1981 UEFA Cup final
Event | 1980–81 UEFA Cup | ||||||
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on aggregate | |||||||
First leg | |||||||
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Date | 6 May 1981 | ||||||
Venue | Portman Road, Ipswich | ||||||
Referee | Adolf Prokop (East Germany) | ||||||
Attendance | 27,532 | ||||||
Second leg | |||||||
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Date | 20 May 1981 | ||||||
Venue | Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam | ||||||
Referee | Walter Eschweiler (West Germany) | ||||||
Attendance | 28,500 | ||||||
The 1981 UEFA Cup Final was an association football match played over two legs between AZ '67 of the Netherlands and Ipswich Town of England. The first leg was played at Portman Road, Ipswich, on 6 May 1981 and the second leg was played on 20 May 1981 at the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam. It was the final of the 1980–81 season of European cup competition, the UEFA Cup. Both Ipswich and AZ '67 were appearing in their first European final.
Each club needed to progress through five rounds to reach the final. Matches were contested over two legs, with a match at each team's home ground. The majority of Ipswich's ties were won by at least two goals, the exception being the second round against Bohemians of Prague, which Ipswich won 3–2 on aggregate. AZ '67's early ties were one-sided: they won the first three rounds by at least five goals on aggregate, but their quarter-final and semi-final ties were won on aggregate by a single goal.
Watched by a crowd of 27,532 at Portman Road, Ipswich took the lead in the first leg when John Wark scored from the penalty spot. Second half goals from Frans Thijssen and Paul Mariner meant Ipswich won the first leg 3–0. Therefore, in the second leg at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, Ipswich had to avoid losing by three clear goals to win the competition. A crowd of 28,500 watched Ipswich take an early lead courtesy of a Thijssen goal. AZ '67 quickly equalised through Kurt Welzl before taking the lead after a goal from Johnny Metgod. Wark scored again for Ipswich to equalise the leg, but AZ '67 struck back through Pier Tol and Jos Jonker. No further goals were scored, and Ipswich won the final 5–4 on aggregate to win their first and, as of 2024, only European trophy.
Background
The
Ipswich Town qualified for the 1980–81 UEFA Cup as a result of finishing third in the Football League First Division the previous season, behind Manchester United, who also qualified for the UEFA Cup,[9] and Liverpool, who qualified for the 1980–81 European Cup.[10][11] AZ '67 finished the 1979–80 Eredivisie season in second place, three points behind champions Ajax.[12] Ipswich and AZ had faced each other in two matches before, in the two-legged first round of the 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup which the English club won 2–0 on aggregate.[13]
Route to the final
Ipswich Town F.C.
Round | Opposition | First leg | Second leg | Aggregate score |
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1st | Aris | 5–1 (h) | 1–3 (a) | 6–4 |
2nd | Bohemians | 3–0 (h) | 0–2 (a) | 3–2 |
3rd | Widzew Łódź | 5–0 (h) | 0–1 (a) | 5–1 |
Quarter-final | Saint-Étienne | 4–1 (a) | 3–1 (h) | 7–2 |
Semi-final | Köln | 1–0 (h) | 1–0 (a) | 2–0 |
Ipswich's
Three weeks later, Ipswich faced Widzew Łódź from Poland, who had defeated Manchester United and Juventus in previous rounds, at Portman Road.[24] Wark once again found the net, scoring a hat-trick; goals from Alan Brazil and Mariner completed a comprehensive 5–0 victory.[25] The only negative was a trip to hospital for Mick Mills for 15 stitches in a cut to his shin.[26] On a frozen pitch which many observers considered to be dangerous,[27] Widzew Łódź won the away leg 1–0 with Marek Pięta scoring for them but went out 5–1 on aggregate.[28] The lead from the first leg allowed the Ipswich manager Bobby Robson to withdraw Mariner and Arnold Mühren: he noted at the time that he was prioritising Ipswich's league challenge.[27]
After a three-month break, Ipswich faced the French team
AZ '67
Round | Opposition | First leg | Second leg | Aggregate score |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Red Boys Differdange | 6–0 (h) | 4–0 (a) | 10–0 |
2nd | Levski Sofia | 1–1 (a) | 5–0 (h) | 6–1 |
3rd | Radnički Niš | 2–2 (a) | 5–0 (h) | 7–2 |
Quarter-final | Lokeren | 2–0 (h) | 0–1 (a) | 2–1 |
Semi-final | FC Sochaux | 1–1 (a) | 3–2 (h) | 4–3 |
AZ '67 started their European campaign in the first round at home against the Luxembourg team Red Boys Differdange, against whom AZ had won 16–1 on aggregate in the opening round of the 1977–78 UEFA Cup. This time, the first leg ended 6–0 with goals from Hugo Hovenkamp, Kristen Nygaard, Jan Peters (2), Kurt Welzl and Pier Tol.[37] The second leg, played in front of 1,500 spectators at the Stade du Thillenberg, Differdange, ended in a 4–0 victory to the Dutch team, which included a Kees Kist hat-trick.[38]
In the second round, AZ faced the Bulgarian side
Three months later, AZ faced their quarter-final opponents
First leg
Summary
Heading into the first leg of the 1981 UEFA Cup Final, several of the Ipswich team played despite carrying injuries: Thijssen was suffering a groin strain, Mariner had an Achilles tendon injury, and Cooper was forced to wear a protective covering for an arm injury sustained in the previous domestic match against Middlesbrough. Gates had also just recovered from a calf injury.[47] This was the club's 65th match of the season.[48] AZ '67, who had defeated Feyenoord in the Eredivisie to win the Dutch league title with six games to spare in their previous match, were able to play their full-strength side, Kist replacing Welzl in the starting eleven.[47]
The first leg took place at Portman Road on 6 May 1981 in front of a crowd of 27,532. Ipswich were denied a strong penalty appeal in the second minute of the first half when the referee, Adolf Prokop, waved away appeals after Gates was brought down by AZ's Richard van der Meer.[49] Butcher exploited AZ's renowned weakness in the air, but his header went just wide, before a shot from Gates was palmed out by the AZ goalkeeper Eddy Treijtel.[48] During the first third of the match, Ipswich won several corners without capitalising but were caught offside numerous times by a disciplined AZ defensive line.[50] Ipswich took the lead through Wark, who had recently been named the PFA Players' Player of the Year,[51] scoring from the penalty spot after 30 minutes following a Hovenkamp handball.[49] It was Wark's 13th goal of the European campaign and which ensured that he had scored in every round of the competition.[49] Russell Osman cut out Tol's subsequent breakaway chance before Thijssen's 39th-minute strike flew over the bar.[50] No further goals were scored and the half ended 1–0 to Ipswich.
A minute into the second half, Ipswich doubled their lead with a header from Dutchman Frans Thijssen after his initial shot was saved by Treijtel.[49][52] A third goal for Ipswich, this time from Mariner after Brazil had beaten his opposition player and put in a low pass to the near post,[49] saw the English team win the game and take a 3–0 lead into the second leg at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.[53] Such was Ipswich's dominance that they restricted AZ to a single shot on target throughout the match, and only conceded the first corner midway through the second half.[50] Thijssen was named man of the match.[51] After the game, the AZ coach Georg Keßler was circumspect: "there are another 90 minutes to play, but naturally it will be very difficult for us."[54] Robson's future at Ipswich was subject to debate as he had been linked to other clubs including Sunderland, who had offered him a then-British record of £1 million over ten years.[55] He noted: "if we lose this three goal lead in the second leg, I am definitely leaving this club, you can quote me on that."[51]
Details
Ipswich Town
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AZ '67
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Second leg
Summary
Ipswich were able to name an unchanged line up for the second leg of the 1981 UEFA Cup Final. Both Thijssen and Mariner had responded positively to treatment during the two-week break between the final legs.[56] Van der Meer was the only injury problem for AZ '67.[57]
The second leg took place at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam on 20 May 1981 in front of a crowd of 28,500. Ipswich took 6,000 travelling fans to the game.
Mühren, one of two Dutchmen playing for Ipswich, later recalled: "most teams would have given up, but AZ suddenly had wings ... AZ seemed possessed that night ... we really had to give all we had to reach the end, by the skin of our teeth – relieved and happy."[53] Robson noted: "it was a little bit of a knife edge and showed we needed those three goals from the home match. It was a nervy performance."[62]
Details
AZ '67
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Ipswich Town
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Post-match
Ipswich's Wark set a competition record by scoring 14 goals,
Ipswich's defence of the UEFA Cup started in September 1981 against Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen. The first leg ended 1–1 with Thijssen scoring for Ipswich and John Hewitt equalising. The second leg at Pittodrie saw both Gordon Strachan and John Wark score from the penalty spot before Peter Weir settled the tie with two goals. Ipswich went out of the cup 4–2 on aggregate.[70] After that, Ipswich's most successful campaign to date was when they made it to the third round of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup.[71]
The season after the final, AZ '67 played in the European Cup where they were eliminated in the second round 5–4 on aggregate by Liverpool.[72] Subsequently, AZ '67's most successful European football campaign was when they reached the semi-final of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup where they lost 4–3 on aggregate to the Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon.[73]
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