Revie was born in Middlesbrough and educated at Archibald Secondary Modern School. He played for Leicester and Hull before joining Manchester City in 1953. With them he won six England caps and was voted Footballer of the Year in 1955. Manchester City won the FA cup in 1956 using what became known as the 'Revie plan' with Revie as deep-lying centre forward on the lines of the great Hungarian team of those days.
After two years with Sunderland, Revie was appointed Leeds manager in 1961, when the team were on the point of being relegated to the third division. Such was Revie's impact that between 1965-74 Leeds won the championship twice (with a record points total in 1969) as well as the FA cup, and were runners up four and three times respectively. They also won the European Fairs cup in 1968, the first British club to do so. Leeds were then regarded as the greatest club side in the world and Revie was voted Manager of the Year in 1969, 1970 and 1972.
He left in 1974, the season in which Leeds were undefeated in their first 29 matches, to become manager of the England side. After initial success, results were poor and Revie negotiated secretly for a lucrative post with the United Arab Emirates. This earned him a ten year ban, later rescinded. He died of motor neurone disease.