Keep Fighting (25 page)

The second leg was played at Hampden Park, Glasgow, where a European Cup record attendance was created with 136,505 spectators crammed into the vast terracing and stands. Thousands were locked outside, and unconfirmed reports indicate that a couple of thousand more elected not to use the turnstiles as a means of entrance, clambering over walls and helping each other get inside Scotland's national stadium. It goes without saying that the actual amount of people inside the stadium was far greater than that officially registered.

The second leg kicked off amidst a frenzy of noise and screams as the Scottish side were willed on to further glory by their fanatical supporters. Hampden Park was ablaze with green and white and the stadium was truly rocking in an electric atmosphere. In the fourteenth minute it fell silent as Billy Bremner collected the ball, fully twenty-five yards from the Celtic goal and, moving forward, he unleashed a ferocious shot which flew high into the Celtic net to put Leeds level:

‘It was a fantastic feeling, I just saw the gap opening up before me, the ball bounced just right for me to have a crack, it was one of the sweetest shots I have ever struck and as soon as it left my foot I knew it was a goal.’

Billy McNeill, one of the Celtic players that day, recalls the moment:

‘I don't think there was anyone in the stadium who underestimated the skill possessed by Billy Bremner. We knew that he was a real threat to us, and Jock told us not to allow him any time on the ball. We did and we were punished; the shot was unbelievable. I told him afterwards that he wouldn't get another kick the whole game.’

The goal shocked the Scottish side and Leeds looked far more determined and dangerous than they had in the first leg. They went in at half time leading 1-0. Sadly, shortly after the restart, John ‘Yogi’ Hughes sent the Celtic crowd into raptures with a header which went past Sprake and into the Leeds net. A short time later the Leeds keeper was stretchered off the pitch after a nasty-looking collision with the giant Hughes, receiving a standing ovation from the Celtic supporters as he was carried away to the dressing rooms. David Harvey replaced him in the goal and his first task was to pick the ball out of his net after Bobby Murdoch had shot Celtic in front before the replacement keeper could even touch the ball.

Celtic now led 3-1 on aggregate, a score line they maintained, earning them a place in the European Cup final. In that secondleg encounter, it has to be said that one player had stood out above all others, Jimmy Johnstone. The diminutive red-haired winger told me:

‘It wasn't the greatest exhibition of football produced in Britain, but Leeds and Celtic were undoubtedly the top two sides of the time. Before the first game we had been written off as the losers and that really fired us up. Jock Stein used the media speculation as a motivator, it genuinely spurred us on and I believe we ran them ragged over both ties. Billy Bremner was his usual self. Being a close pal of his we were at each other the whole time, passing
comments and insults, both red heads so we were also prone to the odd bit of ill-tempered confrontation. There was one confrontation in that game which I think really depicts Billy Bremner perfectly. He received a real clattering and fell head first on the pitch, enough to knock most players out of their stride – it looked an awful painful experience. Not the wee man, he would have none of it. Despite all the fuss being made around him he got up, shook himself down and trotted off, continuing to give everything he could for Leeds United. After the game he was the first one to congratulate every Celtic player and told us, “if we [Leeds] were to lose to anyone I prefer it to be Celtic,” adding “now go on and win the f—— trophy.” It wasn't that he wanted Celtic to beat Leeds, that would never do, but Celtic had always been a favourite side of his. He was magnanimous in defeat, a true gentleman of football.’

Bremner's wish was not fulfilled as Celtic lost the final against Dutch side Feyenoord by two goals to one. He recalled:

‘I thought Celtic would win the trophy that year, it would take a special team to beat them, but they too seemed to suffer from tiredness in the final. It was disappointing to lose to them in the semi-final – we were so close to achieving personal ambitions but could not muster enough quality to get past Celtic. For me, it was a real experience playing in a competitive match against my other favourite side. I don't think I personally, nor any of our team, deserve any credit from either game against Celtic, it will always be one of my most memorable games, a really momentous occasion for me personally and professionally.’

LEEDS UNITED v SOUTHAMPTON

Division One

Saturday, 4 March 1972

Elland Road

The previous league match at Elland Road had seen Leeds demolish old rivals Manchester United in a 5-1 rout, a result
which had caused soccer pundits the length and breadth of the country to sing Leeds’ praise. There were those who believed the performance had been the most complete of any Leeds team in the club's history. Compliment indeed, but Don Revie's men were not the type to bask in such glory and rest on their laurels as Southampton, the next team to visit Elland Road, were to find out to their absolute horror.

To say that Leeds’ performance on this day was exhilarating is perhaps something of an understatement. They quite simply wiped the floor with the Saints, who could muster no challenge or answer to the outstanding midfield leadership of Bremner and the clinical finishing of Mick Jones, Allan Clarke, Eddie Gray and Peter Lorimer.

The game itself burst into life on thirty-eight minutes when Clarke latched onto some clever passing between Jones and Gray to fire United into a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, Lorimer shot home a second to give Leeds a 2-0 half-time lead.

‘At half time there was not a thought that we would turn our possession into so many goals,’ said Bremner. ‘John Giles was playing out of his skin, every touch he made looked elegant and he was more like a ballet dancer that game so exquisite was his touch. As the game wore on I felt that my game moved to a new level, ball tricks I would normally only practise in training sessions appeared throughout the game. The boss was not one who enjoyed such antics from his players. He wanted more direct football, and finesse and trickery came after results as far as he was concerned. However, we enjoyed and milked every moment of it. It wasn't a deliberate attempt to make Southampton look inferior, it just happened that way. There are few football games in which any player can honestly say he thoroughly enjoyed it, but for me the Southampton game is one which will stand out in my memory for evermore. I don't want to put Southampton down but it was more like a training session for us. John Giles said afterwards that it was men versus boys and he was right.

‘The Leeds support that day was as overwhelmed by our
performance as the Southampton players were, we just seemed to get better and better as the match went on. At one stage our fans were cheering every time a Leeds player touched the ball. I think we achieved around twenty-five passes in one move, before giving the ball away, then regaining control of it straight away. It was fantastic. If I had one disappointment from that game it was that I never scored; a goal would have capped it off nicely for me.’

The final score of Leeds United 7, Southampton 0, does not accurately reflect the manner of the victory. It could so easily have been double figures. Bremner and Giles rightly received glowing credit and were proclaimed as football geniuses for their dominant and controlled midfield performance. For the record, the goal scorers that day were Peter Lorimer (three), Allan Clarke (two), Mick Jones and Jack Charlton.

BRAZIL v SCOTLAND

World Cup Finals, Group Two

18 June 1974

Wald Stadium, Frankfurt

The 1974 World Cup finals presented Scotland with an ideal opening fixture, against Zaire who were expected to finish bottom of the group table. Scotland won the fixture 2-0 to head the group table. The press, though, were more perplexed by the fact that just two goals had been scored against what they regarded as being vastly inferior opposition. Bremner recalled the fixture: ‘To score two goals against anyone in the World Cup finals is no minor achievement. I know we were expected to get more, in fact we should have scored more, but it just didn't happen for us. Kazadi, their keeper, was dropping the ball all over his area, but every time it fell to one of their players who lumped it upfield. He did make some decent stops as well – it wasn't as if he was completely hopeless. I tend to think that we paid them too much respect as a team, but nevertheless our
failure to grab three or four goals cost us dearly in the end, and we as a team must take the brunt of the criticism.’

With Zaire successfully beaten, Scotland now faced the World Champions Brazil in their second group game. The Brazilian side – without the recently retired Pele – was filled with well-known superstars like Rivelino, Jairzinho and Levinha, and they were the clear favourites to again lift the trophy:

‘To be playing against Brazil in the World Cup finals has to be every schoolboy's and man's dream. It certainly was mine. The travelling press pack typically had us well beaten before the game started, and that helped us to focus more on our strengths and put in a really determined showing. We didn't want to concede at all but we knew the early stages were important for us to defend as resolutely as we could.’

True to form, as the game kicked off Brazil pressed forward looking for the early goal, but Scotland defended well and managed to close down the South American side's attacks. Bremner, who was Scotland's captain, worked tirelessly and really showed his class as he controlled the midfield and continually broke down sweeping Brazilian attacks with some acute and brave tackling, all the time keeping a cool and level head, his leadership qualities evident for all to see. Pele, who was himself a spectator at the game, proclaimed Bremner's performance as that of ‘the best midfielder in the World Cup’. The midfield dynamo played an outstanding game, perhaps his best ever for his country.

It is somewhat ironic that the best chance of the game should fall to Bremner, when a scramble in the Brazil goalmouth saw the ball cannon off a defender towards him. From just a few feet out he somehow put the ball wide of the goal and out for a goal kick:

‘It was a truly dreadful moment. I knew as soon as the ball came up to me it wasn't going to be easy for me to make clean contact with it. It was spinning awkwardly and bounced, I tried to stab it home and got it all wrong. My heart was in my mouth and I honestly felt sick, I was regularly putting them chances away for Leeds every other week. The miss has haunted me but,
as they say, it is history now and no matter how many times I watch it, the ball will never go in. Watching from the terracing or at home on television it looked an easy chance, but everyone who was close to me knew that the pace and spin of the ball made it hellishly difficult to control. The rest of the team and squad were great about it, especially when some British newspapers seriously criticised me for the miss. It is a real low spot of my football career, yet the game itself was a real highlight. After all is said and done, we held the World Champions to a nil-all draw in the World Cup finals. That Scotland side was a good one, and if we had progressed through past the group stages I believe we would have done very well.

‘The other thing that will always stick with me about that game was Rivelino. Remember him? He was the one that could bend a free kick round a defensive wall. The press loved the way he did it, and gleefully reported his every kick and dead-ball strike. It's a pity they didn't notice the other strike he could make, like the one he committed on me in that game. It was crude and deliberate and he tried to take me out. He'd already been booked and should have walked for this offence. He later said that he held his fist up to me because I rabbit-punched him on the back of the neck, and that I had moved towards his fist pretending he had struck me! He thumped me good and proper and he knew it.

‘The referee would have none of it though. Send a Brazilian off for taking Billy Bremner out? Unthinkable! “Bremner probably asked for it,” was the comment one English hack made. And you wonder why football people in general have no trust of them! I kept in contact with Rivelino for many years after, and we did battle in a challenge game held in Paris in the mid 1970s and again he was like a whippet, quick and fleet of foot. This was the first time I noticed that I couldn't keep up with him, my pace was just beginning to drop off. So I kicked him all over the place, with a smile on my face of course. We shook hands afterwards, there was mutual respect between us.’

Unfortunately for Scotland, a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia in their final group game ensured that they were eliminated by
virtue of goal difference; scoring fewer goals against Zaire (Brazil had beaten them 3-0 and Yugoslavia put nine past them without return) had knocked them out.

‘I think the worst moment came after our 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia. We were left to wait for the Brazil-Zaire result, and they had to win by three clear goals to go through and knock us out. We had to sit it out in the Frankfurt dressing rooms until the score line came through, which was about five minutes after our game had finished. When we heard that Brazil had done it we sat in silence initially, then the language was choice from some of our players, including me. We were devastated. Then someone said “if only”. I think that about sums up our 1974 World Cup finals effort.’

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WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT HIM

DON REVIE MBE (Leeds United, England)

A marvellous skipper, leading by the example of his skill and tenacity, temperament and fight. He's like Dave Mackay and Frank McLintock both rolled into one. A born captain. Billy on one leg is better than a lot on two. I get a warm feeling just thinking about what he's done for this club – and what he's going to do.

PELE (Santos, Brazil)

The majority of footballers (and people) are not always remembered, it takes somebody very special to be remembered as someone great. Everyone in football from a generation knows of Billy Bremner, he had an awe-inspiring reputation as a determined achiever and winner. I knew about Billy Bremner when I was playing, he was regarded as a great footballer. I don't call many people great footballers, but Billy Bremner really was. He was as difficult an opponent as I knew and when he represented Scotland he always gave his best effort to win every game.