Spurs’ fall halts English stride

In 1973-74, English football followers had high hopes that teams from the country would continue to dominate the scene in the UEFA Cup after a victorious run of six successive seasons.

The winning sequence was as follows – 1968: Leeds United; 1969: Newcastle United; 1970: Arsenal; 1971: Leeds United; 1972: Tottenham Hotspur; and 1973: Liverpool.

Yet, although Tottenham reached the final in 1974, they were thwarted from grabbing more silverware for England by Dutch team Feyenoord.

First round: Stromsgodset IF (Norway)-Leeds 1-1, 1-6 (2-7); Hibernian-IBK Keflavik 3-0, 0-2 (3-2); Grasshoppers-Tottenham 1-5, 1-4 (2-9); Aberdeen-Finn Harps (Ireland) 4-1, 3-1 (7-2); Dundee-Twente Enschede (Net-herlands) 1-3, 2-4 (3-7); Belenenses (Portugal)-Wolves 0-2, 1-2 (1-4); Ipswich-Real Madrid 1-0, 0-0 (1-0).

The four English teams, along with Hibernian and Aberdeen from Scotland, moved on to the next round. The most impressive win came from Ipswich Town who ousted Real Madrid.

Second round: Aberdeen-Tottenham 1-1, 1-4 (2-5); Lokomotiv Leipzig (E. Germany)-Wolves 3-0, 1-4 (4-4 – Leipzig through on away goals); Ipswich-Lazio 4-0, 2-4 (6-4); Leeds-Hibernian 0-0, 0-0 (0-0 – Leeds win 5-4 on pens).

Third round: Dinamo Tbilisi (Russia)-Tottenham 1-1, 1-5 (2-6); Ipswich-Twente 1-0, 2-1 (3-3; Ipswich through on away goals); Leeds-V. Setubal 1-0, 1-3 (2-3).

Quarter-finals: Ipswich-Lokomotiv Leipzig 1-0, 0-1 (1-1, Ip-swich out on pens 3-4); Cologne-Tottenham 1-2, 0-3 (1-5).

Semi-finals: Lokomotiv Leipzig-Tottenham 1-2, 0-2 (1-4).

Final: Tottenham-Feyenoord 2-2 (England, Van Daele og); Feyenoord-Tottenham 2-0.

Formation: Jennings, Evans, Naylor, Pratt, England, Beal, McGrath, Perryman, Peters, Chivers, Coates.

Spurs remained unchanged for the second leg, only for Holder to come in as substitute for Pratt.

Early exits

In the 1974-75 UEFA Cup, English sides failed to hit the headlines as they only managed to last until the third round.

First round: Derby County-Servette (Switzerland) 4-1, 2-1 (6-2); Ipswich-Twente Enschede 2-2, 1-1 (3-3); Stoke-Ajax Amsterdam 1-1, 0-0 (1-1); Molenbeek (Belgium)-Dundee 1-0, 4-2 (5-2); Rosenborg BK (Norway)-Hibernian 2-3, 1-9 (3-12); FC Porto-Wolves 4-1, 1-3 (5-4).

While Hibernian went into double figures in their aggregate victory over Rosenborg, Ipswich and Stoke bowed out on the away goals rule.

Second round: Derby-Atletico Madrid 2-2, 2-2 (4-4, Derby through on penalties 7-6); Hibernian-Juventus 2-4, 0-4 (2-8).

Third round: Derby-FK Velez Mostar (Yugoslavia) 3-1, 1-4 (4-5).

Liverpool made up for the poor show in the 1974-75 tournament by clinching the honours the following season.

It was the Reds’ second success in the UEFA Cup after 1973.

First round: Royal Antwerp (Belgium)-Aston Villa 4-1, 1-0 (5-1); Everton-Milan 0-0, 0-1 (0-1); Feyenoord-Ipswich 1-2, 0-2 (1-4); Hibernian-Liverpool 1-0, 1-3 (2-3); IBK Keflavik-Dundee United 0-2, 0-4 (0-6).

Second round: Dundee United-FC Porto 1-2, 1-1 (2-3); Ipswich-Club Brugge (Belgium) 3-0, 0-4 (3-4); Real Sociedad-Liverpool 1-3, 0-6 (1-9).

Third round: Slask Wroclaw (Poland)-Liverpool 1-2, 0-3 (1-5).

Quarter-finals: Dynamo Dresden-Liverpool 0-0, 1-2 (1-2).

Semi-final: Barcelona-Liverpool 0-1, 1-1 (1-2).

Final: Liverpool-Brugge 3-2 (Kennedy, Case, Keegan); Brugge-Liverpool 1-1 (Keegan).

Formation: Clemence, Smith, Neal, Thompson, Hughes, Keegan, Kennedy, Callaghan, Fairclough, Heighway, Toshack (Case).

For the second leg, Case replaced Fairclough, who later in the game went in for Toshack.