This is the 310th
episode of my podcast, 'Soccernostalgia Talk Podcast’.
For this episode, I
interview English Author Mr. Daniel Williamson as we discuss his book ‘If I
Hadn’t Seen Such Riches: Manchester United’s 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup Triumph’
(2026)
Mr. Williamson is a Latin
American Studies graduate from Manchester.
He is also the author of:
Phenomenon: The
Incredible Career of Brazil’s Ronaldo (2023)
When Two Worlds Collide:
The Intercontinental Cup Years (2022)
Blue & Gold Passion:
A History of Boca Juniors (2020)
For any
questions/comments, you may contact us:
You may also contact me
on this blog, on twitter @sp1873 and on facebook under Soccernostalgia.
Juventus
and Manchester United were paired in the Semi-Finals of the 1983/84 Cup Winners
Cup.
The
English side Manchester United were managed by Ron Atkinson. They had not won
the English League title in more than 15 years but were capable of good cup
runs. The side contained the likes of Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins and young Internationals
such as Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside and Welshman Mark Hughes.
Manchester
United had qualified from their opening rounds by defeating Czechoslovakia’s
Dukla Prague (1-1 home, 2-2 away, away goals rule), Bulgaria’s Spartak Varna
(2-1 away, 2-0 home) and Spain’s Barcelona (0-2 away, 3-0 home) in the
Quarterfinals.
Juventus,
managed by Giovanni Trapattoni, were one of the best sides in Europe.
The
side included a number of 1982 World Cup Champions (Gentile, Cabrini, Scirea, Tardelli,
Rossi) as well Polish star Zbigniew Boniek and the recent Ballon d’Or Winner,
the Frenchman Michel Platini.
Juventus
had qualified from their opening rounds by defeating Poland’s Lechia Gdansk (7-0
home, 3-2 away), France’s Paris St. Germain (2-2 away, 0-0 home, away goals
rule) and Finland’s Haka Valkeakoski (1-0 away, 1-0 home) in the Quarterfinals.
The
first leg, on April 11th, was played at Manchester’s Old Trafford. The home
side were missing key midfielders: Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins and the Dutchman
Arnold Muhren.
Juventus
were at full strength with Platini back in the lineup after absence of a few
weeks due to injury.
Given
that they were the away team, Trapattoni started with the more defensive
Prandelli in midfield.
As early
as the 10th minute, Manchester United were forced to make a change
as John Gidman was injured. He would be replaced by the Welshman Alan Davies.
Juventus
would take the lead in the 14th minute, Boniek (saving his best
performances for these European nights) got hold of the ball and from the right
side passed to Paolo Rossi in the middle. Rossi, from just outside of the box,
struck and his shot was deflected by Hogg and went past Bailey.
Manchester
United would fight back to force an equalizer in the 36th minute.
From
the center of the field (on the left side), Arthur Albiston sent a cross in the
box. Whiteside’s shot was parried by Tacconi and substitute Alan Davies scored
on the rebound.
The
match ended as a tie, which favored Juventus as the away side.
After
the match, Platini, still not fully fit, stated that he had feared not being
able to finish the match.
He did
well in first half but struggled in the second like the rest of the Juventus side.
Manchester
United Manager Ron Atkinson appeared confident and stated, “We are in better
shape than after our (0-2) loss vs. Barcelona.
Photo
From:France
Football, Issue 1984, April 17, 1984
(April
11, 1984, Cup Winners Cup, Manchester United 1-Juventus 1)
Photo
From:Guerin
Sportivo, Issue 16 (485), April 18-24, 1984
(April
11, 1984, Cup Winners Cup, Manchester United 1-Juventus 1)
Photo
From:Guerin
Sportivo, Issue 16 (485), April 18-24, 1984
(April
11, 1984, Cup Winners Cup, Manchester United 1-Juventus 1)
Photo
From:L'Annee
du Football 1984
(April
11, 1984, Cup Winners Cup, Manchester United 1-Juventus 1)
The
second leg, on April 25th, was played at Turin’s Stadio Communale.
Manchester United were still missing Robson and Muhren. Atkinson
also left out Gidman and Whiteside out of the staring team. Ray Wilkins was back,
and Mark Hughes started upfront.
Now at home, Trapattoni opted to replace Prandelli with the
more attack minded Beniamino Vignola, the revelation of the season for Juventus.
Once again Juventus would take a quick lead. In the 13th
minute, deep
from his own half, Platini sent a long cross towards Boniek, who beat Bailey in
a one on one situation.
Manchester United were forced to come out and fight back.
Atkinson replaced Stapelton with Whiteside in the 63rd minute.
Just seven minutes later, from the left side, Graham crossed
in the box, McGrath turned and crossed for Whitedside who struck the equalizer.
Now Juventus had to go all out as the match seemed headed
for overtime.
In the last minute, Vignola took a free kick from the left side. The
Manchester defense headed out, Scirea took a shot. The deflection reached Rossi
who picked up the rebound and shot in the winner to eliminate Manchester United.
For
the second year running, Juventus reached a European Cup Final (in 1983 they lost
the Champions Cup Final to SV Hamburg).
Juventus
would go on to win the Cup Winners Cup at the end of that season on May 16th,
1984 by defeating FC Porto (2-1). In addition, they would win the Italian
League title to mark a memorable season.
Manchester
United would end up finishing fourth in the English League.
Photo
From:Guerin
Sportivo, Issue 18 (488), May 2-8, 1984
(April
25, 1984, Cup Winners Cup, Juventus 2- Manchester United 1)
Photo
From:Guerin
Sportivo, Issue 18 (488), May 2-8, 1984
(April
25, 1984, Cup Winners Cup, Juventus 2- Manchester United 1)
April 11, 1984
Manchester
United Football Club(England)
1- Juventus Football Club-Torino (Italy) 1
Cup
Winners Cup- Semifinals, First Leg
Venue:
Manchester-Old
Trafford
Attendance: 58,231
Referee: Johannes Nicolaus Igancius ‘Jan’ Keizer
(Holland)
Goalscorers: (Manchester United): Alan Davies 36
(Juventus): Paolo
Rossi 14
Lineups:
Manchester
United:
1-Gary Bailey,
2-Mike Duxburry, 3-Arthur Albiston (Scotland), 4-Paul McGrath (Republic of
Ireland), 5-Kevin Moran (Republic of Ireland), 6-Graeme Hogg (Scotland), 7-Arthur
Graham (Scotland), 8-Remi Moses, 9-Frank Stapelton (Republic of Ireland),
10-Norman Whiteside (Northern Ireland), 11-Johm Gidman (14-Alan Davies (Wales)
10)
Coach:
Ron Atkinson
Team
Captain: Frank Stapelton
Official
Kit Supplier/Designer: Adidas
Shirt
Sponsor:Sharp
Uniform
Colors: Red Shirts, Black Shorts, Black Socks
(Saint
Etienne squad, Top, left to right: Yvan Curkovic, Gerard Janvion, Gerard Farison,
Dominique Bathenay, Oswaldo Piazza, Christian Lopez, Christian Synaghel,
Bottom, left to right: Dominique Rochetau,
Jean-Michel Larque, Patrick Revelli, Christian Sarramagna , September 15, 1976,
Champions Cup, CSKA Sofia 0-Saint
Etienne 0)
Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 98, March 1997
(Argentina and Colombia squads, February 12,
1997, World Cup Qualifier, Colombia 0-Argentina 1)
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 19,
October 1981
(Anderlecht squad 1981/82)
Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 234, February 6, 1975
(AS Monaco squad 1974/75, Top, left to right:Jean-Louis Samuel, Jean Petit,
Georges Prost, Yvon Chomet, Andre Guesdon, Christian Montes, Bottom,
left to right:Christian
Dalger, Bernard Guignedoux, Delio Onnis, Omar Pastoriza, Pierre Pleimelding)
(Paris St. Germain’s Cup Winners Cup squad of
1996 with French President Jacques Chirac)
Photo
From: L’Equipe, L’Equipe de France de Football, la Belle Histoire
(France squad, May 19, 1946, France 2-England 1)
Photo
From: kicker_WM-Sonderheft_1990
(Italy squad, Top, left to right:Walter
Zenga, Fernando De Napoli , Giancarlo Marocchi, Andrea
Carnevale, Riccardo Ferri, Giuseppe Bergomi,Bottom, left to right:Roberto Baggio , Franco Baresi, Giuseppe Giannini, Gianluca Vialli, Luigi De Agostini, November 11, 1989, Italy 1-Algeria 0)
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo, Number 3, January 15-21, 1992
(AC Milan squad 2000/01, Top, left to right: Paolo Maldini, Francesco Coco, Massimo Ambrosini,
Roque Junior, Oliver Bierhoff, Christian Abbiati, Andrei Shevchenko, Bottom,
left to right: Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Costacurta, Demetrio Albertini, Jose
Mari )
Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 37, January 2001
(Bayer Leverkusen squad 2000/01, Top, left to
right: Jens Nowotny, Carsten Ramelow,
Torben Hoffmann, Michael Ballack, Jurica Vranjes, Robson Ponte, Vratislav Gresko,
Marquinhos, Paulo Rink, Thomas Brdaric , Middle,
left to right: Christoph Daum, Gerisch
(Psychologist), Friese (goalkeeping coach), Trzolek (Physio), Glass (Physio),
Jorg Reeb, Markus Daun, Anel Dzaka, Mousavi, Rothweiler (Physio), Zoller
(Maseeur), Blum (Masseur), Koch (assistant coach) , Bottom,
left to right: Robert Kovac, Ulf Kirsten, Boris Zivkovic, Bernd Schneider,
Frank Juric, Adam Matysek, Oliver Neuville, Pascal Ojigwe, Landon Donovan,
Andreas Neuendorf, Wohner (Masseur) )
Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 35, October 2000
(Olympique Marseille squad 2000/01, Top, left to
right: Cyrille Pouget, Zoumana Camara, William Gallas, Pierre Issa,
Jerome Leroy, Cedric Carasso, Bottom, left to right: Djemal Belmadi, Keita, Pierre
Luccin, Patrick Blondeau, Florian Maurice)
Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 32, July 2000
(Borussia Dortmund squad, Top, left to right:Stephane Chapuisat, Jurgen Kohler, Jorg Heinrich,
Matthias Sammer, Stefan Reuter, Martin Kree, Bottom,
left to right: Paulo Sousa, Andreas
Moeller, Paul Lambert, Stefan Klos, Karl-Heinz Riedle , May 28, 1997, Champions League, Borussia Dortmund 3-Juventus
1)
Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 22 Supplement, August-September 1999
(Bayern Munich squad 1998/99)
Photo
From: Calcio 2000, Issue 15, January 1999
(Torino
squad 1945/46, Top, left to right:
Valerio Bacigalupo, Sergio Piacentini, Giuseppe Grezar, Adriano Zecca,
Castelli, Eusebio Castigliano, Aldo Ballarin, Virgilio Maroso, Alfonso
Santagiuliana, Alfredo Bodoira, Luigi Ferrero, Bottom, left to right: Mario Rigamonti, Ezio Loik, Oreste Guaraldo, Franco Ossola,
Guglielmo Gabetto, Valentino Mazzola, Pietro Ferraris II )
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 87, March 1983
(Athletic Bilbao squad 1982/83, Top, left to
right: Andoni Zubizaretta, Ismael Urtubi, Jose Maria Nunez, Luis De La
Fuente, Santiago Urquiaga, Jesus Liceranzu, Bottom, left to right: Dani Ruiz, Jose Gallego, Miguel Angel Sola, Estanislao Argote, Manuel
Sarabia )
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 57, September 1980
(Sochaux squad 1980/81, Top, left to right: Rene
Hauss, Phillipe Anziani, Jean-Pierre Posca, Jean-Luc Ruty, Albert Rust, Jacky
Bonnevay, Abdel Djaadaoui, Jean Fauvergue, Bottom, left to right: Thierry Meyer, Salih Durkalic, Moussa
Bezzaz, Bernard Genghini, Patrick Revelli, Yannick Stopyra, Zvonko Ivezic)
Photo
From: Onze, Issue 36, December 1978
(Boca Juniors squad 1978)
Photo
From: Mondial, new series, issue 77, August 1986
