European finals, those of a certain era

Pennine Walk

Well-Known Member
Watching a programme about Nottingham Forest and their European Cup triumphs .
Takes me back to those European finals. They were magical at the time.
My earliest memory was Leeds playing Bayern Munich in Paris, 1975. Leeds were robbed that night.
Then we had Liverpool, Forest and Aston Villa in the years to come. Younger guys nowadays probably can't appreciate but we had limited live football on TV, no internet. Our fix was Sportsnight, that Saturday lunchtime highlights programme and the Shoot magazine.
Up until the Champions League started i used to love those tournaments. Other than Man Utd and them i was always supporting the British teams and that included the so called new firm at the time.
Anyone else got any memories of these great footballing days?
 
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Watching a programme about Nottingham Forest and their European Cup triumphs .
Takes me back to those European finals. They were magical at the time.
My earliest memory was Leeds playing Bayern Munich in Paris, 1974. Leeds were robbed that night.
Then we had Liverpool, Forest and Aston Villa in the years to come. Younger guys nowadays probably can't appreciate but we limited live football on TV, no internet. Our fix was Sportsnight, that Saturday lunchtime highlights programme and the Shoot magazine.
Up until the Champions League started i used to love those tournaments. Other than Man Utd and them i was always supporting the British teams and that included the so called new firm at the time.
Anyone else got any memories of these great footballing days?
You are 100% correct I can remember supporting the sheep in Paisley when they won.
When Dundee Hibs were in Europe I was in Fort William and my god when they scored the old grannys on day trips shat it when I cheered.
Better days when they did not all hate us. Fuckin weird looking back bro.
 
You are 100% correct I can remember supporting the sheep in Paisley when they won.
When Dundee Hibs were in Europe I was in Fort William and my god when they scored the old grannys on day trips shat it when I cheered.
Better days when they did not all hate us. Fuckin weird looking back bro.
Agreec v strange to think back in the day we do be happy for the sheep & DundEE Hibs to win. Changed days indeed. Also used to love the European Cup Final midweek was a major event of the year
 
You are 100% correct I can remember supporting the sheep in Paisley when they won.
When Dundee Hibs were in Europe I was in Fort William and my god when they scored the old grannys on day trips shat it when I cheered.
Better days when they did not all hate us. Fuckin weird looking back bro.

I went to school in Paisley near Gockston ( Love St} , and as much as i was always at Ibrox when young i can remember supporting St Mirren in the Anglo Scottish Cup. Think they eventually won it.
Hate the lot with a passion nowadays.
 
My Dad
I went to school in Paisley near Gockston ( Love St} , and as much as i was always at Ibrox when young i can remember supporting St Mirren in the Anglo Scottish Cup. Think they eventually won it.
Hate the lot with a passion nowadays.
My old dad and brother support them. Only saving grace is that they also hate the monkeys
 
I remember as a boy Rangers, Celtic, Hearts Killie and Dunfermline all held their own in European competition.

It has definitely lost it’s character in recent times and become a competition where only a club from one of the top 5 nations has any chance of winning. This in turn has made these clubs more wealthy and caused an irreparable divide with the rest.

People may argue the football is better, but it has centralized resources and the cost has been true competition. With a straight 2 legged knockout competition with no seeding, a good side from any country had a chance of winning it and the wealthy was more evenly distributed

I’d like to think one day the old format might return, but the only chance is if the bigger clubs cut loose and form a breakaway league. Which may not be a bad idea. Football has changed irreversibly because of money and I think some kind of major realignment is the only solution to improve the lot of teams effectively excluded from the final stages of the CL.
 
I distinctly remember the Dortmund v Bayern final and everyone stood and applauded Bayern picking up the trophy that was the first time I remember thinking that football was all consuming,
 
Bit spoiled.
First away euro trip was Barcelona 72.
Dad used to take me to what he would say could be a good game.
Plenty games we were not involved in, but the one that sicks out was a Texaco cup tie at Fir Park Motherwell, early 70s.
Something like 25k in the stadium, went to extra time.
Watching football was good back then, and all clubs had a good following of supporters.
 
Bit spoiled.
First away euro trip was Barcelona 72.
Dad used to take me to what he would say could be a good game.
Plenty games we were not involved in, but the one that sicks out was a Texaco cup tie at Fir Park Motherwell, early 70s.
Something like 25k in the stadium, went to extra time.
Watching football was good back then, and all clubs had a good following of supporters.
Genuinely would have loved to see rangers play in Europe in an era where we had a decent chance of winning the tournament. I was born in 87 and have seen some amazing nights in Europe but now getting out of the group stages is likely the best we can hope for.
 
I was 12 when Aberdeen won the CWC and I was desperate for them to lose, I'd never forgiven them for the previous 2 cup final defeats, the 4 - 1 in particular, that hatred has intensified over the years.
 
I miss the excitement that came with a genuine cup competition, where anyone had a chance and a bit of luck could play a part too. Some great finals over the years with a wide range of clubs across europe. It's sad that so many famous clubs will likely never appear on that stage again. The CL format has killed that competition for me. You can just about successfully predict the quarter finalists these days. You wonder how things might've been for us without all the multiple qualifiers and groups.
 
I remember as a boy Rangers, Celtic, Hearts Killie and Dunfermline all held their own in European competition.

It has definitely lost it’s character in recent times and become a competition where only a club from one of the top 5 nations has any chance of winning. This in turn has made these clubs more wealthy and caused an irreparable divide with the rest.

People may argue the football is better, but it has centralized resources and the cost has been true competition. With a straight 2 legged knockout competition with no seeding, a good side from any country had a chance of winning it and the wealthy was more evenly distributed

I’d like to think one day the old format might return, but the only chance is if the bigger clubs cut loose and form a breakaway league. Which may not be a bad idea. Football has changed irreversibly because of money and I think some kind of major realignment is the only solution to improve the lot of teams effectively excluded from the final stages of the CL.

We were talking about this in the office the other day. No doubt the CL was great entertainment at the beginning, but as they altered the competition and the money distribution it has became less competitive. I, like many, don't bother that much about it unless we are playing.

Looking back the two legged affairs were the better option, more chance of an upset or two, rather than a smaller team having to grind through the league format and ultimately falling short.

As you say, the only way to attempt to fix it is major changes, I would like to see the seeding system changed for starters.
 
We were talking about this in the office the other day. No doubt the CL was great entertainment at the beginning, but as they altered the competition and the money distribution it has became less competitive. I, like many, don't bother that much about it unless we are playing.

Looking back the two legged affairs were the better option, more chance of an upset or two, rather than a smaller team having to grind through the league format and ultimately falling short.

As you say, the only way to attempt to fix it is major changes, I would like to see the seeding system changed for starters.
Now that they have it, I cant see any way the bigger clubs are going to give up the power and the money that comes with the current set up. I think the days of open competition in Europe have gone forever. IMO its only a matter of time before clubs like Barca, Real, Man U, Juventus, etc form a closed league similar to American sports. Franchises that can be bought and sold, even transfer cities, but never lose their spot in an exclusive division.

I think at that point you might see two different bodies within the game develop, something similar to the WBA and WBO. Television money and football tourism will likely go with the bigger clubs, but I think the clubs left out will have more grass roots appeal. If they can get together and formulate some system of regionalized leagues it could provide some competition to the 'Super' League, certainly in terms of attendance and supporter interest. How successful it would be is open to debate though as the top players will likely migrate with the money.
 
Bit spoiled.
First away euro trip was Barcelona 72.
Dad used to take me to what he would say could be a good game.
Plenty games we were not involved in, but the one that sicks out was a Texaco cup tie at Fir Park Motherwell, early 70s.
Something like 25k in the stadium, went to extra time.
Watching football was good back then, and all clubs had a good following of supporters.
I went to watch Motherwell and Airdrie in several of their Texaco cup ties,the crowds were massive compared to now.Also had the pleasure of watching some top English players.
 
Now that they have it, I cant see any way the bigger clubs are going to give up the power and the money that comes with the current set up. I think the days of open competition in Europe have gone forever. IMO its only a matter of time before clubs like Barca, Real, Man U, Juventus, etc form a closed league similar to American sports. Franchises that can be bought and sold, even transfer cities, but never lose their spot in an exclusive division.

I think at that point you might see two different bodies within the game develop, something similar to the WBA and WBO. Television money and football tourism will likely go with the bigger clubs, but I think the clubs left out will have more grass roots appeal. If they can get together and formulate some system of regionalized leagues it could provide some competition to the 'Super' League, certainly in terms of attendance and supporter interest. How successful it would be is open to debate though as the top players will likely migrate with the money.

Sadly, I think you are not too far off with that.
 
Them were the days eh???? Grew up with the European Cup. A tournament you could only participate in if you were Champions of your own league. Imagine that!!!! Stupid i know.
Then we also had the UEFA cup. That was down to league positions. Last but by no means least our ol' favourite the Cup Winners Cup. Open only to those teams that won their national cup usually on the very last day of the season. Some great teams, matches,players and goals. Was it better back then? Probably. Or do i miss my Youth?Definitely.
#Reminiscing Old Git Loyal. ;) :))
 
Watching a programme about Nottingham Forest and their European Cup triumphs .
Takes me back to those European finals. They were magical at the time.
My earliest memory was Leeds playing Bayern Munich in Paris, 1975. Leeds were robbed that night.
Then we had Liverpool, Forest and Aston Villa in the years to come. Younger guys nowadays probably can't appreciate but we had limited live football on TV, no internet. Our fix was Sportsnight, that Saturday lunchtime highlights programme and the Shoot magazine.
Up until the Champions League started i used to love those tournaments. Other than Man Utd and them i was always supporting the British teams and that included the so called new firm at the time.
Anyone else got any memories of these great footballing days?
Great Days loved getting the Shoot every week don't know why but I think back to that great Ajax team in the 70's the most I think it was the strip loved it
 
Watched that last night as well.

All these years later trevor francis still upset about how clough treated him.

Clough isnt here to tell his side of the story of course but if francis' version of events is correct then thats very poor form from clough.

Good show overall. Before my time but john robertson seemed to be a great player.
 
I remember Everton winning the ECWC and being robbed of probably a European Cup the year after by events at Heysel.
 
Them were the days eh???? Grew up with the European Cup. A tournament you could only participate in if you were Champions of your own league. Imagine that!!!! Stupid i know.
Then we also had the UEFA cup. That was down to league positions. Last but by no means least our ol' favourite the Cup Winners Cup. Open only to those teams that won their national cup usually on the very last day of the season. Some great teams, matches,players and goals. Was it better back then? Probably. Or do i miss my Youth?Definitely.
#Reminiscing Old Git Loyal. ;) :))
The quality of football in the final stages might be slightly better now, but the competition has been robbed of its fairness and equality. The money generated is completely concentrated on teams from certain countries which allows them to get stronger, further reducing competition. The present tournament only ever gets interesting when you are down to the last 8, and those teams invariable come from the top five nations. At least with the old competition you had the chance of an upset. A good team from an unfashionable league could go all the way if they hit a decent run of form. It has become impossible for even a team of Ajax's standing to win it now, and it becomes less and less likely with each passing year.

Still, the tourists and football snobs seem to like it, and as long as the TV companies get their subscriptions nothing is likely to change
 
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The quality of football in the final stages might be slightly better now, but the competition has been robbed of its fairness and equality. The money generated is completely concentrated on teams from certain countries which allows them to get stronger, further reducing competition. The present tournament only ever gets interesting when you are down to the last 8, and those teams invariable come from the top five nations. At least with the old competition you had the chance of an upset. A good team from an unfashionable league could go all the way if they hit a decent run of form. It has become impossible for even a team of Ajax's standing to win it now, and it become less and less likely with each passing year.

Still, the tourists and football snobs seem to like it, and as long as the TV companies get their subscriptions nothing is likely to change
True what you say there. If it's not Real it'll be Barça or Bayern. Remember as a brat in 79 watching Trevor Francis scoring the winner for Forest against Malmo!!!!! Don't think that'll ever happen again.
P.S With regards to Malmo I'm sure our own Robert Prytz was playing that day for them. Maybe!!
 
Incredible to think now that Rangers Celtic and Killie were in the semi finals of the 3 European tournaments in 1967.
 
Watching Notts Forest Liverpool first round match, it's crazy how many Scottish players were on the pitch.

Bit of a sicker watching their semi final vs Cologne. It should have been us.
 
I paid £2 I think to watch the 1976 final at Hampden between Bayern Munich and St Etienne.

Hampden was unrecognizable outside with mostly French fans and merchandisers and caterers creating a Continental atmosphere. The French had the 'Rangers end' - "Allez les Verts" :eek: a disconcerting chant !I

St Etienne looked the better team for much of the game and hit the woodwork twice but Bayern won the game with a free kick screamer. It was a treat to see Beckenbauer in the flesh.
 
I paid £2 I think to watch the 1976 final at Hampden between Bayern Munich and St Etienne.

Hampden was unrecognizable outside with mostly French fans and merchandisers and caterers creating a Continental atmosphere. The French had the 'Rangers end' - "Allez les Verts" :eek: a disconcerting chant !I

St Etienne looked the better team for much of the game and hit the woodwork twice but Bayern won the game with a free kick screamer. It was a treat to see Beckenbauer in the flesh.

One of my biggest football regrets is not going to that Final at Hampden, I would love to experience a European/Champions League Final, especially as it was easy to get into that particular Final.
I decided at the last minute just to get some beer and watch it on the television :(
I was at Barcelona in 1972 and Manchester in 2008 but probably will never get the chance now to attend a European Cup (CL) Final :(
 
I paid £2 I think to watch the 1976 final at Hampden between Bayern Munich and St Etienne.

Hampden was unrecognizable outside with mostly French fans and merchandisers and caterers creating a Continental atmosphere. The French had the 'Rangers end' - "Allez les Verts" :eek: a disconcerting chant !I

St Etienne looked the better team for much of the game and hit the woodwork twice but Bayern won the game with a free kick screamer. It was a treat to see Beckenbauer in the flesh.

My dad was at the cup winners semi final in 72 vs bayern and one of his abiding memories is beckenbauer going fu.cking nuts at his team mates after we went 2-0 up.
 
I loved European football when I was growing up in the 70s.

Couldn't wait until Football Focus on a Saturday lunch time to watch the goals from all over Europe , particularly in Eastern Europe when the snow was piled up around the pitches but the show still went on even though some of the pitches were mud baths and there were still 50k at matches in minus temperatures.

Loved watching Liverpool matches on tv as Anfield always seemed to have a great atmosphere.

Brian Clough was a very strange man but what a team he built. Souness was correct in that the Nottingham Forest episode was easily the greatest achievement in British football.
 
I loved European football when I was growing up in the 70s.

Couldn't wait until Football Focus on a Saturday lunch time to watch the goals from all over Europe , particularly in Eastern Europe when the snow was piled up around the pitches but the show still went on even though some of the pitches were mud baths and there were still 50k at matches in minus temperatures.

Loved watching Liverpool matches on tv as Anfield always seemed to have a great atmosphere.

Brian Clough was a very strange man but what a team he built. Souness was correct in that the Nottingham Forest episode was easily the greatest achievement in British football.

As francis said at the end, it will never be repeated.
 
I paid £2 I think to watch the 1976 final at Hampden between Bayern Munich and St Etienne.

Hampden was unrecognizable outside with mostly French fans and merchandisers and caterers creating a Continental atmosphere. The French had the 'Rangers end' - "Allez les Verts" :eek: a disconcerting chant !I

St Etienne looked the better team for much of the game and hit the woodwork twice but Bayern won the game with a free kick screamer. It was a treat to see Beckenbauer in the flesh.

The French punters took over Buchanan St for the day, if I recall correctly. I was a kid at the time, but remember it on the local telly news.
 
In the 70s & 80s Scottish teams did a lot better than they do now. I remember Hearts coming from 3(?) down against an East German team, possibly Leipzig, to win 5-1 on the night to go through.
The UEFA Cup was much better then too, as there was a lot of good teams in it, many of which won their league the season they played in it. Nowadays these teams are in the CL, devaluing the Europa League.
 
I always remember the ECWC Final at Hampden in 1966 Liverpool v Dortmund, a hellish night weather wise but a game that sticks in the memory for the occasion, a 2-1 win for Dortmund.
 
I always remember the ECWC Final at Hampden in 1966 Liverpool v Dortmund, a hellish night weather wise but a game that sticks in the memory for the occasion, a 2-1 win for Dortmund.
I was there that night,the crowd was only about 25k.Liverpool beat the mentally challengeds in the semi final.
 
I was there that night,the crowd was only about 25k.Liverpool beat the mentally challengeds in the semi final.
Remember the semi-final very well. The game at Anfield saw the mentally challengeds launch hundreds of bottles onto the pitch and riot outside.
 
Remember the semi-final very well. The game at Anfield saw the mentally challengeds launch hundreds of bottles onto the pitch and riot outside.
I just read about that the other day in David Peace's novel about Bill Shankly, 'Red Or Dead'.

Apparently the mentally challengeds were cheated :rolleyes:
 
It was genuinely exciting back then, as pointed out above, there wasn’t a lot of football on tv then either.

A return to the old format will never happen, the big clubs have too much to lose, the old format also allowed for average sides to beat the likes of Dukla Prague and Vojvodina on the way to winning the bloody thing, that will never be allowed to be repeated.
 
A bit young for the vintage ones. One of the first non-Rangers games I remember watching was the 91 European Cup final between Red Star and Marseille. Nearly put me off football for life.
 
We were talking about this in the office the other day. No doubt the CL was great entertainment at the beginning, but as they altered the competition and the money distribution it has became less competitive. I, like many, don't bother that much about it unless we are playing.

Looking back the two legged affairs were the better option, more chance of an upset or two, rather than a smaller team having to grind through the league format and ultimately falling short.

As you say, the only way to attempt to fix it is major changes, I would like to see the seeding system changed for starters.

it came about at some point that the big tv audience countries had to somehow be guarenteed to progress through the rounds.
one memory I have was inter failing to finish in the top two that qualified to continue.
that led to the introduction of cl group third places staying in Europe and on tv in the UEFA cup.
Now, UEFA have made it difficult for the four teams from the big five countries NOT to qualify for the group stage.
 
It was genuinely exciting back then, as pointed out above, there wasn’t a lot of football on tv then either.

A return to the old format will never happen, the big clubs have too much to lose, the old format also allowed for average sides to beat the likes of Dukla Prague and Vojvodina on the way to winning the bloody thing, that will never be allowed to be repeated.
Yes,
and of course the winners getting a humdinger of a first round the next year and get tufted.
imagine that now?
but how many big teams play a qualifier, not many.
 
I just read about that the other day in David Peace's novel about Bill Shankly, 'Red Or Dead'.

Apparently the mentally challengeds were cheated :rolleyes:
Hard to believe isn't it. They had a goal by Lennox knocked off for offside, which it was. This was the main reason for their rioting
 
Next days paper took you a day to read all the results in E.C,E.C.W.C,and Inter Cities fair's cup.Aye lad those were better days when it was all in the luck of the draw.
 
Watching a programme about Nottingham Forest and their European Cup triumphs .
Takes me back to those European finals. They were magical at the time.
My earliest memory was Leeds playing Bayern Munich in Paris, 1975. Leeds were robbed that night.
Then we had Liverpool, Forest and Aston Villa in the years to come. Younger guys nowadays probably can't appreciate but we had limited live football on TV, no internet. Our fix was Sportsnight, that Saturday lunchtime highlights programme and the Shoot magazine.
Up until the Champions League started i used to love those tournaments. Other than Man Utd and them i was always supporting the British teams and that included the so called new firm at the time.
Anyone else got any memories of these great footballing days?
Real Madrid vEitracht Frankfurt.
 
It’s to our eternal shame that we were instrumental in the formation of the abomination that is the Champions League.

it was probably inevitable but I just wish we had had no part in it as it has ruined football.
 
Used to love reading the European Cup and Cup winners Cup results in the following days papers. Still dont know how to pronounce Gornik Zbrsze , Slasc Wroclaw or Ujpest Dzosa but they were always in the mix in later rounds.
 
it came about at some point that the big tv audience countries had to somehow be guarenteed to progress through the rounds.
one memory I have was inter failing to finish in the top two that qualified to continue.
that led to the introduction of cl group third places staying in Europe and on tv in the UEFA cup.
Now, UEFA have made it difficult for the four teams from the big five countries NOT to qualify for the group stage.

Yeah I realise why it happened BB, just a shame that it did. As someone else said, some historic teams will, virtually, never see the later stages again.
 
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