Robert Exley
In a break from the usual format, instead of Norwich City Away (which will be covered together with Norwich at Home in April) this week’s #ThrowbackThursday/#FlashbackFriday will centre on Arsenal’s European fixtures over the years.
The first involvement of Arsenal players in European competition actually goes back as far as 1955, albeit not actually involving Arsenal. In 1955 the Inter Cities Fairs Cup was created – a competition whose evolution leads directly to today’s Europa League, however in a somewhat different guise altogether with a name which was pretty much as literal as it sounds. The Fairs Cup was set up to comprise of teams that hailed from various European cities who regularly held a trade fair and entry was strictly limited to just one team per city. Rather than one of London’s numerous clubs representing the City, the first Fairs Cup competition actually involved a London Representative XI whose first fixture came in June 1955 away at Basel, which included two Arsenal players in Jim Fotheringham and Cliff Holton, the latter among the scorers as the London XI ran out 5-0 winners.
Something even more of an oddity about this London XI is that it was managed by the then Chelsea Chairman Joe Mears, who could well be something of an inspiration to the incumbent Russian who inhabits this role at Stamford Bridge today and his penchant for impossibly high standards when it comes to managers, should he wish to give the ‘Special One’ his P45 and take over himself. The format of the first tournament included twelve sides split into four groups of three and played over three seasons. The London XI played one fixture at Highbury, which was the second leg of the Semi Final against Lausanne Sports in October 1957. London pulled back a 1-2 deficit from the first leg winning 2-0 on the night with Chelsea’s Jimmy Greaves and Arsenal’s Cliff Holton among the goals winning 3-2 on aggregate.
The London XI played a Barcelona XI predominantly made up of the Nou Camp side with one sole player from neighbours Español. The first leg took place at Stamford Bridge in March 1958 with Arsenal’s Jack Kelsey and Vic Groves (uncle of Perry) lining up against Barca, in a game which ended 2-2. Eight weeks later however, taking over the side had been Arsenal assistant trainer - Billy Milne - who made seven changes to the side to the side including the inclusion of Arsenal’s Dave Bowden and Jimmy Bloomfield. Barcelona however inflicted a 0-6 defeat on London in the Nou Camp including two goals from the familiar name of Luis Suárez (obviously not that one!). Barcelona retained the Fairs Cup in 1960 by defeating Birmingham City, the second competition this time only taking two years to complete. The Fairs Cup in its early years was seen as a competition on a par with the European Cup and Barcelona actually participated in both competitions in 1960/61, however this time competition was played out over just one season. The rule that only one side from each city enter the tournament however remained.
Arsenal’s first venture into Europe in their own right came in the Fairs Cup in September 1963 away against Danish side Staevnet, who were a Copenhagen representative XI. Arsenal won 7-1 with a goal for Johnny McLeod and hat-tricks for Joe Baker and Geoff Strong. Arsenal however lost the home leg 2-3 back at Highbury, though still proceeded to the Second Round winning 9-4 on aggregate. The Gunners however were eliminated in the second leg against Liège, who held Arsenal to 1-1 draw at Highbury and inflicted a 1-3 defeat in the away leg. Arsenal didn’t compete again in Europe until 1969/70. It’s been widely remarked that Arsenal only qualified for this tournament as League Cup winners Swindon (who of course defeated Arsenal in the 1969 Final) were barred from entering on account of not being a top tier side, however the one team per city rule also worked in Arsenal favour, as Arsenal finished fourth in 1968/69 where third placed Everton were denied as Liverpool finished above them as runners up.
Arsenal’s Fairs Cup campaign kick-off with a first round tie at home to Glentoran of Northern Ireland, running out 3-0 winners with one goal for Bobby Gould and two for George Graham. Ironically, Ulsterman Sammy Nelson would make his debut in this tie as a substitute for Bob McNab. Arsenal would lose the away leg 0-1 though would proceed to the next round where Sporting Lisbon awaited them. Arsenal drew 0-0 at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light, while back at Highbury scored a 3-0 win over the Portuguese side with goals from John Radford and two for George Graham. In the third round Arsenal played French side Rouen, whom they held to a 0-0 draw away, in the return leg at Highbury Jon Sammels scored the only goal to give Arsenal a 1-0 win.
By March of 1970 Arsenal were drawn against Romania’s Dinamo Bacau in the Quarter Finals, winning the first leg 2-0 away with goals from John Radford and Jon Sammels. The second leg at Highbury was an even more comprehensive victory with Arsenal winning 7-1, with goals from George Graham, two for Charlie George, two for John Radford and two for Jon Sammels. In the Semi-Finals Arsenal would be drawn against Dutch side Ajax, who included Cruyff, Krol and Muhren. Captain Frank McLintock would remark that Arsenal would ‘wipe the floor’ with Ajax and so it proved winning the first leg at Highbury 3-0 with two goals for Charlie George (who Cruyff at the time remarked could become as good a player as Alfredo Di Stefano) and a penalty from Jon Sammels. A week later Arsenal would lose 0-1 to Ajax in Amsterdam, however would proceed to the final winning 3-1 on aggregate.
In the final Arsenal faced another Benelux side in the shape of Anderlecht from Belgium just seven days on from the Semi Final due to preparations for Mexico ’70. Frank McLintock in his autobiography believes this in some way contributed to Arsenal’s woeful performance in Brussels, as ‘we had not yet worked out a way to beat them….we just went out to play as we played all season and didn’t modify our approach to compensate for their specific strengths and weaknesses. Consequently Anderlecht duped us. There’s no better word for it. They had the insouciance of a street corner card sharp’. Arsenal went three goals down with Johan Devrindt and two from Dutchman Jan Mulder, on whom McLintock remarked after the game that he was: ‘without exaggeration the best centre-forward I have ever faced. He is better in every regard than Johan Cruyff’. The aforementioned Cruyff would later go on to be Mulder’s team mate when Mulder joined Ajax in 1972.
At that point no side had ever reversed a three goal deficit in a European final, however Nineteen year old Ray Kennedy - in what was only his fourth appearance for Arsenal - came on as substitute and gave Arsenal a lifeline eight minutes from time, though the Gunners went back to Highbury 1-3 down from the first leg. On the verge of losing their third final in as many years, McLintock described that his players had ‘sunk to the lowest level I’d ever seen’ however described in his autobiography that inspiration hit him in the dressing room after the game on realising that despite their height in the centre of defence Anderlecht couldn’t defend on crosses and that young Kennedy’s impact had unsettled their defence as he had started to win balls in the air.
Bob Wilson described that: ‘I remember him going into the shower feeling as down as anyone. He came out five minutes later and he was like Mel Gibson in Braveheart’. McLintock proclaimed in his speech that: ‘we will pulverise this team with our mental strength, physical power and heading ability’. Bob Wilson said that: ‘by the time we left the dressing room to go back to the hotel, we were all convinced that we could win’. McLintock and the boys had also learned a thing or two from the Anderlecht crowd and as McLintock states: ‘in the press, all the players had urged the fans to give us the kind of reception that Anderlecht received from their fans in Belgium. You know – feisty and intimidating. And believe me the noise was ear splitting back at Highbury’. Arsenal also went into the home leg of the final with seventeen goals scored at Highbury in the Fairs Cup with just one conceded.
Before the final the Fairs Cup Committee (UEFA had no control over the tournament at this point) announced that away goals would not be used for this final. On the day of the second leg however the committee had announced that away goals scored in 90 minutes of either game would count double, meaning that Arsenal required a two goal win to defeat Anderlecht. Arsenal took a 1-0 lead after twenty five minutes when Eddie Kelly hit a twenty yard strike. With fifteen minutes to go John Radford put Arsenal ahead on away goals, with Jon Sammels putting Arsenal one goal ahead one minute later. One goal for Anderlecht would have meant extra time, but Arsenal hung on for the last fifteen minutes to secure a 3-0 win and their first trophy for seventeen years. The final whistle saw a mass of jubilant Arsenal fans gather on to the pitch to join the players in celebration, though three players, including Charlie George, lost their shirts to souvenir hunting fans. Sadly among the jubilation one man collapsed with a stroke and died on the North Bank, while another fractured his ribs and several others were injured amidst a crush.
Arsenal’s domestic calendar however still wasn’t finished and four days later the season ended with a 0-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, meaning that Arsenal finished twelfth and would be the lowest finishing side to win a European trophy, an accolade only bettered by Inter who finished one place lower in 1993/94 on winning the UEFA Cup. As will be seen tomorrow however, the Fairs Cup win of 1969/70 would be the springboard for further triumph for this Arsenal side, as well as bringing this club’s first involvement in the European Cup.
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