Paul Trevillion, the highly-acclaimed sports artist and creator of the long-running 'You are the Ref' column, is part of an impressive line-up at the inaugural Carnegie Sporting Words Festival.

Staged in Leeds and Harrogate between tomorrow and Sunday, the Festival will feature all manner of speakers from the literary, sporting and media worlds.

For Trevillion, returning to Yorkshire to present a talk on the origins of sports marketing will be a pleasing trip down memory lane.

He said: "I had first met Don in 1965, but it was only after a chat with (then Tottenham manager) Bill Nicholson during the
1971-72 season that I got back in contact.

"Basically, I had recently been to America and wanted to try and bring some of their marketing ideas to sport in this country and because Spurs were my team, I approached them first.

"Bill listened to me but said it was not for him. Thankfully, he suggested Leeds because, in his words, 'they need to entertain more'. At first, I thought it was a wind-up but Don eventually invited me to Elland Road

"I took my ideas and sketches but before I sat down with Don, I watched Les Cocker putting the team through a typical training session. I was impressed and included it in my presentation, basically that Leeds should go out on to the field 15 minutes before kick-off and go through these rehearsed routines."

Also included in Trevillion's pitch were the sock tags, which he suggested players should sign before the game and then hand out to kids after the final whistle, and the pre-match ritual of all 12 players running to the centre circle before waving to the crowd.

Revie, desperately wanting to earn recognition for his players, was won over and the new ideas adopted for the first time when Leeds hosted Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Trevillion, 74, recalls: "Leeds won, but got almost as much attention for the new ideas. I later asked Pat Jennings about it and he said 'I've never seen anything like it'.

"Don enjoyed it, too. He so wanted his boys to be loved and this was a way of bringing some positive coverage to Leeds."

Trevillion's hour-long talk, called 'From Stocking Tabs to the Stock Exchange', will take place on Saturday from 3.30pm at Harrogate's Cedar Court Hotel. For full details of the Festival line-up call 01423 562 303, or log on to www. sportingwords.com