Making History

[kushiro]

I really wish I could be in a square in Madrid right now soaking up the atmosphere, or in Leicester next week helping union FS prepare their next tifo. But I'm stuck on the other side of the world. So I'm having my own pre-game build up with my old mate youtube. I've been looking back at the history of English teams in the quarter finals of the European Cup / Champions' League. It's an amazing story, and it's even more amazing that we're part of the next chapter. I'm going to cherry pick a few of the highlights and post them here over the next few days. Hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Part 1   Early Years:

 

1956/57

 

Chelsea were prevented by the FA from taking part in the first competition, so the first English team to take part were Man United. In the quarter finals they were drawn against a Spanish team called Atletico who play in red and white stripes. Sounds familiar, but this was Bilbao, not Madrid (after Franco died they reverted to their original name, Athletic Bilbao). This is such a good clip - the crowd shots, the ref, the weather..

 United won the second leg 3-0 at Maine Road in front of 70,000, then lost to Real Madrid in the semis.

 

 

1957/58

 

The strory turns tragic for the first, but not last time. Drawn against Red Star in the quarters, United drew 3-3 in Belgrade. You know what happened on the way back:

 

 

1959/60

 

Wolves were called 'Champions of Europe' back in the early 50s after winning a few floodlit friendlies, but any delusions of superiority were shattered in their two Eurpoean cup campaigns in the late 50s. Here they faced Barcelona, already 4-1 down from the away leg. The eventual 9-2 aggregate defeat was a record until Arsenal were hammered by Bayern last month. In this clip you can see why Barcelona fans think the 'Cruyff turn' should really be known as the 'Martinez turn'. But the highlight of the video is a far more outrageous piece of skill from the same player later on.

 

 

1960/61

 

In March 1961, The Beatles weren't the only group of Lancashire lads heading for Hamburg. League champions Burnley had reached the quarter finals, and took a 3-1 lead to the second leg in Germany. What a time that must have been - dreaming that the roll of honour would read 'Real Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Madrid, Burnley'. But they lost the second leg 4-1. Here's a good  clip of the first leg at Turf Moor. Don't forget to sing 'Champions of England - you'll never sing that' next time you're there.

 

 

Edited 10 April 2017 by kushiro

[Nick]

I've plus 1'd that for effort and I'll read/watch at some point if my day offers me a spare couple of hours!

[Vlad the Fox]

Great work Kushiro, very good. You can edit it with our winning YouTube clips added next week 

[Ted Maul]

It's fantastic what we've done this season- plenty of the midsized English clubs have had famous European runs in the past- Forest EC winners, Derby got to the semis, Norwich knocked Bayern out of the UEFA, Fulham and Boro got to the final, Ipswich won it, Burnley and wolves as above. There are probably others.

 

It's great that we've managed to win our first major trophy and write our own famous European chapter over the last year, no matter what happens against Atletico.

Edited 10 April 2017 by Ted Maul

[kushiro]

Part 2   1960s

 

1961/62

 

OK, it's 'be nice to Spurs' time. After all, if they hadn't won the league in 1961, we wouldn't have had our first European adventure. Also being very kind to them were the weather gods. In the quarter-finals against Czech army side Dukla, both legs were played on a pitch entirely covered with snow. Surely the only reason spurs progressed was that the Dukla players COULDN'T SEE their opponents.

The whole country were getting very excited about the possibility of Spurs becoming the first British winners, but they fell to Benfica in the semis. This was how Danny Blanchflower reflected on the experience: "It would be difficult to conceive of a more potent or popular soccer competition. Playing in the European Cup has been the greatest emotional experience of my career."

 

 

1964/65

 

After early round exits by Ipswich and Everton, Liverpool were the next champions to extend their European tour beyond Christmas. And this was the extraordinary way their quarter final against Koln was decided:

Yep - the first time he tossed it it came down on its side in the mud. Once again the English champions fell in the semis.

 

 

1965/66

 

One of the most famous quarter final matches in the history of the competition. Remembered above all for this goal:

Best-mania after this game was something completely new for a footballer. The press called him 'el Beatle'. Google that and you'll see the famous hat he brought back from the game. In the semis, United went back to Belgrade, scene of the fateful Red Star game in 1958. This time they played Partizan, but still they couldn't make the final.

 

 

1967/68

 

After Celtic had become the first British winners in 1967, United finally got their hands on the cup a year later. The quarter final against Gornik Zabrze was another of those Siberian experiences, as you can see in this very short but evocative clip. (@Gornik Leicester - are you still doing the pictures?)

 

Watching these clips makes you realise how sanitized the competition has become. Not just the weather - with all the wealth in the big five leagues, all the exotic sounding East European sides of the past have been neutered. Remember when they were called 'crack' European sides?  Anyway, in the next instalment, the East really gets going. Not the Eastern bloc, but the East Midlands. 

[kushiro]

Part 3  1970s

 

1970/71

 

This is one of the more notorious Euro flops. Everton had won the league in thriling fashion with a near-record points total, and after getting the easy draw in the quarters were no doubt dreaming of the final (at Wembley) and doing what  Liverpool couldn't manage until the end of this post. Except it wasn't such an easy draw after all. That weird curve in the terracing behind the goal was a brief attempt by the club to combat fans chucking stuff.

 

 

1972/73

 

I promised you some East Midlands action, but I'll have to disappoint all you Derby fans out there. After Clough's boys won the league, they made it to the semi-finals where they fell to Juventus (the famous 'cheating bastards', as Clough called them). For some reason, there is no existing footage of their quarter final with Spartak Trnava. Shame.

 

 

1974/75

 

Here's Leeds beating Anderlecht in the quarters on their way to the final (and another never-to-be forgotten we wuz robbed story). Watch out for the fans in hilarious 70s garb who run on to celebrate Bremner's goal.

 

 

1976/77

 

So here it is - the big one. A Liverpool fan recalls the day: "we all had to bunk off school at three o'clock but it didn't matter 'cos the teachers were all heading to the game anyway." One down from the first leg against sexiest European team ever St Etienne, Liverpool's European dream was kept alive on an unforgettable night. Here's a clip of surely the loudest chanting ever heard at an English ground.

 

This was the goal that caused the mayhem:

 

 

[kushiro]

First line of this thread now looks so 'yesterday'. Anyway, on we go.

 

 

Part 4    The English takeover

 

 

1977/78

 

Liverpool on their way to a second triumph. More extraordinary Iberian weather conditions in this quarter final.

That's Emlyn Hughes with the mad winning goal:

 

 

1978/79

 

Here's where Martin O'Neill enters the story. Clough's team went to Switzerland with a 4-1 lead from the quarter final first leg, but Grasshoppers got one back and knew that two more would take them through on away goals. That was when the little Irishman popped up to calm things down:

 

 

1980/81

 

Here's everyone's favourite pundit, Graeme 'they'll let you down again' Souness, giving you some idea why TV companies still pay him a fortune for spouting nonsense. Way back when, he was a class act.

 

 

1981/82

 

Villa made it an incredible SIX English European Cup wins on the trot, though not before the title winning manager, Ron Saunders, left in February (hmmm). Here's Gary Shaw scoring a cute goal in an awful kit in the quarter final with Dinamo Kiev. 

 

 

[kushiro]

Part 5  Heysel and after

 

 

English clubs won seven European Cups in eight seasons between 77 and 84. They were the golden years. What followed, of course, were the years of exclusion. After the Heysel Stadium disaster in which 39 fans (mostly Juve fans) died, Engish clubs were banned from Europe.  Only in the early 90s did English clubs start being readmitted to UEFA tournaments. And even then it took years for us to be competitive again. Our quarter final story doesn't resume until the late 90s.

 

1998/99

 

The competition was called the Champions League now, and matches were televised live. Wednesday nights became 'United in Europe' night, because for several years it was only Fergie's team that offered a real threat. Here's the epic match up with Inter in 1999. First of all, possibly Peter Schmeichel's most famous 'starfish' save. If anything, it's even better than Kasper's at West Ham recently:

 

At the start of the game was 'the handshake'. Years before Terry and Bridge, and Evra and Suarez, all eyes were on Diego Simeone (yep, him) and David Beckham to see how they would greet each other before kick-off (Simeone had of course got Beckham sent off in the World Cup the previous year). You can see it right at the start of this video. Love Beckham's sheepish grin at Paul Scholes after the handshake. Scroll forward to the 7th and 45th minutes and you can see how Beckham got his revenge with two gorgeous crosses onto Dwight Yorke's head:

 

 

The next few seasons were really the story of how United failed to repeat that 1999 success, falling repeatedly in the quarters or the semis. The highlights were usually provided by Beckham. Here's two of his worldies from the quarter finals of 2000 (v Real) and 2002 (v Deportivo). It was later in the Deportivo game that he broke his metatarsal and started the whole 'Beckham's foot' saga in advance of the 2002 World Cup.

 

 

2003/04

 

You thought Claudio's tears at Sunderland were a first? Well, this is a very poor quality video, but it's worth it for the emotional bit near the end. Arsenal's invincibles were supposedly on their way to the final, but Chelsea stopped them with this dramatic win at Highbury in the quarters.

 

Edited 12 April 2017 by kushiro

[Melbourne Fuchs]

This is brilliant @kushiro!

Edited 12 April 2017 by Melbourne Fuchs

[kushiro]

Part 6   English takeover (again)

 

 

First, this classic moment of Manc mischief from the Bayern quarter final in 2001. This was how the conversation went:

 

Gary Neville:   Hey! What are you doing!?

 

Karl Power:     Shut it. I'm doing this for Cantona.

 

 

 

2004/05

 

In January 2005, Liverpool were playing as poorly in the Premier League as Leicester were in January this year. They somehow turned it round and won the cup on that night in Istanbul. This was the special moment from the quarter final v. Juve.

 

 

2005/06

 

This was the closest that Arsene Wenger got to lifting the cup - reaching the final and losing to Barcelona. This outrageous Bergkamp skill was the highlight of the quarter final win - over Juve again.

 

 

2006/07

 

April 10th 2007 was the night that Premier League clubs really signalled their intentions to take over this competition. No longer would they feel inferioir to the Spanish, the Italians, or anyone. It was the era of the big 4, and on this night Liverpool cruised past PSV, Chelsea were ruthlessly powerful in Valencia, and Man U hammered Roma 7-1  (Arsenal had gone out in the previous round). Remember when Man U were worth watching?

 

 

2007/08

 

This is where the takeover was complete. No English team were beaten by a club from another country - only by other English teams. Chelsea and Man U met in the final, Liverpool fell in the semis. But still - the greatest moment was this from Arsenal in the quarters.

 

 

2008/09

 

Once again, four English teams in the quarter finals. Chelsea were drawn against Liverpool. Surely it was mission impossible for Liverpool after losing the first leg 3-1 at Anfield....

 

[ceredigion]

Some fascinating footage there.  I remember the European Cups of the 70s and 80s when English teams dominated the competition and did well in the UEFA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup.

 

It's worth observing that back then you only played 3 knockout rounds to reach the final, so to win it you only played 7 games as opposed to the 13 which it now takes to win the CL. Also, because only the league champions entered, you could win it without ever meeting a big club. If you look at who Liverpool, Forest and Villa actually played in the seasons when they won the EC, you'll find they were playing teams in the quarters and semis who never even get near the group stage these days.

 

That's not to belittle what they achieved, but it's surprising that Forest were able to win it 2 years running without ever meeting Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter, Juventus, Bayern Munich. Mind you, it's still possible for us to reach the final without playing any of them either.

[OzFox]

On 4/10/2017 at 16:03, kushiro said:

 

 

 

Nice work by Martinez at 1'30"

 

And a decent attempt by the full back to cut him in half 

[kushiro]

The last part:

 

 

2009/10

 

You're heading out of the competition at Old Trafford with time running out. What do you do?

 

The previous night, Leo Messi had given possibly his greatest ever Euro performance:

That was Arsenal's last quarter final appearance.

 

 

2011/12

 

Here are Chelsea on their way to winning the cup. Forgotten how good this finish was:

 

 

2013/14

 

Chelsea v PSG. Remembered only for this:

 

 

2015/16

 

Man City have only made the quarter finals once in six appearances in the competition. Pretty good goal clinched this one:

 

And then came Leicester - we are the 14th English team to reach the quarter finals. That's more than any other country (unless you combine the totals for East and West Germany). Spain have had ten. Italy have only had six (- you can probably guess all of them).

 

So that's the story so far - at least until Tuesday night. Cue the music! 

 

 

[kushiro]

More on that stat about which country has had the most quarter-finalists.

 

In the 62 years of the competition, Italy have had only six, and all of them are currently in the top 8 of Serie A (Juve, Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina)

 

Over the same period, England has had 14, and six of those are currently outside the top flight (Wolves, Burnley, Derby, Forest, Leeds and Villa).

 

This shows the strength in the depth of the English league system, and also suggests we might have to wait a very long time for our next chance like this.

 

I guess we'd better make the most of this one.

 

EDIT- Whoops - Burnley are NOT currently outside the top flight!  You just look at the word and you presume 'division 2'. Sorry, Sean.

 

Edited 18 April 2017 by kushiro

[WigstonWanderer]

Ah, the early clips with brown, water-logged balls that weighed a ton and practically took your head off when you headed them, quagmire mud pitches, reminds me of school days.

[kushiro]

2 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

Ah, the early clips with brown, water-logged balls that weighed a ton and practically took your head off when you headed them, quagmire mud pitches, reminds me of school days.

Bushloe or Abbo?

Edited 18 April 2017 by kushiro

[WigstonWanderer]

Nearly went to Bushlo, but we moved to Wiltshire when I was 11.

2 minutes ago, kushiro said:

Bushloe or Abbo?

 

[kushiro]

2 minutes ago, WigstonWanderer said:

Nearly went to Bushlo, but we moved to Wiltshire when I was 11.

 

You dodged a bullet there. You didn't have to face Mr.  *****'s PE 'lessons'

 

How about junior school? Waterleys, Little Hill or Glenmere? 

[onekeithweller]

Brilliant thread. Thanks

[Jattdogg]

1 hour ago, kushiro said:

You dodged a bullet there. You didn't have to face Mr.  *****'s PE 'lessons'

 

How about junior school? Waterleys, Little Hill or Glenmere? 

My 88 year old grandad taught in wigston but  not sure what school. Heard he was a cvnt but in real life (outside of school) he is really nice. 

[WigstonWanderer]

1 hour ago, kushiro said:

You dodged a bullet there. You didn't have to face Mr.  *****'s PE 'lessons'

 

How about junior school? Waterleys, Little Hill or Glenmere? 

Haha, I think we had our own Mr.  *****.

 

Waterleys for a while then Long St for the final year after a year in Singapore with the forces. Happy days.

[kushiro]

History of English clubs in the European Cup Quarter Finals.

 

One year on, this thread needs updating: