These days Sky would be
trying to come up with superlatives to outdo ‘massive’ as the curtain raiser
for the 1974-75 season got underway at Wembley.
The Charity Shield (since
renamed Community Shield) had started off as a professionals v amateurs match
at the early part of the twentieth century.
From 1930 the format of League Champions v FA Cup winners took
shape. But the game and the format was
patchy and inconsistent and it wasn’t until 1959 when it was moved to the start
of the season. There seemed to be a
decision every year as to which teams would compete in the match. In 1974 Ted Croker, then FA Secretary,
created the current format of a match between League Champions and FA Cup
winners, to be played as a curtain raiser for the new season, at Wembley
Stadium. It was also the first time the
Charity Shield would be televised.
The very first match was
potentially a dream come true for the organisers. Liverpool were FA Cup holders and had won the
League in 1973. Leeds United were
reigning League Champions and had won the FA Cup in 1972 and were beaten
finalists a year later. In each of the
previous four FA Cup Finals contained either Leeds or Liverpool. In the League the two had finished in the top
three in each of the previous three seasons.
In addition to this success they were managed by two of English football’s
most successful managers, Bill Shankly (Liverpool) and Don Revie (Leeds United).
Into this battle burst
Brian Clough, taking his Derby County side to the League title in 1972 just
three years after they were Second Division Champions. A year later they reached the European Cup
Semi-Finals, losing to Juventus. Clough
then tried to call the bluff of Derby’s Chairman, Sam Longson, when he
threatened to resign after one of their many fall outs, but this time Longson
accepted it. Clough then spent eight
months at Brighton in a rather unsuccessful spell.
In April 1973 England
sacked World Cup winning manager, Alf Ramsey, after they failed to qualify for
the 1974 tournament. Former Manchester
City manager, Joe Mercer, took over as caretaker manager. England had the British Home International
Championship and then an Eastern European tour, which Ramsey had arranged
before he was given the push. Under
Mercer England won three, drew three and lost one of their matches and for a
while it seemed he might get the job on a permanent basis, despite appearing
reluctant. Eventually, England plumped
for Revie as permanent manager. This
resulted in a vacancy for the Leeds United job.
To everyone’s amazement, including some of his closest friends, Clough
put himself forward.
Clough had been a bitter
critic of Leeds and Revie’s methods. He
believed they had not won any honours fairly.
They had adopted a particularly tough brand of football, often resorting
to kicking opponents off the park, as well as pursuing a continual strategy of
gamesmanship. Clough had made no secret
of his view of the side as “dirty” and “cheats” and also called for the club to
be demoted to the Second Division as a punishment for their poor disciplinary
record. The Leeds players had wanted
Johnny Giles to be promoted to manager, but the directors chose Clough.
At one of his first
training sessions he told the players “You can throw your medals in the bin
because they were not won fairly”. He
then revealed his plan to get them to win them all again, but playing
“clean”. Unfortunately, the players were
clearly unimpressed, struggling to conceal their utter contempt for their new
boss. One player, Joe Jordan, had been
singled out by Clough as a diver and a cheat and once he was installed in the
Leeds hotseat, Clough duly signed two strikers, Duncan McKenzie and John
O’Hare, who were immediate challengers to the Scottish international’s
position. Against this backdrop they
embarked on the new season.
The Charity Shield was to
be Clough’s first game as manager of Leeds United.
At Anfield, Bill Shankly
had just guided Liverpool to their second FA Cup success, both under his management. In 1973 he guided them to their 8th
League title, and his third, as well as their first ever European trophy, the
UEFA Cup. He was the most enigmatic
managers English football had ever seen with many column inches given over to
his quotes. When he took over at Anfield
they were a Second Division team, a shadow of a once great club. He guided them to promotion and then the
League title within a few years. He’d
been at the club for over 14 years, yet on 12th July 1974 Liverpool
chairman, Peter Robinson, shocked the football world by announcing Shankly was
resigning from the club. The news
shocked football and even when the teams took to the field few at Liverpool
knew how they were going to be able to continue. First team coach, Bob Paisley was a reluctant
replacement.
The Charity Shield was to
see Shankly lead out his Liverpool team for the last time.
Years later Clough
revealed he didn’t want to lead his team out that day, claiming he had asked
Revie to do it. He felt as Revie had won
the title with Leeds, he should have the honour of leading ‘his’ team out, but
Revie declined the offer stating this was Clough’s team now and his ‘privilege’
to lead them out. Such was the distance between manager
and team, Clough spent much of the match watching from Liverpool’s bench.
Liverpool’s star player
was Kevin Keegan. The 23-year old had
been signed as a scrawny teenager from Scunthorpe, yet under Shankly he’d
moulded himself into an important player for both club and country. He scored twice at Wembley in May as
Liverpool lifted their second FA Cup beating Newcastle, 3-0. England’s caretaker manager, Joe Mercer saw
Keegan as an important part of the team and played him in each game he was in
charge. After the euphoria of scoring
twice in the FA Cup Final, Keegan got his first international goal when he
scored against Wales in the Home International Championship. From there England embarked on an Eastern
European tour, and after matches against East Germany and Bulgaria, there was
almost an international incident when Keegan was arrested and beaten up in
Belgrade airport. After FA officials
managed to convince security guards of who they were attacking, all charges
were dropped. Keegan went onto score in
the subsequent match against Yugoslavia.
In a pre-season game at
Kaiserslautern, Keegan was sent-off for punching an opponent. Liverpool claimed it was Peter Cormack who’d
thrown the punch, but years later Keegan admitted it was him as several players
had been looking to get retribution for a back tackle on one of their
teammates. Keegan just happened to get
to the player first. He’d been through
an eventful few months.
Leeds talismanic captain
was Billy Bremner. The diminutive Scot
was a Revie-disciple, playing a vital role in the club’s success. He was in the Leeds team beaten in extra time
by Liverpool in the 1965 FA Cup Final.
He’d just spent the summer with the Scotland team for the World Cup in
West Germany, where they went out in the Group stage without losing a
game. He was known for his no-nonsense,
tough-tackling approach and was the undisputed leader of this notorious side.
To combat this, Liverpool
had an equally renowned hard-man, Tommy Smith, and these were the two best
teams in England, neither wanted to give an inch. You had the perfect recipe for a real
humdinger yet few were prepared for what they would witness.
The scene was set early
on when Allan Clarke was a little vigorous in a challenge on Phil Thompson and
Smith took it upon himself to let Clarke know what he thought of it. That
challenge earned Smith a booking. In response,
Norman Hunter kicked Steve Heighway up in the air. 19 minutes in and Phil Thompson played a ball
forward where Keegan turned Hunter and his shot was parried by David Harvey in
the Leeds goal, but the ball bounced up and Phil Boersma bundled it over the
line for the opening goal. Liverpool
used that move several times in the first half as Keegan was giving Hunter a
torrid time, but in the end he would pay for his impudence. It was all Liverpool as Hall and Boersma both
forced Harvey into good saves, then Emlyn Hughes fired a fierce shot against
the bar from 30 yards out. Leeds only
meaningful chance fell to Clarke who headed Reaney’s cross wide when
unchallenged in the area.
In the second half Leeds,
who’d looked sulky and petulant all afternoon, came more into it but there was
little of their zip and movement. Things
then literally ‘kicked-off’ on the hour.
Liverpool attacked and Boersma again forced Harvey into a save, and once
again the keeper couldn’t hold it but his follow-up went across the goal to
where Cormack retrieved it on the right wing.
Smith then found Hughes, free in midfield just outside the ‘d’ and as he
played it to his left to find Keegan, two Leeds players, Giles and Bremner,
both converged on the Liverpool skipper and ‘assaulted’ him. Keegan tried to find Hall to his right but
Bremner got hold of the ball and as he attempted to bring the ball out of
defence, Hall managed to nick it. The
ball was now loose with both Bremner and Keegan going for it and Keegan’s
challenge on Bremner was particularly robust.
The Liverpool striker then continued to chase the ball which now found
its way to Giles on the left of the area.
Giles, unaware Keegan was closing him down, played the ball back to
Hunter when Keegan grabbed him. The
Irishman instinctively turned round and landed a punch on Keegan.
As Keegan lay prostrate
on the ground, Bremner ran over to him to protest at the momento Keegan had
left on his knee. Giles was eventually
booked, and the resultant free-kick was played short allowing Lorimer to boot
the ball away before Keegan could take a shot.
Keegan was then seen remonstrating with Hunter and McQueen as Bremner
appeared to continue their little spat.
Both sets of players attempted to calm their teammates down when referee,
Bob Matthewson, called both Keegan and Bremner to him and after a few minutes
sent them both off. Keegan, clearly
angered by the whole situation believing he was the innocent party, left the
pitch and ripped his shirt off in disgust.
Bremner soon followed, doing the same as both players made their way
down the tunnel to derision from the watching public.
Eventually a game
continued and ten minutes later Leeds were level when Lorimer’s floated ball
into the area was met by the head of Trevor Cherry just as Ray Clemence tried
to reach it. The game finally seemed to
come alive as both sides had chances to win it.
With the scores still level after 90 minutes the match went to a penalty
shootout.
The first five kicks for
each side were perfect as Lorimer, Giles, Gray, Hunter and Cherry scored for
Leeds with Lindsay, Hughes, Hall, Smith and Cormack successful for
Liverpool. Inexplicably, the first
penalty of the sudden-death phase for Leeds was taken by the keeper, Harvey and
he blasted it wide. Liverpool refused to
return the favour and Ian Callaghan stepped up and despite slipping, fired his
kick into the roof of the net and Liverpool had won another trophy and for
Shankly he had won on his final visit to Wembley.
The aftermath sent
shockwaves through English football as various parties put in their opinion
over how outraged they were. Clough was
in no doubt who the guilty party was;
“Bremner’s behaviour was
scandalous. He seemed intent on making Kevin Keegan’s afternoon an absolute
misery. He kicked him just about
everywhere, until it became only a matter of time before a confrontation
exploded.”
He went onto add “Keegan
was a victim, not a culprit. I told
Bremner afterwards he should pay compensation for the period Keegan was
suspended”.
The press was equally
scathing in their condemnation. The
Times was particularly angry as Wembley Stadium witnessed two British players
sent off for the first time in its illustrious history, describing the removal
of their shirts, “shameless”, as they should’ve been “proud to wear them” and
singled out Bremner for critisicm as he threw his “petulantly to the ground,
where it lay crumpled like a shot seagull until cleared away by a
linesman. It was a disgusting scene”. They went onto claim “Sadly, Keegan could
have been the man of the match. Leeds
patently realised this by half-time and seemed intent on eliminating him by
fair means or foul”.
Interestingly, just
watching the footage of the immediate build-up to the incident would suggest
Keegan was incensed at the treatment of his captain under the hands, or feet,
of Giles and Bremner and he sought his own justice. But later, Tommy Smith gave a little more
detail to the event.
“Leeds had been at Kevin
all day. It was at a corner and Giles
came up behind Keegan and whacked him.
Kevin whirled around but Giles had disappeared and Billy was the nearest
Leeds player so Kevin went for him.
Ted Croker was especially
angry about the fracas, as he’d seen this as an additional showpiece event for
The FA to add to the FA Cup Final and League Cup Final. The build-up was similar to those Finals and back
then they were the only two domestic matches televised live. To say The FA was embarrassed would be an
understatement and it’s clear they wanted both clubs punished severely, but the
panel which sat on judgement over this included some club managers, including
Matt Busby, who were never going to agree to this because of the precedent it
could set. It is very possible the clubs
did not share Croker’s view of the match as being any more than an exhibition.
Both players received
lengthy bans and a £500 fine but despite calls in the press neither club
received sanctions. Both players were banned
for 11 matches and by the time Bremner returned to Leeds, Clough had gone after
only 44 days. Clough was paid-off after
his early sacking yet despite his wealth he was demoralised. Shortly before his death he revealed “I
didn’t think it out. Leeds weren’t for
me and I wasn’t for them”, which was probably an understatement.
The whole episode may
seem tame by today’s standards but back then a watching television audience had
not seen the like, and of course many were concerned with the example being
shown to others. The fact we are less
shocked about it all now shows the authorities failed to rein behaviour in.
Saturday 10th
August 1974, Wembley Stadium, 67,000
LIVERPOOL (1) 1 (Boersma
19)
LEEDS UNITED (0) 1 (Cherry 70)
LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Smith, Thompson, Hughes, Lindsay; Callaghan,
Hall, Cormack, Heighway; Keegan, Boersma
LEEDS UNITED: Harvey; Reaney, McQueen, Hunter, Cherry; Lorimer,
Bremner, Giles, Gray; Clarke (McKenzie), Jordan
Penalties
LIVERPOOL: Lindsay, Hughes, Hall, Smith, Cormack, Callaghan
LIVERPOOL: Lindsay, Hughes, Hall, Smith, Cormack, Callaghan
LEEDS UTD: Lorimer,
Giles, Gray, Hunter, Cherry, Harvey (missed)
Quotes – The Guardian, The Times, LFChistory.net, mightyLeeds.co.uk.
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