Standard Liege, The Weakest Team To Eliminate us from Europe in the 1960's

MO_TxTruBlu

MO_TxTruBlu

Well-Known Member
We played in 10 European Competitions in the 1960's, and Standard Liege was the only side to eliminate us, that did not go on to contest the Final.
Of the other 9 teams, to eliminate us, 6 went on to win the Cup, and 3 contested the Final.

1959-60...Eintracht Frankfurt EC Semi Final, they went on to lose 3-7 to Real Madrid in the Final
1960-61...Fiorentina ECWC Final, they beat us 4-1 on Agg. (2-0, 2-1) in the Final.
1961-62...Standard Liege EC Quarter Final, they lost 0-6 on Agg. to Real Madrid in the Semi Final.
1962-63...Tottenham Hotspur ECWC R2, they went on to win it, beating Atletico Madrid 5-1 on the Final.
1963-64...Real Madrid EC R1, they went on to lose 1-3 to Inter Milan in the Final.
1964-65...Inter Milan EC Quarter Final, they went on to defeat Benfica 1-0 in the Final.
1965-66... NO Europe
1966-67...Bayern Munich 1-0 Rangers ECWC Final
1967-68..Leeds Utd ICFC Quarter Final, they went on to beat Ferencvaros 1-0 in the Final.
1968-69...Newcastle Utd ICFC Semi Final, they went on to beat Ujpest Doza 6-2 on Agg (3-0, 3-2) in the Final.
1969-70...Gornik ECWC, they went on to lose 1-2 to Manchester City in the Final.
 
FFS our luck in Europe was dreadful, would be interesting to see the vermins chart showing the same...
 
immortal7 said:
FFS our luck in Europe was dreadful, would be interesting to see the vermins chart showing the same...
Click to expand...
They got pumped by a weak Dinamo Kiev side in the first round of the EC after they beat Inter Milan reserves in the previous final. The first holders of the cup to go out in the first round.
 
Though we are often criticized for our European record, there are many 1/4, 1/2 and final appearances there, 60's must have been our best European decade for consistency.
 
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Fascinating post although it may be unfair to say Leige were the 'weakest' side we faced because they never reached the final.
Not sure if you could definitively say Leige were weaker than Newcastle or Gornik for example.
It would be interesting to compare our conquerors from succeeding decades. Over to you Mo tx...
 
instructor said:
Though we are often criticized for our European record, there are many 1/4, 1/2 and final appearances there, 60's must have been our best European decade for consistency.
Click to expand...
We were somewhat unlucky in 64-65, and would have faced Liverpool in the Semi, then Benfica, had we gone through. It would have been interesting to face Shankly's Liverpool of that time. We did beat that great Benfica side 3-1 at Ibrox six months later, in a Friendly.
67' was unfortunate in so many ways, played in Germany, no goalscorers (Forrest, McLean, Willoughby), and we opted for a defender of sorts as our Centre Forward!
68' was a very good Leeds Utd side, but we should have beat them at Ibrox by at least a couple of goals, which would have made Elland Road a different game. We would have faced Dundee in the Semi, and Ferencvaros in the Final. That should have been the year, we were great that season.
We lost only 3 of 45 domestic games.
69', I still cannot believe we did not hammer Newcastle Utd, who were a below average English side.
We missed several chances at Ibrox, including a penalty. we would have met Ujpest Doza in the Final.

Gornik. We were just niave, and they had Lubanski!
 
Charing said:
Fascinating post although it may be unfair to say Leige were the 'weakest' side we faced because they never reached the final.
Not sure if you could definitively say Leige were weaker than Newcastle or Gornik for example.
It would be interesting to compare our conquerors from succeeding decades. Over to you Mo tx...
Click to expand...

I don't disagree that Standard Liege were a much better side than Newcastle, I just found it an interesting stat, that all other teams that knocked us out in that decade, went on to win the Trophy, or at least contested the Final.

We could have met Standard Liege in the 67 ECWC Final.
Bayern Munich only managed single-goal aggregate wins against TJ Tatran Presov, Shamrock Rovers and Rapid Vienna to get to the Semi Final where they met Standard Liege, who had scored 19 goals, conceding 6, on their way to the Semi Final.
Bayern beat them home (2-0) and away (3-1), and the rest as they say is history.
 
Fife flyer said:
The Gornik defeat in 1969 led to Davie White being sacked as our manager. I hadn’t realised that Gornik then went in to reach the final
Click to expand...

That Gornik side were a much better side than we (or most others) gave them credit for.
They won the Polish League Title 5 years in a Row (63-67), which is still a record to this day.
They also won 5 consecutive Polish Cup Finals between 1967-72.

They had the great Wlozimierz Lubanski.

From 1966 to 1969 Lubanski was the top scorer in Poland
and in 1967 and 1970, he was named Footballer of the Year.
He made his international debut in 1963 as a 16 year old!
In 68-69 Lubanski scored 16 Goals in 14 Internationals for Poland.
Lubański amassed 75 caps between 1963 and 1980, scoring 48 goals and being the second highest goalscorer in Poland's football history behind Robert Lewandowski.

In both years, 1968 and 1969 Lubanski was voted into World Soccer's World XI.

In 2003, he was chosen the best Polish player of the semi-century by UEFA
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
We played in 10 European Competitions in the 1960's, and Standard Liege was the only side to eliminate us, that did not go on to contest the Final.
Of the other 9 teams, to eliminate us, 6 went on to win the Cup, and 3 contested the Final.

1959-60...Eintracht Frankfurt EC Semi Final, they went on to lose 3-7 to Real Madrid in the Final
1960-61...Fiorentina ECWC Final, they beat us 4-1 on Agg. (2-0, 2-1) in the Final.
1961-62...Standard Liege EC Quarter Final, they lost 0-6 on Agg. to Real Madrid in the Semi Final.
1962-63...Tottenham Hotspur ECWC R2, they went on to win it, beating Atletico Madrid 5-1 on the Final.
1963-64...Real Madrid EC R1, they went on to lose 1-3 to Inter Milan in the Final.
1964-65...Inter Milan EC Quarter Final, they went on to defeat Benfica 1-0 in the Final.
1965-66... NO Europe
1966-67...Bayern Munich 1-0 Rangers ECWC Final
1967-68..Leeds Utd ICFC Quarter Final, they went on to beat Ferencvaros 1-0 in the Final.
1968-69...Newcastle Utd ICFC Semi Final, they went on to beat Ujpest Doza 6-2 on Agg (3-0, 3-2) in the Final.
1969-70...Gornik ECWC, they went on to lose 1-2 to Manchester City in the Final.
Click to expand...

Excellent Stuff.

Mind you, Liège losing to that Real team was no embarrassment.
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
That Gornik side were a much better side than we (or most others) gave them credit for.
They won the Polish League Title 5 years in a Row (63-67), which is still a record to this day.
They also won 5 consecutive Polish Cup Finals between 1967-72.

They had the great Wlozimierz Lubanski.

From 1966 to 1969 Lubanski was the top scorer in Poland
and in 1967 and 1970, he was named Footballer of the Year.
He made his international debut in 1963 as a 16 year old!
In 68-69 Lubanski scored 16 Goals in 14 Internationals for Poland.
Lubański amassed 75 caps between 1963 and 1980, scoring 48 goals and being the second highest goalscorer in Poland's football history behind Robert Lewandowski.

In both years, 1968 and 1969 Lubanski was voted into World Soccer's World XI.

In 2003, he was chosen the best Polish player of the semi-century by UEFA
Click to expand...

They were true quality.

My first ever European game.
 
Go back further to 57/58. AC Milan beat us in the 2nd round and went on to lose the final to Real Madrid in extra time. Then in 75/76 St Etienne beat us and lost to Bayern in the final at Hampden despite being much the better side. Lots of European managers used to say “Beat Rangers and we will go to the Final”.
 
Grigo Yossarian said:
Excellent Stuff.

Mind you, Liège losing to that Real team was no embarrassment.
Click to expand...

No it wasn't, but that was the great Real Madrid somewhat on the wane (if I could dare to say that).
They had gone out the previous year in the First Round to Barcelona, after winning the first five European Cups on the trot.
They did go on to win the Spanish League 8 of the next 9 seasons though,
and made 3 more European Cup Finals, losing in 62, and 64, then winning it again in 1966.
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
We played in 10 European Competitions in the 1960's, and Standard Liege was the only side to eliminate us, that did not go on to contest the Final.
Of the other 9 teams, to eliminate us, 6 went on to win the Cup, and 3 contested the Final.

1959-60...Eintracht Frankfurt EC Semi Final, they went on to lose 3-7 to Real Madrid in the Final
1960-61...Fiorentina ECWC Final, they beat us 4-1 on Agg. (2-0, 2-1) in the Final.
1961-62...Standard Liege EC Quarter Final, they lost 0-6 on Agg. to Real Madrid in the Semi Final.
1962-63...Tottenham Hotspur ECWC R2, they went on to win it, beating Atletico Madrid 5-1 on the Final.
1963-64...Real Madrid EC R1, they went on to lose 1-3 to Inter Milan in the Final.
1964-65...Inter Milan EC Quarter Final, they went on to defeat Benfica 1-0 in the Final.
1965-66... NO Europe
1966-67...Bayern Munich 1-0 Rangers ECWC Final
1967-68..Leeds Utd ICFC Quarter Final, they went on to beat Ferencvaros 1-0 in the Final.
1968-69...Newcastle Utd ICFC Semi Final, they went on to beat Ujpest Doza 6-2 on Agg (3-0, 3-2) in the Final.
1969-70...Gornik ECWC, they went on to lose 1-2 to Manchester City in the Final.
Click to expand...
1965/66 - did we not qualify for Europe that season? Seems strange considering how good we were around that time. Or is there more to it than that?
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
No it wasn't, but that was the great Real Madrid somewhat on the wane (if I could dare to say that).
They had gone out the previous year in the First Round to Barcelona, after winning the first five European Cups on the trot.
They did go on to win the Spanish League 8 of the next 9 seasons though,
and made 3 more European Cup Finals, losing in 62, and 64, then winning it again in 1966.
Click to expand...

Great insight, thanks Mo.
 
Khal Drogo said:
1965/66 - did we not qualify for Europe that season? Seems strange considering how good we were around that time. Or is there more to it than that?
Click to expand...
We finished 5th in 64-65. Kilmarnock went into the European Cup in 65-66, Celtic into the ECWC, Hearts and Dunfermline into the Fairs Cities Cup. I can’t remember if the 4th place team (Hibs?) went into the Fairs Cities Cup too
 
MO_TxTruBlu said:
We played in 10 European Competitions in the 1960's, and Standard Liege was the only side to eliminate us, that did not go on to contest the Final.
Of the other 9 teams, to eliminate us, 6 went on to win the Cup, and 3 contested the Final.

1959-60...Eintracht Frankfurt EC Semi Final, they went on to lose 3-7 to Real Madrid in the Final
1960-61...Fiorentina ECWC Final, they beat us 4-1 on Agg. (2-0, 2-1) in the Final.
1961-62...Standard Liege EC Quarter Final, they lost 0-6 on Agg. to Real Madrid in the Semi Final.
1962-63...Tottenham Hotspur ECWC R2, they went on to win it, beating Atletico Madrid 5-1 on the Final.
1963-64...Real Madrid EC R1, they went on to lose 1-3 to Inter Milan in the Final.
1964-65...Inter Milan EC Quarter Final, they went on to defeat Benfica 1-0 in the Final.
1965-66... NO Europe
1966-67...Bayern Munich 1-0 Rangers ECWC Final
1967-68..Leeds Utd ICFC Quarter Final, they went on to beat Ferencvaros 1-0 in the Final.
1968-69...Newcastle Utd ICFC Semi Final, they went on to beat Ujpest Doza 6-2 on Agg (3-0, 3-2) in the Final.
1969-70...Gornik ECWC, they went on to lose 1-2 to Manchester City in the Final.
Click to expand...
We owe them one then.
That's a long time to hold a grudge but to hell with it.
Get it up on the dressing room wall.
 
I know a lot of folk say our early 60s team were possibly our greatest ever, but for me they took too many hammerings in Europe to be quite as good as their legend says. I know that's controversial, and the team of Baxter, Caldow, Brand, Wilson, etc are rightly revered, but they shipped 4,5 and 6 goals too often.

Eintracht 1-6 and 3-6
Spurs 2-5
Madrid 0-6

Even Liege 1-4

Maybe it just showed that they were naive tactically, but should an all time greatest team get thrashed as often in a short period of time?

I still wish there had been European football in the 1920s, 30s and 40s because utterly convinced Struth's teams would have been multiple winners.
 
Khal Drogo said:
1965/66 - did we not qualify for Europe that season? Seems strange considering how good we were around that time. Or is there more to it than that?
Click to expand...

We finished 5th in the League in 64-65.
Kilmarnock as Champions went into the European Cup
Celtic who finished 8th, won the Scottish Cup, and entered the ECWC.
Hearts, Dunfermline and Hibs, who finished 2nd 3rd and 4th, went into the Inter Cities Fairs Cup.

We had also won the League Cup in the 64-65 season, so I am surprised that did not get us entry into Europe.
Surprising as well that both Hibs and Hearts were entered into the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, as 2 years later, Clyde who finished 3rd in the League were denied a spot in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, as Rangers who finished 2nd were our entry, and Clyde (who were considered Glasgow) were denied, on the rule that only one team from each city was allowed?
 
immortal7 said:
FFS our luck in Europe was dreadful, would be interesting to see the vermins chart showing the same...
Click to expand...
Like who they played in the one they won?
You’ll find it quite frustrating.
Put it this way.
Only their semi final opponents would have made the final.
It was an incredible run of good fortune with favourable draws and other top clubs involved in shock eliminations.
 
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Bumplittledipper said:
They got pumped by a weak Dinamo Kiev side in the first round of the EC after they beat Inter Milan reserves in the previous final. The first holders of the cup to go out in the first round.
Click to expand...
I often wind scum fans up with this one.
Champions in May, out in September.
1967 definitely was the year of the fluke.
Berwick beat us and a 100/1 shot, Foinavon, won the Grand National.
I’m not bitter, by the way.
Not at all.
 
dh1963 said:
I know a lot of folk say our early 60s team were possibly our greatest ever, but for me they took too many hammerings in Europe to be quite as good as their legend says. I know that's controversial, and the team of Baxter, Caldow, Brand, Wilson, etc are rightly revered, but they shipped 4,5 and 6 goals too often.

Eintracht 1-6 and 3-6
Spurs 2-5
Madrid 0-6

Even Liege 1-4

Maybe it just showed that they were naive tactically, but should an all time greatest team get thrashed as often in a short period of time?

I still wish there had been European football in the 1920s, 30s and 40s because utterly convinced Struth's teams would have been multiple winners.
Click to expand...
Not sure tactics had been invented back then!
Other than the Italians developing their blanket defence system and Alf Ramsey binning wingers in favour of overlapping full backs.
 
dh1963 said:
I know a lot of folk say our early 60s team were possibly our greatest ever, but for me they took too many hammerings in Europe to be quite as good as their legend says. I know that's controversial, and the team of Baxter, Caldow, Brand, Wilson, etc are rightly revered, but they shipped 4,5 and 6 goals too often.

Eintracht 1-6 and 3-6
Spurs 2-5
Madrid 0-6

Even Liege 1-4

Maybe it just showed that they were naive tactically, but should an all time greatest team get thrashed as often in a short period of time?

I still wish there had been European football in the 1920s, 30s and 40s because utterly convinced Struth's teams would have been multiple winners.
Click to expand...

Teams did score and concede more goals back then.

1960, the year we lost 4-12 to Eintracht Frankfurt on Agg., you had Barcelona beating Milan 7-1 on Agg., then beating Wolves 9-2 on Agg.( the English never mention that), before losing 2-6 on Agg. to Real Madrid in the Semi Final, whereby Real Madrid beat Eintracht 7-3 in the Final.
That great Real Madrid side conceded 3 Goals in 3 different European Cup Finals,
they also shipped 5 goals to Benfica in the 1962 European Cup Final,
and not for the only time, they also lost 1-5 to Benfica in the QF of the 64-65 European Cup.
Man Utd beat Benfica 5-1 in the QF of the 65-66 European Cup.
A youthful Ajax hammered Liverpool 5-1 in the 66-67 European Cup.

1962-63 when Spurs beat us 5-2 at White Hart Lane, they went on to beat Slovan Bratislava 6-0 (having lost 0-2 away), then beat Atletico Madrid 5-1 in the Final.

1963 when we lost 0-6 to Real Madrid, it was the youngest side Rangers ever fielded in our history, with a forward line that averaged 20 years old,
with McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson all absent.
Real Madrid also recorded a 6-0 win at home in the Semi Final v Zurich.

The fact that 9 of the 10 teams who eliminated us in the 1960's, went on to the Final
(with 6 of them winning the Trophy), would indicate that we were not quite good enough, or we were just very unlucky.
You cannot deny though, that the team of the 1960's was consistent, and a contender.

I believe that it only happened once in each of the other decades (50's, 70's, 80's and 90's),
that the team who eliminated us went on to the Final.
 
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