With the euphoria starting to die down following our last sixteen triumph, it’s time to take another break before our next league fixture, at home to West Ham next Saturday.
The fixture gap gives us time to reflect and enjoy the success, but just where does that rank amongst our best European games?
For those that can remember, was the 1963 Cup Winners Cup Final the pinnacle of our European success, or was it either of the UEFA Cup finals in 1972 & 1984?
There were some great European games in the eighties, with crowds of around 50,000 squeezed into White Hart Lane. Particular favourites include Hoddle taking apart an ageing Cruyff against Feyenoord and the triumph over Bayern Munich, who were expected to make short work of us.
Then there was the semi final in 1984 when we squeezed through against Hajduk Split. The atmosphere that night was almost as great as the final itself.
One of my particular favourites was the home tie with Bruges the following season (well the first half anyway), where a sublime goal from Hazard, a tap in from Clive Allen and a Roberts howitzer gave us a 3-0 win.
So was one of our victories over the Milan clubs from this season the best of all? Or has there been a better game from our European past?
Here’s some videos to jog your memories.
I remember Greavsie in his bubble going into extra time against Anderlecht. I was 10. After that, Inter at home this season. Hoping the best is to come!
All good! The winner has to be 1963: first British win in Europe and done in style. But thanks for posting the Hoddle show against Feyenoord: haven’t seen that for years.
1963 against Atletico can’t recall any other big final being decided on such a big win margin and quality football,also the Hoddle against feyernoord and 1984 final for nervous tension.
Scoring 8 against Gornick (sic) after being 4 down from the first leg. Not many will remember that!
Ted you are spot on. Anybody who was there will never forget that night, I witnessed it and I can truly say “Mine eyes have seen the glory”.
Got to say the 1963 Final, being the first European Trophy, followed closely by A C Milan away and as Stratty says, hopefully something even better to come!
Winning uefa cup on our own ground, Roberts leading and Tony Parks heroics.
Congratulations on the great achievement of a quarter final place. Now you know what it’s like for a lowly side’s fans when they have a good run in the FA Cup. Great excitement!
Here’s a poser: What has Sid’s Deli Sunday League side that plays at Wormwood Scrubs got in common with Tottenham?
They’ve both won the exact same number of Premiership titles. No more, no less.
First ever game at the lane was v Gornick, can’r recall it as I was only 6, but the blokes in white got loads and the others didn’t. Was at both legs in ’72 and again 74 and 84, but for me it was a game against Feyenoord when it was the best 45 mins of football I’ve ever witnessed, Hoddle v Cryuff and guess who won?
The 5-1 vs Athletico Madrid. I was there and what many of you forget was that AM were the favourites and that they fought hard and the game was much tighter than the score indicates.
My most UNfavourite game was the away leg to Benfica where the correct score should have been 2-3 to us and its no wonder that you cannot get a tape of it as it would not the the referee as honest ( 2 perfectly good THFC goals disallowed and one pure offside Benfica goal) The Paris bookies seemed aware of the result well before the match, so you can work that one our yourself. In the Home match we tried too hard and did not play our natural game and i was told by someone close to the team that the Lisbon result really upset the whole team who thought that money had passed hands.
BTW the Gornik results were 2-4 away 8-1 at home and the crown in Poland then were like Lech Poznan now: totally intimidating (I think that Gornik were the polish red army team..not sure but if so heavily subsidised by the communist regime)
i was at Atletico Madrid game & others mentioned here.
It has to be Gornik @ home for anyone who saw all the games during & after that era.
After losing the first leg away by 4-2, we brought Gornik back to the Lane and gave them an pasting. My abiding memory of that match is not just the sublime football, but Gornik players clamping their hands over their ears because of the cacophonous wave of sound sweeping down from the packed terraces. I have never attended a match since where a crowd, even ours, kept up such a barrage of sound for the whole 90 minutes.
Wolves 1972. Our first eufa cup and the first all english final. Mullery header sealed the win. Still have the ticket stubs, program and the newspaper. Just wish there was still some footage around.
Look up on you tube, you’ll find them there, I also had the video which is part of the history of THFC series. But yes it was a fantastic 2 legger, the first leg, left London in warm sunshine, arrived in Wolverhampton. bleak raining and frozen after an hour, but Chiver’s goal and Mullery knocking himself out in the second leg, fantastic and all for 50p!