed to reach the lucrative knock-out stages; Batty's contribution to the campaign is best remembered for an incident involving himself and his teammate [[Graeme Le Saux]], when they started fighting each other during the Champions' League game against [[FC Spartak Moscow|Spartak Moscow]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/le-saux-and-batty-shame-blackburn-1583335.html |title=Le Saux and Batty shame Blackburn |date=23 November 1995 |access-date=15 August 2014 |newspaper=The Independent}}</ref>

In 1996 Batty requested a transfer from Blackburn Rovers, and moved to [[Kevin Keegan]]'s [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]] for £3.75&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/batty-finally-set-for-newcastle-1320850.html|title=Batty finally set for Newcastle|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=24 January 2010|date=24 February 1996|author=Guy Hodgson}}</ref>

===Newcastle United===
With Batty providing midfield bite and cover for the defence, Newcastle were able to challenge the dominant team of the day, [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]; Newcastle finished up as runners-up in the league to Manchester United twice ([[1995-96 in English football|1995–96]] and [[1996-97 in English football|1996–97]]). Keegan commented that it was not until he worked on the training ground with Batty on a daily basis that he realised just how good a player he was.{{citation needed|date=January 2010}} Batty's work-rate, tackling and unselfish play for the good of the team, therefore allowing the more skilful ball-players to perform, were appreciated by manager, colleagues and fans alike.{{citation needed|date=January 2010}} His first full-season at St. James' Park saw the departure of Keegan, with Kenny Dalglish taking over and guiding the club to another runners-up spot. However, the [[1997-98 in English football|1997–98]] season was a disappointing one, as Newcastle could only finish 13th. They did however reach the [[1998 FA Cup Final]], in which Batty started. The arrival of new manager [[Ruud Gullit]] in August 1998 marked the start of a team rebuild, and Batty made the move back to Leeds United in December 1998 for £4.4&nbsp;million.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

===Return to Leeds United===
Batty rejoined a resurgent Leeds team under the management of [[David O'Leary]]; O'Leary wanted Batty to provide bite and experience for his youthful side. A rib injury picked up in his first game kept him on the sidelines for some time, but by the end of the [[1998-99 in English football|1998–99]] season he was a regular in the Leeds team. However, in the early part of the [[1999-00 in English football|1999–2000]] season he suffered an [[Achilles tendon]] injury, and recovery was lengthened by side effects of the drugs he had to take for the heart problems he suffered as a result of the earlier rib injury.{{citation needed|date=January 2010}} This caused him to miss [[Euro 2000]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Batty's experience was a key factor in Leeds qualification for the [[UEFA Champions League]], and the cup runs to the semi-finals of both the [[UEFA Cup]] and the Champions League; however, when O'Leary was sacked by Leeds in 2002 Batty found himself out of favour with subsequent managers, and in May 2004 he was released by Leeds and retired from football.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leedsunited.com/playerarticle.asp?article=203185& |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040616082425/http://www.leedsunited.com/playerarticle.asp?article=203185&amp |archive-date=16 June 2004 |title=Six Departures Confirmed |publisher=Leeds United F.C. |first=Graham |last=Walker |date=14 May 2004 |access-date=2 May 2020}}</ref> He was injured in a game against former club Newcastle United on 7 January 2004. This would turn out to be the final game of his career.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3362527.stm
|title=Newcastle 1–0 Leeds
|website=BBC Sport
|date=7 January 2004 |access-date=30 October 2011}}</ref>