[Gregoriak]

I am currently reading a book on the European Cup which has a lot of interestion information and I thought I shared some of it.

Preliminary Events

The advent of the European Cup was spurred by the meeting of English champions Wolverhampton Wanderers with the famed Honved Budapest side that featured Ferenc Puskas, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor among others on 13 December 1954 at Wolverhampton. Wolves managed to beat Honved 3-2 after being down 0-2 at half time. Since Wolves had recently beaten Celtic, FC Vienna, Racing Buenos Aires and Spartak Moscow in momentous friendly games the English press announced Wolves to be “World Champions” after they beat Honved. Gabriel Hanot of France’s famous “L’Equipe” newspaper had watched the game vs. Honved and thus knew that the Hungarian side had been clearly better despite being defeated. Thus he took exception to the headlines in the English media in the wake of the Honved game.

Hanot was motivated to get a European Cup competition started with home and away ties, to determine which club really was the best in Europe. On 15 December 1954, Hanot wrote a letter to the English press, puplished in "L'Equipe", stating that "We must wait, until Wolves played in Budapest and Moscow, before we can declare them invincible. And then there are other sides of international class, like AC Milan and Real Madrid. There are strong arguments for the adoption of a European Championship of clubs. Bigger, more important and less irregual than the Mitropa Cup." On the next day, "L'Equipe" already presented a detailed system how such a European Club Championship could be staged.

All this was done without consent of any national F.A.’s or UEFA (which had only been founded a couple of months prior to the Wolves-Honved encounter and only consisted of three or four people at that time). “L’Equipe” was the driving force, helped by several big European clubs, particularly Santiago Bernabeu, the president of Real Madrid. Various national F.A.’s voiced their concern that such a continental club championship would create problems for the national league’s schedules (especially the English F.A. was very concerned about that). They also feared that such an international competition would take away importance of the national competitions and that players would be demanded excessively. But the big clubs knew they could generate extra money and glory for their sides and thus they agreed upon establishing a European Cup. Also, the technical innovation of floodlight allowed more and more clubs to stage games during the week in the evening, which was crucial in avoiding clashes of European Cup games with games in the domestic leagues on weekends.

Although it was agreed upon by the clubs that only the respective champions of each country should take part in the competition, they had to compromise with the fact, that many domestic champions had not yet been decided by spring 1955 and thus many of the clubs invited to take part in the first competition to be staged were decided upon by the reputation of the club, not its standing in the league. To allow each club enough time for planning their participation, all clubs were invited already in February 1955! Instead of selecting the champions of the 1953-54 season, “L’Equipe” contacted most clubs solely based on their reputation at the time. For instance, the Dutch champion of 1954 was VV 1909 Eindhoven, the champion of the 1954-55 season would have been Willem II Tilburg, but the Dutch representative that was invited was PSV Eindhoven! There were several such occasions. But luckily, in three cases, the clubs invited in February turnt out to be domestic champions by May 1955, although they were trailing in the league at the time of their invitation (RW Essen in Germany, Chelsea FC in England and AC Milan in Italy). The English F.A. however vetoed Chelsea’s participation, so that the first European Cup season had to be undertaken without an English representative.

Hanot contacted FIFA if they wanted to take over the organization of this newly created competition but FIFA told him that they only dealt with national teams, not clubs. Thus Hanot proceeded to contact UEFA, who reacted with some sort of sceptical helplessness. UEFA were a very small organization at that time and were busy working on a European championship of national teams. Englishman Stanley Rous stated that “UEFA was not founded to stage competitions, but to represent corporate interests.” But Hanot was not willing to abandon his ambitious project, since he had already achieved a lot.

“L’Equipe” invited the 18 clubs they had selected to travel to Paris on April 2 and 3 1955, bearing all of the clubs expenses. The Scots were hindered and Russians and Czechs were not allowed to travel to Paris. Santiago Bernabeu’s energetic personality and the speech he held in favour of this new enterprise was the decisive factor in all clubs concurring that they should really try it. With Spartak Moscow and Sparta Prague later announcing that they had no intentions of participating, the number of clubs came to a practicable 16. Then the representatives of the various clubs decided the first round encounters (no lots were drawn!).

But the ulterior motive of this meeting of clubs in Paris in April 1955 was actually the hope that either FIFA or UEFA would feel some unrest upon such an event shaping up without their involvement. And in fact, Hanot’s reasoning proved to be correct. Hanot knew that the clubs could not organize and stage such an ambitious project in the long run, it would probably end as a one-off without the involvement of a subordinate, “neutral” organization. FIFA took matters into their hands only a month after the Paris meeting. They proclaimed that clubs willing to take part in such a competition had to ask for admission of their national F.A.’s and that UEFA would have to organize such a competition.

UEFA in turn was already trying to think up a name for the new competition. Since they were working on a European Championship of national teams, they wanted to reserve the denominations “European Championship” and “European Cup” for their own tournaments. FIFA came up with the idea of naming the new competition after their current president, “William-Seeldrayers-Cup”. But UEFA abolished that idea a fortnight later. Perhaps they felt it too audacious by FIFA to name this new competition after their president, since it was in fact Gabriel Hanot’s creation most of all. Thus UEFA agreed upon naming it “Coupe des Clubs Champion Européens”: “Cup of Champion Clubs of Europe”. (UEFA’s national team championships later became the official name “Coupe-Henri-Delauney.”)

[Gregoriak]

A look at the 1955-56 season will follow now. I hope I can add more information in the future.

[Gregoriak]

1955-56

Real Madrid’s first game in the new competition was on 8 September 1955 in Geneva against Servette. After the first half was over, the score was still 0-0 and Real had not performed that well. At half-time, the prince of Asturia and present-day King of Spain, Juan Carlos, visited the players in the dressing room. Juan Carlos looked shyly at the closemouthed Real stars then he pointed towards Alfredo di Stéfano, saying: “Well, this man is the true King.” A quarter of an honor before the end of the second half, captain Miguel Munoz scored Real’s first goal in the European Cup and one minute before time, Hector Rial scored the second. The second leg was staged five weeks later, since clubs had to negotiate when to meet themselves which proved to be a bit problematic at times. Despite Real’s 2-0 in Switzerland, 110,000 people watched them take on Servette in the new Bernabeu stadium, where Real convinced the spectators with a 5-0 victory. The “true King” had scored the first and the last goal for Real.

One of the more interesting ties in the first round were that of Sporting Lisboa and Partizan Belgrade. Or in other words, the meeting of a club from a fascist dictatorship (Portugal) with that of a communist dictatorship (Yugoslavia). Both countries did not maintain diplomatic relationships at that time, which didn’t alleviate the meeting of both clubs. Gabriel Hanot was pleased to see that “his baby” resulted in the two countries facing each other in sports against all odds. The first leg in Lisbon ended with a thrilling 3-3 draw, but in the second leg a Partizan side as strong as an ox prevailed with a 5-2 triumph (Milos Milutinovic scored four of Belgrades goals).

Another interesting encounter was that between the champion of the Saarland (at that time independent from Germany), 1. FC Saarbrücken with Italian giants AC Milan. Saarbrücken were a non-professional side while Milan had some of the world’s greatest players among their ranks. Juan Schiaffino, Nils Liedholm, Cesare Maldini and Gunnar Nordahl. Only 18,000 spectators had come to the San Siro stadium, and all of them expected a distinguished victory over the nobodies from the Saarland. After 30 minutes, Saarbrücken’s Waldemar Philippi got injured but since substitutions were not allowed, he had to stay on the pitch after a treatment at the sidelines. He moved from defense to the wing, standard practice for injured players in those days. At that time the score was 1.1, as Saarbrücken had scored after only five minutes with Milan equalizing ten minutes later. Shortly after Philippi’s injury, Milan scored two additional goals via Schiaffino and dal Monte, bringing the score to 3-1. Everything seemed to take the usual course, but shortly before the break, of all players, the injured Phillipi managed to score Saarbrücken’s second goal. Milan now lost their composure and Saarbrücken scored two further goals in the second half. The game ended 3-4 for the guests, the word “sensation” was not strong enough to describe the shock waves this news send around the football world. Scores like this show that the first years of the European Cup were characterized by nervousness and uncertainty of all participants, as sides did not know a lot about their opponents, in some cases, the knowledge was zero (like in Milan’s case vs. Saarbrücken). But it was still unthinkable that Milan could get eliminated by Saarbrücken! However, three weeks later in the second leg in Saarbrücken, Milan was on the verge of just that. With only 15 minutes remaining, the score was still only 1-1, which would have sent Saarbrücken through to the next round. But then Theodor Duff of Saabrücken scored an own goal bringing the aggregate score to 5-5 but two minutes later Valentino Valli scored Milan’s decisive third goal. Saabrücken now had no other possibilities than to attack, which was duly exploited by Milan with a fourth goal four minutes before time. Milan had won 4-1. Games like that showed that this new competition had a lot of potential in terms of excitement and that even the very big sides could not expect an easy march-through to the later rounds.

To win this competition, talent alone was not enough. A side also had to be able to concentrate, had to possess will power and strength. Real Madrid demonstrated in these months that they had all these abilities in abundance. On December 25, 1955, the acclaimed Partizan Belgrade side had traveled to Madrid to cross swords with Real. The Bernabeu stadium had no floodlights at that time, and thus the kick-off was at 3 p.m. Already half an hour later, Real was leading 3-0. Each goal had been set up by the withdrawn center forward di Stéfano. After 70 minutes, di Stéfano himself scored the fourth goal. Real had demolished Partizan 4-0. But the game was not as one-sided as the score might suggest, for the first two goals in that game had actually been scored by the Yugoslavians, but the French referee Dean Harzic had disallowed both. It was not really evident why he disallowed them. Despite the 0-4 at the Bernabeu, 60,000 people showed up for the second leg in Belgrade’s Army stadium. The temperature was at least 10 degrees Celsius below zero and the Spanish champions appeared to be shock-frozen. Partizan were up 2-0 shortly after half-time and dominated the game in stunning fashion. But they only managed one further goal and thus Real had advanced to the semi final. Real’s goalkeeper Juan Alonso later stated that “I still cannot believe we only lost by three goals. We virtually did not leave our penalty box for the whole 90 minutes. We should have actually lost by getting a hammering here.”

In the semi final, not for the last time, the two huge favorites to win the trophy met: Real and Milan. Although the game again had to be kicked-off on a Wednesday afternoon, the Bernabeu stadium was packed with 120,000! Twice Real managed the lead, twice Milan managed to equalize. Of the six inside forwards in that match, all but one came from South America (Gunnar Nordahl). After Real had scored their third goal, they started to play more cautiously, nevertheless di Stéfano managed to score a crucial fourth goal after one hour. Like in the previous round, di Stéfano’s fourth goal would prove to be decisive for the outcome, as Milan won the return leg 2-1 at San Siro. Without Real’s fourth goal in the first leg, the two sides would have had to engage in a third encounter, as there was no away goals rule yet. Both of Milan’s goals had been penalties (one only short before time) after Real had been leading 1-0. It was thus not as close an affair as the result may suggest. Real had shown that they could not only attack, but that they were also adept at defending, for they had played really defensive at San Siro.

UEFA decided to give the final to Paris, in honor of the spiritual fathers of the European Cup. But this decision did not meet with agreement by Real, as they complained that the Parc du Princes was firstly two small (capacity only 40,000) and secondly, that their opponents Stade Reims were gifted with a home game, as they usually played in Paris for big European Cup matches anyway. Reims was not as fancied as Milan, but they had one of the best center halves in continental football with Robert Jonquet and a very accomplished forward in Raymond Kopa. Kopa actually had signed a contract with Real already before the final. Two weeks before the game, Kopa had in fact already worn the Real shirt in a friendly against Brazilian side Vasco da Gama!

Of all of Real’s European Cup finals in that era, this one against Stade Reims would prove to be the hardest affair, as Francisco Gento later admitted. Stade Reims played very convincingly and posed serious difficulties to Real with their dauntless short-passing game. Only ten minutes had passed, and Stade had already scored two goals! It looked badly for the favorites, but Real were a dangerous side in such situations. Four minutes after Reims’ second goal, Miguel Munoz drove the ball forward, playing a neat through ball towards di Stefáno who had come rushing on from the deep of the pitch, he brought the ball under his control and then kicked the ball with the outside of his foot into Stade’s goal. 15 minutes later Hector Rial managed the equalizer after a corner. Now it looked as if Real would get the upper hand. But Stade was far from beaten yet, both teams looked to score the “decisive” third goal. 25 minutes before time, Michel Hidalgo headed a freekick into the back of Alonso’s net. But Real managed to turn the tide again with a mixture of skills, art and luck. Two minutes after Hidalgo’s goal, di Stéfano was surrounded by three Frenchmen, but he found a gap through which he addressed a pass into the back of Stade’s defense. That was skill. But the next seconds were determined by luck. Real’s center half Marquitos had come rushing forward eagerly and he took the ball away from one of his teammates to whom di Stéfano had addressed his pass and Marquitos’ shot would have missed the goal by about five meters if one of Reims’ defenders had not deflected the shot in a way that the ball fell into Stade’s goal! But Real’s winning goal eleven minutes before time was a result of high art. Real’s forwards formed a perfect triangle at the edge of Stade’s box. One of them was Joseito, who only passed the ball on after three opponents had encircled him. His pass found Marsal who in one movement controlled the ball with the inside of his foot, then turned around his own axis, beating off a French defender elegantly, Marsal then addressed the ball cross the penalty box to Hector Rial who converted that pass from short distance: 4-3!

--------------------------------

The press and fans were delighted upon the quality of the final. Nuremberg’s “Sport-Magazin” declared the final as having been “The Game of the Century” and di Stéfano as the best player. Raymond Kopa later stated that “I don’t really know why they want to buy me. Real is already perfect.”


-------------------

[replacedwithamachine]

That's excellent! Thanks for sharing, going to check that book out.

[comme]

You must spread some reputation around before giving it to Gregoriak again.


On a side note, a team being proclaimed as the best side in the world after being outplayed by a better team in a one off-game. Does that remind people of anyone (Soccer Scout?)?

[unclesox]

Aw, I can't read German. Otherwise I'd get the book because it sounds very detailed. I love to read about European Cup history and have always looked for such a book.

One thing I've always wondered is why they changed the look of the trophy to the present "big ears" cup after 1966. Who's idea was it, and who designed both the original and current trophies.
Interesting to note how similar the original European Champions' Clubs Cup and the Henri Delauney trophy look.
By the way, UEFA will be presenting a new, bigger trophy for EURO 2008. Will it still be known as the Coupe Henri Delauney?

[Gregoriak]

Originally Posted by replacedwithamachine

That's excellent! Thanks for sharing, going to check that book out.

Unfortunately it is not out in English yet. But I hope it will be. Marvellous research.

Originally Posted by comme

You must spread some reputation around before giving it to Gregoriak again.


On a side note, a team being proclaimed as the best side in the world after being outplayed by a better team in a one off-game. Does that remind people of anyone (Soccer Scout?)?

It does in fact!

Originally Posted by unclesox

Aw, I can't read German. Otherwise I'd get the book because it sounds very detailed. I love to read about European Cup history and have always looked for such a book.

One thing I've always wondered is why they changed the look of the trophy to the present "big ears" cup after 1966. Who's idea was it, and who designed both the original and current trophies.
Interesting to note how similar the original European Champions' Clubs Cup and the Henri Delauney trophy look.
By the way, UEFA will be presenting a new, bigger trophy for EURO 2008. Will it still be known as the Coupe Henri Delauney?

The current trophy was designed by German designer Horst Heeren and manufactured by silverware manufacturers Koch & Bergfeld, also from Bremen.

http://www.koch-bergfeld.de/

Celtic were the first recipients of the new trophy. I don't however know anything about the first trophy and why exactly it was abandoned.

[Gregoriak]

1956-57

Matt Busby was a Scotsman, son of a miner who died during WWI when Matt was six years old. As a player, Busby had plied his trade for Manchester City and Liverpool FC before the war. Busby overtook manager duties at Manchester United after the end of the war, which was a bold step as most of United’s players were still on duty in the army, Old Trafford laid in ruins and the club’s bank account revealed debts of 15,000. But Busby managed to build a strong team over the years, aided by a man he had acquainted in Italy during wartime, the Welshman Jimmy Murphy, with whom he threaded a close mashed observational network around the Manchester area. Hardly a young talent escaped that net and soon United could boast a strong side of young players that reminded the press of Frank Buckley’s Wolves side 20 years earlier. These were called “Buckley Babes” back then and in allusion to that moniker, the new United side was dubbed “Busby Babes” by the media. But Busby was more than a forger of young talents, he also knew that a side made up of teenagers alone would was no good so he enforced his side with a couple of proven stars, most notably center forward Tommy Taylor from Barnsley. With talents like Dennis Viollet, David Pegg, Bobby Charlton and arguably the greatest ever talent in English football, Duncan Edwards, United possessed an aspiring side. When United won the English championship in 1956 he wanted to see his side compete in the European Cup at all costs. Busby had followed with high interested how his fellow Scotsmen of Hibernian had reached the semi final in the first instalment of the European Cup. He told his chairman Harold Hardman: “Football has become a game for the whole world. It doesn’t only belong to England, Scotland and Britain anymore.” His opinion was that the future of the game was in Europe.

However there was a major obstacle in the way for Busby’s plan of United competing in Europe. The English football league was against a participation of their sides in this competition. And thus United received a letter that succinctly forbade United to enter the European Cup. But Busby was firm, since there were other contact persons. Busby addressed himself to the secretary of the F.A., Stanley Rous. Rous in the meantime had a more positive opinion of the European Cup and wasn’t disinclined to tease the league a bit. The F.A. thus encouraged Busby in his enterprise and Manchester was ready for an open conflict with the league. "Some people called me a visionary, others a reactionary, while a few thought me just plain awkward and stubborn," Sir Matt once said. "Certainly I was eager to be part of this new European challenge and the reasons were many. There was money to be made for the club, there was a new kind of adrenaline-inducing excitement for the players and there was the opportunity for fans to enjoy the skills of continental players. It always seemed to me the logical progression that the champions of England should pit their abilities against the best of Europe. You cannot make progress standing still. Looking back now, I can see that our resolve to enter into European
competition was a significant milestone in the history of the game."

Busby’s insistence paid of. The league could not act against United for something the F.A. had allowed them. Manchester’s adventure in Europe began on 12 September 1956 in Brussels. Their opponents, RSC Anderlecht, had just sealed the Belgian league for a third successive time, but the Belgians weren’t even semi-professional and were limited in seriously opposing United. After United won 2-0 at Brussels, the second leg turnt out to be somewhat traumatic for RSC, as they were beat 0-10. Even the referee, Mervin Griffiths from Wales, was in awe: “I have never seen more effective football.” Effectiveness is something people always like to link to German football and in the second round, United were drawn against German champions Borussia Dortmund, who were just as non-professional as Anderlecht. Like in the game vs. Anderlecht, United had to move to their rival City’s stadium as Old Trafford still had no floodlight. More than 75,000 United fans populated Maine Road and witnessed an inspiring performance of their team in the first half. 23-year-old Viollet scored twice and Pegg, 21 years of age, had luck with a deflected shot. But in the second half, the guests got to terms better and better with the unaccustomed light and the strong opponent. Helmut Kapitulski exploited a bad error in United’s defense and seven minutes before time, Adi Preissler scored a second goal for BVB.

The return leg was staged on 21 November 1956. It was the first ever game in Dortmund’s Rote Erde stadium that was played under floodlight. Only three days earlier Dortmund had faced minnows Preussen Dellbrück (!!) in the West Germany regional league and now they had to face one of the best sides in all of Europe. Those were the days in Germany at a time when there were only regional no nationwide leagues. United’s oldest player, 25-year-old goalkeeper Ray Wood, had to save two great opportunities by Borussia within the first three minutes. Wood would receive enough opportunities to shine during the rest of the game as well, and he was duly celebrated by the many of English soldiers stationed in West Germany who had come to see the game. But after 65 minutes, even Wood could not have saved his team, but Alfred Kelbassa wasted a golden opportunity which English newspapers later described as “the surefirest opportunity of his life.” United managed a 0-0 draw and found themselves in the quarterfinal.

There their opponents would be Spanish champions Athletic Bilbao. Bilbao had eliminated fancied Honved Budapest in the previous round, but Honved’s efforts were hindered by the uprising in Hungary in November 1956. In order to prepare for their match against Bilbao, Honved had undertaken a series of friendlies in the west when they learned that 200,000 Hungarians were on their way to flee the country towards the west after the Red Army had overthrown the interim government. After long discussions among the players, they agreed not to return to Hungary under these circumstances, even though 14 of the 18 players were married, assuming that their families were facing trouble back home. While Honved was on the way to Bilbao, Ferenc Puskas learned that his wife and his daughter had managed to reach Austria by feet. Many of his teammates however did not know of the fate of their loved ones. Honved lost 2-3 to Bilbao in the first leg, which would have been a good result under normal circumstances, but due to the turmoil back in Hungary, the return leg was held in Brussel’s Heysel stadium. Honved’s tragic was further increased after 60 minutes when their goalkeeper broke his zygomatic bone and had to leave the pitch. In his place, Zoltan Czibor resumed goalkeeping duties. The game ended with a 3-3 draw and 30,000 Belgians celebrated the eliminated favourite Honved, foreboding that they had seen the last competitive game of a great side.

Under these circumstances, Bilbao could be considered a lucky quarterfinalist when they faced United on 16 January 1957 at home. Their English guests were caught off guard by the weather in Spain that day, instead of warmth and sunshine, they were greeted by a mixture of snow and rain when they left their plane. On the muddy pitch, the Basques could play off their biggest strength, their fighting spirit, most optimally. Before the interval, Bilbao had knocked three past Wood but in the second half United fought off the challenge and scored three times themselves. The game ended 5-3 for Bilbao. Totally exhausted, the English drove to the airport where they found that the plane had been standing on the runway the whole night and was now totally frosted. Nevertheless the pilot dare the take-off and the plane took-off without problems. About a year later, a similar episode would have terrible consequences.

On the day of the second leg, Bilbao’s Czech coach Ferdinand Daucik stated that until then no side had ever scored three times against his team twice. Exactly three goals however was what United needed to advance to the semi final. Up to the 85th minute, United had managed to score twice via Viollet and Taylor. This would have been enough for a third, decisive game, but in front of an unleashed crowd, Tommy Taylor broke through the Basque defense one more time, passing the ball to John Berry who scored the orgiastically celebrated third goal. “While I am typing this”, the correspondent of the Daily Mail informed his readers, “my hands are still shaking. My heart keeps on beating like mad.” He even claimed that he had just witnessed “the greatest victory in history.”

Meanwhile, Real Madrid had had a gruelling path to the semi final. In the first round, they had met a strong Rapid Vienna, with Ernst Happel anchoring defense and Gerhard Hanappi making his side’s play. The first went tolerably according to plan, at least for 89 minutes, as Karl Giezser scored the 2-4 in the last minute, which gave Rapid a good chance of at least tieing in the return leg. That return leg was attended by 60,000 people in Vienna’s Prater stadium, and these 60,000 arguably witnessed the finest day in Ernst Happel’s career as a professional. The center half scored some three times in the first half alone, once per penalty. Nobody would have bet a penny on the great Real at half-time. But then Santiago Bernabeu visited his players in the dressing room. “We are not on vacation here! I don’t know if you comprehend this, but you are wearing the logo of Real Madrid on your chests!” At least di Stéfano comprehended that. After 60 minutes he scored the 1-3, which was the final score of the game. Both teams had to engage in a third encounter.

In this moment, board member Raimundo Saporta proved his worth for Real Madrid. He negotiated with the Rapid officials about the venue for the third game and managed to convince the Austrians that playing in Madrid would be the best option for both since the big Bernabeu stadium would shower a lot of money on both clubs. On 12 December 1956, 100,000 people had paid their tickets to watch a game that Real won by two goals scored by Joseito and Kopa. In the quarterfinal, Real had less problems with French champions OGC Nice (6-2 on aggregate).

At the end of February 1957, Matt Busby was aglow with happiness, for United had just drawn Real Madrid in a Cologne hotel. “I wished for Real”, he said. “I think my side is better than Madrid’s. Besides, I know that we will win the Cup.” On 11 April 1957, a Thursday, Spanish television for the first time ever broadcast a football game in full length and even South American radio stations were broadcasting. Almost 130,000 people were crushed inside the Bernabeu stadium, but still thousands were standing outside on the “Paseo de la Castallena”. Mounted policemen repelled the thousands in a non-demure way time and again and skirmishes were seen the whole evening. Riots like that however were nothing new to European football at that time, already in 1927 there had been excesses in a game between Rapid Vienna and Sparta Prague.

On the pitch United had to admit that United were not quite as good yet as Busby had thought. For one hour, the Englishmen hung onto a 0-0, Jackie Blanchflower constantly chasing Alfredo di Stéfano, trying to unnerve Real’s maestro. But during the last 30 minutes, the young United side was overpowered and Real scored three goals. But still Busby could hope for the final as Tommy Taylor had scored the 1-2 in the meantime, although that goal was quite controversial. Two weeks later it however was soon obvious that the 3-1 was a sufficient lead for Real. The game was entertaining but not a thriller. After half an hour, Kopa and Rial had scored twice, bringing the aggregate score to a whooping 5-1. United managed to score two goals to level the score in the second leg, but Matt Busby had to be content with trying his luck again in the next year.

The final on 30 May 1957 was held in Madrid’s own Bernabeu stadium. This was some kind of compensation for Real as they had had to play a quasi away game in the previous final against Reims in Paris. As expected, their opponents were Fiorentina. Also expected was the way in which the Italians had advanced to the final. Against Norrköping both legs were played in Italy as the weather in Sweden didn’t allow a football match. Fiorentina only drew 1-1 with the Swedish non-professionals at home but then a meagre 1-0 in Rome was enough to advance. In the first leg at home against Swiss champs Grashoppers Zürich, Fiorentina scored three goals within the first 12 minutes which must have had an appalling effect on the Italians, as they immediately stopped scoring afterwards. The game ended 3-1, Fiorentina reached the semi 5-3 on aggregate. In the semi, Fiorentina scored the winner in the 88th minute against Red Star Belgrade in Yugoslavia, the second leg in Italy ended 0-0 in front of 70,000 bored spectators.

The final was then won deservedly 2-0 by Real in front of their own fans, but it was a less than glamorous affair that was decided by a bizarre incident. For 70 minutes, the Spaniards couldn’t break down the Italian defense, but then suddenly Enrique Mateos was on his way towards Fiorentina’s goal. The linesman however signalled off-side but Dutch referee Leo Horn ignored that signal. Two defenders were following Mateos and one of them managed to stop him with a foul, roughly a yard before the box. Horn however decided for a penalty. While di Stéfano was approaching the ball at the penalty spot, Fiorentina’s keeper Giuliano Sarti suddenly ran out of his goal so that he was already only 5 yards off di Stéfano when he kicked the ball. But it didn’t help Sarti, Real was leading 1-0. In contrast, seven minutes later Sarti almost poutly remained on the line while Francisco Gento was rushing towards his goal to score the 2-0. Already after the first game of Real vs. Manchester United’s John Berry had complained about Dutch referee Leo Horn: “Such a famous referee, but he let Real pass for everything, many fouls.”


-----------------------------

------------------------

Thus Real in no case had won their second European title due to their subtlety and sophistication. All the same they had now found a style which they should excel in over the next years. Di Stéfano was still wearing the number 9 shirt and he was still listed nominally as the team’s center forward, but he dropped back very often so that one of the two inside forwards - sometimes Ernesto Mateos, most of the time Hector Rial – could exploit the gaps. Soon Ferenc Puskas was to take over that role, improving Real’s system, but not altering it. No doubts remained who Europe’s best side was, but still people could not foresee how much and for how long they would continue to dominate. United’s Dennis Viollet said: “Althought we lost to Real, the European Cup was a great experience for us. We knew that a good side had beaten us, but we were already looking forward to the next season as we thought that we could only get better with time.”

[Gregoriak]

1957-58

For the next onrush to the crown of European football, Matt Busby further rejuvenated his side by spending £24,000 on a new goalkeeper, as Ray Wood broke his jaw in the 1957 F.A. Cup final. United’s replacement for Wood was not yet 25 years old, but already considered to be one of the greats between the goalposts: Northern Ireland’s Harry Gregg.

On 5th February 1958 United had travelled to Belgrade, wanting to defend the 2-1 lead from the first leg against Red Star. Bobby Charlton and Eddie Colman, together only counting 43 years of age, had scored the English champion’s goals at Old Trafford and in Yugoslavia Charlton added two further goals. Viollet of course scored as well, and thus the guests were leading 3-0 at the break. However in the second half a remarkable nervousness descended on United’s players, which also infected the otherwise secure Gregg. Red Star had already scored twice when Gregg had caught a ball but while doing so, he rolled out of the penalty box with the ball in his hands. The ensuing freekick was converted by Bora Kostic, thus amazingly, Red Star had equalized. In the remaining 32 minutes the hosts tried everything to score the one goal they needed, but United managed to hold on to the draw.

-----------

That were good news for Busby’s assistance coach Jimmy Murphy, who had remained on the British Isles, to take care of his side job – the supervision of the Welsh national team. On the next afternoon, a Thursday, he returned from Cardiff to Manchester, where United’s secretary Alma George received him with an impression on her face that lead Jimmy to instantly expect something bad. “The team’s plane has crashed in Munich”, she said halting.

“My feet quit service. My heart, too”, Jimmy Murphy later wrote. “The benumbing horror of that moment will never leave until my death. I ran into my office and grabbed the telephone.” Murphy learned that United’s plane had a stopover in Munich-Riem on the return flight from Belgrade, to refuel. Slushy snow was laying on the runway and maybe the aerofoils were frosted when the plane tried to start at 2:30 p.m. The pilots heard an unusual sound coming from the plane’s motor. They abandoned the start but tried it again immediately. This time they didn’t like the pressure gauge. Again they stopped the plane half way. Slowly the plane rolled back to the hangar. The 43 passengers, primarily players, functionaries and journalists strolled through the concourse. Shortly before 3 p.m. they were asked to come outside again. On 3:03 p.m. the pilots attempted their third start – the last one.

“I saw how the flight attendant fastened his seat belt, and I thought to myself that maybe it was more serious than I had thought,” Harry Gregg recalls. “Therefore I slid deep down into my seat and stemmed my feet against the seat in front of me.” Then Gregg thought about the trashy novel “The Whip” which he had intended to dedicate himself to during the flight. “I read a book,” said Gregg, “which was not exactly of the kind I was raised to read, therefore I quickly put it down again. I feared that if I was to die while reading a book like that, I would surely go to hell.” The plane was just about to take-off as it suddenly decelerated. The pilot looked up from his instrument board, where he saw the end of the runway in front of the plane and heard how his assistant yelled “Heaven, we won’t make it!”

The pilots attempted to break out to the right so to avoid breaking thru the restriction, one of the wings collided with a building, then the plane hit a barrack and collided with a fuel lorry. The explosion tore the plane into halves and while the rear went up in flames, the front was catapulted through the cold Munich air, throwing some persons out of the plane. They were lucky. In these seconds and the following minutes 22 people died, among them Eddie Colman, David Pegg, Billy Whelan and Tommy Taylor. Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet survived, because Harry Gregg had pulled them both away from the burning plane. John Berry was injured so severely that the doctors had given up on him for a while. He had to, like Jackie Blanchflower, quit his career. Matt Busby was in mortal agony – a breathing apparatus was attached to him and he was twice anointed. In the end the manager won his struggle against death, but only three weeks later did he learn via his wife about how many friends and fosterlings he had lost. At this time, a 23rd man had passed away: Duncan Edwards.

----------------------

--------------[

February 6, 1958, cast a bloody cloud over the third season of the European Cup. It almost seemed improper to view the rest of the tournament from a sportive angle. But the schedule was adamant. Eight United players and three officials had died, two further professionals and the manager were not serviceable when United expected AC Milan for the first leg of the semi final exactly three months after the tragedy. Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes, Kenny Morgans and Dennis Viollet were the only survivors playing that day. Jimmy Murphy for a short while had toyed with the thought of hiring Ferenc Puskas, who was looking for a club at that time. But then he decided against that and instead bought two established professionals and completed the rest of the side with reserve players. Amazingly, this side managed to beat Milan 2-1 at home, but they lost the second leg 0-4 in Italy.

Milan’s opponent in the final was of course Real Madrid, who – exceptionally – had qualified without the usual problems. They had eliminated Antwerp 8-1 on aggregate and even managed to beat FC Sevilla 8-0, with di Stéfano scoring four times. Sevilla, Spanish runners-up in the previous season, were admitted to take part in the European Cup because the Spanish F.A. had successfully argued that Real was not taking part as Spanish champions but as titleholders. Spain were allowed to pick a second representative club and controversially decided against their Cup winners, FC Barcelona.

The final was held on May 29, 1958, in Brussels. But here Real backslid into their old habit of making things hard for themselves. Twice they trailed Milan, twice they equalized. For the first time, a European Cup final had to go into extra-time. After 107 minutes a shot by outside left Francisco Gento slid thru the legs of two Italian defenders, goalie Narciso Soldan could only see the ball when it appeared straight in front of him and his somewhat clumsy-looking attempt to prevent Gento from scoring came too late. Therewith the triumph of the Spaniards over the Italians was perfect. But ... Spaniards and Italians, really?

Real won their third Cup with the two Argentinians Alfredo di Stéfano and Hector Rial, the Uruguayan José Santamaria, who had been given a Spanish passport so that the Frenchman Raymond Kopa could play. Then there was another South American on the sidelines, coach Luis Carniglia. In Milan’s five-man attack, only one Italian was playing – and he was merely the replacement for the Norwegian Per Bredesen.

The 67,000 spectators in the Heysel stadium had witnessed a good game and had enjoyed nice actions like Schiaffino’s volley shot, which was Milan’s first goal. But the final was, like the whole third European Cup season, overshadowed by the drama of Manchester United. Thus it was almost forgotten that even this season had offered some piece of news: For the first time, a German side had reached the quarterfinals: Borussia Dortmund had eliminated Steaua Bucharest in a play-off in Bologna with a 3-1 score, before they met AC Milan. And although the Soviet Union was still not interested in measuring their clubs’ strength with that of the rest of Europe, for the first time an East German side was participating in the tournament. Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt needed three games against Polish champions Gwardia Warszawa, but the third decisive game (held in Berlin’s Jahn-Stadium) had to be abandoned when the night set in, since the Jahn stadium did not have floodlight at that time. The teams, the officials and the referees went inside the club home and threw a coin into the air. That coin fell to the floor where nobody could find it! The ref’s second try with a new coin determined the East Germans as winners. It would not be the last time the East German representative would have to play three times to determine a winner... In November 1957 however Wismut’s European campaign ended with a 1-4 aggregate loss to Dutch champions Ajax.

[dor02]

Great stuff as always. Hopefully this can help some newbies to understand the history of the game.

That AC Milan was a class team. It wasn't as good as Rocco's, Sacchi's or Capello's Milan sides but they had some of the best players from the 50s.