The late sixties and early seventies were great years for Hibernians.
Their exploits against foreign teams of the calibre of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Steaua Bucharest and Spartak Trnava made them the ‘darlings’ of the Maltese and the 1970-71 Cup Winners’ Cup continued to enhance their reputation.
Hibs’ opponents during that nostalgic season were none other than Real Madrid. By this time, the great Spanish team were six-times winners of the Champions Cup. However, the only player left from that legendary team was outside-left Gento.
Real’s standing, however, preceded them and as one can imagine, they drew a huge crowd to the stadium.
They surely did not come to Malta with their reserves and presented a team of 11 internationals. The two teams lined up as follows:
Hibernians: Freddie Mizzi, Johnnie Privitera, Salvu Gatt, Edward Azzopardi, Freddie Mallia, Freddie Delia, Eddie Theobald, Norman Buckle, Salvu Bonello Lorry Young, Charlie Micallef.
Real Madrid: Bolja, Jose Luis, Sanchis, Grande, De Philipe, Benito, Amancio, Puri, Planelles, Velasquez, Gento.
‘Those Magnificent Hibs’ thus went the headlines of the Times of Malta of Thursday, September 17, 1970.
‘Illustrious Real Madrid happy with a 0-0 draw’, said the Times as Hibs’ performance in the first leg of the Cup Winners’ Cup against Real surpassed all expectations.
Those were the good old days of Maltese football. If only, for the number of big clubs that played in Malta. It was still possible in those days to draw a big name in the first round of the UEFA competitions and Hibs used to draw them out like a magician.
That day Hibs were simply irresistible. They equalled and, at times, even surpassed Real Madrid in skills and went so far as to pen the Spaniards into their area in the closing minutes of the game.
In the end, Real were happy to go back home with a hard-earned 0-0 draw.
They disappointed the bumper 22,000 crowd present at the stadium but not as much as they upset their own supporters.
Back home, they were given the cold shoulder by the people in Madrid.
Every Hibs player gave his utmost against the Spaniards but one man who stood out was left-back Salvu Gatt. He had the unenviable task of marking the tricky Amancio.
Gatt played a great game which earned him the whole-hearted applause of all those present.
After the game, the Real players presented their shirts to their counterparts from Hibs. Gatt still has centre-forward Planelles’s shirt which he cherishes as a precious memento of that magnificent afternoon of European football.
Matthews angry
A strange, little incident happened after this match which is worth mentioning.
That season Hibs were trained by the great Stanley Matthews. After the match, a huge crowd of fans assembled in front of the club to cheer their heroes.
I was there as well and after the crowd dispersed, I lingered on at the club for a quiet drink with a couple of friends.
After a while, Sir Stanley came down the stairs from the boardroom together with Eddie Theobald, Freddie Delia and Freddie Mizzi.
Matthews seemed to be in a very bad mood which was rather strange after his team’s performance. Red in the face, he was telling his players off because of the number of scoring chances they missed.
Delia was not too happy with Sir Stanley’s criticism.
“After all we were playing against Real Madrid,” he complained.
Sir Stanley, however, would not listen to any excuses.
“You should have won,” he shouted angrily.
This incident clearly showed the difference in mentality between the Maltese part-timers and the British professional. For us, a draw against Real Madrid was a moral victory. For him, nothing less than a victory was enough.
Many had predicted a victory of double figures for Real in the return leg. Hibs, however, held tight and finished the match 0-5 down.
This time the Hibs hero was goalkeeper Mizzi. He even saved a penalty off Maravjon.