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It
was forty years ago today, when Joe Harvey’s boys taught them how to
play! |
| 11th June 2009 |
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You have to go back to a year when The Beatles gave their last
public performance, the Woodstock Festival was first held, Pelé
scored his 1,000th goal, England were still World Champions, the
first message was sent over ARPANET (the forerunner of the
internet), Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United
States of America, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its maiden
flight, war existed in Vietnam, the
Communist
Party controlled the East and the West put the first man on the
Moon, for the last time Newcastle United Football Club won a
major trophy.
That year was 1969 and Newcastle won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
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The 1967/68 season had seen Newcastle finish 10th in the First
Division, but due to the fact the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup had an
obscure one club per city rule, it meant Newcastle qualified for
it’s first European competition ahead of Everton, Tottenham
Hotspur, and Arsenal because Liverpool and Chelsea had already
qualified further up the table.
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup started in 1955 and was originally a
tournament open to cities that had hosted trade fairs, and not
necessarily football clubs - cities with more than one club sent
representative teams. Barcelona won the first tournament,
beating a London XI in the final.
By the mid-1960s, the cup was exclusively for football clubs who
usually qualified by virtue of a high finish in their domestic
league. The competition was renamed UEFA Cup in 1971 dropping
any links with trade fairs and removing the one club per city
rule.
For the 1968-69 competition each round was played over two legs,
and the 1st round lined up with the likes of Liverpool, Juventus,
Marseille, Feyenoord, Lyon, Valencia, Fiorentina, Napoli,
Chelsea, Leeds United, SV Hamburg, Sporting Lisbon, Real
Zaragoza and Athletic Bilbao all taking part.
The 1st Round saw Newcastle given a tough draw
against the mighty Feyenoord, who were eventual Dutch Champions that
season. Feyenoord had a side packed full of internationals
with masses of European experience and they eventual went on to
win the European Cup in 1970.
Despite the huge gulf between the teams, goals from Jim Scott, Pop Robson, Tommy Gibb and Wyn Davies saw Newcastle cruise to a 4-0 victory at St James’ Park with some free flowing football their more illustration opponents would have been proud of.
The second leg was much tougher encounter for Newcastle, as the Dutch side
played their usual
brilliant inventive football
that was missing on Tyneside. The game was one-way traffic with
Newcastle forced into a rear guard action and thanks to a
magnificent defensive display from defenders Ollie Burton and
John McNamee
United restricted Feyenoord to only a 0-2 win, meaning Newcastle
had arrived on the European scene with an impressive 4-2 aggregate victory
that surprised many experts. |
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Up next in the 2nd Round were Portuguese side
Sporting Lisbon.
Sporting had finished runners-up to Benfica in
the Portuguese First Division and were another side
liberally sprinkled with full internationals.
Two extremely close ties eventually saw
Newcastle win 2-1 on aggregate to enhance their
European pedigree even further.
In the 3rd Round Newcastle drew Real Zaragoza of
Spain, the Spaniards
had appeared in the Final twice in the last five
years, winning it once, and they started
the tie as favourites.
The first leg in Spain was played on New Years
Day and there was no New Years joy for the
Magpies, as they went down 3-2 with goals from
striking duo
Pop Robson and Wyn
Davies.
Although defeated, Newcastle had two away goals
and the knowledge that although fast and skilful
in attack the Spaniards defence looked
vulnerable. |
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In the return leg at St James Park
the Spaniards opted for a defensive line-up but their plans were
ripped to shreds after only two minutes. Gibb laid the ball out
to Robson on the right-flank by the half-way line. Pop
cut-inside and as a couple of defenders converged on him he
accelerated through the gap before unleashing a 30-yard
thunderbolt that flew into the roof of the net.
On 26 minutes a
diving header saw Gibb score from a Robson corner
to make it 2-0, however
Zaragoza got one back just before half-time.
The second half was on a knife-edge, but there were no more
goals, and the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate with Newcastle
progressing through on away goals.
Newcastle had reached the Quarter-Finals and again faced Portuguese
opposition, this time in the form of Vitoria Setubal who
had beaten Italian League leaders
Fiorentina in the last round. The 1st
Leg at St James' Park attracted the biggest Tyneside crowd so far in the
competition, with over 57,000 fans turning up. Those fans were
rewarded with a fantastic display of attacking football by
Newcastle United, as the home side scored 2 goals in the first half, and 3
in the second half. The Davis Robson partnership upfront was too
much for the Portuguese side, with Wyn Davis scoring in the
first half, and Pop Robson getting 2 goals in the second.
In the 2nd Leg in Portugal
another Wyn Davis goal in the first half made the score 1-1 at
half time, and 6-2 on aggregate, as Newcastle looked to have the tie well
and truly sawn up. However, 2 goals in the second half by Vitoria Setubal gave
Newcastle a slight scare but they held on to lose 3-1 on
the night, but win the tie 6-4 on aggregate.
Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers stood between Newcastle and
their first cup final since 1955. The league season was
now all but over, with Newcastle just having one game left to
play, and Rangers losing out to Celtic in both the league and
Cup.
The first leg was at Ibrox in front of over
75,000 all-ticket fans,
which included 12,000 travelling up from Tyneside, and the
Battle of Britain was a tense and tight affair. Newcastle's
defence was again magnificent, snuffing out Rangers for whole 90
minutes courtesy of some world class saves, including one from
the penalty spot, from man of the match Willie McFaul.
The second leg back on Tyneside took place 4 days after
the last
league game of the season, and again was a very tough and tight affair
standing at 0-0 at half time. Over 59,000 fans had crammed into St
James Park and the entire Gallowgate End (it was used by away
fans in those days) was overflowing with an estimated 22,000 thousands
Rangers fans. The city had been a sea of Blue and
White, with most Rangers fans drinking in the bars and on the streets
all day.
At the start of second half the deadlock was finally broken by Newcastle
when Jim Scott blasted a brilliant cross-shot into the roof of the net from close range.
On 77 minutes a Jackie Sinclair goal finished off Rangers. Ollie Burton's free-kick was glanced to Sinclair by Wyn Davies,
and Sinclair gleefully slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Following the goal the Gallowgate End erupted into a riot as Rangers fans spilled onto the pitch in an obvious attempt to get the game abandoned.
The referre was forced to take the players off the pitch for 17 minutes to allow the Police to restore order and clear the bottles from the pitch.
Newcastle then held on for the final minutes playing the game with a wall of Police in front of the Gallowgate End, but sadly the trouble didn't end there, as the Rangers fans went on the
rampage in the city centre after the match smashing shop windows, burning cars and fighting with the police.
After dispensing of Rangers, Newcastle United would contest the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final against
little known Hungarian side Ujpest Dozsa.
Ujpest had impressed a lot of
people along the way to the final beating some good teams and
building up quite a reputation. In the Quarter-Finals they beat
competition favourites Leeds United with ease 3-0 on aggregate.
On the eve of the final the Leeds manager Don Revie laughed off
Newcastle's chances by saying "If they borrowed Billy Bremner, Bobby
Charlton and George Best they (Newcastle) might stand a chance".
Ujpesti Dozsa reputation was not without merit as they
had six Hungarian internationals in their team, and had won
every game bar one in the competition so far.
Newcastle took to the field for the first leg at St James' Park
in a confident mood in front of nearly 60,000 screaming
Geordies.
Bobby Moncur was the unlikely Newcastle hero scoring twice in the second
half as home side ran out confortable 3-0 winners. His first was from a rebound as
Wyn Davies shot was only parried by the Hungarian keeper, and
his second came after a one-two with Benny Arentoft saw his low
shot nestle into the back of the net. Jim Scott added a third to
put Newcastle into a commanding position for the second leg in
Hungary.
The second
leg in Budapest
saw both sides take to the
field in front of an intimidating Hungarian atmosphere, which including approximately 2,000 United fans who had ventured behind the Iron Curtain.
The first half was a diaster for Newcastle, as Ujpesti scored two goals, with the usual reliable Newcastle defence felling
apart under the pressure, and only a world class save just before the break prevented United from losing their aggregate lead altogether.
Half-time brought about the now legendary calm words from the Newcastle manager Joe Harvey, who
stated that all they needed to do was score a goal and the Hungarians would crumble.
Harvey's words certainly did the trick because within a minute of the restart Bobby Moncur scored his 3rd of the tie.
Newcastle won a corner and when the keeper's punch fell to Sinclair, who clipped the ball back in, Moncur lashed it left-footed into the roof of the net.
After that crumble the Hungarian's did. Danish international Benny Arentoft added another goal four minutes later
to level the tie on the night, and the game was won on 74 minutes by substitute Alan Foggon who punished a now disillusioned Ujpesti side.
Foggon latched on to a Wyn Davies flick on, firing the ball
goalwards only to see it pushed onto the crossbar by the keeper. However, Foggon
was first to the rebound and finished what he had started by
slotting the ball into the empty net.
The match finished 3-2 to Newcastle on the night, making it 6-2 on aggregate. The
mighty men of Newcastle had done it, they had beaten
Ujpesti Dozsa home and away to lift
the Inter-Cites Fairs Cup. |
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The Newcastle players came back from Hungary to a heroes welcome.
Thousands of fans packed into St James Park to see the players
parade the trophy around the ground and then onto the Civic Centre where a
reception was held in their honour.
This was Newcastle's first trophy since the 1955 F.A. Cup victory and it brought
glory to a new generation of Geordies. Names like Joe Harvey, Bobby Moncur,
Wyn Davis, Pop Robson, Frank Clark and
Ben Arentoft will forever go down in folklore on Tyneside.
Newcastle United fans will forever remember those European
nights back in the late sixties at St James Park, where the Geordies took on and conquered some of the best in Europe.
As fans we have been craving this kind of success ever since, despite two promotions to shout about we've had four cup final defeats and two Premier League 2nd places to endure, and now with the recent dramatic fall from grace out of the Premier League, those heady days of 1968/69 seem even further away.
Row 'S' Army
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LINKS:
Inter-Cites Fairs Cup Results
Inter-Cites Fairs Cup Players
Past Seasons |
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