May 28 – We are the Champions, Champions of Europe
DURING the ’60s and ’70s Don Revie’s Leeds United team snarled and scrapped their way to just about every trophy that was on offer. The one exception was the European Cup, and they never came closer than today in 1975, when Leeds, now under the stewardship of Jimmy Armfield, lost a controversial final to Bayern Munich in Paris.
As is still often the case with Leeds, the 1974/75 season was eventful to say the least. Revie had left the club to take up the position of England manager the previous summer, and the Elland Road suits replaced him with Brian Clough. The season started with a bang when Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan became the first players to be sent off at Wembley during Leeds’ Charity Shield clash with Liverpool. After 44 days of bickering, player revolt and an awful lot of swearing, Ol’ Big ‘Ead was out with a hefty pay off and Jimmy Armfield was in, as the Leeds players reacted badly to Cloughy’s bombastic style.
After a disappointing ninth place finish in the First Division, Leeds had a chance to complete their set of winners’ medals when they beat Barcelona to reach the European Cup final at Parc des Princes in Paris. “We wanted it for Don Revie,” said Bremner, as Leeds became the second English team to reach the final after Manchester United in 1968.
Standing in their way was Franz Beckenbauer’s Bayern Munich side that had lifted the trophy a year earlier, defeating another physical side, Atletico Madrid 4-0 in a replay. True to form, Leeds ensured that this was another rough and ready final, with Terry Yorath ploughing down Bjorn Andersson in the fourth minute and setting the tone for a bad-tempered 90 minutes.
Tasked with keeping order was Frenchman Michel Kitabdjian, whose name ranks up there with Peter Ridsdale and Eric Cantona for public enemy number one in West Yorkshire. Kitabdjian turned down two massive penalty appeals as Beckenbauer first handled the ball in the box, and then brought down Allan Clarke in a tackle that even Das Kaiser admitted should have been a spot kick.
There was more of the same in the second half, as Peter Lorimer’s fierce volley hit the back of the net, only to be ruled out for a dubious offside decision. Two late Bayern goals against a deflated Leeds side saw the German’s pick up their second of three consecutive European Cups, as Beckenbauer admitted “in the end we were winners, but we were very, very lucky.”
This was the last time that the remnants of Revie’s great side competed in Europe, as Leeds fans tore seats from the stands, throwing them on the pitch and clashing with police which earned the club a four year European ban, later reduced to two on appeal and a period of decline set in at Elland Road.
The feeling of injustice still burns brightly for Leeds fans who, even in the third division, can be found singing ‘We are the champions, champions of Europe’ at every game. Make your own mind up and see footage from the second most infamous night in Paris (hotel heirs notwithstanding) below and join us tomorrow for more tales of European glory tomorrow.
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[...] in the European Cup final today – but we doubt that Cloughy was sheading any tears for them, so click here for that and join us tomorrow for more end of season [...]