For this interview, I look back at Liverpool’s Champions Cup winning run in 1977/78 season.
The Interview will be as a video link companion, while the Blog
will be a presentation of the events.
The Interviewee is:
English Football fan Mr. Chris Bayes
Mr. Bayes’ contact info:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.bayes.77
Mr. Bayes was previously
interviewed about Liverpool’s 1977 Champions Cup victory.
https://soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-soccernostalgia-interview-part-85.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQQwUT00Kzo&t=2s
My contact information:
on twitter @sp1873 and on
facebook under Soccernostalgia.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soccernostalgia-talk-podcast/id1601074369?i=1000660742165
Liverpool FC in the
Champions Cup 1977/78
When the 1977/78 season kicked off,
Liverpool were to take part in the Champions Cup.
Liverpool had come off a glorious
season, where they had won the League title as well as the Champions Cup.
This success was the culmination of
years of success starting with the League title in 1973, the FA Cup in 1974 and
the UEFA Cups in 1973, 1976 and now League and European Cup Champions.
Bob Paisley was still the man in
charge about to embark on even greater adventures.
He had maintained the backbone of the
previous season’s side, but some changes were necessary.
Ray Clemence was still Liverpool’s
number one in goal.
Skipper Emlyn Hughes still led the
defense, along with Phil Neal, Phil Thompson, and Welshman Joey Jones. Scottish
defender Alan Hansen had been recruited as Tommy Smith was reaching the end of
his Liverpool adventure.
a.jpg) |
Photo From: Panini
England 1977-78
|
(Liverpool squad 1977/78) |
The midfield still included Terry
McDermott, Ray Kennedy, Irishman Steve Heighway and Jimmy Case. Much like Tommy
Smith, Ian Callaghan was nearing the end of his time at Liverpool, therefore
Paisley had anticipated and recruited Scottish midfielder Grame Souness.
The main changes were upfront, Kevin
Keegan had departed in the offseason (to SV Hamburg in West Germany) and
Welshman John Toshack was also nearing the end of his time at the club.
Paisley signed Scotland and Celtic
Glasgow star Kenny Dalglish to replace Keegan, and this would be one of
Paisley’s greatest signings.
David Fairclough and David Johnson were still on the
books as alternatives.
The triple transfer of the Scottish
trio (Dalglish, Souness and Hansen) would pay dividends into the next decade.
.jpg) |
Photo From: Onze, Issue
28, April 1978
|
(Emlyn Hughes) |
.jpg) |
Photo From: Onze, Issue
26, February 1978
|
(David Fairclough) |
a.jpg) |
Photo From: Onze, Issue
26, February 1978
|
(Liverpool squad 1977/78) |
For the First Round, Liverpool received
a bye and entered the competition in the second round,
In the Second Round Liverpool faced East
German side Dynamo Dresden.
Liverpool effectively settled the tie
in the first leg at Anfield on October 19, 1977, as they won (5-1) with Jimmy
Case scoring a double.
Liverpool lost the second leg at
Dresden (1-2) on November 2nd, 1977, and looked forward to the
Spring quarterfinals.
By the turn of the new year, Liverpool were challenged for the
title by Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, who would eventually capture the
League title, and already eliminated in the First round of the FA Cup in
January.
They did win their first ever UEFA Super Cup by defeating SV
Hamburg of Kevin Keegan.
For the Quarterfinals in the Spring of 1978, Liverpool were to
face Portuguese Champions Benfica.
For the first leg, Liverpool traveled to Lisbon to face Benfica on
March 1st, 1978, in the rain.
Afterwards, Bob Paisley stated it was a crime to have played under
such conditions and added the match would have been called off in England.
This was not the Benfica of Eusebio of the 1960s and Liverpool
were favorites.
Benfica took the lead through Nené in the 13th minute.
Liverpool fought back and Jimmy Case tied the match in the 36th
minute before Emlyn Hughes scored the winner in the 70th minute.
For the second leg at Anfield, on March 15th, 1978, a
confident Liverpool comfortably defeated Benfica (4-1) to advance to the
semifinals.
It was a little bit rainy on that Wednesday night in Lisbon!
— LFChistory.net (@LFChistory) March 1, 2020
Liverpool FC defeated Benfica 2-1 on this day in 1978. Jimmy Case and Emlyn Hughes scored on either side of the interval. pic.twitter.com/sjvxaGGMGV
Ahead of the semifinals,
Liverpool lost to Nottingham Forest in the Final of the League Cup on March 22nd,
and at this point success in Europe was paramount.
The semifinals seemed a
much more daunting task as Liverpool were paired with West German giants Borussia
Mönchengladbach in a replay of the previous season’s Final.
Liverpool
had history on their side as they had defeated the West Germans in the UEFA Cup
Final of 1973 and previous season’s Champions Cup Final.
In
addition, they were missing their Danish star Alan Simonsen through injury.
However,
they were still a quality opposition not to be taken lightly.
On
March 29th, at Rheinstadion at Düsseldorf,
Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted Liverpool. They took the lead in the 28th
minute through Wilfried Hannes.
Liverpool
tied the match in the 88th minute through David Johnson and for a
moment they thought they had earned an important away tie. However, just a
minute later, Rainer Bonhof scored Mönchengladbach’s winner.
.jpg) |
Photo
From: France Football, Issue 1669, April 4, 1978
|
(March 29, 1978,
Champions Cup, Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-Liverpool 1) |
.jpg) |
Photo
From: L’Année du Football 1978
|
(March 29, 1978,
Champions Cup, Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-Liverpool 1) |
Nevertheless,
Liverpool had the upper hand with an away goal for the return leg at Anfield on
April 12th, 1978.
Pasiley
made one change, starting with Souness in place of Callaghan.
Ray
Kennedy’s early goal in the seventh minute settled their nerves and Liverpool
scored twice more through Dalglish (34th) and Case (55th).
Liverpool
were through to their second straight Champions Cup Final and Third straight
European Final overall (1976 UEFA Cup).
a.jpg) |
Photo From: Mondial, old
series, Issue 17, May 1978
|
(April 12, 1978,
Champions Cup, Liverpool 3- Borussia Mönchengladbach 0) |
.jpg) |
Photo From: Mondial, old
series, Issue 17, May 1978
|
(April 12, 1978,
Champions Cup, Liverpool 3- Borussia Mönchengladbach 0) |
Liverpool were in the Final facing Belgian
side Club Brugge on May 10th, 1978, at ‘home’ at Wembley at London. This
fact plus the elimination of Mönchengladbach, made Liverpool favorites against
a modest opposition like Club Brugge.
Once again history was on Liverpool’s
side as they had defeated the same opponent in the 1976 UEFA Cup Final.
In addition, Brugge were missing
Raoul Lambert and Pual Courant, while Kriger and Maes were not fully fit.
Liverpool were missing Tommy Smith,
injured after a gardening accident at home after he collided with a pickaxe.
Alan Hansen started in his place. Steve Heighway had a rib injury and did not
start, as a result, Pasiley chose to field Fairclough.
In contrast, to the previous season’s
Final, this was a dour and unexciting match and not surprisingly Liverpool won
(1-0) through a Kenny Dalglish strike.
Dalglish had more than justified his
recruitment to replace Keegan.
Afterwards, Brugge Manager Ernst
Happel stated that Liverpool was a shadow of the team from two years ago.
In any case, Liverpool seemed set to
dominate Europe for the years to come.
.jpg) |
Photo
From: L’Année du Football 1978
|
(May 10, 1978, Champions
Cup, Liverpool 1-Club Brugge 0) |
a.jpg) |
Photo
From: L’Année du Football 1978
|
(May 10, 1978, Champions
Cup, Liverpool 1-Club Brugge 0) |
.jpg) |
Photo
From: Mondial, old series, Issue 18, May 1978
|
(May 10, 1978, Champions
Cup, Liverpool 1-Club Brugge 0) |
.jpg) |
Photo
From: Mondial, old series, Issue 18, May 1978
|
(May 10, 1978, Champions
Cup, Liverpool 1-Club Brugge 0) |
Liverpool Football Club
(1977/78 season):
Players who took part in
these matches (on the field or on the bench):
Goalkeeper:
Ray Clemence (August 5, 1948-Skegness,
Lincolnshire-November 15, 2020, Corby, Northamptonshire) (aged 29
years old at the time)
Peter McDonnell (June 11, 1953, Kendal) (aged
24-25 years old at the time)
Steven
Ogrizovic (September 12, 1957, Mansfield) (aged 20 years old
at the time)
Defenders:
Emlyn Hughes
(August 28,
1947, Barrow-in-Furness-November 9, 2004, Sheffield) (aged 30 years old
at the time)
Phil Neal
(February
20, 1951, Irchester, Northamptonshire) (aged 26-27 years old at the
time)
Phil Thompson
(January
21, 1954, Kirby, Lancashire) (aged 23-24 years old at the time)
Alan Hansen (Scotland) (June 13, 1955,
Sauchie, Clackmannashire, Scotland) (aged 22 years old at the time)
Joey Jones (Wales)
(March 4,
1955, Llandudno, Wales) (aged 22-23 years old at the time)
Tommy Smith
(April 5,
1945, Liverpool-April 12, 2019, Crosby) (aged 32-33 years old at the
time)
Brian Kettle (April 22, 1956, Prescot)
(aged 21-22 years old at the time) (transferred in March 1978)
Colin Irwin (February 9, 1957, Liverpool) (aged 20-21 years old at
the time)
Midfielders:
Graeme Souness (Scotland) (May 6, 1953,
Edinburgh, Scotland) (aged 24-25 years old at the time)
Ray Kennedy
(July 28,
1951, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland-November 30, 2021) (aged 26
years old at the time)
Terry McDermott
(December
8, 1951, Liverpool) (aged 25-26 years old at the time)
Jimmy Case
(May 18,
1954, Liverpool) (aged 22-23 years old at the time)
Steve Heighway (Republic of
Ireland) (November 25, 1947, Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
(aged 29-30 years old at the time)
Ian Callaghan
(April 10,
1942, Toxteth, Liverpool) (aged 35-36 years old at the time)
Sammy Lee
(February
7, 1959, Liverpool) (aged 18-19 years old at the time)
Kevin Kewley
(March 2,
1955, Liverpool) (aged 22-23 years old at the time)
Forwards:
Kenny Dalglish (Scotland) (March 4, 1951, Glasgow, Scotland) (aged 26-27 years old at
the time)
David Fairclough
(January 5,
1957, Liverpool) (aged 20-21 years old at the time)
David Johnson
(October
23, 1951, Liverpool-November 23, 2022) (aged 25-26 years old at the
time)
John Toshack (Wales) (March 22, 1949,
Cardiff, Wales) (aged 28-29 years old at the time) (transferred in March
1978 to become Player-Manager at Swansea City)
Howard Gayle
(May 18,
1958, Toxteth, Liverpool) (aged 19-20 years old at the time)
Coach: Bob Paisley (January 23, 1919, Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham-February
14, 1996, Liverpool) (aged 58-59 years old at the time)
Team Captain: Emlyn Hughes
Official Kit
Supplier/Designer: Umbro
Shirt Sponsor: None
Transfer Activity:
Arrivals:
Kenny
Dalglish (Celtic Glasgow)
Graeme Souness
(Middlesbrough)
Alan Hansen
(Partick Thislte)
Departures:
Kevin
Keegan (SV Hamburg, West Germany)
Alec
Lindsay (Stoke City)
Alan
Waddle (Leicester City)
John
Toshack (left in February/March 1978 to become Player-Manager at Swansea City)
Brian
Kettle (left in March 1978 to Dallas Tornado)
References:
France
Football, Issue 1669, April 4, 1978
France Football, Issue 1675, May 16, 1978
Mondial, old series, Issue 15, April 1978
Mondial, old series, Issue 17, May 1978
Onze, Issue 26, February 1978
Onze, Issue 27, March 1978
Onze, Issue 28, April 1978
Onze, Issue 29, May 1978
World Soccer, April 1978
World Soccer, May 1978
L’Année du Football 1978
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