JOEY ATE THE FROGS LEGS - MADE THE SWISS ROLL - NOW HE'S MUNCHIN' GLADBACHS.
THE EUROPEAN CUP 1977
After successfully winning the league title culminating in a 3.1 away win at Wolves, watched by perhaps the largest league away following EVER! Liverpool where entered into the European Cup. Our first round opponents were the Belfast part-time team the Crusaders, the first leg was to be played at Anfield with the return leg away in Belfast two weeks later.
Date 14th September 1976 - European Cup 1st Round First leg held at Anfield
Liverpool 2 [Neal "penalty18" - Toshack 65] - Crusaders 0 - Attendance 22,442
Liverpool 2
1. Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Tommy Smith
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. David Johnson
9. Steve Heighway
10. John Toshack
11. Ian Callaghan
Subs not used. Peter McDonnell - Jimmy Case - David Fairclough - Terry McDermott - Brian Kettle.
Crusaders 0
1. Roy McDonald
2. Bob Strain
3. Jeff Gorman
4. Walter McFarland
5. Bob Gillespie
6. John McPolin
7. George Lennox
8. Ron McAteer
9. Paul Kirk
10. Drew Cooke
11. George McCann
In the build up to the inaugural game, it was suggested by the media that Liverpool would create yet another scoring record and that Norris McQuirter would soon be legging it back to Roy Castle with another record breaker. Obviously Bob Paisley and the rest of the backroom staff knew this might not be the case, and such talk was soon rubbished as everyone knew that what the Crusaders lacked in skill, they would more than compensate for this with a super human determination to succeed as a team. The newspapers adopted Billy Johnston the Crusaders manager, as a sort of icon representing the underdog in this David versus Goliath encounter. He proudly boasted that his team would come to Anfield and defend for all there worth, he pinned his hopes on a tried and tested game plan which was introduced to stifle the Liverpool forwards. The talk of record making had quite clearly hurt those involved with the Crusaders, a low scoring defeat would in itself be a moral victory and dispel any need for the Guinness book of records. Containment was the key to any possible success. On a cold, damp September evening walking up to Anfield the air was full of expectancy as we thought another goal scoring feast was in store, surely all this talk about containment and defending was just paper talk?
Once in the Spion Kop it was noticeable that this was not going to be a sell-out, the Annie road, Kemlyn and Main stands where very sparsely populated whilst the Kop was three quarters full. The "restricted" seats Kop end of the Main stand housed around 20-30 Crusaders supporters, the "banter" soon flowed as the Liverpudlians welcomed their counterparts from Belfast. On the pitch the Crusaders played to the expectations of Billy Johnston, as they "to their credit" silenced the home crowd and frustrated Liverpool's flowing style of football. Very early on in the game we had a shot against the crossbar, this was to prove typical of the football we played that night. After 20 - 25 minutes Liverpool where awarded a dubious penalty, after a foul on John Toshack, the spot kick was safely put away by Mr Reliable himself Phil Neal.
As the mist rose from the Spion Kop we celebrated in the way that only the Spion Kop could, whilst the Crusaders supporters continued to sing their heads off in the Main Stand. This is probably one of the most one-sided games of football I have ever witnessed at Anfield, as we watched a full 90 minutes of wave after wave of Liverpool attacks which saw John Toshack head in the only other goal of the night after an hour or so. At the end of the game the Crusaders team walked up to the Kop and received an ovation to acknowledge their efforts and commitment. To their credit, the Crusaders visited Anfield with the sole intention of not replacing Stromsgodset in the record books and to gain a respectable score line. They did succeed in this without having a single shot at goal or gaining a single corner kick. The only time they came out of their own half was to change ends at half time.
Walking out of the Kop that night, we clapped the now standing Crusaders supporters stood directly above us in the Main stand, you have to give credit were its due. As you may imagine, the national press took great satisfaction in ridiculing Liverpool's performance the days that followed. On the bus home a couple of the lads complained about the score line "That was shxte, fancy only beating a load of part time no-marks two nil"…"We won didn't we, what's your problem?" I replied. A heated discussion then took place as questions where asked about individuals loyalty to the redmen.
Date 28th September 1976 - European Cup 2nd Round Second leg held at Seaview - Belfast Crusaders 0 Liverpool 5 [Keegan 34 - Johnson 81& 90 - McDermott 84 - Heighway 87] - Attendance 10,000
Crusaders 0
1. Roy McDonald
2. Bob Strain
3. Jeff Gorman
4. Walter McFarland
5. Bob Gillespie
6. John McPolin
7. George Lennox (Bobby McQuillan)
8. Ron McAteer
9. Paul Kirk
10. Drew Cook
11. George McCann (Terry Collins)
Liverpool 5
1.Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Tommy Smith
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. David Johnson
9. Steve Heighway
10. Jimmy Case (Terry McDermott)
11. Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Dave Fairclough - Alan waddle - Phil Thompson
The next week whilst with a few of the lads, Ian suggested going over to Belfast for the return game. We all sat in stony silence as we each considered what to do, I had not even contemplated going over to Belfast this in my eyes would be a one-off opportunity. No one said anything this was to be expected? Ian would go anywhere to follow the reds and he was always the one who would go with me, when no-one else felt like going. Out of loyalty or just because none of the others would go I felt obliged to go with him after all he never ever let me down. I said "lets price it out first, then lets see how much it costs", Ian said he would ring around in the morning and find out the cheapest price. I half-heartedly agreed and to be honest never gave it another thought until Ian raised it again one dinnertime at work.
The best price was just about within our means, but my real concern was what would it be like over there. Obviously we were aware of the "troubles" over in Ireland, as we had all watched over the years, the nightly coverage on the television news. I sought advice from my parents, both of whom agreed "If you want to go over and watch the match, you go over". Ian finally convinced me that it was worth a visit, as he had family over there and that things weren't as bad as what was portrayed on the telly. We sat down and discussed the best options available to us, we soon agreed that our trip would be via plane to Belfast Airport arriving on the Monday afternoon and leaving for home later on the Wednesday evening. We booked our plane tickets and shot off up to Anfield to buy match tickets. As per usual, the ticket office didn't want to sell us any they only wanted to sell tickets to people who had made arrangements to travel via the official Liverpool FC organised tour. We explained that we were members of the "official" Anfield Special Club and that we had travelled many many times with them. We asked could we see the manager and after much ado we produced our ASC membership cards and she finally authorised our tickets, plus one spare one for Alex. The annoying thing was we knew her face and you could tell she recognised us, officialdom gone mad? Anyway tickets sorted, now to sort accommodation. Ian rang his uncle over in Belfast and explained we were coming over for the match and wanted somewhere cheap to stay. The next day a call was received offering us a family run hotel, this was of course acceptable Ian's uncle paid the deposit for us and posted the details over to us. As the days moved nearer we sorted all our things out and soon had everything boxed off apart from the airline tickets, after a couple of telephone calls we were promised that they would be posted by the Wednesday. On the Thursday they duly arrived at Ian's address only with Manchester Airport as the departure point. We had specifically requested a departure from Liverpool Airport and these dimwits had messed it up. More telephone calls were made and we eventually managed to get them swapped for Speke, we did ask but never received any confirmation that our flights would be from Liverpool.
Bags packed best bib and tucker at the ready, an a couple of bob in your pocket and we were off. Not before me Dad managed to slip me a few quid, I explained "thanks, but I don't need it, I'm sorted". He just said "take it, you might need it for food or taxi's whatever" I laughed, shook my head and said "whatever", "Oh there will be plenty of whatever's that's for sure " He grinned a knowing smile as I left our house. We arrived at Speke Airport two hours before the scheduled take off time because we anticipated we may have a bit of trouble with our booking, Liverpool airport was a bit like Moldova in those days. As you may expect the reception area at Liverpool didn't have us down for the flight from Speke, we produced all the names and telephone numbers of the people we had contacted and after half an hour or so our flights were finally confirmed. An hour to kill, what would any 20 year old lad do? Time for a couple of beers in the airport bar - as you do. We soon got talking to a few other reds who were travelling over on the same plane, one of them said "You will love Belfast, its just like Liverpool, only they speak differently than us". I thought, I'd reserve judgement on that one until we are over there. Flying towards Belfast all you could see was green countryside; it looked very tranquil and surreal, not what I had in my minds eye. We landed at Belfast airport, said "ta ra" to the other Liverpool lads and jumped a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver was superb, he welcomed us to Belfast and said how everyone was excited about Liverpool F C playing over there. Travelling through Belfast was like travelling through Liverpool, the same sort of housing, the same sort of feel about it, this surprised me.
We arrived at our Hotel, and again were made to feel very welcome, we were booked in by a cracking looking lady called Irene, we were asked if we would like an evening meal for free as someone had failed to turn up and it would only go the waste. A quick look around the hotel room, a telephone call to Ian's uncle and down to feed our faces. The meal was enormous I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't have enough room for ale later that night. Irene looked stunning, and I know what I fancied for afters! As we sat in the hotel bar Ian's uncle arrived, strooth! He must have been about 7 foot tall, a quick introduction and a couple more ales soon broke the ice as Alex told us what it was like living over in Belfast. "You'll love it here, its just like Liverpool" I'd heard that one a few times already. We paid Alex for our accommodation and he paid Ian for his match ticket, Ian kept his ticket for safekeeping. Anyway, if your going to visit another City you won't find out about it unless you have a mooch about time to sample the delights of some other bars. We left out hotel and jumped in a taxi into the City centre, a pub was spotted and we made our way directly to it. It was noticeable that there was a difference in our clothes style, most of the young lads that we saw were skinheads. This had been a fad in Liverpool in the late 60's and early 70's, and obviously was still the "in-thing" in Belfast.
We walked in this pub and the place went quiet as we made our way to the lounge bar, you could the stares burning a hole the back of your head, strangers in a strange pub. The bar-man asked were where we from "Liverpool" we replied, he looked straight at us and said, "anyone from Liverpool, is welcome here". You could feel the atmosphere relax as the people carried on with their conversations, we certainly felt a bit more at ease. The three of us sat down and Alex told us that this was one of the pubs he frequented. He then went on to explain how he had met this girl in Liverpool in the late 60's, courted her, moved across to Belfast in 1972 and eventually they got married. Alex still had a strong scouse accent, but it was tinged with a hint of the Irish brogue. As the ale flowed we obviously relaxed and so did the locals, soon blokes in their 50's grabbed us and shook our hands most saying they had visited Liverpool and how much they loved the City and the football clubs. It was funny to look at Alex he was taller than most of the Irish people even though he was sitting down. It surprised me that most of the locals were little people very few of them were over six feet tall.
I found the Belfast accent quite easy to understand at first, but as the night progressed and the pints began to take their toll it became harder and harder for us to understand each other. Tales of Liverpool's famous past soon filled the air as we all relayed our favourite stories and yarns. Every now and then either singularly or in-groups "Liverpool anthems" would boom around the pub, the strange thing about this was these were all old fellas like yer dad, yet they had so much enthusiasm for us and anything Liverpool. We had noticed that the local young lads, mainly skinhead types, were occupying the bar area playing pool whilst we had a laugh in the lounge area. This skinhead walked to us and said "You from Liverpool", I just thought to myself here we go, its gonna go off here, "yes why? " - "that's brilliant" came the reply I love Liverpool? We stood having a gab with this bloke as one by one all his mates came across and talked to us. Most of them said they were Liverpool supporters, some Everton supporters, some Spurs and a couple Man United supporters and a Hib's fan. The Hibernian supporter was superb we got on with him no problem. We told him how we had been to Edinburgh to watch the reds and how well we got on with the Hib's supporters. We baited the Man U supporters for a while but in the end we stopped, they didn't have a clue what we were on about. Even though this was a mixture of various supporters we got on great with them and had a good laugh as we tried to play pool. As you do, well I did when I was alive, we noticed the girls sitting together in-groups of three's or four's. A quick "hello" tell us about yourselves, what are you doing after here etc. Most of the girls had boyfriends who were playing pool, we had other games on our minds! Despite many valiant efforts, a bit like Rob Jones, all our attempts got us nowhere. The lads sussed out what we were after and joined their girlfriends to save them from our advances - we were gutted. At the end of the night it was like saying goodbye to a member of your family for the very last time, we had made an impression with them as they had with us. We decided to walk some of the way out of town before we attempted to get a taxi, "Liverpool songs" filled the air as we staggered along in drunken oblivion. We jumped a taxi and headed back to our hotel. We left Alex slumped in the back of the taxi he was oblivious to everything we said. Ian scribbled down Alex's address and passed it to the driver with enough money to cover the fare. After a few attempts we managed to locate the front door lock with the key, funny how something so simple is so hard to do when your cabbaged. Once inside the first thing that hit you was that there was music blaring out from the bar area. We quickly stumbled to the bar to find it occupied by 25-35 people, it was well into the early morning and we hadn't anticipated this? Irene was they're serving from behind the bar, we ordered our drinks and stood their both lusting over her. Don't know if it was because I had my beer goggles on or what, she looked even better than before! Here you are love get yourself a drink, was surprised when she said "yes" and joined us at the bar. She was 100% women very feminine and with gorgeous dark brown eyes, Irene told us she was the co-owner of the hotel her husband was asleep upstairs, more fool him, as we chatted away into the small hours. I awoke feeling like someone had been jumping up and down on my head, unfortunately without Miss, or Mrs, Ireland by my side. A quick shower, shave and ******, into a clean set of clothes and downstairs for a great big greasy fry up, that would sort me out. Sitting reading the daily papers, Ian eventually turned up, looking as rough as ******, I recommended that he should have a greasy fry up, he declined the suggestion and settled for toast instead. Irene's husband was serving everyone with breakfast's, he was one of these "always on the go people" a pleasant person full of the joys of spring, little did he know? Anyway later on, Ian rang for Alex to see if he was coming out for a curer. His missus answered the phone and said "he is in a very bad state and has fallen asleep fully clothed on the stairs, with the dog snuggled next to him." We went for a walk to clear our heads and to find a boozer, the rain was cold and refreshing but drenched our Wrangler's right through, as we walked on. In those days, there was nothing so fashionable as marching sown a main road in a town full of anoraks wit a big W on yer axse.
We found a pub and after a couple of jars we were as right as rain, the locals knew we were "out of towners." Of course we were, we were Wranglered up to death, but to be honest, at that time we just ignored them as they tried their best to wind us up. These were different people than the night before, very aggressive and in your face. We replenished our beer supplies and sat down not far from them, as with the night before these people were only small, both of us being well over 6 foot in height was maybe intimidating to them. The baiting continued with comments about Liverpool and us in general. "Crusaders will destroy Liverpool today", "don't know why you boy's have come over here your going out today" "yeah right" I said "the best team in England getting knocked out by a bunch of part-timers, no chance" as they started to get my back up a bit. "Liverpool aren't even going to show up, they know they are already fxxxxxg beaten" one of the wags said [Because of the situation in Belfast, Liverpool had been granted special dispensation from UEFA to fly into Belfast on the day of the match rather than staying overnight]. "Its because they don't want to meet people like you" said Ian. This broke the ice - a stunned silence occupied the bar as we sat at the ready for any verbal or physical retort. "They're all bone idle lazy ****** thieves over in Liverpool" came across "what are you lot doing boozing on a Wednesday dinnertime then" I said. Ian stood up and walked past them as he made this way to the bogs, the tension was very evident as he returned sometime later. The "banter" continued backwards and forwards no holes barred no quarter asked and none given, the mood got blacker and blacker. The barman had been taking this all in and walked up with two pints and said "here you go boy's drink these then I'm gonna have to ask you to leave" "Why" we both shouted, "if you don't it might get out of hand, " he said. We finished our ale an I went to the bog, when I got back Ian was standing by the door glaring at them, "come on lets get out of this fxxxxxg dump" I said, as we walked out slowly waiting for any sort of response - nothing happened. We got back to our hotel after another quick shxt, shower and change of some clothes, we headed downstairs to phone Alex too see if he was ready for the match. Alex's missus answered the phone "he's gone to bed, he doesn't feel too well" she said, "Never mind, tell him we rang when he eventually gets out of his pit, the queg" said Ian. We rang for a taxi from the hotel soon we where on our way. As we approached the ground the crowds of people outside got bigger and bigger, we sorted out the taxi and had a walk around the ground to find out which was our end.
Recognisance mission completed we spotted a pub it was absolutely chocka block full of Liverpool supporters, surely they could make room for two of their own, driven on by thirst we eventually made it to the bar and got served. We stood at ease and enjoyed our bevies when we noticed something very odd a lot of the Liverpool supporters were Irish? Neither of us had expected this? We knew Liverpool had a huge following over in Ireland but some reason never expected this sort of turn out. As you do, we started talking to the Irish reds around us they were superb they knew everything about Liverpool FC. Some of the Irish accents were different some easier to understand than others, it became apparent that these people had travelled the length and breath of Ireland to support their team. One lad in particular was going around asking everyone for any spares? Ian duly boxed him off with Alex's ticket, his face lit up like Blackpool lights, Christmas had come early for him? One of the Irish lads commented that Liverpool FC had been delayed owing to fog conditions at Belfast airport and that they had only just arrived at the ground. We decided to make our way into the ground, outside there where lines of police and stewards intent on checking everyone to make sure they a valid match ticket. Whilst in the queue we noticed a number of Irish supporters being turned away, we then found out that a very large number of forged tickets had been printed and distributed around Ireland.
After a bit of a wait we eventually to gain entry to the ground, we quickly headed to the toilets to relieve ourselves of some of the alcohol consumed earlier. The toilets were very sparse to say the least the urine ebbed and flowed like a small lake, you had to tip toe to try and make sure it didn't flow over your trainees. It was all right for these in their plazzy shoes, but for a fashion conscious Scouser, a p**s stain was like a dagger through the heart. Our section was full of Scouse reds, whilst the remainder of our end was full of Irish Liverpudlians. This was the first time we had experienced such huge numbers of locals supporting Liverpool.
Billy Johnson (the Crusaders Manager) had declared that the second leg would see a completely different style of play from his Crusaders, they were going to attack. He urged his supporters to make as much noise as possible and for his players to intimidate the Liverpool players in every way on the pitch. As both teams walked onto the pitch the noise was awesome for the 10,000 capacity crowd. The commentator read out the individual names of the Crusaders team, each name was greeted with a crescendo of noise, this was impressive? What happened next was unbelievable, as the commentator read out our player's names the noise was twice as loud again! The Liverpool team, squad, management etc received a tumultuous welcome from the partisan crowd. As the teams choose which ends to defend we boomed out our anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" the whole crowd was up for this as Liverpool scarves appeared in every section of the ground. The Crusaders supporters also joined in, it looked and sounded superb. Liverpool quickly settled down and adopted the tried and tested tactic of quietening the home crowd then gradually imposing themselves on the game. The Crusaders certainly where not intimidated by Liverpool as wave after wave of Crusaders attacks bore down on the Liverpool goal, Billy Johnson had certainly prepared his boys as he said he would. Twice within the first twenty minutes or so the Crusaders hit Liverpool's woodwork, the home crowd was ecstatic roaring their team on and on. If they scored early on it would indeed be a different game than the first leg. Fortunately Liverpool eventually regained their composure and in a rare attack Kevin Keegan gave the tricky reds the lead after 30 minutes with a stunning left foot volley which flew into the Irish net. The Liverpool crowd went ballistic as we celebrated this very important goal, we bounced up and down as the Crusaders supporters incredibly applauded Kevin Keegan's goal, surely that would deflate the confidence out of the Crusaders?
The Liverpool goal did just that, it lifted our boys and despite tremendous encouragement from the home fans the Crusaders team grew increasingly demoralised. The Crusaders where now on the back foot as Liverpool turned up the pressure and retained possession of the ball almost at will. Red tide after red tide swept towards the Crusaders goal, as their defence and goalkeeper somehow managed to keep the reds down to a respectable one-nil score line at halftime. The teams lined up after the break with Liverpool soon retaining the impetus, after a while it was clear to see that Liverpool's superior fitness and tactful awareness was no match for the Crusaders. The Crusaders managed to keep Liverpool at bay until around the 80 minutes mark, when Davey Johnson pounced on a rare mistake by the Crusaders goalie following a thunderbolt of a shot from Steve Heighway. As before we went ape, that was game over, they had no chance of making a comeback, a few scuffles broke out in the crowd nothing-serious just handbags at eight paces. Defeat was a bitter taste for some. Goals from Terry Mac and another beauty from Steve Heighway made it four nil, each goal being celebrated with much vigour from both sets of fans. Davie Johnson finished the scoring just before the end of the game with a simple tap in. The ref blew the final whistle "YES" we had got through! The Liverpool team were joined on the pitch by the rest of the Liverpool squad and the backroom staff, and an impromptu walkaround the pitch took place as the Liverpool supporters and Crusaders supporters joined forces to acknowledge a superb performance from the reds. Walking out the ground hunger pains gripped and tormented my empty stomach, it was teatime and we were starving. Unfortunately these would not be the only pains we would experience that night. Walking along with the early evening crowd content at yet another fine display by the reds, we were oblivious to the attack that took place - everything just went black? I can remember waking up and for a split second wondered who were all these people looking at me? "Take it easy" "Are you OK" yeah I was OK, but how was Ian? I shot up and Ian was sitting on someone's front wall, his face was covered in blood, he looked dazed and confused, he gave the thumbs up sign as the local people cleaned him up with tissues. I wasn't bothered about myself Ian was all-right that was all that mattered. "Here you go Son, clean yourself up with this" as someone passed me some tissues to clean myself up. As we retained our senses, someone told us five blokes had jumped us from behind. My right shoulder was killing me, but I said nothing as we thanked the people for helping us out and walked on. As the reality of the attack slowly manifested itself I can remember feeling more and more angry in fact I was absolutely fuming. God forbid anyone who tried to wind me up or have a go that night, walking along I was ready to smack anyone, all's I wanted was someone to say something, anything. We decided it was time for drink and to try and calm down a bit, a pub was spotted and a pint quickly ordered and consumed. We went to the bogs to wash up and see what the damage was? A couple of bumps and bruises, a few loose teeth, and a very bloody nose. I took my t-shirt off to take a look at my shoulder, it was really aching, and I spun it around like a Mike Channon goal celebration something "clicked into place" the pain shot across my shoulder then slowly eased. Some bloke walked into the bogs he didn't say anything, he just looked on as we continued to sort ourselves out. We walked out and ordered another pint, everyone seemed to be looking at us, and I was still waiting for someone to say something, anything! This bloke further up the bar must have sussed what had gone on, he walked up and apologised for what had happened, we thanked him for his concern and told him we were alright I wasn't, I was still seething. Ian spotted food at the end of the bar, music is supposed to calm the savage beast - in this case two meat pies certainly did the trick.
As time passed by the effects of many seven year-old Irish malt whisky chasers began to kick in, we sat down amongst the locals and began to weave stories about following Liverpool FC home and away they lapped it up. Some bloke walked into the bar selling cockles, whelks and other assorted seafood, "Here ya are lad, give us a few packets of them cockles" for some strange reason he passed over about 10 packets. The evening progressed as evenings do and as the landlord was trying to empty the pub we ordered a taxi to take us back to the hotel. "Here boy's" he shouted as we made ready our departure, he walked over and handed us a bottle of whisky each. "Take this away with you as a gesture of goodwill you have seen a little bit of the ugly side of Belfast, and we want you to know there is a good side too." To be honest we were amazed, we told him not to worry, there is good and bad in any town or city and that sometimes things like this happen. We shook hands and Ian gave him his little LFC pin badge, the bloke had a big cheesy grin on his face as he put the badge on his shirt and we got in the cab to the hotel. Straight up to the bedroom to check that me mug was all right, a quick wash and downstairs to see out the remainder of the evening/ early morning. It was a ugly time to be a Liverpudlian, Irene's husband was manning the bar. We decided it would be a good idea to open our bottles of whisky, as there was only a few people in the bar we offered everyone a tot and some cockles. This concoction went down a real threat, one by one the cockles slid down yer throat followed by another shot of whisky, the taste of vinegar, sand and whisky is not one you forget overnight! Anyway, we managed to pull ourselves away from the bar at some ridiculous time early that morning and crashed out on our beds, empty whisky bottles an all. We were awoken by the sound of Irene thumping on the door, "come on boy's the last breakfasts are being served now, its ten O'clock! Get yourselves downstairs if you want some food" we stumbled downstairs body and mind aching from the previous days activities. Very slowly we regained the ability to recognise shapes; colours and fortunately the facility to hear coherently did follow later on. Conversation was at a premium as we grunted, groaned and pointed at what we wanted to eat. As ever, the greasy fry up worked a threat, back upstairs to have a shower and sort your head out. I don't know what happened next but I woke up sprawled across the bed fully clothed with one trainee on and one off. Ian was also asleep on his bed with a mountain of spew next to him on the floor. I opened the window to be hit by a rush of fresh air Ian woke up looking like death on two legs I laughed as he legged it into the bathroom to call God on the great white telephone. We managed to tidy the mess up the best we could and threw it out the window the bright sunlight hurt your eyes as we tried our best to aim it at anyone walking past.
"Here's a present from Liverpool shouted Ian" as another cascade was thrown at some poor unsuspecting passer by. We fell about in fits of laughter tears ran down our faces, ribs hurt everything hurt. It was sick, but it was funny. After another shower we managed to amble downstairs for many cups of coffee and the daily papers. Yesterday indeed seemed a long time ago? A taxi was booked well in advance as we climbed the stairs for the last time, bodies and minds still not fully cohesive we packed our stuff away the best we could. A futile attempt was made to pull a small carpet from underneath a bed to try and hide the effects of Ian's digestive juices on the main carpet.
We paid our room money to Irene's husband and he shook our hands and welcomed us back anytime, we very quickly departed the hotel and where glad to get away before they saw the kip of the room. The taxi driver asked "Had we enjoyed Belfast" "Yeah superb mate" came the reply "Its just like home in Liverpool" The flight home and the taxi home was a total blur as the effects of Irish hospitality ran its full course. I got dropped off at ours, Ian was still a bit queasy so I put a couple of bob in Ian's top pocket for his taxi fare to take him home. I stood outside our house gave him the thumbs up and watched as it slowly sped away into the dark of the night. I laughed to myself a feeling of goodness descended upon me. I had managed to slip a few cockles into Ian's top pocket and wondered what his reaction would be like when he pulled out his money for the taxi.
Joey ate the frogs legs - made the swiss roll - no
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by mottman » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:17 am
Date 20th October 1976 - European Cup 3rd Round first leg held at Hüseyin Avni Aker stadium Trabzonspor 1 [Cemil pen 65] V Liverpool 0 - Attendance 13,000
Trabzonspor
1. Senol
2. Turgay
3. Necati
4. Kadir
5. Cemil
6. Bekir
7. Allyavus [Elgen]
8. Huseyin
9. Alikemal
10. Necmi
11. Ahmet
Liverpool
1. Ray Clemence
2. Tommy Smith
3. Joey Jones
4. Phil Thompson
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Terry McDermott
9. Steve Heighway ( Fairclough )
10. John Toshack ( Johnson )
11. Ian Callaghan
subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Brian Kettle - Jimmy Case
A trip to Turkey broke new ground for the Reds. This was of course was the first time we'd been drawn against Turkish Champions Trabzonspor, though unknowns outside of their own country, they were bound to ask a number of unique questions from the Boy's from the Mersey. Owing to the political situation that was prevalent in Turkey at that time. Liverpool FC decided [on the Governments advice] not to take up an allocation of tickets for the trip to the Bosphorous.
Liverpool supporters were gutted to hear this news! We wanted to follow the Reds every step of the way on our journey in the European Cup. Despite many many call's to the Club and various travel agencies we couldn't arrange a trip to Turkey to support our fellow Reds. Rumour has it that just one Liverpool fan managed to make it over there due to the severe travel restrictions of the time. Trabzonspor of Turkey were known to be a pretty decent team and with that sort of fanatical [politically motivated] crowd behind them this would indeed be a tough test for the Reds. As in time served fashion, the Reds quickly tried to settle the game down and indeed the home crowd. In a close even affair the game ended with a 1.0 win to the Turks with Ali Kamel scoring courtesy of a ridiculous penalty decision. A partisan home crowd roared them onto victory on a bumpy pitch and a ball that had a mind of its own. [The issue with the ball was questioned after the match, it was suggested that it didn't comply with the UEFA regulations] reports from that time suggest it had a Duck egg the size of "Franny Lee's gut" but the faceless officials wouldn't make a decision.
Bob Paisley was livid about the hotel allocated to Liverpool before their European Cup tie with Trabzonspor. "It is like a doss house," he said. He then warned that Liverpool were going to give them a good hiding, Paisley is left with egg on his face as the Turkish side win 1-0. Cemil scored from the spot after Emlyn Hughes conceded a penalty. This game wasn't shown live on any of the TV channels, thankfully Radio City had sent someone over to provide match commentary [via telephone.] Phil Neal didn't play that night, a dead leg forced him out of this game he then embarked on an incredible run of 417 consecutive appearances for the Reds. Ian Callaghan set a new record of European appearances that night with 79 games. All in all a 1.0 defeat wasn't such a bad result afterall, it was certainly game on at Anfield in a few weeks time.
Date 3rd November 1976 - European Cup 3rd Round second leg held at Anfield
Liverpool 3 [Heighway 8 - Johnson 10 - Keegan 19] V Trabzonspor 0 - Attendance 42,275
Liverpool
1. Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Phil Thompson
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Terry McDermott
9. Steve Heighway
10.Dave Johnson
11.Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - John Toshack - Jimmy Case - Brian Kettle - Dave Fairclough
Trabzonspor
1. Senol
2.Turgay
3. Necati
4. Necmi
5. Cemil
6. Elgin
7. Allyavus
8. Bekir
9. Alikemal
10. Hesseyin [Milemic Cemil]
11. Ahmet
Trabzonspor may have been new to the Soccer scene in Turkey [established in 1967] but they had eight players in their squad who had been members of the Turkish National squad. The Turks had gained a reputation of not conceding many goals away from home and hoped to leave Anfield with a draw. Our result should emphasize just how dominant Liverpool really where that night. The Turks lined up with a defensive line up which they would rue with much regret. The eagerly anticipated second leg against Trabzonspor didn't turn out to be as difficult as first expected with the Reds running out comfortable 3.0 winners with strikes by Heighway, Johnson and Keegan in the first half.
Large sections of the Main Stand contained hundreds of British based Trabzonspor supporters the noisy atmosphere they created helped stimulate the Liverpool crowd into a cresendo of noise. We where very disappointed that they had been allowed to bring so many supporters when we weren't allowed to take any. The second half was something of a non-affair as the three first half goals had destroyed any confidence the Turk's may have had.
Trabzonspor
1. Senol
2. Turgay
3. Necati
4. Kadir
5. Cemil
6. Bekir
7. Allyavus [Elgen]
8. Huseyin
9. Alikemal
10. Necmi
11. Ahmet
Liverpool
1. Ray Clemence
2. Tommy Smith
3. Joey Jones
4. Phil Thompson
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Terry McDermott
9. Steve Heighway ( Fairclough )
10. John Toshack ( Johnson )
11. Ian Callaghan
subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Brian Kettle - Jimmy Case
A trip to Turkey broke new ground for the Reds. This was of course was the first time we'd been drawn against Turkish Champions Trabzonspor, though unknowns outside of their own country, they were bound to ask a number of unique questions from the Boy's from the Mersey. Owing to the political situation that was prevalent in Turkey at that time. Liverpool FC decided [on the Governments advice] not to take up an allocation of tickets for the trip to the Bosphorous.
Liverpool supporters were gutted to hear this news! We wanted to follow the Reds every step of the way on our journey in the European Cup. Despite many many call's to the Club and various travel agencies we couldn't arrange a trip to Turkey to support our fellow Reds. Rumour has it that just one Liverpool fan managed to make it over there due to the severe travel restrictions of the time. Trabzonspor of Turkey were known to be a pretty decent team and with that sort of fanatical [politically motivated] crowd behind them this would indeed be a tough test for the Reds. As in time served fashion, the Reds quickly tried to settle the game down and indeed the home crowd. In a close even affair the game ended with a 1.0 win to the Turks with Ali Kamel scoring courtesy of a ridiculous penalty decision. A partisan home crowd roared them onto victory on a bumpy pitch and a ball that had a mind of its own. [The issue with the ball was questioned after the match, it was suggested that it didn't comply with the UEFA regulations] reports from that time suggest it had a Duck egg the size of "Franny Lee's gut" but the faceless officials wouldn't make a decision.
Bob Paisley was livid about the hotel allocated to Liverpool before their European Cup tie with Trabzonspor. "It is like a doss house," he said. He then warned that Liverpool were going to give them a good hiding, Paisley is left with egg on his face as the Turkish side win 1-0. Cemil scored from the spot after Emlyn Hughes conceded a penalty. This game wasn't shown live on any of the TV channels, thankfully Radio City had sent someone over to provide match commentary [via telephone.] Phil Neal didn't play that night, a dead leg forced him out of this game he then embarked on an incredible run of 417 consecutive appearances for the Reds. Ian Callaghan set a new record of European appearances that night with 79 games. All in all a 1.0 defeat wasn't such a bad result afterall, it was certainly game on at Anfield in a few weeks time.
Date 3rd November 1976 - European Cup 3rd Round second leg held at Anfield
Liverpool 3 [Heighway 8 - Johnson 10 - Keegan 19] V Trabzonspor 0 - Attendance 42,275
Liverpool
1. Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Phil Thompson
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Terry McDermott
9. Steve Heighway
10.Dave Johnson
11.Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - John Toshack - Jimmy Case - Brian Kettle - Dave Fairclough
Trabzonspor
1. Senol
2.Turgay
3. Necati
4. Necmi
5. Cemil
6. Elgin
7. Allyavus
8. Bekir
9. Alikemal
10. Hesseyin [Milemic Cemil]
11. Ahmet
Trabzonspor may have been new to the Soccer scene in Turkey [established in 1967] but they had eight players in their squad who had been members of the Turkish National squad. The Turks had gained a reputation of not conceding many goals away from home and hoped to leave Anfield with a draw. Our result should emphasize just how dominant Liverpool really where that night. The Turks lined up with a defensive line up which they would rue with much regret. The eagerly anticipated second leg against Trabzonspor didn't turn out to be as difficult as first expected with the Reds running out comfortable 3.0 winners with strikes by Heighway, Johnson and Keegan in the first half.
Large sections of the Main Stand contained hundreds of British based Trabzonspor supporters the noisy atmosphere they created helped stimulate the Liverpool crowd into a cresendo of noise. We where very disappointed that they had been allowed to bring so many supporters when we weren't allowed to take any. The second half was something of a non-affair as the three first half goals had destroyed any confidence the Turk's may have had.
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mottman - Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm
by mottman » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:18 am
Date 2nd March 1977 - European Cup 3rd round first leg held at the Geoffrey-Guichard stadium St Etienne 1 [Bathenay80] - 0 Liverpool - Attendance 38,000
St Etienne
1. Yvan Curkovic
2. Gérard Janvion
3. Gérard Farison
4. Oswaldo Piazza
5. Christian Lopez
6. Dominique Bathenay
7. Dominique Rocheteau
8. Jean-Michel Larque
9. Herve Revelli
10. Christian Synaeghel
11. Jacques Santini (current Spurs manager!)
Liverpool
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Joey Jones
4 Phil Thompson
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Terry McDermott
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 John Toshack (Dave Johnson)
11 Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Tommy Smith - David Fairclough
After safely seeing off Turkish based Trabzonspor in the 2nd round of the 1976 - 77 European Cup competition. The Tricky Red's where paired against the previous years European Cup beaten finalists, the very highly rated and respected St Etienne from France. "Les Verts" [The Greens] as their supporters called them were unluckily beaten 1.0 by Bayern Munich at Hampden Park, they were very strongly tipped to win this seasons European Cup competition.
The journey to France was one of the longest coach trips we'd made up to that point. Thankfully Town's Travel had provided coaches with a toilet and tea/coffee making facilities on board [Rather than the normal antiquated charabangs that they would use for normal away games]. Slab after slab of alcoholic beverages where loaded onto the coach as we prepared ourselves for another trip into the unknown. The majority of our fellow travellers were mainly teenage lads [like us] with a few Dads, lads and surprisingly a few girls. As we waited to board the coach, you could cut the air with a knife - the excitement amongst us was prevalent for all to see. The journey Southbound was relatively uneventful… a few wise cracks, a bit of banter and a gab to find out if anyone knew "anything" about St Etienne. Strangely enough a few people had heard reports of a large Turkish community in that area. This was dismissed in a split second this meant nothing to us, in time we would think otherwise? As you would expect, the drink flowed and in a matter of time the floor of the coach resembled the River Mersey on a bad day. Every time the coach turned a corner - a wave of empty cans would flow from one side of the coach to the other, one more turn and another wave appeared from out of the darkness.
We hit Portsmouth just after teatime and had to wait around for our boat to dock and be made ready for the night-time journey to Le Harve. Meanwhile coach after coach of Liverpool supporters duly arrived there was a "special" buzz in the air and it was building up. We didn't fancy just loitering around doing nothing, so we asked "What time is the boat due out" we didn't know whether to laugh or cry when we were told around 9.30 that night. In an effort to relieve the passing of time we decided to have a walk into Portsmouth to see what the local hospitality was like. It didn't take long to realise that we were not alone in our thoughts and soon our ears guided us to a nearby boozer full of singing inebriated fellow Scousers. In time we knocked a few ales down our necks and fed our faces on fish and chips as we walked back to the boat terminal.
On reaching the terminal, it shocked us to see just how many Liverpudlians were making the trip to watch the Reds. We made our way to the front of the queue to find that the Customs and Excise people where checking people's passports on an individual basis. We where all right but a few of the lad's around us didn't have passports. Very slowly groups of people three or four across approached the "check-out" area. Those with passports on the right nearest to the people who were checking for identification, those to the left those without passports. A great many people made their way onto the boat in this way. All aboard the Sky lark. A lot of the people sat on benches braving the elements of the weather… We decided to have a look around too see if there was anything better on offer. After ten or fifteen minutes [or so] we found a communal sleeping area with loads of empty beds, a quick nip upstairs and a quiet word with some of the lad's we knew and they where sorted. The ships bar was packed to the hilt with travellers intent on maximum revelry, whilst some ravaged the ships shops. We got our heads down and tried to grab forty winks, despite the continuous never-ending drone of the ships engine. In the early morning we awoke much refreshed amongst a sea of Liverpudlians in every state of slumber. All hands on deck - the cold sea breeze and the bright sunshine quickly brought us to our senses. We all had grin's on our faces as big as the Mersey Tunnel as we sighted what once was a far foreign land.
The word spread like wild fire - soon the decks of the ship resembled a Red and White ant colony as we slowly entered and docked in Le Harve. A multitude of Liverpool songs spewed across the terminal forecourt as we made our way to the coach picking up points. The early morning sunshine blazed through the coach windows as we sped our way through Rouen and onwards towards Paris. In time cries of "Hey drives - can we stop soon - me belly thinks me throats been cut" started to fill the air. Some people hadn't eaten anything since leaving Liverpool - some people couldn't afford to buy food. You see the trip to watch the Reds was more important? We stopped at a few motorway service stations along the way [not like ours at home these where very basic and sparse] the French people we encountered were very abrupt and it was clear too see they didn't want us there. They paid for their insolence as some people helped themselves to various foodstuffs and whatnot, this was the biggest takeaway we'd seen for some time. On the outskirts of Paris we noticed that we had been joined by the Gendarme, [On high- powered motorbikes and a couple of cars] Our Police escort stayed with us right until we had passed Paris, Vézelay and a couple of other one horse Towns along the way. Mid afternoon we arrived in Lyon free from our Police escort and where well chuffed when the coach driver informed us we could stop here for an hour or so, the police escort had ensured we where way ahead of schedule. Swarms of Scouser's from a multitude of coaches soon enveloped the numerous cafés, restaurants and hostelries the afternoon air was filled with songs borne from the Mersey. Police sirens filled the air as entrepreneur types tried their hands at various jewellers etc. Highly branded and much sort after watches changed hands for ridiculously cheap prices, I never considered the option my Timex watch meant more to me. At this point it should be noted that back home we where in the middle of a bread strike on, so it came as no surprise to find that many on our coach had acquired some of finest bread that France had on offer. We decided [If the opportunity arose] to see if we could grab a couple of loaves on the way home [They would be fresher?] The aroma of the coach was surreal, freshly baked bread combined with the stale smell of sweat and alcohol.
We made our way into St Etienne and parked up near the ground, we decided to check out our end of the ground before we returned to a local square for an all out sustained attack on some much needed beer's. The place was jumping; bipping and bobbing as the Reds let loose some of the frustration of such a long journey in that heat. Song's were sung like they had never been sung before, I don't think I'm qualified to express the feeling at that time and indeed in the ground that night. The queue into our end was immense as it turned and twisted along its way. We where just relieved to get in… Up on the terracing to find that it was very nearly full already, quite a few never made it even to the ground as dehydration and excesses of alcohol took its toll as they slept in the nearby pubs and coaches etc. The crowd inside built and built, it was clear that many outside would not get in. If the atmosphere in the pubs had been a cracker - then this was something else? We soon found out that the other half of our end was chocka block full of St Etienne supporters, the two sets of supporters divided by a line of Frances finest Gendarme.
Watching the St Etienne crowd it soon became clear that a large number of there support was of Turkish nationality, they seemed intent to make this as hostile as possible in more ways than one.
It came as a bit of a surprise to us to find that the St Etienne fans started throwing bread rolls over at the Liverpool supporters. It some became clear what was going on. The bread rolls had bricks inside them, most of the lads picked up the rolls, threw the bricks back and ate the rolls. "You're not getting' yer bread back, you're not getting yer bread back na na na na na na na na" was immediately also thrown back at them - Bon Appetit!
A wall of noise greeted both teams as they walked out onto the pitch. Joey Jones immediately legged it up to our end giving us his famous clenched fist salute - thousands of clenched fists saluted the sky as "O Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Jones" suffocated the ears. You could tell that the St Etienne support had never seen anything in their lives like our Joey, as Liverpool song after Liverpool song echoed around the ground. The rest of the Liverpool team was applauded as they warmed up defending the goal at our end. Every player's name was sung individually loud and proud and acknowledged by each of them in turn. It was evident to see that they had come to take on the Lions in the Lions den, this was going to be some game?
Every time the St Etienne supporters sang "Allez Les Verts" we immediately responded back with "Allez Les Rouge, allez les Rouge allez" any attempt by them to create any sort of atmosphere was drowned out by the Liverpool support. The crescendo of noise rose as the teams lined up for the big kick off. The Tricky Reds were without Kevin Keegan and to make matters even worst Big John Toshack wasn't 100% fit, nagging injury problems would soon hinder the number of appearances Big John would be able to make. A couple of finely tuned rash tackles from the French defenders soon put paid to the big fella after half an hour or so it was clear to see Big John was struggling - Now it was a backs against the wall job. Bob Paisley had no other option but to replace the limping Toshack with Dave Johnson. Strangely, the enforced substitution seemed to gel the Reds into a more mobile and comfortable pattern of play and the Frenchmen had a number of questions asked about them. The majority of the St Etienne players continued to make on and off the ball challenges which neither the linesmen or the referee appeared to see. With the Reds getting no protection whatsoever from the officials - you could see that Joey Jones and the lads had had enough of this nonsense. A couple of Joey Jones specials soon made the St Etienne players realise if they wanted to mix it Liverpool where more than capable of matching them. What started as a feast of football slowly deteriorated into a rough and tumble affair thanks to the official's ineptitude.
Argentinean centre-half Oscar Piazza nicknamed "The Beast" or "The Wild Bull of the Pampas" received a yellow card for nearly chopping Ian Callaghan in half with one of the worst tackles ever witnessed, this booking meant that he would not take part in the second leg. A Steve Heighway thunderbolt nearly broke Curkovic's cross bar, no-one was on hand for the follow up and the ball was unfortunately played into safety. Ten minutes later with the match beginning to look like a no score draw until Jean-Michel Larque miss kicked an attempted shot which conveniently fell to the feet of Bathenay hit this strike that even Ray Clemence couldn't stop - Liverpool didn't deserve to be a goal down. As the final whistle blew, the St Etienne supporters quite rightly went ballistic they knew they had also witnessed a superb game between two very good sides. The Liverpool players saluted the away cacophony of support who boomed out "We'll support you evermore" as the players made their way to the tunnel there was a bit of a commotion. The St Etienne players wanted to swap shirts but the Liverpool players had been instructed not too [as a protest about the way they behaved on the pitch] Without an away goal the odds were slightly less favourable for the Reds, especially with the French side looking slick. Walking out the ground cries of "One goal's not enough tra la la la" resounded throughout the Liverpool section [An act of defiance] and a clear indication that this game wasn't over by any stretch of the imagination?
We sang our way back to the coaches and some realised that it would take some time to sort everybody out onto the correct coaches, we went for a drink? The few St Etienne supporters that had made it to a nearby bar sat in silence as we ordered some beers and helped ourselves to a couple of sarnies. "What's with all this bread throwing malarkey" one of the lad's said, they didn't have a clue what we where on about so we left it as that. We told the French supporters that if they thought that tonight's atmosphere was special "Wait until they hear 26,000 like minded on the Spion Kop". We nearly cacked ourselves when one of them replied "Yes we have heard all about the Liverpool Spion Kop and how famous it is" We asked them if they would be coming to Liverpool for the 2nd leg "Non" was the reply? "Good job lad - your lot are gonna get snotted for what they did tonight" He had no reply, so we got off back to the coaches with a couple of bottles of wine to see us on our way. The traffic congestion was something to behold eventually we made it to the motorway and a slow night-time trip to Le Harve. We woke up to find that we where not too far away and we would be stopping for a while at Rouen. The people descended upon Rouen like locusts eating anything they could get there hands on, near enough everybody was walking around with every type of bread known to man to take home for the families. Sirens again coincided with our visit as some helped themselves to fancy designer label goods, this ensured that a police escort to Le Harve would be in situ. The ferry trip back home saw much wheeler dealing as entrepreneur types cashed in on the goods they had acquired. It was great to get back home.
Date 16th March 1977 - European Cup 3rd round 2nd leg at Anfield
Liverpool 3 [Keegan 2'.Kennedy 59'.Fairclough 84'] - St Etienne 1 [50' Bathenay] - Attendance 55,043
"Joey Eats Frog's Legs."
Liverpool
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Joey Jones
4 Tommy Smith
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Kevin Keegan
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 John Toshack (David Fairclough)
11 Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Terry McDermott - Dave Johnson - Brian Kettle
St Etienne
1. Ivan Curkovic
2. Gérard Janvion
3. Gérard Farison
4. Alain Merchadier (Hervé Revelli)
5. Christian Lopez
6. Dominique Bathenay
7. Dominique Rocheteau
8. Jean-Michel Larque
9. Jacques Santini
10. Christian Synaeghel
11. Patrick Revelli
The home game remains for me the best Anfield game EVER?
Up to that point we'd never experienced anything like this… The level of expectancy was immense.
We'd finished work at 15.30 and hopped on a bus to Kirkdale Station and meet the rest of our mates in the Sportsman in Westminster Road [Bootle] after a couple of pints the possibility of us not getting in became too much. We arrived at Anfield just before 17.00 to be met by a huge queue that snaked around the ground, you could see the steam rising from those ahead as the mist swept in from the Irish Sea. The nerves were really kicking in now even two and a half-hours before kick-off. A steward reassured everyone around us that we'd get in despite the numbers ahead of us. Around 17:30 we managed to get in the Kop, the relief was there to see in everyone's faces that we had been able to get in for the match. We made our way into our usual speck [not quite the middle] just in front of the pillar by it on the Main Stand side. Tonight was going to be something really special, you could sense something was in the air.
The St Etienne support was large in number and was housed in one half of the green and white Annie Road "Allez les Verts - Allez les Verts" they sang. To be greeted with a thunderous and earth moving response from the Kop "Allez les Rouges - Allez les Rouges" [The Liverpool vocal support at St Etienne had been from the very top drawer of the Kop] This Anfield night surpassed anything else we'd ever heard before, and probably indeed since? As the teams trotted out, a wall of noise greeted the ears - around and around the stadium it went. You couldn't hear yourself think, mind we only had one thing on our minds a Liverpool FC win. As expected, Joey Jones didn't just walk out onto the pitch - he flew out of the tunnel and soon he was legging it up to his adhoring Kop waving both his fists like a madman possessed giving us his famous clenched fist salute. The Kop was a sea of fists as we each snorted back "O Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Jones" We bounced and jumped as one in acclaim to our beloved reds.
The Kop was crammed full but this didn't stop our old mate in once again causing mayhem. In them day's [Every home game] this old school Red [a bloke in his mid forties] used to just barge his way through the Kop sending many on a downward surge. He used to stand next to us and in time we used to take the Mickey out of each other, he found his speck once again as we mocked him for being late. A huge red banner just behind us read, "Joey Eats Frog's Legs." Everyone applauded the lads who were holding it up, no one knew then the consequences this flag would have in Liverpool history. "You'll Never Walk Alone" boomed out from the Spion Kop one more time as the players lined up for the kick off. A kick off of another sort started in the St Etienne section of the Annie Road as many of the Road End paid back some of the French hospitality afforded to us in the first game. "Hello hello, scousers aggro, scousers aggro, hello hello" sang the Kop in tandem with the assalt on the French. The game kicked off two minutes early to the biggest roar heard in Merseyside for many a year and within two minutes "Mighty Mouse" Kevin Keegan received the ball from a short corner near the Main Stand corner flag. From a sublime angle he crossed the ball over to the far post. On and on the ball went, I don't know if their goalie [Curkovic] lost sight of the ball in the floodlights, but somehow it eluded him and ended up in the back of the St Etienne net - Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees cried the majority of those tightly crammed inside Anfield. The place was in uproar, total bedlam pursued as we rocked the Anfield to its very foundations 1-1 on aggregate now - all square. We watched the lads who had climbed onto the roof of the Annie Road and Kemlyn Road celebrate, once we had calmed down.
Instead of inspiring the Reds onto greater things this seemed to gel the St Etienne players together and they began to ask questions about the Reds defence. The French Champions had gained the initiative and began attacking in waves - the crowd where getting a bit nervy as Ray Clemence saved shot after shot. "Liverpool - Liverpool - Liverpool" urged the Kop as the Reds began to attack the French. The half-time whistle blew [not that you could hear it] and the players ran off for a breather and some advice and encouragement from Bob and the backroom boys. Ivan Curkovic ran out onto the Anfield pitch and towards the Spion Kop, he received a hero's welcome as everybody clapped him into the Kop goal. We watched the St Etienne players follow him into there half - they seemed to be in awe of the Kop - it was that special at times.
Very early in the 2nd half Dominique Barthenay let fly from about 30 yards dipping shot straight past an airborne Ray Clemence the ball flew into the back of the Annie Road net - an away goal - and what a cracking goal too? The St Etienne supporters turned their part of the Annie into a sea of Green and White as they erupted in acknowledgement to the wonder goal "Allez les Verts - Allez les Verts. " echoed from the French. Our hearts sank, we needed two goals from somewhere, the silent Spion Kop awoke from its enforced slumber "Come on you Reds!" - "Come on you Reds!" - "Come on you Reds!" it cried time and time again. This prompted the whole of the ground to get behind the Reds and I mean every Liverpool supporter, not just the Kop! We continued to attack the St Etienne goal wave after wave until then in the 59th minute Big John Toshack flicked on an Ian Callaghan cross which fell to the feet of Ray Kennedy who drilled the ball into the back of the Spion Kop goal Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 2-1 on the night for us, but we still needed one more goal. The atmosphere was amazing, incredible, deafening, the noise just bounced around and around Anfield itself. The Kop, no the whole ground itself was just a cauldron of red and white hot noise, everybody screaming the team on and on, the veins in everybody's heads stood out as we screamed our way for the last half an hour. Cometh the hour cometh the man - On 70 minutes super Sub David Fairclough [The Bionic Carrot] was introduced to the crowd as a weary John Toshack came off to a tumultuous reception. The French also took this opportunity to replace Hervé Revelli for Merchadier [he'd had his nose smashed halfway across his face by an earlier flailing Toshack arm in an aerial challenge.] On and on the Red attacks continued, St Etienne as a man stood and rebuffed each attack after attack.
With six minutes remaining it looked like we were going out of the European Cup… then… A simple ball was played to the feet of Ray Kennedy, who turned and played an exquisite ball between two French defenders and Dave Fairclough. The ball just fell right for the oncoming Fairclough who chested it down as he continued to outrun the two French defenders. He took the ball on for a step or two before very calmly sliding the ball past the advancing Curkovic - on and on the ball rolled goal wards - I'm certain the Kop sucked the ball into the net.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
In celebration of that goal David Fairclough jumped higher into the air than any other player I have ever seen in all the years I have been following not just the Reds, but football itself.
A volcano hit Anfield that night, the biggest volcano I ever saw? Everyone was jumping up and down "We've done it -We've done it" The arl snarler next to me was embraced like a long lost lover, up and down the whole of the ground bounced. "Liverpool are magic - "Liverpool are magic na na na na na na na na" reverberated from every mouth in every stand soon followed by "Oh when the Reds - go marching in" The Anfield foundations rocked to their very core as "You'll Never Walk Alone" was belted out by everybody, the whole crowd was a sea of Red and White, we'd never seen or heard anything like this before. St Etienne had nothing left, an almighty roar greeted the final whistle and the Reds and the famous "Twelfth man" had beaten the best team in Europe. The Liverpool players walked up to the Spion Kop in the pouring rain to receive the applause they duly deserved. "Tell me mar me mar, I don't want no tea, no tea were going to Italy tell me mar me mar" filled the air hours after the match had finished, as we celebrated the most unbelievable game ever witnessed - we knew at that moment that our destiny was calling us.
St Etienne
1. Yvan Curkovic
2. Gérard Janvion
3. Gérard Farison
4. Oswaldo Piazza
5. Christian Lopez
6. Dominique Bathenay
7. Dominique Rocheteau
8. Jean-Michel Larque
9. Herve Revelli
10. Christian Synaeghel
11. Jacques Santini (current Spurs manager!)
Liverpool
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Joey Jones
4 Phil Thompson
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Terry McDermott
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 John Toshack (Dave Johnson)
11 Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Tommy Smith - David Fairclough
After safely seeing off Turkish based Trabzonspor in the 2nd round of the 1976 - 77 European Cup competition. The Tricky Red's where paired against the previous years European Cup beaten finalists, the very highly rated and respected St Etienne from France. "Les Verts" [The Greens] as their supporters called them were unluckily beaten 1.0 by Bayern Munich at Hampden Park, they were very strongly tipped to win this seasons European Cup competition.
The journey to France was one of the longest coach trips we'd made up to that point. Thankfully Town's Travel had provided coaches with a toilet and tea/coffee making facilities on board [Rather than the normal antiquated charabangs that they would use for normal away games]. Slab after slab of alcoholic beverages where loaded onto the coach as we prepared ourselves for another trip into the unknown. The majority of our fellow travellers were mainly teenage lads [like us] with a few Dads, lads and surprisingly a few girls. As we waited to board the coach, you could cut the air with a knife - the excitement amongst us was prevalent for all to see. The journey Southbound was relatively uneventful… a few wise cracks, a bit of banter and a gab to find out if anyone knew "anything" about St Etienne. Strangely enough a few people had heard reports of a large Turkish community in that area. This was dismissed in a split second this meant nothing to us, in time we would think otherwise? As you would expect, the drink flowed and in a matter of time the floor of the coach resembled the River Mersey on a bad day. Every time the coach turned a corner - a wave of empty cans would flow from one side of the coach to the other, one more turn and another wave appeared from out of the darkness.
We hit Portsmouth just after teatime and had to wait around for our boat to dock and be made ready for the night-time journey to Le Harve. Meanwhile coach after coach of Liverpool supporters duly arrived there was a "special" buzz in the air and it was building up. We didn't fancy just loitering around doing nothing, so we asked "What time is the boat due out" we didn't know whether to laugh or cry when we were told around 9.30 that night. In an effort to relieve the passing of time we decided to have a walk into Portsmouth to see what the local hospitality was like. It didn't take long to realise that we were not alone in our thoughts and soon our ears guided us to a nearby boozer full of singing inebriated fellow Scousers. In time we knocked a few ales down our necks and fed our faces on fish and chips as we walked back to the boat terminal.
On reaching the terminal, it shocked us to see just how many Liverpudlians were making the trip to watch the Reds. We made our way to the front of the queue to find that the Customs and Excise people where checking people's passports on an individual basis. We where all right but a few of the lad's around us didn't have passports. Very slowly groups of people three or four across approached the "check-out" area. Those with passports on the right nearest to the people who were checking for identification, those to the left those without passports. A great many people made their way onto the boat in this way. All aboard the Sky lark. A lot of the people sat on benches braving the elements of the weather… We decided to have a look around too see if there was anything better on offer. After ten or fifteen minutes [or so] we found a communal sleeping area with loads of empty beds, a quick nip upstairs and a quiet word with some of the lad's we knew and they where sorted. The ships bar was packed to the hilt with travellers intent on maximum revelry, whilst some ravaged the ships shops. We got our heads down and tried to grab forty winks, despite the continuous never-ending drone of the ships engine. In the early morning we awoke much refreshed amongst a sea of Liverpudlians in every state of slumber. All hands on deck - the cold sea breeze and the bright sunshine quickly brought us to our senses. We all had grin's on our faces as big as the Mersey Tunnel as we sighted what once was a far foreign land.
The word spread like wild fire - soon the decks of the ship resembled a Red and White ant colony as we slowly entered and docked in Le Harve. A multitude of Liverpool songs spewed across the terminal forecourt as we made our way to the coach picking up points. The early morning sunshine blazed through the coach windows as we sped our way through Rouen and onwards towards Paris. In time cries of "Hey drives - can we stop soon - me belly thinks me throats been cut" started to fill the air. Some people hadn't eaten anything since leaving Liverpool - some people couldn't afford to buy food. You see the trip to watch the Reds was more important? We stopped at a few motorway service stations along the way [not like ours at home these where very basic and sparse] the French people we encountered were very abrupt and it was clear too see they didn't want us there. They paid for their insolence as some people helped themselves to various foodstuffs and whatnot, this was the biggest takeaway we'd seen for some time. On the outskirts of Paris we noticed that we had been joined by the Gendarme, [On high- powered motorbikes and a couple of cars] Our Police escort stayed with us right until we had passed Paris, Vézelay and a couple of other one horse Towns along the way. Mid afternoon we arrived in Lyon free from our Police escort and where well chuffed when the coach driver informed us we could stop here for an hour or so, the police escort had ensured we where way ahead of schedule. Swarms of Scouser's from a multitude of coaches soon enveloped the numerous cafés, restaurants and hostelries the afternoon air was filled with songs borne from the Mersey. Police sirens filled the air as entrepreneur types tried their hands at various jewellers etc. Highly branded and much sort after watches changed hands for ridiculously cheap prices, I never considered the option my Timex watch meant more to me. At this point it should be noted that back home we where in the middle of a bread strike on, so it came as no surprise to find that many on our coach had acquired some of finest bread that France had on offer. We decided [If the opportunity arose] to see if we could grab a couple of loaves on the way home [They would be fresher?] The aroma of the coach was surreal, freshly baked bread combined with the stale smell of sweat and alcohol.
We made our way into St Etienne and parked up near the ground, we decided to check out our end of the ground before we returned to a local square for an all out sustained attack on some much needed beer's. The place was jumping; bipping and bobbing as the Reds let loose some of the frustration of such a long journey in that heat. Song's were sung like they had never been sung before, I don't think I'm qualified to express the feeling at that time and indeed in the ground that night. The queue into our end was immense as it turned and twisted along its way. We where just relieved to get in… Up on the terracing to find that it was very nearly full already, quite a few never made it even to the ground as dehydration and excesses of alcohol took its toll as they slept in the nearby pubs and coaches etc. The crowd inside built and built, it was clear that many outside would not get in. If the atmosphere in the pubs had been a cracker - then this was something else? We soon found out that the other half of our end was chocka block full of St Etienne supporters, the two sets of supporters divided by a line of Frances finest Gendarme.
Watching the St Etienne crowd it soon became clear that a large number of there support was of Turkish nationality, they seemed intent to make this as hostile as possible in more ways than one.
It came as a bit of a surprise to us to find that the St Etienne fans started throwing bread rolls over at the Liverpool supporters. It some became clear what was going on. The bread rolls had bricks inside them, most of the lads picked up the rolls, threw the bricks back and ate the rolls. "You're not getting' yer bread back, you're not getting yer bread back na na na na na na na na" was immediately also thrown back at them - Bon Appetit!
A wall of noise greeted both teams as they walked out onto the pitch. Joey Jones immediately legged it up to our end giving us his famous clenched fist salute - thousands of clenched fists saluted the sky as "O Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Jones" suffocated the ears. You could tell that the St Etienne support had never seen anything in their lives like our Joey, as Liverpool song after Liverpool song echoed around the ground. The rest of the Liverpool team was applauded as they warmed up defending the goal at our end. Every player's name was sung individually loud and proud and acknowledged by each of them in turn. It was evident to see that they had come to take on the Lions in the Lions den, this was going to be some game?
Every time the St Etienne supporters sang "Allez Les Verts" we immediately responded back with "Allez Les Rouge, allez les Rouge allez" any attempt by them to create any sort of atmosphere was drowned out by the Liverpool support. The crescendo of noise rose as the teams lined up for the big kick off. The Tricky Reds were without Kevin Keegan and to make matters even worst Big John Toshack wasn't 100% fit, nagging injury problems would soon hinder the number of appearances Big John would be able to make. A couple of finely tuned rash tackles from the French defenders soon put paid to the big fella after half an hour or so it was clear to see Big John was struggling - Now it was a backs against the wall job. Bob Paisley had no other option but to replace the limping Toshack with Dave Johnson. Strangely, the enforced substitution seemed to gel the Reds into a more mobile and comfortable pattern of play and the Frenchmen had a number of questions asked about them. The majority of the St Etienne players continued to make on and off the ball challenges which neither the linesmen or the referee appeared to see. With the Reds getting no protection whatsoever from the officials - you could see that Joey Jones and the lads had had enough of this nonsense. A couple of Joey Jones specials soon made the St Etienne players realise if they wanted to mix it Liverpool where more than capable of matching them. What started as a feast of football slowly deteriorated into a rough and tumble affair thanks to the official's ineptitude.
Argentinean centre-half Oscar Piazza nicknamed "The Beast" or "The Wild Bull of the Pampas" received a yellow card for nearly chopping Ian Callaghan in half with one of the worst tackles ever witnessed, this booking meant that he would not take part in the second leg. A Steve Heighway thunderbolt nearly broke Curkovic's cross bar, no-one was on hand for the follow up and the ball was unfortunately played into safety. Ten minutes later with the match beginning to look like a no score draw until Jean-Michel Larque miss kicked an attempted shot which conveniently fell to the feet of Bathenay hit this strike that even Ray Clemence couldn't stop - Liverpool didn't deserve to be a goal down. As the final whistle blew, the St Etienne supporters quite rightly went ballistic they knew they had also witnessed a superb game between two very good sides. The Liverpool players saluted the away cacophony of support who boomed out "We'll support you evermore" as the players made their way to the tunnel there was a bit of a commotion. The St Etienne players wanted to swap shirts but the Liverpool players had been instructed not too [as a protest about the way they behaved on the pitch] Without an away goal the odds were slightly less favourable for the Reds, especially with the French side looking slick. Walking out the ground cries of "One goal's not enough tra la la la" resounded throughout the Liverpool section [An act of defiance] and a clear indication that this game wasn't over by any stretch of the imagination?
We sang our way back to the coaches and some realised that it would take some time to sort everybody out onto the correct coaches, we went for a drink? The few St Etienne supporters that had made it to a nearby bar sat in silence as we ordered some beers and helped ourselves to a couple of sarnies. "What's with all this bread throwing malarkey" one of the lad's said, they didn't have a clue what we where on about so we left it as that. We told the French supporters that if they thought that tonight's atmosphere was special "Wait until they hear 26,000 like minded on the Spion Kop". We nearly cacked ourselves when one of them replied "Yes we have heard all about the Liverpool Spion Kop and how famous it is" We asked them if they would be coming to Liverpool for the 2nd leg "Non" was the reply? "Good job lad - your lot are gonna get snotted for what they did tonight" He had no reply, so we got off back to the coaches with a couple of bottles of wine to see us on our way. The traffic congestion was something to behold eventually we made it to the motorway and a slow night-time trip to Le Harve. We woke up to find that we where not too far away and we would be stopping for a while at Rouen. The people descended upon Rouen like locusts eating anything they could get there hands on, near enough everybody was walking around with every type of bread known to man to take home for the families. Sirens again coincided with our visit as some helped themselves to fancy designer label goods, this ensured that a police escort to Le Harve would be in situ. The ferry trip back home saw much wheeler dealing as entrepreneur types cashed in on the goods they had acquired. It was great to get back home.
Date 16th March 1977 - European Cup 3rd round 2nd leg at Anfield
Liverpool 3 [Keegan 2'.Kennedy 59'.Fairclough 84'] - St Etienne 1 [50' Bathenay] - Attendance 55,043
"Joey Eats Frog's Legs."
Liverpool
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Joey Jones
4 Tommy Smith
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Kevin Keegan
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 John Toshack (David Fairclough)
11 Ian Callaghan
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Terry McDermott - Dave Johnson - Brian Kettle
St Etienne
1. Ivan Curkovic
2. Gérard Janvion
3. Gérard Farison
4. Alain Merchadier (Hervé Revelli)
5. Christian Lopez
6. Dominique Bathenay
7. Dominique Rocheteau
8. Jean-Michel Larque
9. Jacques Santini
10. Christian Synaeghel
11. Patrick Revelli
The home game remains for me the best Anfield game EVER?
Up to that point we'd never experienced anything like this… The level of expectancy was immense.
We'd finished work at 15.30 and hopped on a bus to Kirkdale Station and meet the rest of our mates in the Sportsman in Westminster Road [Bootle] after a couple of pints the possibility of us not getting in became too much. We arrived at Anfield just before 17.00 to be met by a huge queue that snaked around the ground, you could see the steam rising from those ahead as the mist swept in from the Irish Sea. The nerves were really kicking in now even two and a half-hours before kick-off. A steward reassured everyone around us that we'd get in despite the numbers ahead of us. Around 17:30 we managed to get in the Kop, the relief was there to see in everyone's faces that we had been able to get in for the match. We made our way into our usual speck [not quite the middle] just in front of the pillar by it on the Main Stand side. Tonight was going to be something really special, you could sense something was in the air.
The St Etienne support was large in number and was housed in one half of the green and white Annie Road "Allez les Verts - Allez les Verts" they sang. To be greeted with a thunderous and earth moving response from the Kop "Allez les Rouges - Allez les Rouges" [The Liverpool vocal support at St Etienne had been from the very top drawer of the Kop] This Anfield night surpassed anything else we'd ever heard before, and probably indeed since? As the teams trotted out, a wall of noise greeted the ears - around and around the stadium it went. You couldn't hear yourself think, mind we only had one thing on our minds a Liverpool FC win. As expected, Joey Jones didn't just walk out onto the pitch - he flew out of the tunnel and soon he was legging it up to his adhoring Kop waving both his fists like a madman possessed giving us his famous clenched fist salute. The Kop was a sea of fists as we each snorted back "O Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Joey Jones" We bounced and jumped as one in acclaim to our beloved reds.
The Kop was crammed full but this didn't stop our old mate in once again causing mayhem. In them day's [Every home game] this old school Red [a bloke in his mid forties] used to just barge his way through the Kop sending many on a downward surge. He used to stand next to us and in time we used to take the Mickey out of each other, he found his speck once again as we mocked him for being late. A huge red banner just behind us read, "Joey Eats Frog's Legs." Everyone applauded the lads who were holding it up, no one knew then the consequences this flag would have in Liverpool history. "You'll Never Walk Alone" boomed out from the Spion Kop one more time as the players lined up for the kick off. A kick off of another sort started in the St Etienne section of the Annie Road as many of the Road End paid back some of the French hospitality afforded to us in the first game. "Hello hello, scousers aggro, scousers aggro, hello hello" sang the Kop in tandem with the assalt on the French. The game kicked off two minutes early to the biggest roar heard in Merseyside for many a year and within two minutes "Mighty Mouse" Kevin Keegan received the ball from a short corner near the Main Stand corner flag. From a sublime angle he crossed the ball over to the far post. On and on the ball went, I don't know if their goalie [Curkovic] lost sight of the ball in the floodlights, but somehow it eluded him and ended up in the back of the St Etienne net - Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees cried the majority of those tightly crammed inside Anfield. The place was in uproar, total bedlam pursued as we rocked the Anfield to its very foundations 1-1 on aggregate now - all square. We watched the lads who had climbed onto the roof of the Annie Road and Kemlyn Road celebrate, once we had calmed down.
Instead of inspiring the Reds onto greater things this seemed to gel the St Etienne players together and they began to ask questions about the Reds defence. The French Champions had gained the initiative and began attacking in waves - the crowd where getting a bit nervy as Ray Clemence saved shot after shot. "Liverpool - Liverpool - Liverpool" urged the Kop as the Reds began to attack the French. The half-time whistle blew [not that you could hear it] and the players ran off for a breather and some advice and encouragement from Bob and the backroom boys. Ivan Curkovic ran out onto the Anfield pitch and towards the Spion Kop, he received a hero's welcome as everybody clapped him into the Kop goal. We watched the St Etienne players follow him into there half - they seemed to be in awe of the Kop - it was that special at times.
Very early in the 2nd half Dominique Barthenay let fly from about 30 yards dipping shot straight past an airborne Ray Clemence the ball flew into the back of the Annie Road net - an away goal - and what a cracking goal too? The St Etienne supporters turned their part of the Annie into a sea of Green and White as they erupted in acknowledgement to the wonder goal "Allez les Verts - Allez les Verts. " echoed from the French. Our hearts sank, we needed two goals from somewhere, the silent Spion Kop awoke from its enforced slumber "Come on you Reds!" - "Come on you Reds!" - "Come on you Reds!" it cried time and time again. This prompted the whole of the ground to get behind the Reds and I mean every Liverpool supporter, not just the Kop! We continued to attack the St Etienne goal wave after wave until then in the 59th minute Big John Toshack flicked on an Ian Callaghan cross which fell to the feet of Ray Kennedy who drilled the ball into the back of the Spion Kop goal Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 2-1 on the night for us, but we still needed one more goal. The atmosphere was amazing, incredible, deafening, the noise just bounced around and around Anfield itself. The Kop, no the whole ground itself was just a cauldron of red and white hot noise, everybody screaming the team on and on, the veins in everybody's heads stood out as we screamed our way for the last half an hour. Cometh the hour cometh the man - On 70 minutes super Sub David Fairclough [The Bionic Carrot] was introduced to the crowd as a weary John Toshack came off to a tumultuous reception. The French also took this opportunity to replace Hervé Revelli for Merchadier [he'd had his nose smashed halfway across his face by an earlier flailing Toshack arm in an aerial challenge.] On and on the Red attacks continued, St Etienne as a man stood and rebuffed each attack after attack.
With six minutes remaining it looked like we were going out of the European Cup… then… A simple ball was played to the feet of Ray Kennedy, who turned and played an exquisite ball between two French defenders and Dave Fairclough. The ball just fell right for the oncoming Fairclough who chested it down as he continued to outrun the two French defenders. He took the ball on for a step or two before very calmly sliding the ball past the advancing Curkovic - on and on the ball rolled goal wards - I'm certain the Kop sucked the ball into the net.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
In celebration of that goal David Fairclough jumped higher into the air than any other player I have ever seen in all the years I have been following not just the Reds, but football itself.
A volcano hit Anfield that night, the biggest volcano I ever saw? Everyone was jumping up and down "We've done it -We've done it" The arl snarler next to me was embraced like a long lost lover, up and down the whole of the ground bounced. "Liverpool are magic - "Liverpool are magic na na na na na na na na" reverberated from every mouth in every stand soon followed by "Oh when the Reds - go marching in" The Anfield foundations rocked to their very core as "You'll Never Walk Alone" was belted out by everybody, the whole crowd was a sea of Red and White, we'd never seen or heard anything like this before. St Etienne had nothing left, an almighty roar greeted the final whistle and the Reds and the famous "Twelfth man" had beaten the best team in Europe. The Liverpool players walked up to the Spion Kop in the pouring rain to receive the applause they duly deserved. "Tell me mar me mar, I don't want no tea, no tea were going to Italy tell me mar me mar" filled the air hours after the match had finished, as we celebrated the most unbelievable game ever witnessed - we knew at that moment that our destiny was calling us.
-
mottman - Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm
by mottman » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:19 am
Date 6th April 1977 - European Cup semi final 1st leg at Letzigrund Stadium - Zurich
Zurich 1 - Liverpool 3 [Neal 14 - 67 pen Heighway 48] - Attendance 30,500
"ZURICH - ZUR-OUT"
Liverpool
1.Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Tommy Smith
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Jimmy Case
9. Steve Heighway
10. Dave Fairclough
11. Terry McDermott
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Dave Johnson - Brian Kettle - Alan Waddle - Sammy Lee.
Zurich
1.Karl Grob
2.Max Heer
3.Pius Fischbach
4.Hilmar Zigerlig
5.Pierre Chapuisat
6.Jakob Kuhn
7.Ernst Rutschmann
8.Fredy Scheiwiler
9.Peter Risi
10. Hanjo Weller
11. Rene Botteron
The trip to Zurich was a lively one indeed there was an air of expectancy as we boarded our flight from Speke Airport. This might sound strange, but we knew at that time that Liverpool would come home with a win. Once we'd cleared custom's we boarded a coach direct to the ground, this was a Liverpool FC organised trip in conjunction with Town's Travel. We never really liked travelling with the "The Anfield Special Club" they tended to get you there and back as quickly as possible, but on this occasion Liverpool FC insisted on it. Needless to say thousands of Liverpudlians made the trip over to Switzerland, spirits where high but not as high as the prices over there? We'd been warned that the cost of living was at least twice that of ours. The first thing we did was get away from the Anfield Special crowd, how people let themselves be bossed around by a steward who was just an ordinary supporter was beyond us. We set off on our way and decided that rather than waste what little spending money we had on extortionate beer prices, we'd
stock up on cheap local ale from a "Mace" type store and sit outside and blimp the women.
The official capacity of Zurich's Letzigrund stadium was 29,000, the attendance that night was 30,500 - that many Liverpudlians turned up that they had to let us in. Hundreds of coach / car travelling Liverpudlians were left stranded at the Belguim / Germany border, the decision to fly over proved worthwhile. The atmosphere inside the Letzigrund Stadium was unreal to say the least, as the teams walked out we went ballistic whilst the [reserved] Swiss quietly clapped.
A goal down within five minutes of the start, when Risi scored from a penalty things weren't looking good? "Liv-er-pool, Liv-er-pool" the Kopies roared. The Reds bounced back and it came as no surprise when Phil Neal bounded up on the blind side of the Zurich defence to stab home an equaliser. Everyone went crazy as we bounced the night away. Liverpudlians had indeed invaded Zurich with pockets of Scoucers in every section of the ground "Scoucers here Scoucers there Scoucers every fxxxing where na na na na na na na na na."
A famous flag from that night simply said.
"ZURICH - ZUR-OUT"
Steve Heighway led the Swiss a merry dance he tormented the defence something rotten. Early in the 2nd half he tormented them one more time and scored a cracking goal that left the Zurich defence in tatters and demoralised. Once again the crowd went up, that was the moment we knew Rome would soon be on our agenda. Liverpool quite simply upped the tempo of the game, this left the Swiss chasing Red shadows. "Where the greatest team in Europe and we're going to Italy - Italy - Italy." on and on we sang the Reds along. Steve Heighway was having a field day, there was only one way to stop him… On the 67th minute the Zurich defence [Fischbach] found a way to stop him PENALTY? Mr Reliable [Phil Neal] promptly stepped up and calmly tucked away his second goal of the night. The Reds turned up the heat for a while as chance after chance came and went, the last 10-15 minutes were played at walking pace as the Reds simply kept possession. We had now effectively sealed the outcome of the Semi Final even before the home leg had taken place, we knew Zurich couldn't score three past us at Anfield. As you can imagine all the old favourites bellowed around the ground in honour of a truly remarkable feast of football from the Reds. At the end of the game a fine rendition of "We love you Liverpool" was sang direct to the players who stood in front of us to acknowledge the support. A couple of new songs made their debut that night which would forever be held in a special place for those that remember.
We're on our way to Roma
On the 25th of May
All The Kopites will be singing
Vatican bells they will be ringing
Liverpool boys they will be drinking
When we win the European Cup
Of course Joey Jones led the singing until it was time for the Reds to return to the dressing room for further celebrations. Making our way back to the Airport, word was going around that a jewellers had been hit and that a substantial amount had been taken. Once we'd got back home press estimates suggested over £20,000 had been stolen?
Date 6th April 1977 - European Cup semi final 2nd leg at Anfield
Liverpool 3 [Case 33 & 79 - Keegan 83 ] - Zurich 0 - Attendance 50,611
"Joey Makes The Swiss Roll."
Liverpool
1. Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Tommy Smith
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Jimmy Case
9. Steve Heighway
10. Dave Fairclough
11. Terry McDermott
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Dave Fairclough Sammy Lee - Brian Kettle
Zurich
1. Karl Grob
2. Max Heer
3. Pius Fischbach
4. Hilmar Zigerlig
5. Pierre Chapuisat
6. Jakob Kuhn
7. Ernst Rutschmann
8. Fredy Scheiwiler
9. Peter Risi
10. Hanjo Weller
11. Rene Botteron
The second leg against Zurich was little more than a formality following the superb result in Switzerland. Liverpool was the unemployment "black spot" of the UK at that time and up to 4,000 decided to stay away from this game and instead kept whatever cash they had for the "trip of a lifetime to Rome." Two goals by Jimmy Case and another from Kevin Keegan put this semi final beyond any reasonable doubt, as those in the ground went mental. The tune of Arriverdici Roma echoed around Anfield, as the massed ranks once again boomed out our latest ditty. This was the first time Sammy Lee was promoted to the first team squad, even though he was just 17 at the time. Alan Waddle played the last of his 21 appearances for the Reds in the second half, failing to add the solitary goal of his Liverpool career, scored memorably against Everton in 1973 [my first trip to Goodison?]
Joey Jones by now had reached "Cult status" with flags and banners about him were appearing all over the place. Following on from "JOEY EATS FROGS LEGS" was "JOEY MAKES THE SWISS ROLL. " Joey's popularity really was incredible, he was a boy from the Street's who was able to live our dreams.
The usual pandemonium broke out as we sang our loyalties and undying love for the Redmen from Liverpool. "It-a-lee! It-a-lee! We're the greatest team in Europe an we're going to Italy." It was strange walking out of Anfield that night, a surreal feeling hit you - Liverpool Football Club would be playing in this years European Cup final in Rome. Get in there!
We're on our way to Roma
on the 25th of May
All the Kopites will be singing
Vatican bells they will be ringing
Liverpool boys they will be drinking
when we win the European Cup
Zurich 1 - Liverpool 3 [Neal 14 - 67 pen Heighway 48] - Attendance 30,500
"ZURICH - ZUR-OUT"
Liverpool
1.Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Tommy Smith
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Jimmy Case
9. Steve Heighway
10. Dave Fairclough
11. Terry McDermott
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Dave Johnson - Brian Kettle - Alan Waddle - Sammy Lee.
Zurich
1.Karl Grob
2.Max Heer
3.Pius Fischbach
4.Hilmar Zigerlig
5.Pierre Chapuisat
6.Jakob Kuhn
7.Ernst Rutschmann
8.Fredy Scheiwiler
9.Peter Risi
10. Hanjo Weller
11. Rene Botteron
The trip to Zurich was a lively one indeed there was an air of expectancy as we boarded our flight from Speke Airport. This might sound strange, but we knew at that time that Liverpool would come home with a win. Once we'd cleared custom's we boarded a coach direct to the ground, this was a Liverpool FC organised trip in conjunction with Town's Travel. We never really liked travelling with the "The Anfield Special Club" they tended to get you there and back as quickly as possible, but on this occasion Liverpool FC insisted on it. Needless to say thousands of Liverpudlians made the trip over to Switzerland, spirits where high but not as high as the prices over there? We'd been warned that the cost of living was at least twice that of ours. The first thing we did was get away from the Anfield Special crowd, how people let themselves be bossed around by a steward who was just an ordinary supporter was beyond us. We set off on our way and decided that rather than waste what little spending money we had on extortionate beer prices, we'd
stock up on cheap local ale from a "Mace" type store and sit outside and blimp the women.
The official capacity of Zurich's Letzigrund stadium was 29,000, the attendance that night was 30,500 - that many Liverpudlians turned up that they had to let us in. Hundreds of coach / car travelling Liverpudlians were left stranded at the Belguim / Germany border, the decision to fly over proved worthwhile. The atmosphere inside the Letzigrund Stadium was unreal to say the least, as the teams walked out we went ballistic whilst the [reserved] Swiss quietly clapped.
A goal down within five minutes of the start, when Risi scored from a penalty things weren't looking good? "Liv-er-pool, Liv-er-pool" the Kopies roared. The Reds bounced back and it came as no surprise when Phil Neal bounded up on the blind side of the Zurich defence to stab home an equaliser. Everyone went crazy as we bounced the night away. Liverpudlians had indeed invaded Zurich with pockets of Scoucers in every section of the ground "Scoucers here Scoucers there Scoucers every fxxxing where na na na na na na na na na."
A famous flag from that night simply said.
"ZURICH - ZUR-OUT"
Steve Heighway led the Swiss a merry dance he tormented the defence something rotten. Early in the 2nd half he tormented them one more time and scored a cracking goal that left the Zurich defence in tatters and demoralised. Once again the crowd went up, that was the moment we knew Rome would soon be on our agenda. Liverpool quite simply upped the tempo of the game, this left the Swiss chasing Red shadows. "Where the greatest team in Europe and we're going to Italy - Italy - Italy." on and on we sang the Reds along. Steve Heighway was having a field day, there was only one way to stop him… On the 67th minute the Zurich defence [Fischbach] found a way to stop him PENALTY? Mr Reliable [Phil Neal] promptly stepped up and calmly tucked away his second goal of the night. The Reds turned up the heat for a while as chance after chance came and went, the last 10-15 minutes were played at walking pace as the Reds simply kept possession. We had now effectively sealed the outcome of the Semi Final even before the home leg had taken place, we knew Zurich couldn't score three past us at Anfield. As you can imagine all the old favourites bellowed around the ground in honour of a truly remarkable feast of football from the Reds. At the end of the game a fine rendition of "We love you Liverpool" was sang direct to the players who stood in front of us to acknowledge the support. A couple of new songs made their debut that night which would forever be held in a special place for those that remember.
We're on our way to Roma
On the 25th of May
All The Kopites will be singing
Vatican bells they will be ringing
Liverpool boys they will be drinking
When we win the European Cup
Of course Joey Jones led the singing until it was time for the Reds to return to the dressing room for further celebrations. Making our way back to the Airport, word was going around that a jewellers had been hit and that a substantial amount had been taken. Once we'd got back home press estimates suggested over £20,000 had been stolen?
Date 6th April 1977 - European Cup semi final 2nd leg at Anfield
Liverpool 3 [Case 33 & 79 - Keegan 83 ] - Zurich 0 - Attendance 50,611
"Joey Makes The Swiss Roll."
Liverpool
1. Ray Clemence
2. Phil Neal
3. Joey Jones
4. Tommy Smith
5. Ray Kennedy
6. Emlyn Hughes
7. Kevin Keegan
8. Jimmy Case
9. Steve Heighway
10. Dave Fairclough
11. Terry McDermott
Subs not used: Peter McDonnell - Dave Fairclough Sammy Lee - Brian Kettle
Zurich
1. Karl Grob
2. Max Heer
3. Pius Fischbach
4. Hilmar Zigerlig
5. Pierre Chapuisat
6. Jakob Kuhn
7. Ernst Rutschmann
8. Fredy Scheiwiler
9. Peter Risi
10. Hanjo Weller
11. Rene Botteron
The second leg against Zurich was little more than a formality following the superb result in Switzerland. Liverpool was the unemployment "black spot" of the UK at that time and up to 4,000 decided to stay away from this game and instead kept whatever cash they had for the "trip of a lifetime to Rome." Two goals by Jimmy Case and another from Kevin Keegan put this semi final beyond any reasonable doubt, as those in the ground went mental. The tune of Arriverdici Roma echoed around Anfield, as the massed ranks once again boomed out our latest ditty. This was the first time Sammy Lee was promoted to the first team squad, even though he was just 17 at the time. Alan Waddle played the last of his 21 appearances for the Reds in the second half, failing to add the solitary goal of his Liverpool career, scored memorably against Everton in 1973 [my first trip to Goodison?]
Joey Jones by now had reached "Cult status" with flags and banners about him were appearing all over the place. Following on from "JOEY EATS FROGS LEGS" was "JOEY MAKES THE SWISS ROLL. " Joey's popularity really was incredible, he was a boy from the Street's who was able to live our dreams.
The usual pandemonium broke out as we sang our loyalties and undying love for the Redmen from Liverpool. "It-a-lee! It-a-lee! We're the greatest team in Europe an we're going to Italy." It was strange walking out of Anfield that night, a surreal feeling hit you - Liverpool Football Club would be playing in this years European Cup final in Rome. Get in there!
We're on our way to Roma
on the 25th of May
All the Kopites will be singing
Vatican bells they will be ringing
Liverpool boys they will be drinking
when we win the European Cup
-
mottman - Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm
by mottman » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:21 am
Date 25h May 1977 - European Cup Final - Olympic Stadium Rome.
Liverpool 3 [McDermott 27 - Smith 64 - Neal 82 pen] - BM Gladbach [Simonsen] 1 - Attendance 57,000
"Now he's Munching-Gladbach. "
Liverpool
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Joey Jones
4 Tommy Smith
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Kevin Keegan
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 Ian Callaghan
11 Terry McDermott
Subs not used: Dave Fairclough - Alan Waddle - Dave Johnson - Alex Lindsay - Peter McDonnell
Borussia Moenchengladbach
1. Kneib
2. Vogts
3. Klinkhammer
4. Wittkamp
5. Bonhof
6. Wohlers (Hannes)
7. Simonsen
8. Wimmer (Kulik)
9. Stielike
10. Schaeffer
11. Heynckes
Subs not used: Koppell - Kleff - Herdenreich
This is the greatest game in Liverpool FC's incredible history, winning the European Cup for the very first time. So the journeys to Rome started to get booked - a day and a night of which that will go down in folklore for evermore. The mass pilgrimage of fans to Rome in 1977 began straight after the disapointing FA Cup Final defeat at the hands of Manchester United. "Stolen property - stolen property give us back our FA Cup" We sang then realising this was an opportunity to put it down we sang "The FA cups a tea pot - the FA Cups a tea -pot" as we left Wembley for the trip back home. This would call upon Bob Paisley's judgement and very best motivational skill's to lift the team now that the treble dream had been broken.
On the Monday we prepared ourselves for the "Soccer special from Lime Street and back" [costing £59.00] indications in the local press suggested that up to 10,000 Liverpool supporters would be making the trip to cheer on our heroes in the Eternal City "Liverpoolitis" had reached new peaks. The mass exodus of Liverpudlians was about to converge on the Italian capital to cheer on the Reds. The night-time train journey down to Dover was a quiet affair as we let the effects of many pints in the Yankie Bar take their course of action. On reaching Dover [around 2.00 in the morning] we stumbled to the ferry terminal each with plastic bags full of butties and ale to find quite literally thousands of Liverpudlians ahead of us. It was that congested ahead of us that the Customs & Excise people didn't bother checking for passports, they just watched gobsmacked at the volumes of people. In time we managed to board our boat and made our way straight to the sleeping quarters [that we hadn't booked.] and left a coat and a couple of bits an bobs to show the bunks were taken. Someone had forgotten to tell the crew that we weren't supposed to drink, and no one was in much of a hurry to remind them otherwise. A full frontal malicious attack took place will Scouse bartenders supplying the troops with free ale.
Refreshed after a few hours sleep we were not too far away from Ostend as the ship's steward gave us regular updates on our way. We docked at Ostend something like 6.30 in the morning, it was cold and I wished I'd had brought a coat. Some bloke rallied us all around and said "That we had 3.00 hours to wait for our train" so we stashed our stuff in the left luggage area and went for a walk around Ostend. Dawn was still breaking and the Town looked empty apart from Scouse compatriots. The smell of freshly made bread filled the air as we let our noses lead us to where our bounty lay. We entered this delicatessen none of us could speak Belgian and the Belgian couldn't speak English. We pointed at various foodstuffs so he could understand what we wanted, he added up the bill and we quickly figured out how much this was in English money [We only had Lira and English on us.] He waved his hands in a no no fashion as we left him a reasonable price and walked away with something warm and fresh to eat.
Thanks to the French Rail service we couldn't travel through France as they were on strike, we had to travel around through Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and then Italy. We boarded our train [without any tickets being checked] and made ourselves comfy as possible [The seats reminded us of the likes of Man U, Chelsea and Millwall away - they were dead hard and a pain in the Arxx.] Our compartment held eight people [at a push] each bank of four seats had a luggage rack above, we decided to take turns a piece to climb up and have a sleep. Not long into our journey a voice comes over the tannoy system and tells us not to drink the drinking water as it was contaminated, free can's of coke an that would be available from the food compartment. Like locusts everybody converged to the food compartment and helped themselves, I don't think they meant help yourself to foodstuffs as well but that's what happened. You must remember that some rail borne travellers were so skint that they carried no little more on the 3,000 mile trip than two tickets - one for the train and the other for the match.
As we progressed on and on through Belgium the heat and humidity grew worse and the few cans of coke an that had long since gone. Many complaints where made to the few Belgium staff on board but they could do nothing but pass the complaints ahead via radio. We hit Strasbourg early that Tuesday afternoon and where told the train's water supply would be replaced and replenished, for some reason the Swiss wouldn't refill the water tanks. Now this was getting serious some people hadn't had a drink since we left Ostend. The buffet compartment had been restocked with food and cans, but most of the people didn't have any spare money, people would have to take matters into their own hands. Desperate times call for desperate measures! A delegation of older supporters tried to reason with the Belgium staff but to no avail. In time a full-scale attack took place on the buffet section, with food and drinks being distributed fairly amongst each other. In times of need the Scouse nation always stick together and look after its own. It wasn't until we reached the Italian border some 15 hours later that we got our water.
The train journey was a monster - here are some of the train stations that I think that we passed through: Ostend, Brussels, Aachen, Colonge, Strasbourg, Airolo, Basle, Zurich, Milan, Genoa, Pisa and finally Rome. You can imagine the immense boredom we had to endure as the train scuttered along, in time each station looked the same apart from an occasional recollection preserved like a snapshot. To help relieve the boredom, a lad in his mid twenties from Scottie Road was offering free haircuts, a great many took him up on his offer, didn't fancy a number one or a bowl cut so we declined his invitation.
Here are some of the memories some are just plain stupid some show how desperate we were in our quest for any liquid intake.
We pulled into Zurich station and as was the case an announcement was made over the train tannoy saying we would be here for half an hour, so we could get some refreshments from the station cafeteria. Like locusts the train evacuated in seconds everyone headed for the café, we where in a group of five so three went for food and drinks whilst two went for a look around to see what opportunities where available. The station was desolate apart from the café and it looked like our luck was out, that is until we opened this "dart board" located in the café but at the other end of the counter. The "dart board" was in fact supplies of cigarettes stored to replenish the cigarette machine next to it on the wall we closed the cupboard doors and legged it back to the train to get some plastic bags. When we got back nobody had touched the cupboard so we emptied it out into the plastic bags and scarped the others soon returned and we enjoyed some free food and drinks.
Once the train moved on stories came out about the sheer numbers involved and how the two Swiss women just couldn't cope. After a time people just got behind the counter and passed out free food and drinks. We shared out our ciggies amongst those who smoked, the majority where given away to Reds fighting nicotine withdrawal systems.
At one of the German stations the train stopped once again, two lads legged it off first and ran across to a huge trolley full of beer bottles [The ones with the flip tops] they continued to neck the amber nectar. Everybody was hanging out the train windows thinking "As if anyone would leave a trolley full of ale at a train station and unmanned" one of the lads opened another bottle and poured out some of its contents. Before the fluid had hit the floor a multitude had gathered around and started taking bottles back to the train, every nook and cranny held our booty. The Railway police said "That the train wouldn't leave until all the bottles had been returned" furious attempts where made to drink as much as possible as quick as possible. After 10-15 minutes and a couple more prompts from the Police drunken the groggy Red army returned some of the empty bottles… Wonder what the Police thought when they checked them once we'd gone?
At an Italian station a few of the lads found a trolley [like a hot dog stand] loaded with buns and hot fillings, this was wheeled onto the train much to the amusement of the hungry people. Once the train was on its way the lads set it all up and meals on wheels was available to the starving masses [free of course] the fillings where dead spicy but I don't recall anyone complaining. The lads walked up and down the length of the train singing [Just one Cornetto] passing out sustenance along the way to those who wanted it. We did have on board a few British Rail police [They where as useful as a chocolate kettle] even they laughed when they saw some of the antics nearly everyone got up too. The trolley was used as a cart with lads timing how long it took them from one end of the carriage to the other. Various attempts where made to create a record timing from many different people, it was finally lashed off the train in the middle of the Italian countryside.
Just before midday we finally arrived at Romes Tiburtine Station it was a relief to walk on Terra Firma - we sang a special welcome to the Eternal City.
We're on our way to Roma
on the 25th of May
All the Kopites will be singing
Vatican bells they will be ringing
Liverpool boys they will be drinking
when we win the European Cup
Once outside we boarded specially laid on coaches to be taken to the City centre, the humidity outside was intense. It was superb looking out the windows at the multitudes of Liverpool supporters already there - Rome belonged to Liverpool. The cafes and bistro's did a roaring trade as the people fought off the pains of hunger. Everywhere you looked you'd see Liverpudlians bedecked in Red in White singing their heads off and having a laugh. One of the most enjoyable memories I have is sitting on the edge of some fountain with me kecks rolled up and my bare feet in the cool water - bliss, absolute bliss...
Around 2:30 the heat was so unbearable that we had to head inside to the sanctuary of a pub, a few hours later and it was time to make our way to the ground. We boarded a single decker bottle green bus which was chocka full of Reds "Watch yourselves for Italian pickpockets" one of the lads shouts. After 10-15 minutes this lad by us grabs this bloke who has his wallet in his hand "You fuxxing robbing bxxxxxd" he says as he then butts the Italian. The bus driver slams on the brakes and immediately apologises the lad was thrown off the bus minus his t-shirt and shoes. We finally made our way to the Olympic Stadium [It looked SUPERB] everywhere was a sea of red and white and everyone was singing their heads off. We only saw three or four Borussia fans as we walked up to the ground, with an hour to go before kick-off we wanted to get in early.
Entering the Coliseum of Rome as a Christian must have been a daunting task but even that faded into insignificance once we saw the sea of red chequered flags that met us that night. This sight would never ever be equalled by any set of football supporters EVER! It is estimated that over 30,000 Liverpudlians had somehow managed to beg, steal or borrow their way to Roma. The local vino had certainly loosened many a Scouser's vocal chords the noise that night would have frightened any Roman Gladiator or Lion for that matter.
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone…
One huge flag said
"HERE WE GO GATHERING CUPS IN MAY. "
Another said
"PAISLEYS PANZER DIVISION"
Whilst one simply proclaimed
"THE midweek Match"
One said
"When in Rome do as the Scousers do"
A rather apt one said
"Tommy Smith is prettier than Sophia Loren"
But perhaps the greatest Liverpool flag EVER said
"JOEY ATE THE FROGS LEGS - MADE THE SWISS ROLL - NOW HE'S MUNCHIN' GLADBACHS. "
Phil Cummings: Originally it was just the 'Frogs Legs' The 'Joey makes the Swiss roll' was a natural for the Zurich semi-final. But we puzzled for hours over what to do for the final. Then my mum came up with a solution - run them all together. That's how it came about, in the end the flag measured 24 foot by 8 foot. The flag was created by Phil Downey, Phil and Jimmy Cummings
That is surely the greatest ever flag in the history of Liverpool FC and we've had some crackers over the years. David Fairclough was again left out of the starting line up. Ian Callaghan stayed in the team as Bob Paisley reverted to 4-4-2. As both sets of players entered the arena for the battle, you could see the looks of amazement on our player's faces as they looked up at the scene that confronted them. The Borussia players looked nervous, as they looked up at the Curva Nord.
This was an occasion when 30,000 or so of our supporters was like having an extra man on the pitch, the famous twelfth man would not let the Reds walk alone. Against a Borussia side that included established international World class players such as Vogts, Bonhof, Heynckes and Simonsen the task facing Liverpool was indeed an almighty one but with such fanatical support ringing in their ears surely they wouldn't let us down.
We started well, with every Liverpool player getting an early touch of the ball to help settle any nerves [if they had any] This was Kevin Keegan's last game for the Reds he looked lively and full of determination as he began to ask some questions to his man marker, the superb Berti Vogt's. In the 27th minute Ian Callaghan received the ball in midfield and played a precise pass to Steve Heighway running through the middle. Cally carried on running to the right taking a couple of Borussia defenders with him. Terry McDermott had run unnoticed to the edge of the penalty area. Everybody was anticipating Steve Heighway to play the ball back out wide to Cally but instead he played a very simple ball inside to Terry McDermott. Terry took what was not an easy chance to put us into the lead by lifting over goalie. The place erupted!!! It was like standing under an airplane with its engines on full blast, everybody went mental in mass celebration as the very foundations of the Olympic stadium were tested. For several minutes after, the ground actually shook as we bounced the night away. "EE - Aye - Addio - The Pope is a Red." Boomed around the ground. The goal gave the German's a bit more fight in their bellys and they began to ask some questions of their own… Rainer Bonhof hit a beauty which fortunately for us hit the post, the ball was cleared to safety. Half time arrived with the Reds 1.0 up, the cheers could have been heard back home as we acknowledged a superb first half. Only 45 minutes to go and the dream would be fulfilled, this wasn't gong to be easy. The night time Roman Sky turned Red as the Sun finally bade us goodbye. We roared the teams onto the pitch in anticipation of what was about to happen - only 45 minutes from immortality?
The teams lined up with the Reds kicking towards the majority of the expatriate Kop. Six minutes into the second half Jimmy Case lost control of the ball in midfield to Allan Simonsen, who carried the ball on and on until he reached the edge of our penalty area, he then hit this vicious shot that not even Ray Clemence could stop. For the first time we noticed and heard the Borussia supporters in the ground. The goal galvanised Borussia and put Liverpool on the back foot it was now time for Borussia to ask us some questions. Uli Stielike was put through on goal one on one with only Ray Clemence to beat. Somehow Ray Clemence managed to make a truly remarkable save and the ball was cleared away. Borussia unperturbed continued to attack with everything they had in their armoury during their period of ascendancy. This was Kevin Keegan's last ever game for Liverpool before his move to Hamburg. Keegan [to his credit] wasn't taking it easy he was trying his very best. Ian Callaghan was also full of energy bringing Terry McDermott and Ray Kennedy into the game as much as possible, these where two of our flair players we needed them to have the ball as much as possible. In time you could sense that something had to give - it did in the 65th minute and from someone else playing his last game for the Reds. We won a corner on the left hand side of the pitch Steve Heighway floated this ball across the penalty box, on and on it went until Tommy Smith headed it straight into the back of the Borussia net. Tommy was mobbed by every Liverpool player as the place went ballistic once again. The ground shook once again as we went berserk, the people where happy and it was time to celebrate. You could see that the goal had knocked the stuffing out of Borussia as they began tire and give what possession they had away cheaply. Then eight minutes from the end Kevin Keegan gained control of the ball and made a run towards the Borussia penalty box. On and on he went into the box closely followed by Berti Vogts, [Hit it Kevin…. hit it] too late Berti Vogts had brought Keegan down PENALTY!!!
A hushed silence descended as Phil Neal placed the ball onto the penalty spot, we held our breaths and crossed our fingers as he turned and walked away… 1,2,3,4,5 steps he calmly turned around and confidently despatched the ball into the back of the net.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees that was it!!!
We sang our hearts out and danced the night away during the closing last minutes, Bill Shanklys and Bob Paisleys dreams where about to come true. The final whistle went and perhaps the biggest roar of the night took place. Complete strangers hugged each other in the stark reality that Liverpool Football Club were CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE for the very first time…
The players jigged about the pitch in total disbelief, whilst Joey Jones legged it over to his people and joined in the biggest party Rome's Olympic Stadium ever saw. The sight of Crazy Horse walking up the rostrum and then holding aloft the European Cup will always be with us - his smile as wide as the River Mersey said it all. It was hardly necessary for the loudspeaker to announce "Liverpool are the winners", the electronic scoreboards at either end of the pitch had one word standing out in the Mediterranean night sky: "Liverpool." For the first time, Liverpool where champions of Europe. The people cried out in one voice…
Shankly - Shankly - Shankly! This was followed with cries of Paisley - Paisley - Paisley and deservedly so. We said our goodbye's to Keegan by singing "Kevin Keegan" over and over again. "EE-Aye-addio, we've won the Cup" went on for what seemed like forever. An unusual cry of "Bo-roo-syah, Bo-roo-syah, Bo-roo-syah" started behind us, gradually his reached full volume as we acknowledged our beaten foes. Time to return to Rome's city centre and to celebrate that balmy night, it was surprising to see the majority of supporters in a quiet frame of mind. It seemed as if they were drained of all emotion? Our contingent were extremely well behaved, were having a good laugh, a good drink and a sing song and were generally keeping both themselves and the Romans amused. It should be noted that not one Liverpool supporter was arrested during our invasion of Rome.
We had to be back at Romes Tiburtine Station for one O'clock in the morning armed with bottles of very cheap Italian wine [don't ask] we found that armed Italian police guided us through a three foot wide door. It took an eternity in the Eternal City to make that short 50 yards trip. We left Rome around 2.30 that morning - one last chance to leave our mark on Rome and the Romans with a different version of a well known song which went something like this.
We're on our way back homer
Its the 25th of May
All The Kopites are still singing
Vatican bells they are still ringing
Liverpool boys are still drinking
and we've won the European Cup
The eyes of hardened dockers glazed over as more and more joined in, it echoed superbly around the station as the train slowly started to pull away for the long trip back home. We missed the Liverpool player's homecoming and Tommy Smith's testimonial. We didn't get back to Lime Street until around 7.00 that Friday night, we got a taxi and asked to go to Anfield he said "Have you got tickets lads its already sold out and the gates are locked with thousands locked out." We headed for the George [behind the Strand in Bootle] and drank the night away.
What the players thought of Rome?
Terry McDermott (LFC player 1974-82): Rome will never fade from my memory. I'll always remember it until the day I die, walking out into the stadium and seeing the red and white chequered flags, I've never seen anything like it and I've never seen anything again since. It was just atmosphere and an incredible feeling to see those fans. There must have been at least 30,000 Scousers there and it was just phenomenal. We walked on to the pitch about an hour before and thought 'Christ, how can we get beat for these lot' and obviously we didn't.
Tommy Smith (LFC player 1960-78): The '77 European Cup Final one was the one when I did notice the crowd. We went out to have a look what was going on in the Rome stadium and three-quarters of it was Red. I couldn't believe it and it did hit you, 'we've got more supporters than the Germans' and bearing in mind it's not that far away you thought that they would be there.
Emlyn Hughes (LFC player & captain 1967-79): I remember walking out onto the pitch before the game and I thought to myself 'Jesus Christ we're back in Liverpool!' There were that many punters from Liverpool there, we were greeted by a sea of red and white. The support of the fans gave us all a terrific lift and all the lads were saying to each other how there was no way we could lose the match now. It was like playing at home. I can imagine what the Borussia players must have thought when they walked out. They must have looked around and thought they had no chance against such support. It must have seemed like they were playing at Anfield.
Joey Jones (LFC player 1975-78): There was one or two banners at Wembley that had made me laugh, but when I walked out in Rome's Olympic Stadium and saw that one it made me feel about ten feet tall. The sight of all them Liverpudlians in Rome lifted me more than anything else. I honestly didn't expect there to be that many of them there. They outnumbered the Germans by about three or four to one. It was amazing what some of them had done to get to Rome.
And here's to you, Billy Johnston
Liverpool loves the Crusaders more than you will know (wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please Rapid Bucharest
Liverpool holds a place for those we play,
(Hey, hey, hey, .... hey, hey, hey)
We liked to play CSKA or even Feyenoord.
We'd like to help them drink the night away (way, hey, hey)
Look around and all you'd see would be banners made of red.
The famous Kopites singing and drinking off our heads.
And here's to you Osvaldo Piazza
Bottles of red or white just a bob a throw (wo wo wo)
God bless you, please Zurich Grasshoppers.
Expensive but the girls were worth the pay,
(Or so they say, . . . hey, hey, hey)
Play it in a country East where no one ever goes.
Play it at Dukla Prague's little ground.
Skonta Riga, Dynamo Dresden, Honved or Liege.
Those teams now never come around
Allez allez les vertes St Etienne,
Moenchengladbach, Bruges we so miss you so (you hoo hoo)
Where are you now Polands' Widzew Lodz
The teams Bob's lads flew from Speke to play.
(Allez Allez Allez Allez)
Shanks took us into Europe back in 1965
A dodgy ref cost us dearly at that game
But Anfield's famous songs they kept on belting out
As Inter shook to the Spion Kop's name
Joe Fagan and his Mighty Reds
Strode into Roma's Lion's den, (way back then)
but we had Brucie and his wobbly legs
And smokin' Joe took the Treble away,
(hey hey hey .... the Treble away)
Sitting on the sofa on a Friday afternoon.
Watching the Champions League draw come on through
Barca, Porto, Bayern, Mancs, the same teams once again
Ev'ry way you look at it, the fans still lose.
Where have you gone, St Etienne?
The Spion Kop still remembers you (you hoo hoo)
And we'll sing You'll Never Walk Alone
Until Europe falls to Liverpool once again
(to our Redmen, the Mighty Redmen)
Liverpool 3 [McDermott 27 - Smith 64 - Neal 82 pen] - BM Gladbach [Simonsen] 1 - Attendance 57,000
"Now he's Munching-Gladbach. "
Liverpool
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Joey Jones
4 Tommy Smith
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Kevin Keegan
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 Ian Callaghan
11 Terry McDermott
Subs not used: Dave Fairclough - Alan Waddle - Dave Johnson - Alex Lindsay - Peter McDonnell
Borussia Moenchengladbach
1. Kneib
2. Vogts
3. Klinkhammer
4. Wittkamp
5. Bonhof
6. Wohlers (Hannes)
7. Simonsen
8. Wimmer (Kulik)
9. Stielike
10. Schaeffer
11. Heynckes
Subs not used: Koppell - Kleff - Herdenreich
This is the greatest game in Liverpool FC's incredible history, winning the European Cup for the very first time. So the journeys to Rome started to get booked - a day and a night of which that will go down in folklore for evermore. The mass pilgrimage of fans to Rome in 1977 began straight after the disapointing FA Cup Final defeat at the hands of Manchester United. "Stolen property - stolen property give us back our FA Cup" We sang then realising this was an opportunity to put it down we sang "The FA cups a tea pot - the FA Cups a tea -pot" as we left Wembley for the trip back home. This would call upon Bob Paisley's judgement and very best motivational skill's to lift the team now that the treble dream had been broken.
On the Monday we prepared ourselves for the "Soccer special from Lime Street and back" [costing £59.00] indications in the local press suggested that up to 10,000 Liverpool supporters would be making the trip to cheer on our heroes in the Eternal City "Liverpoolitis" had reached new peaks. The mass exodus of Liverpudlians was about to converge on the Italian capital to cheer on the Reds. The night-time train journey down to Dover was a quiet affair as we let the effects of many pints in the Yankie Bar take their course of action. On reaching Dover [around 2.00 in the morning] we stumbled to the ferry terminal each with plastic bags full of butties and ale to find quite literally thousands of Liverpudlians ahead of us. It was that congested ahead of us that the Customs & Excise people didn't bother checking for passports, they just watched gobsmacked at the volumes of people. In time we managed to board our boat and made our way straight to the sleeping quarters [that we hadn't booked.] and left a coat and a couple of bits an bobs to show the bunks were taken. Someone had forgotten to tell the crew that we weren't supposed to drink, and no one was in much of a hurry to remind them otherwise. A full frontal malicious attack took place will Scouse bartenders supplying the troops with free ale.
Refreshed after a few hours sleep we were not too far away from Ostend as the ship's steward gave us regular updates on our way. We docked at Ostend something like 6.30 in the morning, it was cold and I wished I'd had brought a coat. Some bloke rallied us all around and said "That we had 3.00 hours to wait for our train" so we stashed our stuff in the left luggage area and went for a walk around Ostend. Dawn was still breaking and the Town looked empty apart from Scouse compatriots. The smell of freshly made bread filled the air as we let our noses lead us to where our bounty lay. We entered this delicatessen none of us could speak Belgian and the Belgian couldn't speak English. We pointed at various foodstuffs so he could understand what we wanted, he added up the bill and we quickly figured out how much this was in English money [We only had Lira and English on us.] He waved his hands in a no no fashion as we left him a reasonable price and walked away with something warm and fresh to eat.
Thanks to the French Rail service we couldn't travel through France as they were on strike, we had to travel around through Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and then Italy. We boarded our train [without any tickets being checked] and made ourselves comfy as possible [The seats reminded us of the likes of Man U, Chelsea and Millwall away - they were dead hard and a pain in the Arxx.] Our compartment held eight people [at a push] each bank of four seats had a luggage rack above, we decided to take turns a piece to climb up and have a sleep. Not long into our journey a voice comes over the tannoy system and tells us not to drink the drinking water as it was contaminated, free can's of coke an that would be available from the food compartment. Like locusts everybody converged to the food compartment and helped themselves, I don't think they meant help yourself to foodstuffs as well but that's what happened. You must remember that some rail borne travellers were so skint that they carried no little more on the 3,000 mile trip than two tickets - one for the train and the other for the match.
As we progressed on and on through Belgium the heat and humidity grew worse and the few cans of coke an that had long since gone. Many complaints where made to the few Belgium staff on board but they could do nothing but pass the complaints ahead via radio. We hit Strasbourg early that Tuesday afternoon and where told the train's water supply would be replaced and replenished, for some reason the Swiss wouldn't refill the water tanks. Now this was getting serious some people hadn't had a drink since we left Ostend. The buffet compartment had been restocked with food and cans, but most of the people didn't have any spare money, people would have to take matters into their own hands. Desperate times call for desperate measures! A delegation of older supporters tried to reason with the Belgium staff but to no avail. In time a full-scale attack took place on the buffet section, with food and drinks being distributed fairly amongst each other. In times of need the Scouse nation always stick together and look after its own. It wasn't until we reached the Italian border some 15 hours later that we got our water.
The train journey was a monster - here are some of the train stations that I think that we passed through: Ostend, Brussels, Aachen, Colonge, Strasbourg, Airolo, Basle, Zurich, Milan, Genoa, Pisa and finally Rome. You can imagine the immense boredom we had to endure as the train scuttered along, in time each station looked the same apart from an occasional recollection preserved like a snapshot. To help relieve the boredom, a lad in his mid twenties from Scottie Road was offering free haircuts, a great many took him up on his offer, didn't fancy a number one or a bowl cut so we declined his invitation.
Here are some of the memories some are just plain stupid some show how desperate we were in our quest for any liquid intake.
We pulled into Zurich station and as was the case an announcement was made over the train tannoy saying we would be here for half an hour, so we could get some refreshments from the station cafeteria. Like locusts the train evacuated in seconds everyone headed for the café, we where in a group of five so three went for food and drinks whilst two went for a look around to see what opportunities where available. The station was desolate apart from the café and it looked like our luck was out, that is until we opened this "dart board" located in the café but at the other end of the counter. The "dart board" was in fact supplies of cigarettes stored to replenish the cigarette machine next to it on the wall we closed the cupboard doors and legged it back to the train to get some plastic bags. When we got back nobody had touched the cupboard so we emptied it out into the plastic bags and scarped the others soon returned and we enjoyed some free food and drinks.
Once the train moved on stories came out about the sheer numbers involved and how the two Swiss women just couldn't cope. After a time people just got behind the counter and passed out free food and drinks. We shared out our ciggies amongst those who smoked, the majority where given away to Reds fighting nicotine withdrawal systems.
At one of the German stations the train stopped once again, two lads legged it off first and ran across to a huge trolley full of beer bottles [The ones with the flip tops] they continued to neck the amber nectar. Everybody was hanging out the train windows thinking "As if anyone would leave a trolley full of ale at a train station and unmanned" one of the lads opened another bottle and poured out some of its contents. Before the fluid had hit the floor a multitude had gathered around and started taking bottles back to the train, every nook and cranny held our booty. The Railway police said "That the train wouldn't leave until all the bottles had been returned" furious attempts where made to drink as much as possible as quick as possible. After 10-15 minutes and a couple more prompts from the Police drunken the groggy Red army returned some of the empty bottles… Wonder what the Police thought when they checked them once we'd gone?
At an Italian station a few of the lads found a trolley [like a hot dog stand] loaded with buns and hot fillings, this was wheeled onto the train much to the amusement of the hungry people. Once the train was on its way the lads set it all up and meals on wheels was available to the starving masses [free of course] the fillings where dead spicy but I don't recall anyone complaining. The lads walked up and down the length of the train singing [Just one Cornetto] passing out sustenance along the way to those who wanted it. We did have on board a few British Rail police [They where as useful as a chocolate kettle] even they laughed when they saw some of the antics nearly everyone got up too. The trolley was used as a cart with lads timing how long it took them from one end of the carriage to the other. Various attempts where made to create a record timing from many different people, it was finally lashed off the train in the middle of the Italian countryside.
Just before midday we finally arrived at Romes Tiburtine Station it was a relief to walk on Terra Firma - we sang a special welcome to the Eternal City.
We're on our way to Roma
on the 25th of May
All the Kopites will be singing
Vatican bells they will be ringing
Liverpool boys they will be drinking
when we win the European Cup
Once outside we boarded specially laid on coaches to be taken to the City centre, the humidity outside was intense. It was superb looking out the windows at the multitudes of Liverpool supporters already there - Rome belonged to Liverpool. The cafes and bistro's did a roaring trade as the people fought off the pains of hunger. Everywhere you looked you'd see Liverpudlians bedecked in Red in White singing their heads off and having a laugh. One of the most enjoyable memories I have is sitting on the edge of some fountain with me kecks rolled up and my bare feet in the cool water - bliss, absolute bliss...
Around 2:30 the heat was so unbearable that we had to head inside to the sanctuary of a pub, a few hours later and it was time to make our way to the ground. We boarded a single decker bottle green bus which was chocka full of Reds "Watch yourselves for Italian pickpockets" one of the lads shouts. After 10-15 minutes this lad by us grabs this bloke who has his wallet in his hand "You fuxxing robbing bxxxxxd" he says as he then butts the Italian. The bus driver slams on the brakes and immediately apologises the lad was thrown off the bus minus his t-shirt and shoes. We finally made our way to the Olympic Stadium [It looked SUPERB] everywhere was a sea of red and white and everyone was singing their heads off. We only saw three or four Borussia fans as we walked up to the ground, with an hour to go before kick-off we wanted to get in early.
Entering the Coliseum of Rome as a Christian must have been a daunting task but even that faded into insignificance once we saw the sea of red chequered flags that met us that night. This sight would never ever be equalled by any set of football supporters EVER! It is estimated that over 30,000 Liverpudlians had somehow managed to beg, steal or borrow their way to Roma. The local vino had certainly loosened many a Scouser's vocal chords the noise that night would have frightened any Roman Gladiator or Lion for that matter.
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone…
One huge flag said
"HERE WE GO GATHERING CUPS IN MAY. "
Another said
"PAISLEYS PANZER DIVISION"
Whilst one simply proclaimed
"THE midweek Match"
One said
"When in Rome do as the Scousers do"
A rather apt one said
"Tommy Smith is prettier than Sophia Loren"
But perhaps the greatest Liverpool flag EVER said
"JOEY ATE THE FROGS LEGS - MADE THE SWISS ROLL - NOW HE'S MUNCHIN' GLADBACHS. "
Phil Cummings: Originally it was just the 'Frogs Legs' The 'Joey makes the Swiss roll' was a natural for the Zurich semi-final. But we puzzled for hours over what to do for the final. Then my mum came up with a solution - run them all together. That's how it came about, in the end the flag measured 24 foot by 8 foot. The flag was created by Phil Downey, Phil and Jimmy Cummings
That is surely the greatest ever flag in the history of Liverpool FC and we've had some crackers over the years. David Fairclough was again left out of the starting line up. Ian Callaghan stayed in the team as Bob Paisley reverted to 4-4-2. As both sets of players entered the arena for the battle, you could see the looks of amazement on our player's faces as they looked up at the scene that confronted them. The Borussia players looked nervous, as they looked up at the Curva Nord.
This was an occasion when 30,000 or so of our supporters was like having an extra man on the pitch, the famous twelfth man would not let the Reds walk alone. Against a Borussia side that included established international World class players such as Vogts, Bonhof, Heynckes and Simonsen the task facing Liverpool was indeed an almighty one but with such fanatical support ringing in their ears surely they wouldn't let us down.
We started well, with every Liverpool player getting an early touch of the ball to help settle any nerves [if they had any] This was Kevin Keegan's last game for the Reds he looked lively and full of determination as he began to ask some questions to his man marker, the superb Berti Vogt's. In the 27th minute Ian Callaghan received the ball in midfield and played a precise pass to Steve Heighway running through the middle. Cally carried on running to the right taking a couple of Borussia defenders with him. Terry McDermott had run unnoticed to the edge of the penalty area. Everybody was anticipating Steve Heighway to play the ball back out wide to Cally but instead he played a very simple ball inside to Terry McDermott. Terry took what was not an easy chance to put us into the lead by lifting over goalie. The place erupted!!! It was like standing under an airplane with its engines on full blast, everybody went mental in mass celebration as the very foundations of the Olympic stadium were tested. For several minutes after, the ground actually shook as we bounced the night away. "EE - Aye - Addio - The Pope is a Red." Boomed around the ground. The goal gave the German's a bit more fight in their bellys and they began to ask some questions of their own… Rainer Bonhof hit a beauty which fortunately for us hit the post, the ball was cleared to safety. Half time arrived with the Reds 1.0 up, the cheers could have been heard back home as we acknowledged a superb first half. Only 45 minutes to go and the dream would be fulfilled, this wasn't gong to be easy. The night time Roman Sky turned Red as the Sun finally bade us goodbye. We roared the teams onto the pitch in anticipation of what was about to happen - only 45 minutes from immortality?
The teams lined up with the Reds kicking towards the majority of the expatriate Kop. Six minutes into the second half Jimmy Case lost control of the ball in midfield to Allan Simonsen, who carried the ball on and on until he reached the edge of our penalty area, he then hit this vicious shot that not even Ray Clemence could stop. For the first time we noticed and heard the Borussia supporters in the ground. The goal galvanised Borussia and put Liverpool on the back foot it was now time for Borussia to ask us some questions. Uli Stielike was put through on goal one on one with only Ray Clemence to beat. Somehow Ray Clemence managed to make a truly remarkable save and the ball was cleared away. Borussia unperturbed continued to attack with everything they had in their armoury during their period of ascendancy. This was Kevin Keegan's last ever game for Liverpool before his move to Hamburg. Keegan [to his credit] wasn't taking it easy he was trying his very best. Ian Callaghan was also full of energy bringing Terry McDermott and Ray Kennedy into the game as much as possible, these where two of our flair players we needed them to have the ball as much as possible. In time you could sense that something had to give - it did in the 65th minute and from someone else playing his last game for the Reds. We won a corner on the left hand side of the pitch Steve Heighway floated this ball across the penalty box, on and on it went until Tommy Smith headed it straight into the back of the Borussia net. Tommy was mobbed by every Liverpool player as the place went ballistic once again. The ground shook once again as we went berserk, the people where happy and it was time to celebrate. You could see that the goal had knocked the stuffing out of Borussia as they began tire and give what possession they had away cheaply. Then eight minutes from the end Kevin Keegan gained control of the ball and made a run towards the Borussia penalty box. On and on he went into the box closely followed by Berti Vogts, [Hit it Kevin…. hit it] too late Berti Vogts had brought Keegan down PENALTY!!!
A hushed silence descended as Phil Neal placed the ball onto the penalty spot, we held our breaths and crossed our fingers as he turned and walked away… 1,2,3,4,5 steps he calmly turned around and confidently despatched the ball into the back of the net.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees that was it!!!
We sang our hearts out and danced the night away during the closing last minutes, Bill Shanklys and Bob Paisleys dreams where about to come true. The final whistle went and perhaps the biggest roar of the night took place. Complete strangers hugged each other in the stark reality that Liverpool Football Club were CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE for the very first time…
The players jigged about the pitch in total disbelief, whilst Joey Jones legged it over to his people and joined in the biggest party Rome's Olympic Stadium ever saw. The sight of Crazy Horse walking up the rostrum and then holding aloft the European Cup will always be with us - his smile as wide as the River Mersey said it all. It was hardly necessary for the loudspeaker to announce "Liverpool are the winners", the electronic scoreboards at either end of the pitch had one word standing out in the Mediterranean night sky: "Liverpool." For the first time, Liverpool where champions of Europe. The people cried out in one voice…
Shankly - Shankly - Shankly! This was followed with cries of Paisley - Paisley - Paisley and deservedly so. We said our goodbye's to Keegan by singing "Kevin Keegan" over and over again. "EE-Aye-addio, we've won the Cup" went on for what seemed like forever. An unusual cry of "Bo-roo-syah, Bo-roo-syah, Bo-roo-syah" started behind us, gradually his reached full volume as we acknowledged our beaten foes. Time to return to Rome's city centre and to celebrate that balmy night, it was surprising to see the majority of supporters in a quiet frame of mind. It seemed as if they were drained of all emotion? Our contingent were extremely well behaved, were having a good laugh, a good drink and a sing song and were generally keeping both themselves and the Romans amused. It should be noted that not one Liverpool supporter was arrested during our invasion of Rome.
We had to be back at Romes Tiburtine Station for one O'clock in the morning armed with bottles of very cheap Italian wine [don't ask] we found that armed Italian police guided us through a three foot wide door. It took an eternity in the Eternal City to make that short 50 yards trip. We left Rome around 2.30 that morning - one last chance to leave our mark on Rome and the Romans with a different version of a well known song which went something like this.
We're on our way back homer
Its the 25th of May
All The Kopites are still singing
Vatican bells they are still ringing
Liverpool boys are still drinking
and we've won the European Cup
The eyes of hardened dockers glazed over as more and more joined in, it echoed superbly around the station as the train slowly started to pull away for the long trip back home. We missed the Liverpool player's homecoming and Tommy Smith's testimonial. We didn't get back to Lime Street until around 7.00 that Friday night, we got a taxi and asked to go to Anfield he said "Have you got tickets lads its already sold out and the gates are locked with thousands locked out." We headed for the George [behind the Strand in Bootle] and drank the night away.
What the players thought of Rome?
Terry McDermott (LFC player 1974-82): Rome will never fade from my memory. I'll always remember it until the day I die, walking out into the stadium and seeing the red and white chequered flags, I've never seen anything like it and I've never seen anything again since. It was just atmosphere and an incredible feeling to see those fans. There must have been at least 30,000 Scousers there and it was just phenomenal. We walked on to the pitch about an hour before and thought 'Christ, how can we get beat for these lot' and obviously we didn't.
Tommy Smith (LFC player 1960-78): The '77 European Cup Final one was the one when I did notice the crowd. We went out to have a look what was going on in the Rome stadium and three-quarters of it was Red. I couldn't believe it and it did hit you, 'we've got more supporters than the Germans' and bearing in mind it's not that far away you thought that they would be there.
Emlyn Hughes (LFC player & captain 1967-79): I remember walking out onto the pitch before the game and I thought to myself 'Jesus Christ we're back in Liverpool!' There were that many punters from Liverpool there, we were greeted by a sea of red and white. The support of the fans gave us all a terrific lift and all the lads were saying to each other how there was no way we could lose the match now. It was like playing at home. I can imagine what the Borussia players must have thought when they walked out. They must have looked around and thought they had no chance against such support. It must have seemed like they were playing at Anfield.
Joey Jones (LFC player 1975-78): There was one or two banners at Wembley that had made me laugh, but when I walked out in Rome's Olympic Stadium and saw that one it made me feel about ten feet tall. The sight of all them Liverpudlians in Rome lifted me more than anything else. I honestly didn't expect there to be that many of them there. They outnumbered the Germans by about three or four to one. It was amazing what some of them had done to get to Rome.
And here's to you, Billy Johnston
Liverpool loves the Crusaders more than you will know (wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please Rapid Bucharest
Liverpool holds a place for those we play,
(Hey, hey, hey, .... hey, hey, hey)
We liked to play CSKA or even Feyenoord.
We'd like to help them drink the night away (way, hey, hey)
Look around and all you'd see would be banners made of red.
The famous Kopites singing and drinking off our heads.
And here's to you Osvaldo Piazza
Bottles of red or white just a bob a throw (wo wo wo)
God bless you, please Zurich Grasshoppers.
Expensive but the girls were worth the pay,
(Or so they say, . . . hey, hey, hey)
Play it in a country East where no one ever goes.
Play it at Dukla Prague's little ground.
Skonta Riga, Dynamo Dresden, Honved or Liege.
Those teams now never come around
Allez allez les vertes St Etienne,
Moenchengladbach, Bruges we so miss you so (you hoo hoo)
Where are you now Polands' Widzew Lodz
The teams Bob's lads flew from Speke to play.
(Allez Allez Allez Allez)
Shanks took us into Europe back in 1965
A dodgy ref cost us dearly at that game
But Anfield's famous songs they kept on belting out
As Inter shook to the Spion Kop's name
Joe Fagan and his Mighty Reds
Strode into Roma's Lion's den, (way back then)
but we had Brucie and his wobbly legs
And smokin' Joe took the Treble away,
(hey hey hey .... the Treble away)
Sitting on the sofa on a Friday afternoon.
Watching the Champions League draw come on through
Barca, Porto, Bayern, Mancs, the same teams once again
Ev'ry way you look at it, the fans still lose.
Where have you gone, St Etienne?
The Spion Kop still remembers you (you hoo hoo)
And we'll sing You'll Never Walk Alone
Until Europe falls to Liverpool once again
(to our Redmen, the Mighty Redmen)
-
mottman - Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm
by mottman » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:23 am
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - The Heroes of '77
Written by Mark Platt from LFC.TV and produced with Mark's consent.
Bob Paisley
Honours won as Liverpool manager-
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82 & 1982/83)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1981, 1982 & 1983) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
World Club Championship (1981)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982)
Manager of the Year (1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 & 1983)
OBE (1977)
Deservedly voted Manager of the Year for the role he played in leading Liverpool to their first European Cup success in 1977. An OBE soon followed and Paisley went on to establish himself as the most successful English manager of all time, guiding the Reds to unprecedented success at home and abroad. Retired in 1983 and joined the club's board of directors. Came out of retirement briefly to act as a consultant to Kenny Dalglish when he was appointed player/manager in 1986. In later life Paisley sadly suffered from Alzheimer's disease, which ultimately led to his death in 1996. Five years later the 'Paisley Gateway' was officially unveiled at Anfield in recognition of his achievements.
Ray Clemence
Games: 665
Goals: 0
Honours Won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79 & 1979/80)
FA Cup (1974), runner-up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup (1981) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979 & 1980) runner- up (1971)
International caps for England (1)
Left Liverpool: August 1981
Other Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur
Honours won with other clubs: Tottenham Hotspur - FA Cup (1982), League Cup runner-up (1982)
Added another two European Cup winners medals to his collection before surprisingly leaving Liverpool in the summer of 1981 to join Tottenham Hotspur, with whom he won the FA Cup in his first season. Later became a coach at White Hart Lane before managing north London minnows Barnet for a short while in 1994. Currently works as a member of the England coaching staff.
Phil Neal
Games: 648
Goals: 60
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83 & 1983/84)
League Cup (1981, 1982, 1983 & 1984) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978, 1981 & 1984) runner-up (1985)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978 & 1985)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981 & 1984)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980 & 1982) runner-up (1983 & 1984)
International caps for England (50)
Left Liverpool: December 1985
Other Clubs: (as manager) Bolton Wanderers, Coventry City, Cardiff City, Manchester City
Honours won with other clubs: None
The only Englishman to win four European Cup winners medals Neal is the most decorated player in Liverpool history. He later captained the Reds and served the club loyally until 1985 when he embarked on a career in management with Bolton Wanderers. Brief spells as boss of Coventry City, Cardiff City and Manchester City then followed, as did a stint on the England coaching staff during Graham Taylor's tenure as national boss. Now remains involved in the game as a radio summariser.
Joey Jones
Games: 100
Goals: 3
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977)
European Super Cup (1977)
Charity Shield (1976 & 1977*)
International caps for Wales (18)
Left Liverpool: September 1978
Other Clubs: Wrexham, Chelsea, Huddersfield Town, Wrexham (player then coach)
Honours won with other clubs: international caps (54)
Joey Jones was the unfortunate victim of Alan Hansen's arrival at Liverpool. A defensive reshuffle to accommodate the young Scot saw Jones lose his place in the Reds first team and just over a year after winning the European Cup he was on his way back to Wrexham in a cut-price £20,000 deal. Later moved to Chelsea, where he became a cult-hero with the fans on the Shed, and helped the Londoners to promotion before a brief spell at Huddersfield preceded a third stint with Wrexham. Was a coach at the Racecourse Ground until 2001.
Phil Thompson
Games: 477
Goals: 13
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82 & 1982/83)
FA Cup (1974)
League Cup (1981 & 1982) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980 & 1982) runner-up (1983)
International caps for England (41)
Left Liverpool: March 1985
Other Clubs: Sheffield United
Honours won with other clubs: none
Got over the disappointment of missing out on the glory of Rome by playing in the following years final against Bruges and then captaining the Reds to a third European Cup success in 1981 against Paris in Real Madrid. Left Anfield for a brief spell with Sheffield United in 1985 before returning to the club as reserve team coach. Was dismissed by Graeme Souness in 1992 but reinstated as assistant manager to Gerard Houllier in 1999. Stood in as manager when Houllier underwent heart surgery during the 2001/2002 season.
Emlyn Hughes
Games: 665
Goals: 49
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77 & 1978/79)
FA Cup (1974) runner-up (1977)
League Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977 & 1978)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1974, 1976 & 1977*) runner-up (1971)
International caps for England (59)
Football Writers Player of the Year (1977)
OBE
Left Liverpool: April 1979
Other Clubs: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rotherham United (player/manager), Hull City, Swansea City
Honours won with other clubs: League Cup (1980) - Wolverhampton Wanders
International caps (3)
Twelve months after lifting the European Cup in Rome Hughes repeated the feat as Liverpool became the first English club to retain the trophy following a 1-0 defeat of FC Bruges at Wembley. Later moved on to Wolves and had a spell as manager of Rotherham. Achieved TV fame as a captain on BBC's Question of Sport and now runs a successful PR company in Yorkshire. He remains the only British player to captain two European Cup winning teams.
Tommy Smith
Games: 632 (1)
Goals: 48
Honours Won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1965/66, 1972/73, 1975/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup (1965 & 1974) runners up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup runners up (1978)
European Cup (1977)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Cup Winners Cup runners up (1966)
Charity Shield (1965, 1966 & 1974) runner-up (1971)
International caps for England - 1
Left Club: August 1978
Other Clubs: Swansea City
Honours with other clubs: none
Following his 'Roy of the Rovers' heroics in Rome the Anfield Iron reversed his decision to leave Liverpool and agreed to stay on for a further year. Was awarded an MBE for his services to football and only a freak injury deprived him of a second successive European Cup final appearance in 1978. Eventually left the club to join Swansea before briefly returning to the club as a youth team coach. Now writes a weekly column in the Liverpool Echo.
Ray Kennedy
Games: 389 (3)
Goals: 72
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80 & 1981/82)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979 & 1980)
International caps for England (17)
Left Liverpool: December 1982
Other Clubs: Swansea City, Hartlepool United, Sunderland (coach)
Honours won with other clubs:
An unsung member of the all-conquering Liverpool side of the late seventies Kennedy won another two European Cup winners medals with the Reds before joining the Toshack revolution at Swansea in December 1982. A return to his native north east and a spell at Hartlepool then followed, as did a coaching role with Sunderland, before he was tragically diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's disease at the age of 35.
Ian Callaghan
Games: 843 (5)
Goals: 69
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1963/64, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1975/76 & 1976/77)
Second Division Championship (1961/62)
FA Cup (1965 & 1974) runners up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup runners up (1978)
European Cup (1977)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Cup Winners Cup runners up (1966)
International caps for England - 4
Football Writers Player of the Year (1973/74)
MBE (1975)
Left Club: September 1978
Other Clubs: Swansea City, Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL), Canberra City (Australia), Cork City & Crewe Alexandra
Honours won with other clubs: none
Still holds the record for having played the more competitive games for Liverpool than anyone else. The evergreen Cally finally called time on his eighteen year Anfield career when he joined Swansea in September 1978. Brief spells in Ireland and Norway followed before he ended his career with Crewe Alexandra. Went into the restaurant business after hanging up his boots and was later chairman of the Littlewoods 'spot the ball' panel. Now retired but remains actively involved in the Former Liverpool Players Association.
Jimmy Case
Games: 244 (25)
Goals: 46
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79 & 1979/80)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1981) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979 & 1980)
Left Liverpool:
Other Clubs: Brighton, Southampton, Bournemouth, Halifax Town, Wrexham, Darlington, Sittingbourne, Brighton (as manager)
Honours won with other clubs: FA Cup runner up (1983) - Brighton & Hove Albion
It's not often that a player leaves Anfield having yet reached his peak but European football's young player of the year in 1977 Jimmy Case falls into the category. Case successfully collected further honours at club level during the remaining four years of his Anfield career but the emergence of Sammy Lee was a contributory factor in him being transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion in 1981 but he went on to serve the Seagulls and then Southampton with distinction before seeing out his career in the lower leagues. The last of the Reds 1977 squad to be playing professionally he didn't hang up his boots until1996 and now lives and works on the south coast.
Terry McDermott
Games: 316 (12)
Goals: 80
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80 & 1981/82)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1981 & 1982) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1977*, 1979 & 1980
International caps for England (25)
Football Writers Player of the Year (1980)
PFA Player of the Year (1980)
Left Liverpool: September 1982
Other Clubs: Newcastle United, Cork City, Apoel (Cyprus)
Honours won with other clubs: none
Blossomed into one of the clubs finest ever players in the aftermath of Liverpool's first European Cup win, hitting the back with spectacular regularity and becoming the first player to scoop the Football Writers and PFA Player of the Year awards in 1980. Aged 31, McDermott returned to Tyneside, where he helped inspire a Newcastle United revival alongside Kevin Keegan. Hung up his boots after brief spells in Ireland and Cyprus before teaming up with Keegan again as assistant manager at St James Park in 1992, playing a major part in another Magpie renaissance. Continues to live in the north east.
Kevin Keegan
Games: 323
Goals: 100
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup (1974) runner-up (1977)
European Cup (1977)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
Charity Shield (1974 & 1976)
Football Writers Player of the Year (1976)
International caps for England (29)
Left Liverpool: July 1977
Other Clubs: SV Hamburg, Southampton, Newcastle United (first as player, then manager), Fulham (manager), Manchester City (manager)
Honours won with other clubs: Bundesliga (1979) - Hamburg
European Cup runner-up (1980) - Hamburg
European Player of the Year (1979 & 1980) - Hamburg
International caps (34) - Hamburg & Southampton
OBE (1982) - Newcastle United
Went on to be crowned European Footballer of the Year twice after leaving Anfield and in 1980 appeared for SV Hamburg in their European Cup Final defeat to Nottingham Forest. Returned to England the following year to sign for Southampton in a surprise deal before returning to his Geordie roots and spearheading the Newcastle United revival. He eventually hung up his boots in May 1984 and after a six-year spell out of the game sensationally returned to St James Park as manager. Has since managed Fulham, England and currently Manchester City.
Steve Heighway
Games: 449 (24)
Goals: 76
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77 & 1978/79)
FA Cup (1974) runner-up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977 & 1978)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1974 & 1976) runner-up (1971)
International caps for Republic of Ireland (32)
Left Liverpool:
Other Clubs: Minnesota Kicks (USA)
Honours won with other clubs: none
After a decade at Anfield an ageing Steve Heighway went to ply his trade across the Atlantic in the NASL in 1981but not before adding to his impressive medal collections by helping the Reds retain the European Cup in 1978 and another League Championship the following season. He returned to Liverpool in the early eighties to take up a position as youth development officer and has since been instrumental in the development of youngsters like Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen, to name just two. Now director of the club's Academy in Kirkby.
David Johnson
Games: 176 (32)
Goals: 78
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80 & 1981/82)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1982)
European Cup (1981)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1979 & 1980)
International caps for England (5)
Left Liverpool: August 1982
Other Clubs: Everton, Barnsley (on loan), Manchester City, Tulsa Roughnecks, Preston North End
Honours with other clubs: none
After missing out on a place in the starting line-up for the 1977 European Cup Final Johnson suffered further agony when injury ruled him out of the squad for the following years final against FC Bruges. In 1981 it was a case of third time lucky as he played in the 1-0 victory against Real Madrid in Paris but the emergence of Ian Rush was to soon signal the end of his Anfield career. He moved across Stanley Park to rejoin Everton for £100,000 in 1982 and now pops up regularly as a speaker on the after-dinner circuit.
John Toshack
Games: 236/9
Goals: 95
Honours won with Liverpool:
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1976/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup (1974)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
Charity Shield (1976)
International caps for Wales (26)
Left Liverpool: February 1978
Other Clubs: Swansea City, Sporting Lisbon, Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Deportivo La Coruna
Honours won with other clubs:
Injury problems and intense competition for places hastened the departure of John Toshack to Swansea City as player/manager. His amazing success in the managerial hot-seat at the Vetch Field, where he guided the Swans from the Fourth to the First Division, saw his reputation blossom and he went on to successfully manage abroad - most notably at Real Madrid. Enjoyed a brief spell in charge of Liverpool's 1977 European Cup adversaries St Etienne during 2001 and is currently in his third spell at Real Sociedad.
David Fairclough
Games: 92/62
Goals: 55
Honours with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77 & 1979/80)
League Cup (1983) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1978)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1977*)
Left Liverpool: July 1983
Other Clubs: Toronto Blizzard, Basle, Norwich City, Oldham Athletic, Beveren SK, Tranmere Rovers
Honours won with other clubs: none
Erased the bitter memory of missing out on a place in the starting eleven in Rome 12 months later when he played the full 90 minutes of the Wembley victory over FC Bruges. He failed to shake off the Supersub tag though and in April 1982 he jetted off to play for Toronto Blizzard in the NASL in April 1982. Eventually left Anfield for good the follow June when he joined Swiss club Basle. Brief spells with Norwich, Oldham, Beveren and Tranmere followed before he hung up his boots. Now works in the media as a match summariser and looks after boot sponsorships for Nike in the Northwest.
"People will always remember me as Liverpool's twelfth man but I still look upon that as a great honour because I played in an era when Liverpool had a very strong squad and many good players never even made it onto the bench."
Alan Waddle
Games: 16/6
Goals: 1
Honours won with Liverpool -
European Cup (1977) non-playing substitute
Left Liverpool: September 1977
Other Clubs: Halifax Town, Leicester City, Swansea City, Newport County
Five months after sitting on the bench in Rome Alan Waddle was sold to Leicester City for £45,000. He made just 11 first team appearances at Filbert Street before joining a number of his ex-Anfield team mates at Swansea, where he enjoyed the most fruitful spell of his career - scoring 34 goals as the Swans rose through the divisions.
The Banner
Not long after the 1977 European Cup Final the most famous banner in Liverpool history was presented to the man who's antics inspired it - Joey Jones. "I was given the banner when I left Liverpool and I think as much of that as I do the medal," says Jones. "It has been everywhere, so many people keep wanting to see it, it's probably more famous than me!" In 1994 the banner reappeared for the last day of the Kop and it has been seen at several supporter functions since.
Crusaders
Did not appear in European competition again until 1980 when a young John Aldridge-inspired Newport County ended their interest at the first round stage of the European Cup Winners Cup. Crusaders won their third and fourth Irish League titles in 1995 and 1997 respectively but have achieved little since.
Trabzonspor
Went on to win three successive Turkish titles between 1979 and 1981 but never again made it past the first round of the European Cup. In 1984 they clinched their 6th and last national title but have since faded back into obscurity.
St Etienne
Defeat to Liverpool in the 1976/77 European Cup marked the beginning of the end for the great St Etienne side that was widely acclaimed as the finest to ever come out of France. Although a new team, which included Michel Platini and Johnny Rep, won the French title in 1981, two years later the unthinkable occurred and they were relegated. Top-flight status was regained in 1986 but riddled by debt went back down in '96. At one point the club almost went out of business and Les Verts are currently plying their trade in the second tier of French football.
FC Zurich
1977 was to be the tip of the iceberg for FC Zurich. In the 25 years that have followed they've failed to make any impression in Europe and have not enjoyed much success at home either. In 1981 FCZ claimed their last Swiss title and two years ago won the Swiss Cup.
Borussia Moenchengladbach
Lost to the Reds again in the following years European Cup semi-final but recovered from
Eleven months after meeting in Rome Liverpool and Moenchengladbach were drawn together in the semi-final of the following seasons competition. The Reds again ran out winners, 4-2 on aggregate, but Borussia recovered from these disappointments to lift the UEFA Cup for a second time in 1979. In the final of the UEFA Cup the following year they lost on away goals to Eintracht Frankfurt and there begun a steady decline that was to eventually result in relegation from the Bundesliga in 1999, although they are now back in the top-flight of German football.
A friendship between the supporters of Liverpool and Borussia Moenchengladbach has been going from strength to strength since the European clashes between the two club's in the seventies.
BMG also provided the opposition for Emlyn Hughes' Testimonial game at Anfield. The relationship was more formally recognised after the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, when BMG fan clubs kindly organised a series of events and raised large sums of money for the Disaster Fund. A year later, over a hundred BMG fans visited Merseyside to pay their respects at the Hillsborough Memorial and stand on the Spion Kop. Further visits - in each direction - have followed and now take place on a regular basis. Many "Borussen" wear Liverpool shirts and scarves in the "Nordkurve" (the BMG Kop) during home games.
Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We'd thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance for-ever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la la la la la la la la
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Then the glory years came rushing by us
We lost our starry notions along the way
If by chance I'd see you in that tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
Those were the days my friend
we'd thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance for-ever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la la la la la la la la
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
The other night I stood outside the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that fresh faced person really me
Those were the days my friend
We'd thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance for-ever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la la la la la la la la
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call out my name
Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
Those were the days…
Written by Mark Platt from LFC.TV and produced with Mark's consent.
Bob Paisley
Honours won as Liverpool manager-
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82 & 1982/83)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1981, 1982 & 1983) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
World Club Championship (1981)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980, 1982)
Manager of the Year (1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982 & 1983)
OBE (1977)
Deservedly voted Manager of the Year for the role he played in leading Liverpool to their first European Cup success in 1977. An OBE soon followed and Paisley went on to establish himself as the most successful English manager of all time, guiding the Reds to unprecedented success at home and abroad. Retired in 1983 and joined the club's board of directors. Came out of retirement briefly to act as a consultant to Kenny Dalglish when he was appointed player/manager in 1986. In later life Paisley sadly suffered from Alzheimer's disease, which ultimately led to his death in 1996. Five years later the 'Paisley Gateway' was officially unveiled at Anfield in recognition of his achievements.
Ray Clemence
Games: 665
Goals: 0
Honours Won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79 & 1979/80)
FA Cup (1974), runner-up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup (1981) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979 & 1980) runner- up (1971)
International caps for England (1)
Left Liverpool: August 1981
Other Clubs: Tottenham Hotspur
Honours won with other clubs: Tottenham Hotspur - FA Cup (1982), League Cup runner-up (1982)
Added another two European Cup winners medals to his collection before surprisingly leaving Liverpool in the summer of 1981 to join Tottenham Hotspur, with whom he won the FA Cup in his first season. Later became a coach at White Hart Lane before managing north London minnows Barnet for a short while in 1994. Currently works as a member of the England coaching staff.
Phil Neal
Games: 648
Goals: 60
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83 & 1983/84)
League Cup (1981, 1982, 1983 & 1984) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978, 1981 & 1984) runner-up (1985)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978 & 1985)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981 & 1984)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980 & 1982) runner-up (1983 & 1984)
International caps for England (50)
Left Liverpool: December 1985
Other Clubs: (as manager) Bolton Wanderers, Coventry City, Cardiff City, Manchester City
Honours won with other clubs: None
The only Englishman to win four European Cup winners medals Neal is the most decorated player in Liverpool history. He later captained the Reds and served the club loyally until 1985 when he embarked on a career in management with Bolton Wanderers. Brief spells as boss of Coventry City, Cardiff City and Manchester City then followed, as did a stint on the England coaching staff during Graham Taylor's tenure as national boss. Now remains involved in the game as a radio summariser.
Joey Jones
Games: 100
Goals: 3
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977)
European Super Cup (1977)
Charity Shield (1976 & 1977*)
International caps for Wales (18)
Left Liverpool: September 1978
Other Clubs: Wrexham, Chelsea, Huddersfield Town, Wrexham (player then coach)
Honours won with other clubs: international caps (54)
Joey Jones was the unfortunate victim of Alan Hansen's arrival at Liverpool. A defensive reshuffle to accommodate the young Scot saw Jones lose his place in the Reds first team and just over a year after winning the European Cup he was on his way back to Wrexham in a cut-price £20,000 deal. Later moved to Chelsea, where he became a cult-hero with the fans on the Shed, and helped the Londoners to promotion before a brief spell at Huddersfield preceded a third stint with Wrexham. Was a coach at the Racecourse Ground until 2001.
Phil Thompson
Games: 477
Goals: 13
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82 & 1982/83)
FA Cup (1974)
League Cup (1981 & 1982) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1974, 1976, 1977*, 1979, 1980 & 1982) runner-up (1983)
International caps for England (41)
Left Liverpool: March 1985
Other Clubs: Sheffield United
Honours won with other clubs: none
Got over the disappointment of missing out on the glory of Rome by playing in the following years final against Bruges and then captaining the Reds to a third European Cup success in 1981 against Paris in Real Madrid. Left Anfield for a brief spell with Sheffield United in 1985 before returning to the club as reserve team coach. Was dismissed by Graeme Souness in 1992 but reinstated as assistant manager to Gerard Houllier in 1999. Stood in as manager when Houllier underwent heart surgery during the 2001/2002 season.
Emlyn Hughes
Games: 665
Goals: 49
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77 & 1978/79)
FA Cup (1974) runner-up (1977)
League Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977 & 1978)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1974, 1976 & 1977*) runner-up (1971)
International caps for England (59)
Football Writers Player of the Year (1977)
OBE
Left Liverpool: April 1979
Other Clubs: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rotherham United (player/manager), Hull City, Swansea City
Honours won with other clubs: League Cup (1980) - Wolverhampton Wanders
International caps (3)
Twelve months after lifting the European Cup in Rome Hughes repeated the feat as Liverpool became the first English club to retain the trophy following a 1-0 defeat of FC Bruges at Wembley. Later moved on to Wolves and had a spell as manager of Rotherham. Achieved TV fame as a captain on BBC's Question of Sport and now runs a successful PR company in Yorkshire. He remains the only British player to captain two European Cup winning teams.
Tommy Smith
Games: 632 (1)
Goals: 48
Honours Won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1965/66, 1972/73, 1975/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup (1965 & 1974) runners up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup runners up (1978)
European Cup (1977)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Cup Winners Cup runners up (1966)
Charity Shield (1965, 1966 & 1974) runner-up (1971)
International caps for England - 1
Left Club: August 1978
Other Clubs: Swansea City
Honours with other clubs: none
Following his 'Roy of the Rovers' heroics in Rome the Anfield Iron reversed his decision to leave Liverpool and agreed to stay on for a further year. Was awarded an MBE for his services to football and only a freak injury deprived him of a second successive European Cup final appearance in 1978. Eventually left the club to join Swansea before briefly returning to the club as a youth team coach. Now writes a weekly column in the Liverpool Echo.
Ray Kennedy
Games: 389 (3)
Goals: 72
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80 & 1981/82)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979 & 1980)
International caps for England (17)
Left Liverpool: December 1982
Other Clubs: Swansea City, Hartlepool United, Sunderland (coach)
Honours won with other clubs:
An unsung member of the all-conquering Liverpool side of the late seventies Kennedy won another two European Cup winners medals with the Reds before joining the Toshack revolution at Swansea in December 1982. A return to his native north east and a spell at Hartlepool then followed, as did a coaching role with Sunderland, before he was tragically diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's disease at the age of 35.
Ian Callaghan
Games: 843 (5)
Goals: 69
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1963/64, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1975/76 & 1976/77)
Second Division Championship (1961/62)
FA Cup (1965 & 1974) runners up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup runners up (1978)
European Cup (1977)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Cup Winners Cup runners up (1966)
International caps for England - 4
Football Writers Player of the Year (1973/74)
MBE (1975)
Left Club: September 1978
Other Clubs: Swansea City, Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL), Canberra City (Australia), Cork City & Crewe Alexandra
Honours won with other clubs: none
Still holds the record for having played the more competitive games for Liverpool than anyone else. The evergreen Cally finally called time on his eighteen year Anfield career when he joined Swansea in September 1978. Brief spells in Ireland and Norway followed before he ended his career with Crewe Alexandra. Went into the restaurant business after hanging up his boots and was later chairman of the Littlewoods 'spot the ball' panel. Now retired but remains actively involved in the Former Liverpool Players Association.
Jimmy Case
Games: 244 (25)
Goals: 46
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79 & 1979/80)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1981) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1976, 1977*, 1979 & 1980)
Left Liverpool:
Other Clubs: Brighton, Southampton, Bournemouth, Halifax Town, Wrexham, Darlington, Sittingbourne, Brighton (as manager)
Honours won with other clubs: FA Cup runner up (1983) - Brighton & Hove Albion
It's not often that a player leaves Anfield having yet reached his peak but European football's young player of the year in 1977 Jimmy Case falls into the category. Case successfully collected further honours at club level during the remaining four years of his Anfield career but the emergence of Sammy Lee was a contributory factor in him being transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion in 1981 but he went on to serve the Seagulls and then Southampton with distinction before seeing out his career in the lower leagues. The last of the Reds 1977 squad to be playing professionally he didn't hang up his boots until1996 and now lives and works on the south coast.
Terry McDermott
Games: 316 (12)
Goals: 80
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80 & 1981/82)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1981 & 1982) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977, 1978 & 1981)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1977*, 1979 & 1980
International caps for England (25)
Football Writers Player of the Year (1980)
PFA Player of the Year (1980)
Left Liverpool: September 1982
Other Clubs: Newcastle United, Cork City, Apoel (Cyprus)
Honours won with other clubs: none
Blossomed into one of the clubs finest ever players in the aftermath of Liverpool's first European Cup win, hitting the back with spectacular regularity and becoming the first player to scoop the Football Writers and PFA Player of the Year awards in 1980. Aged 31, McDermott returned to Tyneside, where he helped inspire a Newcastle United revival alongside Kevin Keegan. Hung up his boots after brief spells in Ireland and Cyprus before teaming up with Keegan again as assistant manager at St James Park in 1992, playing a major part in another Magpie renaissance. Continues to live in the north east.
Kevin Keegan
Games: 323
Goals: 100
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup (1974) runner-up (1977)
European Cup (1977)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
Charity Shield (1974 & 1976)
Football Writers Player of the Year (1976)
International caps for England (29)
Left Liverpool: July 1977
Other Clubs: SV Hamburg, Southampton, Newcastle United (first as player, then manager), Fulham (manager), Manchester City (manager)
Honours won with other clubs: Bundesliga (1979) - Hamburg
European Cup runner-up (1980) - Hamburg
European Player of the Year (1979 & 1980) - Hamburg
International caps (34) - Hamburg & Southampton
OBE (1982) - Newcastle United
Went on to be crowned European Footballer of the Year twice after leaving Anfield and in 1980 appeared for SV Hamburg in their European Cup Final defeat to Nottingham Forest. Returned to England the following year to sign for Southampton in a surprise deal before returning to his Geordie roots and spearheading the Newcastle United revival. He eventually hung up his boots in May 1984 and after a six-year spell out of the game sensationally returned to St James Park as manager. Has since managed Fulham, England and currently Manchester City.
Steve Heighway
Games: 449 (24)
Goals: 76
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77 & 1978/79)
FA Cup (1974) runner-up (1971 & 1977)
League Cup runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1977 & 1978)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1974 & 1976) runner-up (1971)
International caps for Republic of Ireland (32)
Left Liverpool:
Other Clubs: Minnesota Kicks (USA)
Honours won with other clubs: none
After a decade at Anfield an ageing Steve Heighway went to ply his trade across the Atlantic in the NASL in 1981but not before adding to his impressive medal collections by helping the Reds retain the European Cup in 1978 and another League Championship the following season. He returned to Liverpool in the early eighties to take up a position as youth development officer and has since been instrumental in the development of youngsters like Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen, to name just two. Now director of the club's Academy in Kirkby.
David Johnson
Games: 176 (32)
Goals: 78
Honours won with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80 & 1981/82)
FA Cup runner-up (1977)
League Cup (1982)
European Cup (1981)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
World Club Championship runner-up (1981)
Charity Shield (1979 & 1980)
International caps for England (5)
Left Liverpool: August 1982
Other Clubs: Everton, Barnsley (on loan), Manchester City, Tulsa Roughnecks, Preston North End
Honours with other clubs: none
After missing out on a place in the starting line-up for the 1977 European Cup Final Johnson suffered further agony when injury ruled him out of the squad for the following years final against FC Bruges. In 1981 it was a case of third time lucky as he played in the 1-0 victory against Real Madrid in Paris but the emergence of Ian Rush was to soon signal the end of his Anfield career. He moved across Stanley Park to rejoin Everton for £100,000 in 1982 and now pops up regularly as a speaker on the after-dinner circuit.
John Toshack
Games: 236/9
Goals: 95
Honours won with Liverpool:
First Division Championship (1972/73, 1976/76 & 1976/77)
FA Cup (1974)
UEFA Cup (1973 & 1976)
Charity Shield (1976)
International caps for Wales (26)
Left Liverpool: February 1978
Other Clubs: Swansea City, Sporting Lisbon, Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Deportivo La Coruna
Honours won with other clubs:
Injury problems and intense competition for places hastened the departure of John Toshack to Swansea City as player/manager. His amazing success in the managerial hot-seat at the Vetch Field, where he guided the Swans from the Fourth to the First Division, saw his reputation blossom and he went on to successfully manage abroad - most notably at Real Madrid. Enjoyed a brief spell in charge of Liverpool's 1977 European Cup adversaries St Etienne during 2001 and is currently in his third spell at Real Sociedad.
David Fairclough
Games: 92/62
Goals: 55
Honours with Liverpool -
First Division Championship (1975/76, 1976/77 & 1979/80)
League Cup (1983) runner-up (1978)
European Cup (1978)
UEFA Cup (1976)
European Super Cup (1977) runner-up (1978)
Charity Shield (1977*)
Left Liverpool: July 1983
Other Clubs: Toronto Blizzard, Basle, Norwich City, Oldham Athletic, Beveren SK, Tranmere Rovers
Honours won with other clubs: none
Erased the bitter memory of missing out on a place in the starting eleven in Rome 12 months later when he played the full 90 minutes of the Wembley victory over FC Bruges. He failed to shake off the Supersub tag though and in April 1982 he jetted off to play for Toronto Blizzard in the NASL in April 1982. Eventually left Anfield for good the follow June when he joined Swiss club Basle. Brief spells with Norwich, Oldham, Beveren and Tranmere followed before he hung up his boots. Now works in the media as a match summariser and looks after boot sponsorships for Nike in the Northwest.
"People will always remember me as Liverpool's twelfth man but I still look upon that as a great honour because I played in an era when Liverpool had a very strong squad and many good players never even made it onto the bench."
Alan Waddle
Games: 16/6
Goals: 1
Honours won with Liverpool -
European Cup (1977) non-playing substitute
Left Liverpool: September 1977
Other Clubs: Halifax Town, Leicester City, Swansea City, Newport County
Five months after sitting on the bench in Rome Alan Waddle was sold to Leicester City for £45,000. He made just 11 first team appearances at Filbert Street before joining a number of his ex-Anfield team mates at Swansea, where he enjoyed the most fruitful spell of his career - scoring 34 goals as the Swans rose through the divisions.
The Banner
Not long after the 1977 European Cup Final the most famous banner in Liverpool history was presented to the man who's antics inspired it - Joey Jones. "I was given the banner when I left Liverpool and I think as much of that as I do the medal," says Jones. "It has been everywhere, so many people keep wanting to see it, it's probably more famous than me!" In 1994 the banner reappeared for the last day of the Kop and it has been seen at several supporter functions since.
Crusaders
Did not appear in European competition again until 1980 when a young John Aldridge-inspired Newport County ended their interest at the first round stage of the European Cup Winners Cup. Crusaders won their third and fourth Irish League titles in 1995 and 1997 respectively but have achieved little since.
Trabzonspor
Went on to win three successive Turkish titles between 1979 and 1981 but never again made it past the first round of the European Cup. In 1984 they clinched their 6th and last national title but have since faded back into obscurity.
St Etienne
Defeat to Liverpool in the 1976/77 European Cup marked the beginning of the end for the great St Etienne side that was widely acclaimed as the finest to ever come out of France. Although a new team, which included Michel Platini and Johnny Rep, won the French title in 1981, two years later the unthinkable occurred and they were relegated. Top-flight status was regained in 1986 but riddled by debt went back down in '96. At one point the club almost went out of business and Les Verts are currently plying their trade in the second tier of French football.
FC Zurich
1977 was to be the tip of the iceberg for FC Zurich. In the 25 years that have followed they've failed to make any impression in Europe and have not enjoyed much success at home either. In 1981 FCZ claimed their last Swiss title and two years ago won the Swiss Cup.
Borussia Moenchengladbach
Lost to the Reds again in the following years European Cup semi-final but recovered from
Eleven months after meeting in Rome Liverpool and Moenchengladbach were drawn together in the semi-final of the following seasons competition. The Reds again ran out winners, 4-2 on aggregate, but Borussia recovered from these disappointments to lift the UEFA Cup for a second time in 1979. In the final of the UEFA Cup the following year they lost on away goals to Eintracht Frankfurt and there begun a steady decline that was to eventually result in relegation from the Bundesliga in 1999, although they are now back in the top-flight of German football.
A friendship between the supporters of Liverpool and Borussia Moenchengladbach has been going from strength to strength since the European clashes between the two club's in the seventies.
BMG also provided the opposition for Emlyn Hughes' Testimonial game at Anfield. The relationship was more formally recognised after the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, when BMG fan clubs kindly organised a series of events and raised large sums of money for the Disaster Fund. A year later, over a hundred BMG fans visited Merseyside to pay their respects at the Hillsborough Memorial and stand on the Spion Kop. Further visits - in each direction - have followed and now take place on a regular basis. Many "Borussen" wear Liverpool shirts and scarves in the "Nordkurve" (the BMG Kop) during home games.
Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We'd thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance for-ever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la la la la la la la la
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Then the glory years came rushing by us
We lost our starry notions along the way
If by chance I'd see you in that tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
Those were the days my friend
we'd thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance for-ever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la la la la la la la la
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
The other night I stood outside the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that fresh faced person really me
Those were the days my friend
We'd thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance for-ever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la la la la la la la la
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call out my name
Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
Those were the days…
-
mottman - Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm
by mottman » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:23 am
If you have enjoyed reading this please consider making a small donation to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.
You can either pay by cheque or postal order made payable to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and send to:
Hillsborough Justice Campaign
P O Box 1089
178 Walton Breck Road
Liverpool
L69 4WR
Thank you
© Mottman
You can either pay by cheque or postal order made payable to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and send to:
Hillsborough Justice Campaign
P O Box 1089
178 Walton Breck Road
Liverpool
L69 4WR
Thank you
© Mottman
-
mottman - Posts: 315
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:45 pm
7 posts
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