CITY 2 GORNIK ZABRZE 1
European Cup Winners Cup Final
29th April 1970
attendance 10,000
scorers
City Young(12), Lee(43 pen)
Gornik Ozlizlo(68)
Ref P Schiller
City Corrigan, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Heslop, Bell, Lee, Young, Towers – sub Bowyer(17), Dowd(unused), Carrodus(unused), Mann(unused), Summerbee(unused)
Gornik Kostka, Latocha, Ozlizlo, Gorgon, Flerenski, Szoltysik, Wilczek, Olek, Banas, Lubanski, Szarinski – used subs Skowronek(75), Deja(85)
FRANNY LEE PUTS CITY AHEAD FROM THE PENALTY SPOT AND BELOW ANSWERS A QUESTION ABOUT IT IN LOOK-IN MAGAZINE
FROM THE PRESS BOX
LIONS OF VIENNA
Magnificent City Prove Themselves Europe’s Kings
Manchester City proudly emerged as the new Lions of Vienna last Night when they carried off Europe’s ‘Cup Winners’ Cup at the first attempt in this tournament.
On a night of torrential rain on which their saturated but still jubilant supporters were the real heroes, City’s supremacy was never in doubt in their 2-1 victory over Polish rivals Gornik Zabrze.
…Although Manchester City’s injury hoodoo struck once more last night when Mike Doyle had to be carried off in the first half with a badly trapped nerve near one of his knees, his side were already on their way to what even then seemed almost inevitable victory as he departed from the scene in great pain.
It had taken the English side only 12 minutes to shoot their way into a well deserved lead with a goal by Neil Young, the marksman who had put them into this tournament with his F.A. Cup Final goal at Wembley last year.
…And three minutes before the interval England forward Francis Lee added to this lead with a goal from the penalty spot. It was a position that proved unassailable, even though the inferior Poles managed to pull back a goal in the 68th minute.
Even the appalling conditions could not dampen the enthusiasm of the hardy fans at the finish when City’s veteran captain Tony Book held aloft his side’s third major trophy in a year.
Although wet to the skin, as I was in a press box as comfortless as a lifeboat on a stormy sea, they did cartwheels on the pitch on which their heroes had performed such wonders.
Frankly the apprehensive Poles with their compliment of seven internationals, were disappointing.
Keeping their pre-match promise, the Maine Road men surged straight on to the attack, and harassed Gornik could only fumble unhappily in their desperate attempts to hold them off.
When Young scored his goal it was only the culmination of 12 minutes of absolute domination and his breakthrough was the just reward for intelligent anticipation.
Lee playing with all the fire and fervour that will serve England well in Mexico, shook off three defenders out on the left and hammered in a shot of fearsome power. It struck the foot of a post and then cannoned off the legs of goalkeeper Kostka straight to Young, whose flick into goal was the merest of formalities.
In an ill-natured start Gornik midfield man Olek complained to the Austrian referee that Lee had punched him, but I had seen no such offence. But when after only three minutes play the Pole decided to take the law into his own hands and to bang Lee hard down on the pitch, he was deservedly booked.
Much later in the game Gornik centre forward Banas was also booked for kicking the ball away as City prepared to take a free-kick.
Characteristically, Lee soon bounced back into full blooded action when he tested Kostka with a quick rising shot which the keeper parried with a cat-like leap.
The game was only 16 minutes old when Doyle collided with Florenski and lay in agony for two minutes while play went on around him. Even then the referee was reluctant to allow trainer Dave Ewing to attend to him. When Ewing got his way and carried Doyle off, City played on with only ten men for six minutes before Ian Bowyer came on as substitute.
Kostka conceded the penalty when City got their second goal, but there was no other course open to him than to tackle Young in rugby style when he saw the lanky raider bearing down on his goal. Lee drove his penalty shot home via Kostka’s legs.
In the 68th minute, however, Towers conceded a free-kick to Szoltysik and this player and Lubanski managed to force the ball out to veteran international Oslizlo who had cut in cunningly from the left, he beat Corrigan with a left foot drive in one of Gornik’s rare raids.
RONALD CROWTHER WRITING FOR THE DAILY MAIL 30TH APRIL 1970
CITY LOSE MIKE DOYLE THROUGH INJURY
We arrived in the stately City of Vienna for the final. A beautiful City and we were all in fabulous spirits as we settled in there. We had opposition to beat but we had no doubts that we could win. We felt relaxed and we enjoyed the cultural tours we went on. My overiding memory is of a very clean place. There was no graffiti, no-one misbehaving. I think standards over there, the way people dressed, the way people spoke, were better than at home.
To be honest going into that game we did have one worry. That was a world class player called Lubanski, Gornik’s star man. It’s been well documented over the years that the weather that night in the Prater Stadium was horrendous. The stadium held 80,000 however a torrential downpour limited the attendance on the night to 12,100, with just 4,000 traveling fans from Manchester braving the elements. Nevertheless, although our loyal fans were drenched in the stands (there was absolutely no cover to be had anywhere), The Blue Army stood firm and cheered us on to victory.
The rain was unbelievable that night. It was a miracle the game even finished.
…I scored the first when Franny Lee worked the ball in from the left and had a shot at goal. The keeper parried the shot and the ball was heading out towards me. I had managed to find some space inside the box, I looked across and reacted instinctively when the ball looped towards me. I had beaten the offside trap and a ball-watching defence, bang! 1-0.
The second goal was similar but in reverse if that makes sense. This time I made the goal for Franny but I felt a little aggrieved because I would definitely have scored a second had I not been cynically body checked by their goalkeeper.
Anyone who can recall Harold Schumachers challenge on Patrice Battistan in the 1982 World Cup semi-final will know exactly what I mean. The referee didn’t even book the Gornik keeper but at least he gave us a penalty. Franny was quite lucky with the penalty, it went inthrough the keeper’s legs but only just.
At 2-0 we had some breathing space and the City fans present certainly thought it was all over because they were going berserk.
Oslizlo scored late on for Gornik to give us a nervous last few minutes, but even at 2-1 we felt comfortable and when the final whistle went it was absolute ecstacy. We were over the moon, or should I say the Blue Moon! We had done it.
NEIL YOUNG SCORES TO MAKE IT 2-0
… It rained, how it rained! The giant stadium was swept by torrents of rain and the pitch became almost a quagmire.
We went into a 1-0 lead when Neil Young was put through on the left hand side of the park, he took the ball on, drew the keeper and waltzed round him, only to be brought down by a desperate defender. The redoubtable Franny Lee made no mistake from the penalty spot to give us the advantage.
I ceased to take any further part in the proceedings after twenty minutes because of an ankle injury. An opponent went over the top from behind and I copped the lot. Dave Ewing carried me off … I heard Malcolm calling at me “Get back on you big girl! You’re getting soft!” I gave him a right mouthful back and when Mal came down to get a good look at the ankle he knew the pain was real enough. I’d strained an Achilles tendon and the ankle had to be put in plaster.
… It wasn’t long before we scored another goal with Neil Young the marksman … Gornik got a goal near the end, but there was never any doubt as to which side was going to collect the trophy.
an excerpt from Big Joe: The Joe Corrigan Story by Joe Corrigan & David Clayton
I Always remember how pleasant it was on the day of the final. We trained in the morning and then went for a look around the stadium afterwards.
…Malcolm, in his infinite wisdom , said “Don’t worry lads, I’ve had a word with the groundsman and he’s promised to water the pitch all afternoon.” He’d given him a few Austrian schillings as a reward and must have been feeling very pleased with himself.
Within an hour the heavens opened and the rain didn’t stop until the early hours of the morning. We went back to the hotel and relaxed while our wives went to have their hair done for the game. But unfortunately the stadium had no roof and if the rain didn’t ease off, the hairdos would be no more than a pleasant memory by the time we kicked off.
…We walked out into what felt like like an empty stadium. It was surreal because this was a major European final and if it hadn’t been for for about 7,000 City fans we’d have been playing in front of less than 1,000 people.
We were dominant in the early stages and thoroughly deserved to score first through Neil Young, following some great work fom Franny Lee. But then Gornik came at us , it was like the Alamo for a while and they were a quality side with seven internationals, but Franny Lee scored the next goal to put us 2-0 up before the break.
We were a fit strong team of winners and though we conceded a goal in the second half, we held on to win 2-1.
It was an incredible feat, but one that was largely overlooked in our own country due to the FA Cup final between Leeds and Chelsea being replayed and televised live that same evening. Our game was being beamed across Europe, but at home there was no live coverage, which is a disgrace.
…Afterwards we had a reception in Vienna and shared a meal with the Gornik players and UEFA officials. It was a men only occasion and our wives, who had arrived at the stadium looking a million dollars but ended up looking like drowned rats after sitting through a torrential downpour, had to do with a separate room.
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Went to the game,flew with Aer Lingus on the day of the game,29 Guinea’s flight and match ticket,palled up with a lad from Northenden called Ian gaddum,hope he,s still Hale and hearty, remember going to pub in Vienna after the game,it was called the British Grenadier,been back to Vienna 6 or 7 times in recent years,went back to the prayer stadium recently, much changed!was 19 when I went to the final, season ticket holder in East stand now,best wishes to all blues at this tough time
I don’t suppose you can remember who commentated? My dad’s here racking his brains and we think it might be Bryon Butler but not 100% sure!
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