50) Eric Cantona (1992) 34 appearances, 11 goals

Cantona gave Leeds some much-needed impetus in 1992, but while his subsequent sale to the Theatre of Short Memories has been widely used to damn Howard Wilkinson, nobody, including I suspect Sir Alex Ferguson, could have envisaged the bit-part player becoming such a global icon. "I don't recall him getting too many clinchers," Gordon Strachan said of the 1992 title campaign, but there were occasional moments of brilliance. It was scarcely a surprise that Leeds's Rimbaud-reading maverick did not gel with Sergeant "Last of the Summer Wine" Wilko. "Eric likes to do what he likes when he likes and then f***s off," Wilkinson said. "We'd all want a bit of that."

49) Michael Bridges (1999-2004) 82 apps, 21 goals

Bridges deserves his place in this list because of the 21 goals he scored in his debut season and the sheer determination he showed during the injury hell that followed. Bridges could have been one of the best strikers in the club's history - he was the record signing when bought for £5 million and scored a memorable hat-trick at Southampton - but there was a meningitis scare, drilled bones and no end of failed comebacks. "You think, 'What the hell have I done to deserve this?' but I wasn't ever going to tie a knot in the ceiling and put my head in it," he told me. "I thought about people worse off than myself." When he scored for Carlisle United at Elland Road in January, it was hard not to feel happy for him and sad that he never achieved what he should have.

48) Gary Sprake (1962-73) 506 apps, 0 goals

Before you start looking, David Harvey is not in this list. Why? I just thought he was a good, competent keeper. Sprake, by contrast, had miracle moments, although his legacy has inevitably been tainted by high-profile errors and his ostracism from the Leeds family for speaking ill of Don Revie's finances. If you prefer unspectacular reliability over fairly regular brilliance, then substitute Harvey here.

47) Tom Jennings (1925-31) 179 apps, 117 goals

Have a look at that strike record again. A pre-war phenomenom who scored three successive hat-tricks, Jennings was one of the club's first Scottish heroes, starting a trend that would reach its apotheosis with Billy Bremner and overcome the behind-the-sofa cringing at David McNiven.

46) Frank Gray (1971-79 & 1981-85) 404 apps, 35 goals

A very reliable full back and sometime midfield player, Eddie's brother was all unfussy efficiency and, to this memory, the slow side of shuffling. That said, he was positively fuel-injected when compared with the steadily deflating space hopper that was Ian Harte. Gray never let Leeds down, though, and kept a rock-steady beat before going to Nottingham Forest to win the European Cup. Allan Clarke re-signed him for Leeds and he made close to 400 appearances, almost unnoticed.

45) Terry Yorath (1967-76) 196 apps, 12 goals

The blond Welshman was another version of Mick Bates, a high-class stand-in for any part of the most illustrious midfield in Britain. Yorath's contribution to Leeds is oft overlooked as he actually played in 28 games of the 1974 title campaign and was even more prevalent the next season, when post-Revie Leeds made it to the European Cup final.