European Finals on itv
1968/69 - 1982/83

The European Cup
Since its' inaugural season of 1955/56, "The European Champions Clubs’ Cup" had been a straight forward knock out competition with each round being contested on a two-leg home and away basis, ideally starting with a First Round pool of 32 (sometimes preliminary matches or byes were required) and ending with a single match final at a pre-selected and supposed neutral venue. This traditional format remained throughout the 1968-1983 period.
Entry into the European Cup was still exclusive to the previous season's top flight League champions, the only way for a country to have more than one representative was to win it - in which case the holders, as well as the domestic champions, would gain entry. This happened to be the case for England in 1968/69 with League champions Manchester City and holders Manchester United (the first English club to win the European Cup) both taking part. A dual English entry would not happen again until 1978/79 - Liverpool won the trophy in 1976/77 but they were also League champions that year, therefore only Liverpool could represent English interests in 1977/78. Liverpool retained the European trophy that season and were then joined by Nottingham Forest to compete in 1978/79, the two were suspiciously paired up in the opening round. A period of sustained English dominance (with Liverpool, Forest and Aston Villa all winning the competition) then saw a dual English entry each season into 1982/83.
Most European Cup finals during the '68-'83 period were broadcast live in the UK, both ITV and BBC simulataneously broadcast the 1973 final live, yet neither did so in 1974. From 1975 the channels took it in turns to show it live with ITV taking the even numbered years.

The European Cup-Winners Cup
1968/69 was the European Cup-Winners Cup's 9th season. Remaining identical in format to the European Cup, it was contested by the most recent winners of each European country's equivalent of the FA Cup, it also continued to be regarded as European club football's 2nd most significant honour.
As with the European Cup, ECWC holders were permitted to defend their title (assuming they hadn't qualified for the European Cup) and this resulted in two English clubs entering the competition on numerous occasions. No club of any nationality ever managed to retain it, but Chelsea did secure a 2nd successive English ECWC win in 1970/71 following Manchester City's success the previous year. However, perhaps the most fondly remembered British success of the 1968-1983 period is that of Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1982/83, this being the 2nd Scottish triumph in the competition following Glasgow Rangers success in 1971/72.
Incredibly, not even highlights of Chelsea's drawn final in 1971 were broadcast in the UK, although the replay was shown live. English viewers also appear to have been denied the chance to share in Glasgow Rangers success in 1972. From 1975, ITV & BBC began to treat the Cup-winners cup final with more respect by taking it in turns to offer up at least highlights with ITV covering it in odd numbered years (There was live coverage if a British club was involved).

The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup / UEFA Cup
There were four English Fairs Cup entrants in 1968/69, including holders Leeds United (the first English team to win it) and Newcastle United (who would ensure that the cup remained in England), yet neither Leeds or Newcastle's triumphs were shown live on British TV. The fact that the final continued to be settled over two legs perhaps partly accounted for the competition's continued lack of a wider appeal, it was nicknamed by some as "The Runners-up Cup" although English League Cup winners were now being offered the chance to take part (provided they were competing in the top flight - a rule which denied QPR and Swindon Town entry in 1967 and 1969).
An attempt to distance the tournament from its' hap-hazard origins was made in 1971/72 with both a change of name and a new trophy design. The first "UEFA Cup" competition saw two English clubs reach the final, but again neither leg was shown live on British TV even though the winners were destined to become the 5th successive English club to win Europe's third most prestigious trophy (Arsenal had won it in 1969/70, Leeds for a 2nd time in 1970/71). Tottenham defeated Wolves in the 1971/72 final and Liverpool made it six English wins in a row in 1972/73 (their first of many European trophies), Liverpool won it again in 1975/76 before kick-starting a lengthy period of dominance by English clubs in more desirable spheres of European success. Subsequent finals contested by non-domestic participants were largely ignored by both ITV and the BBC, there was however further English joy in the competition in 1981 when Ipswich Town became the 6th English side to win it, but again neither leg was broadcast live.

This page only deals with the European finals, TV coverage of earlier rounds is dealt with on our Midweek page here.
ITV finals are in white, BBC or non-televised finals are in grey.

1968/69

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 21st May    Slovan Bratislava 3 (Cvetler, Hrivnák, Capkovic) Barcelona 2 (Zaluda, Rexach)
Venue: Basle
*No coverage on British TV. Ludovít Cvetler put the Czechoslovakian side ahead on 2 minutes, José Antonio Zaldúa equalised on 16 but Bratislava were 3-1 ahead at HT following goals from Vladimír Hrivnák on 30 and Ján Capkovic on 42, Carles Rexach pulled one back for the Spaniards on 52 to end the scoring at 3-2. Dumfermline had kept British interest alive into the SF's having knocked out West Brom in the QF's, but they lost to the eventual winners.

European Cup Final
Wed 28th May    AC Milan 4 (Prati 3, Sormani) Ajax 1 (Vasovic)
Venue: Madrid
BBC Highlights
Commentator: Ken Wolstenholme
*BBC1 showed extended highlights of this in black & white (some European countries broadcast it in colour*) with coverage beginning at 9:05pm and ending at 10:20pm. This was Ajax and Johan Cruijff's first time in the final, AC Milan had knocked out the two previous winners - Celtic and Manchester United - in the QF's and SF's, but it was Milan who opened the scoring as early as the 7th minute through Pierino Prati, the same player added a 2nd goal on 40 for a 2-0 HT lead, Ajax were back in the match on 60 thanks to a penalty scored by Yugoslavian import Velibor Vasovic, but Angelo Sormani restored Milan's two goal advantage on 67 and Prati completed a hat-trick on 75 (nobody has scored a hat-trick in the European Cup final since).
*A French or German TV camera crew were most likely responsible for the pictures as Spanish TV would not be colour equipped for some time yet. The captions (in Spanish) were seemingly generated electronically, which was quite advanced for the time.

Fairs Cup Final
1st Leg
Thu 29th May    Newcastle United 3 (Moncur 2, Scott) Újpesti Dózsa 0
BBC Highlights
David Coleman
*BBC1 showed highlights on "Sportsnight with Coleman" at 9:05-10pm in black & white. All three goals came in the 2nd half with Scotsmen Bobby Moncur netting on 63 and 72 and Jim Scott on 83.

2nd Leg
Thu 11th Jun      Újpesti Dózsa 2 (Bene, Göröcs) Newcastle United 3 (Moncur, Arentoft, Foggon)
BBC Highlights
Alan Weeks
*"Association Football: Highlights" were scheduled on BBC1 from 11:00-11:45pm in black & white, and the footage does survive. Newcastle found themselves 2-0 down at half-time in the return leg in Hungary - yet they went on to win 6-2 on aggregate with three 2nd half goals courtesy of Bobby Moncur, Preben Arentoft (from Denmark) and Alan Foggon, Joe Harvey's United were the 2nd successive English winners of this trophy, holders Leeds had been knocked out by Újpesti Dózsa in the QF's whilst Newcastle overcame Glasgow Rangers in the SF's (the 2nd leg of which was shown as highlights on Tyne Tees, Border and Scottish).

1969/70

Fairs Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 22nd Apr    Anderlecht 3 (Devrindt, Mulder 2) Arsenal 1 (Kennedy)
*Possibly highlights on ITV as part of "International Football" (10:30pm-12:15am), but only Scotland v Wales was billed.

2nd Leg
Tue 28th Apr      Arsenal 3 (Kelly, Radford, Sammels) Anderlecht 0
ITV highlights
Brian Moore
*Highlights were shown on ITV at 11:15pm-12:05am (Westward, Channel, Tyne Tees, Grampian and Scottish were scheduled to opt out), a shorter edit also appears to have been shown on this season's final edition of "The Big Match" on Sunday 3rd May (alongside Spurs v Arsenal). The Belgian finalists had knocked out holders Newcastle on away goals in the QF's but they couldn't deny Arsenal their first trophy for 17 years, Arsenal looked dead and buried in the 1st leg after going 3-0 down in Belgium, but a late Ray Kennedy header gave them hope for the 2nd leg at Highbury. Six days later, an early goal by Eddie Kelly and a 2nd half goal from John Radford put the Gunners ahead on the away goal rule, Anderlecht then hit the post before Jon Sammels sealed it. Arsenal became the 3rd successive English club to win the Fairs Cup.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 29th Apr   Manchester City 2 (Young, Lee(pen)) Górnik Zabrze 1 (Oslizlo)
Vienna
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*The BBC wanted to show this match live but were blocked from doing so by the FA because the 1970 FA Cup final replay was being played on the same night. Barry Davies was at the ECWC final commentating on-site sat in an uncovered stand in the pouring rain, but it's not clear when the highlights were shown (the surviving BBC recording is in black & white although Austria did have colour TV by this time). Polish side Górnik had knocked out Glasgow Rangers in the last 16 but Joe Mercer's City led 2-0 at HT in the final thanks to Neil Young on 11 and a Francis Lee penalty on 43 mins, Górnik replied on 68 through Stanislaw Oslizlo. Only 10,000 were in the Prater stadium.

European Cup Final
Wed 6th May    Feijenoord 2 (Israël, Kindvall) Celtic 1 (Gemmell) [AET]
Milan
LIVE ITV
Hugh Johns *Scottish & Grampian viewers probably had their own commentator (Arthur Montford?)
*The Times lists this as being in colour, studio presentation certainly would have been but the match itself may have been in black & white (If Italian TV were responsible for the pictures, RAI had yet to make the switch to colour), live coverage began on ITV at 8:55pm and was scheduled to end at 10:45pm but would have ended around 11:30pm due to extra-time. BBC1 also showed this match live (Ken Wolstenholme commentating, Archie MacPherson for BBC Scotland). Jock Stein's Celtic had knocked out English representatives Leeds United in the SF's, 136,505 spectators were officially at the SF 2nd leg (probably more in reality) which was staged at Hampden (not Celtic Park). The final was watched by a mere 50,000 and even if Celtic had won, the Semi-final may have remained the more remembered. Tommy Gemmell put Celtic ahead in the final on 29 mins but Feijenoord equalised on 31 through Rinus Israël, Swedish centre forward Ove Kindvall won the match 3 mins from the end of extra-time, it was the first time a Dutch team had won the European Cup.

1970/71

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 19th May  Chelsea 1 (Osgood) Real Madrid 1 (Zoco) [AET]
Athens
*A "Sportsnight with Coleman" was scheduled from 9:50-11:20pm but only England v Wales was billed in the Times, it is possible - though unlikely - that highlights of the Chelsea final were included (if so - in black & white with an off-tube London studio-booth commentary by Alan Weeks), the game probably would have been shown live had it not been for England playing on the same night. Chelsea had beaten holders Manchester City in the Semi-finals but now had to face the historical giants of European football, Real Madrid. Peter Osgood put Chelsea ahead on 56 mins, but with the blues apparently cruising to victory, Ignacio Zoco then equalised in the final minute to take the game into extra-time and no further goals were scored. Although penalty shoot outs had decided earlier drawn ties in the competition, they would not be employed for the final, and so a replay was arranged at the same venue two days later. Audio of the drawn match goals is all that survives in the BBC archive (which were shown before the start of the replay)

Replay
Fri 21st May  Chelsea 2 (Osgood, Dempsey) Real Madrid 1 (Fleitas)
Athens
LIVE BBC
Ken Wolstenholme & John Hollins
*The replay was shown LIVE in black & white on BBC1, 7:25-9:20pm, the programme was presented by Barry Davies from a London studio. 45,000 had watched the Wednesday final but less than 20,00 turned up for the replay which saw Dave Sexton's Chelsea take a 2-0 HT lead through Peter Osgood on 33 and John Dempsey on 39, Paraguayan import Sebastian Fleitas Miranda replied for Madrid on 75 but Chelsea held on to claim their first European honour.

Fairs Cup Final
1st Leg
Thu 27th May    Abandoned match - Juventus 0 Leeds United 0 *abandoned after 51mins due to torrential rain
*Yorkshire Television had a "Yorksport" scheduled for 10:30-11pm and may have intended to show something from the game on that programme, but there was certainly no networked coverage.

Sat 29th May     Juventus 2 (Bettega, Capello) Leeds United 2 (Madeley, Bates)
*BBC1 had a "Match of the Day" scheduled for this Saturday night, but - ironically - this only showed an Anglo-Italian Cup match between Crystal Palace and Inter Milan. The abandonment and subsequent 1st leg re-match turned out to be to Leeds' advantage - Taking a 2-2 back home rather than a 0-0 would ultimately decide the tie in United's favour. The Italians led the 1st leg re-match at HT through Roberto Bettega on 27, Paul Madeley equalised shortly after the break on 48, Fabio Capello restored the lead for Juventus on 55 but sub Mick Bates equalised for the 2nd time on 77.

2nd Leg
Thu 3rd Jun        Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Juventus 1 (Anastasi)
*Colour VT footage exists of this but no football was scheduled, John Motson mentioned in his book that he did a test commentary on this match so presumably the BBC at least recorded it. Allan Clarke put Leeds ahead in the tie for the first time on 12 minutes, Pietro Anastasi levelled at 3-3 on agg on 20 and that was the way it finished with Don Revie's Leeds winning on the away goals rule. Captain Billy Bremner became the last player to lift the Fairs Cup - The following season the competition was renamed the UEFA cup with a new trophy.

European Cup Final
Wed 2nd Jun     Ajax 2 (Van Dijk, Haan) Panathinaikos 0
Wembley
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore
*The 3rd European Cup final to be held at Wembley and this time broadcast in colour. ITV showed highlights from 10:30-11:25pm. BBC1 showed it live with Ken Wolstenholme delivering his last ever live commentary for the BBC. The two finalists had both knocked out British opposition in the QF's; Panathinaikos of Greece (managed by the legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskás) had scraped through against Everton whilst Ajax had seen off Celtic. The Dutch side had lost in their first final two years earlier and then witnessed fellow countrymen Feijenoord win the competition the following year, the pressure was all on Ajax but Dick Van Dijk headed them into an early lead on 5 minutes and an Arie Haan strike sealed it 2 minutes from the end. The TV Times reveals that ITV would have had exclusive live coverage had the match gone to a replay - which would have been played at Hillsborough on Friday 4th June.

1971/72

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 3rd May    Wolverhampton W. 1 (McCalliog) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Chivers 2)
BBC Highlights
David Coleman
*Highlights were shown on BBC1's "Sportsnight with Coleman" (10:10-11pm) in colour. This was the first ever all-British clash in a major European final as well as the first UEFA Cup final following its change of name. Spurs had beaten AC Milan in the SF's whilst Wolves had overcome Juventus in the QF's. Martin Chivers put Spurs ahead in the Molineux leg of the final on 57 mins, Jim McCalliog equalised on 72 but Spurs restored the advantage on 87 with another goal by Chivers.

2nd Leg
Wed 17th May    Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Mullery) Wolverhampton W. 1 (Wagstaffe)
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore
*Highlights were shown across the network (except Scottish & Grampian) in colour from 10:30-11:25pm. Spurs extended their aggregate lead to 3-1 on 30 mins thanks to Alan Mullery, Dave Wagstaffe reduced the arrears on 41 but there were no further goals in the 2nd half.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 24th May    Glasgow Rangers 3 (Stein, Johnston 2) Dinamo Moskva 2 (Eshtrekov, Makovikov)
Barcelona
SCOTTISH Highlights
Arthur Montford
*This was played on the same night as Scotland v Wales and only that match was billed to be screened on the ITV network's football programme that night, except for SCOTTISH who had an extended programme (10:30pm-12:35am) to show highlights from both matches. The ECWC final was shown LIVE on RTE (the Republic of Ireland's then sole TV channel) whilst highlights were curiously scheduled for BBC1 viewers in Northern Ireland only with Archie MacPherson commentating (11:40pm-12:30am), all broadcasts of the actual match were in black & white (Spanish TV only began trial colour broadcasts during the Munich Olympics later in the year). With Arsenal winning last season's double, FA Cup final losers Liverpool were able to join holders Chelsea in representing English interest in the competition, but both were knocked out in the 2nd Round. Rangers disposed of Rennes, Sporting Lisbon (on penalties after finishing 6-6 on agg), Torino and Bayern Munich to reach the final where goals from Colin Stein (23mins) and Willie Johnston (40) gave Rangers a 2-0 HT lead, they appeared to have wrapped it up early in the 2nd half when Willie Johnston added another on 49. Sub Vladimir Eshtrekov pulled one back for Dinamo on 60 and Aleksandr Makovikov then scored another on 87, but Willie Waddell's Rangers hung on and - following Celtic's exploits in the European Cup in 1967 and 1970 and the Ibrox disaster of 1971 - the resulting pitch invasion by celebrating Rangers fans was understandable, but UEFA did not see it that way. After the trophy had to be presented in the dressing room, Rangers were given a two year European ban (later reduced to one year, but they were still denied the chance to defend the trophy).

European Cup Final
Wed 31st May    Ajax 2 (Cruijff 2) Internazionale 0
Rotterdam
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Jimmy Hill
*This was shown LIVE on both ITV and BBC1 in colour. Barry Davies commentated for the BBC who were first on air, ITV coverage began 10 minutes later at 8:25pm and they missed the opening two minutes of play! (the News was scheduled to follow at 10:15pm). Ajax had knocked out Arsenal in the QF's, Inter had scraped through the SF's by beating Celtic on penaltiess. Two 2nd half goals in the final by Johan Cruijff on 47 and a header on 78 saw Ajax retain the European Cup, this time winning it on Dutch soil - albeit the home of their domestic rivals Feijenoord. The following morning a Dutch newspaper headline declared "The Inter system undermined. Defensive football is destroyed".

1972/73

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 9th May      Abandoned match - Liverpool 0 Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 *abandoned after 27mins due to a waterlogged pitch
*BBC1 intended to show highlights on "Sportsnight" (10:10-11:00pm with David Coleman commentating), but the abandonment likely forced them to show an alternate programme. Liverpool had knocked out Tottenham Hotspur on away goals in the Semi-final.

Thu 10th May      Liverpool 3 (Keegan 2, Lloyd) Borussia Moenchengladbach 0
ITV Highlights
Gerald Sinstadt
*No highlights were scheduled on the night, although the BBC may have shown the game as a late programme change as David Coleman was commentating on site. Gerald Sinstadt was also at the ground commentating for Granada who presumably showed highlights the next day on "Kick Off" at 11:30-11:55pm. Two goals by Kevin Keegan on 21 and 32 gave the Reds a 2 goal HT lead, Larry Lloyd added a 3rd on 61 to give Liverpool a seemingly comfortable lead to take to West Germany in the 2nd leg.

2nd Leg
Wed 23rd May    Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 (Heynckes) Liverpool 0
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore
*ITV showed highlights from 10:30-11:25pm. Liverpool's three goal lead was reduced to one before HT with two goals by Jupp Heynckes on 29 and 40, but Bill Shankly's Reds hung on to claim their first ever European silverware.
 

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 16th May    AC Milan 1 (Chiarugi) Leeds United 0
Thessaloniki
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*In spite of an English club making it to the final, highlights could not be shown on the night of the match because ITV were showing highlights of Scotland v Northern Ireland. BBC1 showed highlights of the ECWC final the following night (Thursday 17th) at 10:40-11:30pm in black & white (Greek TV were responsible for the pictures). The only goal in a bad tempered affair was scored on 5 minutes, Luciano Chiarugi netting from a free kick.

European Cup Final
Wed 30th May    Ajax 1 (Rep) Juventus 0
Belgrade
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Jack Charlton
*Both ITV and BBC1 showed this LIVE, but ITV coverage began 10 minutes later at 8:25pm with the News scheduled to follow at 10:20pm. Juventus had knocked out Derby County in the Semi-final (a year later it was alleged that the referee had been offered a bribe). Ajax dominated the final which was settled by a 4th minute goal by Johnny Rep, ensuring the European Cup returned to Amsterdam for the 3rd consecutive year.

1973/74

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 8th May    FC Magdeburg 2 (Lanzi(og), Seguin) AC Milan 0
Rotterdam
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*BBC1 showed highlights at 9:55-10:45pm. Magdeburg became the first club from the communist half of Germany to win a major European trophy thanks to an own goal by Enrico Lanzi on 43 and Wolfgang Seguin on 74. The Feijenoord Stadium attendance was estimated to have been a pitiful 4,000 - Obviously Magdeburg fans were not allowed to travel beyond the iron curtain. 2nd Division Sunderland's adventure in the competition came to an end in the 2nd Round, losing 3-2 on agg to Sporting Lisbon.

European Cup Final
Wed 15th May    Bayern München 1 (Schwarzenbeck) Athlético Madrid 1 (Aragonés) [AET]
Brussels
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore & Jack Charlton
*The 1974 European Cup final could not be shown live because England were playing at home to Northern Ireland that night (and the BBC's highlights programme was solely devoted to the Home International), the Heysel Stadium encounter was however shown live North of the border by both Scottish and Grampian (8-10pm, presumably with Arthur Montford commentating, HTV WALES are said to have taken the feed too), the other ITV regions all broadcast highlights the following night (Thursday) at 10:30-11:30pm. The final was locked up at 0-0 after 90 minutes, extra time saw Luis Aragonés put the Spanish side ahead by netting from a free-kick on 114, but defender Hans-Georg Shwarzenbeck's hopeful 35 yarder equalised with a minute remaining - taking the European Cup final to a replay for the first time ever. Thrice holders Ajax, having lost Johan Cruijff to Barcelona, had been knocked out in their opening tie. British interest had seen Liverpool fall at the 2nd hurdle to Red Star Belgrade, Celtic made yet another appearance in the Semi-finals but lost out to Athlético Madrid 2-0 on agg after a goalless 'Blood bath" home 1st leg (highlights on ITV) which saw three Spanish players sent off, four other Spaniards booked and police on the pitch to separate rival players! Celtic asked their supporters to stay away from the 2nd leg because the the situation was "Too dangerous, too explosive" (Athlético were managed by the same man who had been in charge of Argentina in the 1966 World cup finals - dubbed "Animals" by Alf Ramsey).

Replay
Fri 17th May     Bayern München 4 (Müller 2, Hoesneß 2) Athlético Madrid 0
Brussels
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore & Jack Charlton
*Highlights of the replay, staged just two days after the drawn match, were shown by most ITV regions as part of a Friday night Scotland v England preview programme "Who'll win the battle of Hampden?" at 10:30-11:30pm, LWT (and also, according to the Glasgow Evening Times, STV, Grampian and Border) showed it one hour later, but Ulster viewers appear to have been denied the chance of seeing anything of the game unless there was a very late programme change. 50,000 had attended the original tie, but less than half that number turned up for the replay which was won in convincing fashion to place the European Cup in West German hands for the first time - Uli Hoeneß opened the scoring on 38, Gerd Müller's volley made it 2-0 on 58 and he then lobbed for another on 71, Hoeneß wrapped it up at 4-0 with his 2nd goal on 83.  

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Tue 21st May     Tottenham Hotspur 2 (England, Van Daele(og)) Feijenoord 2 (Van Hanegem, De Jong)
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*BBC1 showed highlights of the 1st leg on "Sportsnight Special" at 10:15-11pm. Mike England put Spurs ahead on 39 but Willem Van Hanegem equalised 4 minutes later, the 2nd half saw Joop Van Daele's own goal restore Tottenham's lead on 64, but Feijenoord came back again to level up on 85 through Theo De Jong.

2nd Leg
Wed 29th May    Feijenoord 2 (Rijsbergen, Ressel) Tottenham Hotspur 0
ITV Highlights
Gerald Sinstadt
*A disastrous night for Spurs and English football in general as the Tottenham supporters rioted and over 200 people (in the 60,000 crowd) were hurt in the crush. At half-time Spurs manager Bill Nicholson spoke on the public address system; "You hooligans are a disgrace to Tottenham Hotspur and a disgrace to England. This is a football game - not a war". ITV only screened highlights of East Germany v England from 10:30-11:30pm on the Wednesday night, highlights of the UEFA Cup Final 2nd leg were delayed until Thursday night at 11pm-12am (Scottish, Grampian and Ulster all opted out). Curiously the show went straight into the action as soon as the opening captions appeared with Gerald Sinstadt explaining"You join us three minutes into the game." Wim Rijsbergen put Feijenoord ahead for the first time in the tie on 43, Peter Ressel killed the game off on 84 to finally remove the UEFA/Fairs Cup from English ownership for the first time since Leeds had won it six years earlier! Spurs were banned from playing their next two European matches at home, but the ban was never implemented as it was seven years before Spurs qualified for Europe again.

1974/75

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 7th May     Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 Twente Enschede 0
*No British TV coverage. BBC1 had a "Sportsnight" at 9:55-10:50pm but this only showed boxing.

2nd Leg
Wed 21st May    Twente Enschede 1 (Drost) Borussia Mönchengladbach 5 (Heynckes 3, Simonsen 2(1pen))
*No British TV coverage. BBC1's "Sportsnight" (9:55-11:25pm) only showed England v Wales. Dutch outfit Twente (who inlcuded future Ipswich stars Frans Thijssen and Arnold Mühren) must have fancied their chances of winning the trophy following the goaless draw in West Germany, but early goals from Danish import Allan Simonsen on 2 and top scorer Jupp Heynckes (who was unable to play in the 1st leg) on 9 left them with a mountain to climb, Heynckes completed a hat-trick with goals on 50 and 60 minutes, Epi Drost netted a consolation on 76 but the Germans had the last word with a penalty converted by Simonsen on 86.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 14th May    Dynamo Kyiv 3 (Onishchenko 2, Blokhin) Ferencváros 0
Basle
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore
*ITV showed highlights of this on "The Mid-week Match" (10:30-11:30pm). Over on BBC1 "Sportsnight" (9:55-10:45pm) included "The Story of the European Cup". Two goals from Vladimir Olishchenko on 18 & 39 and a 2nd half goal from Oleg Blokhin won the trophy for Kyiv (then a part of the Soviet Union), their Hungarian opponents had knocked out Liverpool on away goals in the 2nd Round.

European Cup Final
Wed 28th May    Bayern München 2 (Roth, Müller) Leeds United 0
Paris
BBC LIVE
David Coleman & Don Revie
*BBC1 showed live coverage from 8-10:15pm, the co-commentator was England manager Don Revie (who'd left Leeds a year earlier). Leeds' starting 11 included more Scots than English players, but the match is remembered for some dodgy decisions by the officials who denied Leeds at least one clear 1st half penalty and ruled out a fine Peter Lorimer volley on 65 for offside which prompted Leeds fans to hurl missiles onto the Bayern goalmouth, Franz Roth then put Bayern ahead on 71 which sparked further problems in the crowd, Gerd Müller delivered the killer blow on 81 to retain the trophy for Bayern. At the end of the game Bayern were forced to abandon their lap of honour as the Leeds fans rioted, UEFA banned United from taking part in the next two European tournaments that they would potentially qualify for during a period of 4 years. This was the last European final to have potentially gone to a replay had it been drawn. From next season onwards penalty shoot outs would decide tied finals.

1975/76

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 28th Apr     Liverpool 3 (Kennedy, Case, Keegan(pen)) Club Brugge KV 2 (Lambert, Cools)
ITV Highlights
Gerald Sinstadt
*Networked highlights were aired as "Mid-Week Match" from 10:40-11:40pm. A disastrous start saw Liverpool fall 2-0 down to goals by Raoul Lambert on 5 and Julien Cools on 15, but during a five minute 2nd half spell the reds scored three times through Ray Kennedy (59), Jimmy Case (61) and a Kevin Keegan penalty (65) to take a slender lead to Belgium.

2nd Leg
Wed 19th May    Club Brugge KV 1 (Lambert(pen)) Liverpool 1 (Keegan)
BBC Highlights
David Coleman
*Highlights were included on BBC1's "Sportsnight" (9:25-10:50pm). Raoul Lambert levelled the tie up on agg with an 11th minute penalty (following a handball), Kevin Keegan restored Liverpool's advantage from a free kick just four minutes later and the reds held on to repeat their League championship/UEFA Cup double first achieved three years earlier.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 5th May     Anderlecht 4 (Rensenbrink 2(1pen), Van Der Elst 2) West Ham United 2 (Holland, Robson)
Brussels
BBC LIVE
David Coleman & Dave Sexton
*This was shown LIVE on BBC1, 8:05-10:10pm with a break for a news buleltin at 9pm, David Coleman was joined in the commentary box by Dave Sexton (who's QPR team finished league runners-up this season). Staged at their national stadium, Anderlecht made the home soil advantage count to win Belgium's first European trophy, although their manager and four of the players were all Dutch. Pat Holland put West Ham ahead on 28 but Rob Rensenbrink levelled just before half-time, François Van Der Elst on 48 and Keith Robson on 68 added further goals to make it 2-2 before Rensenbrink's penalty on 73 and Van Der Elst again on 88 wrapped it up at 4-2. Van Der Elst later joined West Ham in 1981.

European Cup Final
Wed 12th May    Bayern München 1 (Roth) Saint Étienne 0
Hampden Park
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Jack Charlton
*A big night for ITV who were solely responsible for providing the live pictures to 28 countries, it was the biggest sports ob operation in the history of British Television up to that time - a team of 125 people were involved in the broadcast. STV, Tyne Tees and ATV ob vans were all parked outside Hampden whilst the action-replays had to be converted into slow motion by LWT staff down in London and then flashed back up to Glasgow for transmission via STV's landline to transmitters all over Britain and across the channel to Brussels (which in turn fed the rest of Europe). British viewers saw Dickie Davies introduce the game at 8pm from a custom built two-camera studio at the ground alongside panellists Don Revie and Glasgow Rangers captain John Greig - And whilst they discussed the game at half-time, ITV provided alternate pictures (crowd scenes and the military and pipe bands) to the rest of Europe via Black Hill in Northern Ireland and from there by landline. The most difficult task was providing 28 separate audio feeds, the head of sound was one Jim Bulloch - the man that everybody needed to speak to, thus all other ITV personel were given hastily assembled lapel badges proclaiming "I am not Jim Bulloch" in three languages! The venue would have been an extra incentive for the British teams participating in the competition to reach the final, but sadly both Celtic and Derby County (who beat Real Madrid 4-1 at home before losing 5-4 on agg) were knocked out in the 2nd round. German dominance of the most coveted trophies in football had now become total on both a club and international stage, West Germany were the current holders of the World Cup and the European Championships and Bayern München made it a hat-trick of successive European Cup triumphs with this 1-0 win against French opponents (who's star player Rocheteau was forced to sit out the majority of the match due to an injury), Bayern had an early goal ruled out for offside but Saint Étienne twice hit the crossbar in the first half before Franz Roth fired home the winning goal from a free kick on 57 minutes.

1976/77

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 4th May    Juventus 1 (Tardelli) Athletic Bilbao 0
*No highlights were scheduled for British TV, BBC1 had a "Sportsnight" at 9:35-10:25pm but only a profile of Liverpool FC and a film report on Lord Hesketh (who owned a Formula One team) were billed. A 15th minute goal by Marco Tardelli gave the Italians the advantage.

2nd Leg
Wed 18th May    Athletic Bilbao 2 (Irureta, Carlos) Juventus 1 (Bettega)
*Again, no highlights were scheduled. BBC1's "Sportsnight" (9:25-10:15pm) merely previewed the FA Cup final and "Philips Jubilee night of Athletics". An early goal on 7 mins by Roberto Bettega (from a seemingly offside position) put Juventus firmly in the driving seat, José Ignacio Churruca quickly replied on 11, substitute Carlos Ruiz Herrero levelled the score on aggregate on 78 but the Italians hung on to win the trophy on the away goals rule. The furthest any British side got was QPR who lost their QF tie on penalties.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 11th May     Hamburger SV (Volkert(pen), Magath) 2 Anderlecht 0
Amsterdam
ITV Highlights
Brian Moore
*ITV showed this at 10:30-11:25pm. Two late goals won the cup for the Germans - Georg Volkert from the penalty spot on 78 and Felix Magath on 88. England's entry into this season's competition was 2nd tier Southampton who overcame Marseille and Carrick Rangers before falling to Anderlecht in the QF's.

European Cup Final
Wed 25th May    Liverpool 3 (McDermott, Smith, Neal(pen)) Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Simonsen)
Rome
BBC LIVE
Barry Davies
*BBC1 showed LIVE coverage beginning at 7pm with the news due to follow at 9:15pm, BBC Scotland had Archie MacPherson and Billy McNeil commentating as it was 10 years on from Celtic winning the cup. Borussia had the first real chance on 22 when Bonhof hit the post, but it was Liverpool who scored first when Terry McDermott latched on to Heighway's pass to sweep home from close range on 28, Allan Simonsen equalized after the break on 52 and they may have taken the lead had it not been for a Clemence save which foiled Stielike, Tommy Smith then headed home a Heighway corner on 64 for 2-1. Clemence made two further fine saves before Kevin Keegan (in his farewell appearance before leaving for Hamburg) was brought down in the area at the other end by Vogts and Phil Neal's spot kick on 82 ensured that the European Cup was brought back to England for only the second time. All of the Liverpool team (including the 5 subs) were English except Joey Jones (Wales) and Steve Heighway (Ireland). There are goal clips with Martin Tyler commentating but this is off tube and may well have been done much later for the purpose of a retrospective, there were no highlights scheduled for ITV although Granada did show a special programme "Welcome Home Liverpool" on Thursday 26th at 10:30-11pm, an estimated 500,000 were on the streets to celebrate.

1977/78

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 26th Apr    Bastia 0 PSV Eindhoven 0
*Again, the UEFA Cup final appears to have been ignored by British TV. BBC1 had a "Sportsnight" at 9:55-10:45pm but "Goal of the Season" is the only football segment scheduled in a programme otherwise devoted to other sports.

2nd Leg
Tue 9th May     PSV Eindhoven 3 (W. Van De Kerkhof, Deijkers, Van Der Kuijlen) Bastia 0
*No coverage on British TV. After holding out in Corsica, an attacking display by Eindhoven in the 2nd leg saw Willie Van De Kerkhof  put the Dutch side ahead on 24 (Twin brother René was also in the starting 11), Gerry Deijkers made it 2-0 on 67 and the tie was effectively won two minutes later with a goal by Willie Van Der Kuijlen. Aston Villa were the sole British interest left at the QF stage, but they were knocked out by Barcelona who had also dispatched Ipswich in the previous round.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 3rd May     Anderlecht 4 (Rensenbrink 2, Van Binst 2) Austria Wien 0
Paris
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*Highlights were included on BBC1's "Sportsnight" (10:10-11pm) along with a preview of the FA Cup final. This was Anderlecht's third successive Cup-Winners Cup final and they cruised to victory with Rob Rensenbrink scoring on 13 and 44, and Gilbert Van Binst adding another on 45 to give the Belgians a 3-0 HT advantage, Van Binst scored his 2nd and Anderlecht's 4th on 82 mins. Manchester United's campaign ended in early disappointment at the hands of Porto in the 2nd round.

European Cup Final
Wed 10th May    Liverpool 1 (Dalglish) Club Brugge KV 0
Wembley
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Ian St. John*
*Kevin Keegan is listed as co-commentator in the TVTimes but it was in fact Ian St.John - Tommy Smith is also heard during the match but it's not clear if he was sat in the commentary box or in the TV executive box, Gerald Sinstadt was the interviewer. Leicester City striker Roger Davies was also at Wembley summarising for ITV on the strength of having played for Brugge earlier in the season. LIVE coverage began at 7pm and ended around 9:15pm. Liverpool were the first British club to reach successive European Cup finals (curiously their opponents in these finals were the same two teams that Liverpool had beaten in the 1973 and 1976 UEFA Cup finals). Wembley ought to have made the occasion extra special, but as far as the neutrals were concerned Brugge were not exactly the most glamorous challengers to the English holders and in terms of entertainment value it proved to be a pretty disappointing one sided affair. Missing two key players to injury, Brugge employed mass defensive tactics and the only goal of the game was scored on 65 after Graeme Sounessfound Kenny Dalglish who successfully chipped the onrushing goalkeeper. Liverpool's victory did however go some way to offset the embarrassment felt at the national side's recent failure to qualify for a 2nd successive World Cup finals.

1978/79

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 9th May     Crvena Zvezda Beograd 1 (Šestic) Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Jurišic(og))
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*A "Sportsnight" was scheduled for 9:25-10:45pm and soccer was billed including a preview of the FA Cup final, "Goal of the season" and "One of tonight's Cup matches" which happened to be a now rare chance to see some action from the UEFA Cup final. Miloš Šestic put Red Star ahead on 21 mins but a horrific own goal by Ivan Jurišic levelled the tie on 60. The attendance was 87,500. The two finalists had knocked out West Brom and Manchester City in the QF's

2nd Leg
Wed 23rd May   Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Simonsen(pen)) Crvena Zvezda Beograd 0
ITV Highlights
Martin Tyler
*ITV had to show highlights of this on the Thursday night (10:30-11:30pm) because highlights of the Home International match between England and Wales were on BBC1 on Wednesday. Titled "Football" in TVTimes, the only goal of the 2nd leg was a penalty scored by Allan Simonsen on 15 minutes which was enough to win the trophy for the Germans.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 16th May    Barcelona 4 (Sánchez, Asensi, Kexach, Krankl) Fortuna Düsseldorf 3 (Thomas Allofs, Seel 2) [AET]
Basle
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Jack Charlton
*Live coverage began at 7pm and was due to end at 9:15pm, but it would have overrun by at least 30 minutes. José Vicente Sánchez opened the scoring feast on 5 minutes to put the Spanish side ahead, the Germans equalised three minutes later through Thomas Allofs (His brother and team mate Klaus is credited as the scorer in Rothman's), Juan Manuel Asensi restored Barcelona's lead on 34 but Fortuna were level again by HT with a goal from Wolfgang Seel on 41. No goals were scored in the 2nd half and with the score at 2-2 the game went into extra-time, Austrian import Hans Krankl put Barcelona ahead again on 104 and Carles Rexach appeared to have wrapped up proceedings on 111 to make it 4-2, but Fortuna pulled one back with another goal from Seel on 114. The eventual winners had knocked out Ipswich Town in the QF's on the away goals rule.

European Cup Final
Wed 30th May    Nottingham Forest 1 (Francis) Malmö FF 0
Munich
BBC LIVE
Barry Davies & Bobby Charlton
*Jimmy Hill introduced a live "Sportsnight Special" on BBC1 (8pm-10:15pm, with a break for the News at 9:00-9:10pm), Hill was joined in the London studio by Kevin Keegan and Lawrie McMenemy whilst Barry Davies and Bobby Charlton were commentating on-site. ITV have footage with Martin Tyler commentating, but this is off-tube and there was no ITV programme scheduled. This was very much the year of the underdog in the European Cup - Of the eight Quarter-finalists, only Glasgow Rangers had previously won a major European honour, yet even at that stage nobody would have predicted a final between Forest (who'd knocked out holders Liverpool in the 1st Round) and a team from Sweden (managed by Englishman Bobby Houghton). Glasgow Rangers were ousted by Cologne who in turn lost to Forest in the Semi's in spite of earning a 3-3 draw at the City Ground in the 1st leg. As with last year, the final was another dull affair settled by a single goal, but it was another English success story with the first million pound transfer man Trevor Francis netting the winner with a diving header from an acute angle at the far post at the end of the first half.

1979/80

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 7th May    Borussia Mönchengladbach 3 (Kulik 2, Matthäus) Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (Karger, Hölzenbein)
ITV Highlights
?????
*ITV showed highlights at 10:30-11:30pm. Five of the UEFA Cup Quarter-finalists were German and the all German final saw Christian Kulik draw first blood for Borussia on 37, Frankfurt equalised on the stroke of half-time through Harald Karger and then took the lead on 71 courtesy of Bernd Hölzenbein. A 19 year old Lothar Matthäus equalised on 77 and another goal from Kulik on 88 gave Borussia the advantage for the 2nd leg. No British team had managed to progress beyond the 2nd Round.

2nd Leg
Wed 21st May  Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Schaub) Borussia Mönchengladbach 0
*BBC1's "Sportsnight" at 10-10:50pm was only scheduled to show Athletics, ITV had Scotland v Wales. The match was shown live in twelve other countries. A goal by substitute Fred Schaub on 81 (four minutes after coming on) won the cup for Frankfurt on the away goal rule.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 14th May   Valencia 0 Arsenal 0 [AET] *Valencia won 5-4 on penalties
Brussels
BBC LIVE
John Motson & Bob Wilson
*LIVE coverage on BBC1 began at 7pm. After a scoreless 120 minutes open play, the tie was decided on a penalty shoot out. The Valencia line-up included World cup star Mario Kempes who's opening penalty was saved by Pat Jennings, but Liam Brady's tame follow up spot kick allowed the Spanish keeper to immediately wipe out the Gunners advantage, the next 8 penalties were all scored which meant sudden death, Valencia made it 5-4 and Graham Rix then saw his attempt end in failure. It was double heartbreak for Arsenal who had just lost the FA Cup final to West Ham only four days earlier (and that defeat had followed a marathon four match semi-final).

European Cup Final
Wed 28th May    Nottingham Forest 1 (Robertson) Hamburger SV 0
Madrid
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Jack Charlton
*ITV's live coverage began at 7:15pm (and was due to end in time for "All Kinds Of Dana" at 9:30pm). Dickie Davies hosted from a London studio alongside Ian St John and Mick Channon. Hamburg included England's star player Kevin Keegan (who had already agreed to join Southampton next season to earn a reported £100,000 a year salary) but it was Forest who retained the European Cup with a goal by John Robertson on 21 mins. As captain John McGovern lifted the trophy, Brian Moore infamously declared Hamburg to be the champions of Europe. Liverpool had once again been dumped out in the opening round, Celtic were looking good in the QF's with a 2-0 1st leg win over Real Madrid but they lost 3-2 on agg.

1980/81

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 6th May     Ipswich Town 3 (Wark(pen), Thijssen, Mariner) Alkmaar Zaanstreek 0
ITV Highlights
Gerry Harrison
*ITV included highlights on "Mid-Week Sports Special" (10:40-11:50pm) along with a preview of the FA Cup final and boxing. Over on BBC1 "Sportsnight" devoted its' timeslot (10:10-11pm) to 'The first 100 Cup finals' (plus a preview of the Scottish Cup final). This was Town's last chance to claim silverware this season having recently lost an FA Cup Semi-final and narrowly missed out on the League championship, happily Ipswich put themselves firmly in the driving seat for the 2nd leg against Dutch opponents AZ67 with this convincing win (Two Dutch nationals lined up for Ipswich). John Wark opened the scoring with a penalty on 30 following a hand ball, Frans Thijssen headed in a 2nd shortly after the break on 47. Ipswich boss Bobby Robson would sometimes provide his opinions to Gerry Harrison during Anglia matches from the dugout - the same link-up was employed for this networked fixture causing Robson to miss the 2nd goal to which he offered the Penelope Keith like rebuke "Well thank you very much, Gerry". Paul Mariner made it 3-0 on 55.

2nd Leg
Wed 20th May    Alkmaar Zaanstreek 4 (Welzl, Metgod, Tol, Jonker) Ipswich Town 2 (Thijssen, Wark)
BBC Highlights
John Motson
*BBC1 showed highlights of this on "Sportsnight" (10-11:10pm), it was billed to follow the main feature England v Wales. A goal on three minutes by Frans Thijssen meant that AZ would now have to score at least 5 times to win the tie, they were given a flicker of hope a few minutes later when Kurt Welzl pulled one back on 7 and then Johnny Metgod headed in another on 25, John Wark levelled the score on the night on 32 mins before Pier Tol scored again for AZ on 40. With the aggregate HT score 5-3 in Town's favour, AZ required at least three more in the 2nd half, but they could only manage the one through Jos Jonker from a free-kick on 73.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 13th May    Dinamo Tbilisi 2 (Gutsayev, Daraselia) Carl Zeiss Jena 1 (Hoppe)
Dusseldorf
ITV Highlights
Martin Tyler
*ITV showed highlights of this on "Mid-Week Sports Special" (along with boxing) at 10:30pm-12am. Two clubs from behind the Iron curtain contested this final on West German soil, hence a relatively small attendance of around 9,000 (many of whom had received free tickets). The East German side took the lead on 63 through Gerhard Hoppe, but the Soviet Union outfit equalised just four minutes later through Vladimir Gutsayev and a late winner on 86 came courtesy of Vitaly Daraselia. The winners had knocked out West Ham in the QF's whilst the runners-up had narrowly beaten Third Division Newport County in the same round (Newport having gained entry into the competition by virtue of winning of the Welsh Cup).

European Cup Final
Wed 27th May   Liverpool 1 (A. Kennedy) Real Madrid 0
Paris
BBC LIVE
Barry Davies
*Live coverage began on BBC1 at 7pm (scheduled to end before the news at 9:15pm). Kevin Keegan, Lawrie McMenemy and Trevor Brooking were the summarisers. ITV apparently sent Martin Tyler along to commentate for them but there is no evidence of a highlights programme being shown, perhaps ITV merely required a more authentic recording for posterity (as well as reports for "On The Ball" etc.). Liverpool joined an elite group of clubs who had won the European three times or more with this victory against the team that had won it more times than anybody (six). It was yet another tight and largely uneventful European Cup final seemingly destined for extra-time until a late burst into the box by defender Alan Kennedy on 82 minutes resulted in a winning goal. Madrid included former West Brom star Lawrie Cunningham in their line-up. Holders Nottingham Forest had been knocked-out in the opening round.

1981/82

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 5th May     IFK Göteborg 1 (Tord Holmgren) Hamburger SV 0
ITV Highlights
Martin Tyler
*Speedway topped the bill on ITV's "Mid-Week Sports special" (10:50pm-12:10am), but football action from Sweden was also included. Tord Holmgrem gave the home side the advantage with a late goal on 87 minutes.

2nd Leg
Wed 19th May Hamburger SV 0 IFK Göteborg 3 (Corneliusson, Nilsson, Fredriksson(pen))
BBC Highlights
Commentator: ?????
*This 2nd leg was on the "Sportsnight" bill (BBC1 9:50-11:08pm) following highlights of the Rugby League Cup Final replay and a preview of the FA Cup Final. Dan Corneliusson netted the vital opening goal on 26 mins, Torbjörn Nilsson effectively put the tie beyond the German's reach with another on 61 and a penalty from Stig Fredriksson sealed it two minutes later. It was the first time a Swedish club won a major European trophy. No English club managed to progress beyond the 2nd round, Dundee Utd reached the QF's.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 12th May    Barcelona 2 (Simonsen, Quini) Standard Liège 1 (Vandersmissen)
Barcelona
BBC Highlights
Barry Davies
*"Sportsnight" on BBC1 (9:50-11:23pm) featured Snooker as well as this match for which the pre-selected venue turned out to be a home game for Barcelona who had knocked out Tottenham Hotpsur in the Semi-final. Yet it was the Belgian side who took an early lead on 8 mins through Guy Vandersmissen, but Allan Simonsen (that man again!) equalised on the stroke of HT and Enrique Castro González (aka 'Quini') claimed the winning goal for the home side on 63, the final minute saw Liège reduced to 10 men with the sending off of Walter Meeuws.

European Cup Final
Wed 26th May   Aston Villa 1 (Withe) Bayern München 0
Rotterdam
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Brian Clough
*Dickie Davies hosted LIVE ITV coverage which began at 7pm and was due to end in time for an early and extended news bulletin at 9:15-10pm (focussing on the Falklands crisis). Davies was joined in the London studio by Ron Atkinson and Jimmy Greaves (who was introduced as 'part of the ITV World Cup team'). With the odds already stacked against them, a Villa success story looked even more unlikely on 10 minutes when their injured goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer had to be substituted and replaced by Nigel Spink (who had only made one previous first team appearance). Yet Spink kept a clean sheet and on 67 minutes, against the run of play, good work by Tony Morely on the left found Peter Withe who prodded home the winner. Holders Liverpool had been knocked out at the QF stage by Sofia, but Villa's triumph ensured that the European Cup remained in England for a 6th successive season.

1982/83

UEFA Cup Final
1st Leg
Wed 4th May     Anderlecht 1 (Brylle) Benfica 0
*"Sportsnight" on BBC1 (10:10-11:05pm) was billed in the Times to show boxing and ice hockey plus "News of tonight's UEFA Cup Final", so there may have only been a brief report of the match which saw Kenneth Brylle give the Belgians the initiative on 29 mins against the Portuguese side managed by Sven-Göran Eriksson. It had been another disappointing tournament in terms of English interest with all four of our sides making their exit in the opening round. Dundee United however once again carried Scottish hopes into the QF's

2nd Leg
Wed 18th May    Benfica 1 (Shéu) Anderlecht 1 (Lozano)
ITV Highlights
Martin Tyler
*"Mid-Week Sports Special" (10:45pm-12:15am) showed highlights of the 2nd leg plus boxing. Shéu Han levelled the tie on aggregate on 36 minutes, but the Belgians were back in front with the bonus of an away goal advantage within a few minutes courtesy of Spanish import Juan Lozano.

Cup-Winners Cup Final
Wed 11th May    Aberdeen 2 (Black, Hewitt) Real Madrid 1 (Juanito(pen)) [AET]
Gothenburg
ITV LIVE
Brian Moore & Ian St. John / Jock Brown & Billy McNeil
*ITV's LIVE coverage began at 7pm and most likely ended just before 10pm, Dickie Davies presented from London alongside Denis Law. The whole of the UK had the same presentation but STV & Grampian had their own commentary team. Managed by Alex Ferguson, the entire Aberdeen squad were exclusively made up of Scots and it was they who took an early lead through Eric Black on 7 mins, Juan Gómez González (aka Juanito) equalised from the penalty spot on 15. With no further goals scored in normal time, the enthralling end to end tie required extra time which saw sub John Hewitt bravely net the winner with a diving header on 112 mins. Aberdeen joined Celtic and Rangers in becoming the 3rd Scottish club to win a major European honour. English entrants Tottenham Hotspur had been dumped out by Bayern Munich at the 2nd round stage, Bayern were then defeated by Aberdeen in the QF's.

European Cup Final
Wed 25th May    Hamburger SV 1 (Magath) Juventus 0
Athens
BBC LIVE
Barry Davies & Bob Wilson
*LIVE coverage began on BBC1 at 7pm hosted from a London studio by Jimmy Hill with Lawrie McMenemy and Bobby Charlton sat alongside him, it was due to end in time for the news at 9:10pm. This was the first European Cup Final since 1976 not to involve (and be won by) an English club, holders Aston Villa and Liverpool having both fallen at the QF hurdle. The final saw favourites Juventus include the French star Michel Platini alongside several Italian 1982 World Cup winners, but Felix Magath scored an early goal for the Germans on 8 mins with a fine 25 yard strike and, yet again, the one goal proved to be enough to win the European Cup, but it was a deserved victory for Hamburg who were undoubtedly the better side on the night.
 

The European Super Cup
The brainchild of a Dutch journalist, this somewhat pointless annual two-leg fixture contested by the holders of the European Cup and the Cup-Winners Cup was first introduced for season 1972/73 with the previous season's European Cup winners Ajax beating Cup-Winners Cup holders Glasgow Rangers, but UEFA did not approve because Rangers were banned from European competition at the time and they insisted the fixtures should be considered 'friendlies'. The competition became officially recognised the following season, yet it was not contested in 1974/75 or 1981/82 and British Television generally showed very little interest. Liverpool were the first English side to win it in 1977/78, further English victories came in 1979/80 with Nottingham Forest and 1982/83 through Aston Villa.

Ties involving British teams.....

Tue 16/Jan/1973    Glasgow Rangers 1 (MacDonald) Ajax 3 (Rep, Cruijff, Haan)
*SCOTTISH and GRAMPIAN showed what appears to have been the whole 90 minutes, at 10:40pm-12:17am.
Wed 24/Jan/1973   Ajax 3 (Heinrich, Mühren, Cruijff) Glasgow Rangers 2 (MacDonald, Young)
*No scheduled coverage, BBC1 had a "Sportsnight" that showed England v Wales so perhaps BBC Scotland opted out and showed the Ajax game instead.

Tue 22/Nov/1977   SV Hamburg 1 (Keller) Liverpool 1 (Fairclough)
*No British TV coverage unless highlights were included on BBC1's "Sportnight" the following day.
Tue 06/Dec/1977   Liverpool 6 (Thompson, McDermott 3, Fairclough, Dalglish) SV Hamburg 0
*Networked ITV highlights on "Mid-Week Match" 10:30-11:25pm, Gerald Sinstadt (Scottish opted out, preferring to show "Fireside Theatre").

Mon 04/Dec/1978   Anderlecht 3 (Vercauteren, Van Der Elst, Rensenbrink) Liverpool 1 (Case)
*No coverage scheduled.
Tue 19/Dec/1978    Liverpool 2 (Huges, Fairclough) Anderlecht 1 (Rensenbrink)
*Brief highlights were included on BBC1 "Sportsnight Special" (10:25pm), but only about 2 minutes worth due to thick fog affecting the picture quality.

Wed 30/Jan/1980   Nottingham Forest 1 (George) Barcelona 0
*"Mid-Week Sports Special" (10:30pm-12am) were only billed to show FA Cup and Gymnastics, but there may have been a report on this match.
Tue 05/Feb/1980    Barcelona 1 (Roberto(pen)) Nottingham Forest 1 (Burns)
*No coverage scheduled.

Tue 25/Nov/1980    Nottingham Forest 2 (Bowyer 2) Valencia 1 (Felman)
*No coverage scheduled.
Wed 17/Dec/1980    Valencia 1 (Morena) Nottingham Forest 0
*No coverage scheduled.

1981/82 - Liverpool v Dinamo Tbilisi not contested

Wed 19/Jan/1983    Barcelona 1 (Pena) Aston Villa 0
*Possibly a report included on "Mid-Week Sports Special"
Wed 26/Jan/1983    Aston Villa 3 (Shaw, Cowans(pen), McNaught) Barcelona 0 [AET]
*Highlights were included on BBC1's "Sportsnight" with Alan Parry commentating.
 

The World Club Championship (aka The Intercontinental Cup)
Contested annually since 1960/61 by the holders of the European Cup (or often the runners-up if the holders declined) and the winners of the South American Champions Cup. The World Club Championship continued to be decided over two legs until 1980/81 when it was staged as a single match affair in Tokyo. As a result of a sponsorship deal with Toyota, the Japanese arrangement continued thereafter. There had been no contests in 1975/76 or 1978/79 and British TV evidently deemed the competition to be no more worthy of attention than the Super Cup.

Two leg matches involving British teams.....

Wed 25/Sep/1968    Estudiantes 1 (Conigliaro) Manchester United 0
*This was held at the home of Boca Juniors as Estudiantes' ground was deemed unsuitable. Highlights were shown in black & white on BBC1's "Sportnight With Coleman" the following night at 10-10:45pm. The goal came on 27 mins, Nobby Stiles was sent off on 79.
Wed 16/Oct/1968    Manchester United 1 (Morgan) Estudiantes 1 (Véron)
*ITV showed networked highlights at 11pm-12am in black & white with Hugh Johns commentating. A violent 2nd leg saw Véron score on 7 mins, which meant United needed to score at least 3 goals to win (or 2 to force a replay in Amsterdam on the Saturday). George Best and Medina were both sent off on 88 following an off the ball incident, Morgan netted a late goal in the final minute and United thought they had equalised in injury time but the referee had already blown for time.

1977/78 - Liverpool declined to play and so Borussia Mönchengladbach represented Europe instead

1978/79 - Liverpool v Boca Juniors not contested because Liverpool declined to play.

1979/80 - Nottingham Forest declined to play and so Malmö FF represented Europe instead

Single match finals in Tokyo

Wed 11/Feb/1981   Nacional 1 (Waldemar Victorino) Nottingham Forest 0
*No coverage scheduled. ITN News showed a report.

Sun 13/Dec/1981    Flamengo 3 (Nunes 2, Adílio) Liverpool 0
*Highlights were included on the various ITV regional Sunday afternoon programmes with Brian Moore commentating (the game had been played in the early hours of Sunday our time).

Sun 12/Dec/1982    Club Atlético Peñarol 2 (Jair, Charrua) Aston Villa 0
*No coverage scheduled, though highlights exist with Alan Parry commentating. Again the match took place in the early hours of Sunday our time.
 

The Anglo-Italian Cups
As a Third Division club, Swindon Town were not eligable to enter the 1969/70 Fairs Cup tournament in spite of having won the League Cup the previous season. To partly compensate, Swindon arranged a two leg fixture with the holders of the Coppa Italia to play for "The Anglo-Italian League Cup". At the end of that same season, six English and six Italian sides entered an expanded version "The Anglo-Italian Cup" with the group round resulting in the best performing English team (Swindon Town again) meeting the best Italian team (Napoli) in the final, the final was staged in Naples but as the visitors romped to a 3-0 lead the Italian fans rioted and the game had to be abandoned on 79 minutes, the result stood and Swindon were awarded the trophy. Despite the appalling behaviour of the Italian fans, the Anglo-Italian Cup competition ran for another three season's.
To confuse matters, the Anglo-Italian League Cup continued to be contested in 1970/71 and 1971/72. It was then revived in 1975/76 but with the FA Cup winners (rather than the League Cup winners) now representing England. It was discontinued after 1976/77.

The Anglo-Italian Cup *All finals held in Italy

Thu 28/May/1970  Napoli 0 Swindon Town 3 (Noble 2, Horsfield)
*No coverage scheduled. A Reuters newsreel captured the mayhem which caused the match to be abandoned on 79 mins.

Sat 12/Jun/1971     Bologna 1 (Pace) Blackpool 2 (Craven, Burns) [AET]
*LIVE on BBC1 from 3:55pm.

Sat 24/Jun/1972    AS Roma 3 (Cappellini, Scaratti, Zigoni) Blackpool 1 (Alcock)
*LIVE on ITV as part of "World Of Sport", 3:50-5:55pm, TVTimes lists Hugh Johns as commentator. Highlights were also included on Sunday afternoon's "Sportsworld '72".

Sun 03/Jun/1973    Fiorentina 1 (Clerici) Newcastle United 2 (Superchi(og), Craig)
*No coverage scheduled.

The Anglo-Italian League Cup *All contested over 2-legs

Wed 27/Aug/1969   Roma 2 (Enzo(pen), Cappellini) Swindon Town 1 (Noble)
Wed 10/Sep/1969   Swindon Town 4 (Horsfield 3, Rogers) Roma 0

Wed 02/Sep/1970   Bologna 1 (Rizzo) Manchester City 0
Wed 23/Sep/1970   Manchester City 2 (Lee, Helsop) Bologna 2 (Perani, Savoldi)
*Highlights of the 2nd leg possibly on ITV "Association Football" 10:30-11:25pm, though it was more likely action from the Fairs Cup.

Wed 01/Sep/1971   Torino 0 Tottenham Hotpsur 1 (Chivers)
Wed 22/Sep/1971   Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Chivers, Gilzean) Torino 0

Wed 03/Sep/1975   Fiorentina 1 (Guerini) West Ham United 0
Wed 10/Dec/1975   West Ham United 0 Fiorentina 1 (Speggiorin)

Tue 21/Sep/1976   Southampton 1 (Williams) Napoli 0
Sun 14/Nov/1976  Napoli 4 (Chiaruggi, Bruscolotti, Speggiorin 2) Southampton 0

*There was also a semi-professional Anglo-Italian competition that ran from 1968-1976.