What is the Correct Way to Leave a Club?

May 1981, Paris, and Ray Clemence sat in the dressing room at Parc des Princes and contemplated his third European Cup success.  Most players never even play in a European Cup Final, let alone three and here was Clem with his third winners medal.  This would go nicely with his two UEFA Cup medals, five league championships and an FA Cup win.  As he sat there watching his teammates celebrate victory over Real Madrid, Clemence had an uneasy feeling inside.  This was yet another success with Liverpool but for some reason it just didn’t feel the same.  He’d kept another clean sheet but it just wasn’t enough anymore.  He wanted a change.

When Ray Clemence told the club he wanted to move everyone was shocked.  He’d not given any inkling of being unsettled and perhaps he hadn’t quite realised it himself, but he felt he needed a new challenge.  So after almost thirteen years and six hundred and sixty-five appearances he moved to Tottenham.

The following May saw Clemence return to Anfield for the first time in his new colours.  Defending the Anfield Road end the crowd kept chanting “England’s number one”, but it was the reception he received when he came out for the second half which took his, and many watching, breath away.  As he ran towards The Kop the whole stadium was on their feet.   

Clemence still says this was the most emotional he’d ever been at a football ground.

But why should Clem receive such a warm reception from supporters he’d walked away from?  He’d given the club his finest years.  He made three hundred and thirty six consecutive appearances between September 1972 and March 1978.  The club was successful and had a worthwhile, if yet unproven, replacement waiting in the wings in Bruce Grobbelaar.  The general feeling was that he’d given us his best and he left with our blessing.  He also announced he was leaving during the summer, which didn’t affect any momentum we might have built up during a season.

The 1981-82 season was a pivotal one for the club as players such as Clemence, Jimmy Case, Ray Kennedy and Avi Cohen all left, with also David Johnson and Phil Thompson moving on during the season.  Liverpool usually only replaced one or two players at a time so to replace five was quite a risk.  They needn’t have worried as the club’s thirteenth League title was secured with that win over Tottenham.  The replacements Grobbelaar, Mark Lawrenson, Ronnie Whelan and Ian Rush soon became legends in their own right, so the succession was seamless.

Maybe there lies the key to whether a player who leaves a club on his own volition, is given the blessing of the fans.

This article, if you hadn’t guess already, has been inspired by the latest goings on surrounding Philipe Coutinho.  It now appears the club has been successful in keeping him, as he is now blaming his ‘advisers’ for the reason he’s made himself unavailable so far this season.

Coutinho’s career was floundering at Inter Milan when he signed in the January 2013 transfer window for a bargain price of £8.5m.  During his three and a half seasons he has become an important member of the team with last season arguably his best.  Barcelona has come calling and for a Brazilian who was spotted by Inter as a sixteen year-old at Vasco da Gama, he may find the lure too irresistible.

The club didn’t want him to leave, the supporters didn’t either but if he had have gone why should it hurt so much?

He signed a new five year contract in January giving us every indication he was going to be an integral part of the brave new world Jurgen Klopp is attempting to build at Anfield.  In pre-season we got a glimpse of what we might be able to look forward to when he combined well with new signing Mo Salah on numerous occasions. The prospect of Coutinho unleashing the pace of Salah and Mane was beginning to water mouths.

Yet on the eve of the new season he puts in a transfer request.  The suggestion was that FSG did not want to be seen to be keen to sell him and so engineered the player into this position to save face.  It would suit the owners if the fans had turned against Phil, as they had begun to and so Coutinho could move into the box marked ‘snake’.

But how can a player avoid this? Is there a right way to leave a club?  Can you blame players for wanting to challenge themselves? Can you blame players for wanting to play in front of over 100,000 people at the Nou Camp?

This hurts us supporters each time.  I was gutted when Luis Suarez left.  I felt proud the club refused to sanction his efforts to leave the previous season, yet you can’t knock the player who did his utmost to try and get us the league title twelve months later.  Some fans still harbour a grudge, but for me Suarez is such a magnificent player he was always likely to want to move to somewhere like Spain.

Coutinho is no Suarez though.  You always knew what you’d get with Suarez. You knew he’d influence each and every game.  But Coutinho goes missing in matches.  In amongst some magic moments there has been some average performances.

But what right do we Liverpool fans have to expect players to stay at the club?  After all, they invariably have come from somewhere else.  Did we consider how PSV fans felt when Suarez left in January 2011?  What about Roma fans having just witnessed twenty nine goals in two seasons from Salah only to see him return to England?

Of course we can’t ignore Southampton who have endured a raft of players moving from the South Coast to Liverpool.  In fact as I write this the ongoing saga of whether Virgil van Dijk will leave St. Mary’s for Anfield continues to rumble on.  I’m sure Southampton fans would’ve loved to have seen more of Lallana, Lambert, Lovren, Clyne and Mane, but they’re Liverpool players now and we want them to do well for us.

It’s not easy being a football supporter but your club is bigger than any player and will exist long after those players have retired.  We’ve lost players before, some of whom I struggled to get over such as Keegan, Souness, McDermott, Beardsley, Alonso and Suarez.  There have been numerous I’ve said good riddance to, Owen and Sterling for example. 

There are also plenty the club has decided to move on and it’s this point where you can see the players’ side of things.  They could give their all for a club but if the club decides in a change of direction then they could be sold anyway.  Coutinho may well have signed a contract but the club could still decide to sell him whilst he’s under that contract. 

Van Dijk is under contract at Southampton and appears to have decided he’s leaving. This saga has been dragging on since virtually the end of last season with the player effectively downing tools. What us fans never really consider is that we’re happy to have a player who has cheated his previous club, preferring to ignore the fact he may very well cheat us.

Do we really think Salah will stay longer than a couple of years?  What about Firmino? He’s twenty six.  Will he still be here in three years time?  These are not Liverpool-born players, it’s not particularly clear whether they’ve been lifelong Liverpool fans so should we expect them to stay here no matter what?

It’s pretty clear these days that players hold most of the cards, although maybe that should be corrected to agents hold most of the cards.  What shouldn’t be forgotten is that Coutinho’s agent is none other than Kia Joorabchian, a name which still strikes fear into many football supporters hearts and who has been effecting transfers worldwide for years since the Tevez affair in 2008.

After all this there are only a few examples of clubs successfully holding onto players when they’re being courted by other clubs, with Suarez and Gareth Bale being recent examples.  Although in both cases it seems they were persuaded to give one more season before their moves were sanctioned twelve months later.

So perhaps we’re to endure this charade again next summer so let’s hope the story follows a similar path to Suarez and Coutinho gives us his very best for this season and we’re challenging for the league title again.  What does seem to be clear, though is that the club were not planning to re-invest any transfer fee (which may have been as much as £130m) back into the playing squad.  The squad needs improving and £130m would’ve gone a long way to helping with that.  But the club was quite happy to pass up the offer as if they don’t really need the money.  Although it could be argued the team would’ve been poorer for the absence of Coutinho and would £130m have replaced him without disruption?  Another question is that Barcelona were offering as much as they were because their coffers had been filled by the Neymar transfer.  Will they still have that much money next summer?  Will any team?  If Coutinho is unsettled again next summer will the club have to accept a lower offer than they would’ve been able to obtain this summer?  It’s a risky strategy in a game where players and agents are holding many of the best cards.

As supporters we’ll go on falling hopelessly in love with our heroes even if they do eventually leave for other admirers.

Malcolm MacDonald Scores Five Goals - Ee-ay, ee-ay-oh

“I don’t want you here. I wouldn’t have picked you, but the media has made it impossible so here you are.  If you don’t score in this match I won’t be picking you again”

Malcolm MacDonald, for some, was the archetypal English centre-forward.  Big, strong, and good in the air.  Unlike other “big number nines” he was extremely quick on the ground as viewers of the iconic 1970’s Superstars series will confirm.

He first began his career at Fulham, the club he was born just down the road from.  He was one of the kids who used to hang around the ground looking for autographs from players such as Bobby Robson.  It was Robson who signed him at Craven Cottage.  He moved to Luton Town in 1969 and then onto Newastle United in the summer of 1971.  That season he scored twenty-three goals as Newcastle finished mid-table.  He endeared himself to the home supporters by scoring a hat-trick against Liverpool on his home debut.

[video]

January 1972 saw him win England honours for the first time as he was picked for the under-23 side which took on Wales at Swindon.  He lined up alongside Mick Channon, Phil Parkes, Colin Todd, Ray Kennedy and Tony Currie.  He opened the scoring too, in a 2-0 victory.  Two further appearances against Scotland and East Germany were enough to persuade Alf Ramsey to add him to the full squad for the British Home International Championships.  The now defunct competition was between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and took place during May at the end of every season.  Each team played each other once to determine the British champions, with England versus Scotland always being the final fixture.  

Ramsey put MacDonald straight into the starting line-up as England took on Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff.  England had just been knocked out of the European Championships losing the two-legged Quarter-Final to the eventual winners, West Germany.  MacDonald lined up alongside players such as Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Colin Bell, Emlyn Hughes, Norman Hunter and Rodney Marsh.  Hughes, Marsh and Bell scored in a 3-0 win.  A surprise defeat at Wembley to Northern Ireland when future Arsenal manager, and the man who would sign MacDonald to the club, Terry Neill scored the only goal of the game, was then forgotten about when Alan Ball did likewise in a 1-0 win at Hampden against Scotland.

MacDonald seemed to have done enough to impress England’s World Cup winning manager and when he scored a hat-trick against Wales for the under-23’s in November.  But England had plenty of strikers to choose from then with Allan Clarke, Martin Chivers, Mick Channon and Joe Royle being selected ahead of Supermac.  MaDonald didn’t put on another England shirt until he lined up in Moscow for a friendly against Soviet Union where Bobby Moore equalled Bobby Charlton’s appearances world record.  England had just lost a crucial World Cup qualifier in Poland just four days before and were pleased to bounce back with a 2-1 win.

That June appearance was his only cap in 1973 but the summer of 1974 saw him have another run in the team.  England had just suffered the ignominy of failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup and then lost at home to Italy when Fabio Capello scored.  In April MacDonald was selected for the friendly in Lisbon against Portugal.  Playing up front alongside Mick Channon he was unable to get his first full international goal as the game ended 0-0.  Soon after that Alf Ramsey was sacked.

Ramsey had been a fan of MacDonald and had spoken to him encouraging him to remain patient but assuring him he had a place at this level.

Joe Mercer was the stop-gap caretaker manager for the Home Internationals and ignored MacDonald for the wins over Wales and Northern Ireland but brought him on as a sub for Frank Worthington at Hampden Park where England lost 0-2.  A month later MacDonald was again a replacement for Worthington and goals from Keegan and Channon helped England to a 2-2 draw in Yugoslavia.  Then Don Revie was named as new England manager.

MacDonald never knew why Revie didn’t like him but wondered if it was because he often scored against Leeds when Revie was in charge.

He wasn’t called up for the first two games of Revie’s reign but got the call when World Champions West Germany were to visit Wembley.  MacDonald was in the middle of another twenty-goal season but when he reported for duty he was greeted by the England manager with a terse

“I don’t want you here. I wouldn’t have picked you, but the media has made it impossible so here you are.  If you don’t score in this match I won’t be picking you again”

Not known for his Shanklyesque powers of motivation so MacDonald had every reason to believe Revie was serious.  Lining up alongside Channon and Keegan, MacDonald finally broke his duck midway through the second half. Mick Channon took a quick free-kick on the right wing to Alan Ball and his accurate cross to the far post saw MacDonald head the ball home for his first ever England goal in his eighth appearance.  A 2-0 win had everyone smiling.  But in the dressing room afterwards, if Supermac was to imagine his manager’s sullen exterior was to be relaxed, he was disappointed.  Revie came in and shook all the players by the hand but when he came to MacDonald he completely blanked him and walked out.

A month later and Cyprus came to Wembley for the European Championship qualifiers.  When MacDonald met up with the squad again he was greeted with the same ‘welcome’ from his manager.

“I don’t want you here. I wouldn’t have picked you, but again the media has made it impossible so here you are.  If you don’t score in this match I won’t be picking you again”.

During the build up to the game Revie was similarly cold towards the Newcastle striker who was convinced he was like this rather than Revie trying some reverse psychology on him.  The day before the match MacDonald was so bothered by this treatment he spoke to the captain, Alan Ball and explained how things were.  Initially Bally dismissed it but when MacDonald told him about Revie’s behaviour in the dressing room afterwards he decided this was not on.  So Ball gathered Colin Bell, Alan Hudson and Kevin Keegan and explained how they were going to make sure MacDonald scored.  Ball said the record number of goals scored in one match for England was five, with Willie Hall in 1938 being the last player to do it.  But no player had done it in a competitive match.  So the plan was to make sure Malcolm beat the record and scored six goals.  MacDonald was stunned at the camaraderie but excited at what the team might be able to create for him.

Just two minutes into the game and Kevin Keegan was brought down on the left wing.  Alan Hudson took the free-kick and MacDonald got his head to the ball just ahead of Dave Watson and England were 1-0 up.  One.   






During the celebration Ball came up to MacDonald and reminded him that was goal number one and five more to go.  Ten minutes before half-time and Colin Bell burst forward to the right edge of the area but his ball into the box missed everyone.  Keegan picked it up on the left, turned a defender and pulled it back from the bye-line where MacDonald scuffed his shot but with enough power to beat the keeper.  Two

Just before the break MacDonald hit a shot against the post and could easily have a first half hat-trick.  2-0 at the break and it wasn’t long before they added to their tally in the second half.  Paul Madeley brought the ball into the Cypriot half and exchanged passes with Bell before floating a ball to the far post where Keegan nodded it down for MacDonald to complete his hat-trick.  Three

Revie then shuffled his pack but instead of taking off MacDonald he chose to take off Channon and replace him with QPR’s Dave Thomas.  Commentator David Coleman informed viewers how Thomas was “one of the best crossers of a ball in the First Division” and immediately we had evidence of this as Ball played him in down the right and his cross to the edge of the six-yard area was powered home by the head of MacDonald.  Four.

Again Ball can be seen encouraging MacDonald to keep going with thirty-five minutes still on the clock.

Within minutes England had the ball in the net again but this was ruled out as Beattie was adjudged to have kicked the ball out of the keeper’s hands after chesting it down in the area.  The challenge was enough to force the visitors to bring on a substitute keeper.  With just three minutes remaining Thomas played a one-two with Ball on the right and his cross into the six-yard box was headed in by MacDonald and he’d become the first England player to score five goals in a competitive international and the first since the War to do it in any match.  Five.

MacDonald did get the ball in the net after his fourth goal but it was ruled out for offside.  He was ecstatic with his performance and especially grateful to Keegan and Ball who’d played such a part in the success.  At the end of the game the electronic scoreboard at Wembley flashed up

“Congratulations – Supermac 5 Cyprus 0”

As MacDonald was leaving the pitch he saw Revie over by the touchline, head down and he shouted over to him 

“Read that and weep, you bastard. Read that and weep”

But Revie didn’t hear him and as everyone was high on the euphoria of it all the manager repeated his performance in the dressing room by not even shaking hands with a player who’d scored five goals in one game.  The only time the manager spoke to the player the whole country was talking about was when he ordered him out of the bath to speak to the press.  

Later in his autobiography MacDonald would explain how the press seemed strangely cool towards him afterwards and he couldn’t understand why.  Back then players or their agents received £25 for post-match interviews and a year later when MacDonald met the BBC football producer and gently suggested his agent hadn’t received the fee, he was abruptly told Revie had demanded £200.  It appeared this was raised via a collection from some of the production staff, camera, sound and lighting engineers and yet Revie had trousered the lot.

MacDonald kept his place in the team for the return against Cyprus where Keegan scored the only goal of the game and then in the goalless draw in Belfast against Northern Ireland.  But he was dropped for the Wales and Scotland matches as his replacement, David Johnson scored in both games.

Supermac would win just three more caps with just two more starting appearances as his international career ended in Lisbon in November 1975.  Six goals from fourteen appearances was a decent return but he only scored in two games and after the Cyprus success he never played at Wembley for England again.  Revie certainly wasn’t interested in him despite his big money move (£333,333) to Arsenal in 1976.

A serious knee injury forced the early termination of MacDonald’s playing career at the age of 29 in 1979 and although he perhaps didn’t achieve the success at international level that his fame at club level suggested, he can at least claim a record which may stand for a while yet.

1984 - European Championships - Qualifying

UEFA decided the expanded format of eight teams for the final stages was a success after 1980.  But this time they also decided to restore the Semi-Final stage, rather than just two group winners contesting the Final.  France was given the tournament to host.  The first time they had hosted a tournament since 1938 when they hosted the 3^rd World Cup Finals.

QUALIFICATION

For the qualification stage, thirty-two teams were put into seven groups, four of five teams, and three of four teams.

GROUP ONE: Belgium, East Germany, Scotland, Switzerland

GROUP TWO: Finland, Poland, Portugal, USSR

GROUP THREE: Denmark, England, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg

GROUP FOUR: Bulgaria, Norway, Wales, Yugoslavia

GROUP FIVE: Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Romania, Sweden

GROUP SIX: Albania, Austria, Northern Ireland, Turkey, West Germany

GROUP SEVEN: Iceland, Malta, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland

Group 1 saw Scotland come up against the 1980 losing finalists, Belgium.  Both countries had competed in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, which Belgium had advanced to the 2^nd phase, beating Argentina, the holders, in their opening match.  The other two teams were East Germany and Switzerland.  Scotland began well with a 2-0 win over East Germany at Hampden Park.   They then suffered defeat in Berne against Switzerland and then two Kenny Dalglish goals saw them lead 2-1 in Belgium, only to eventually lose, 2-3.   Switzerland then arrived in Glasgow and came away with a 2-2 draw. With Belgium winning every game so far, and only the group winners to qualify, it was all over for the Scots.  They were the first team to take points off the Belgians when a Charlie Nicholas goal levelled things at Hampden.  Belgium then lost to Switzerland, but they’d already won the group.  Scotland’s disappointing campaign finished with a poor 1-2 defeat to East Germany, and they finished bottom of the group.

Group 2 included Poland, who finished 3^rd in the 1982 World Cup and USSR, who reached the 2^nd phase in Spain, losing to Poland.  Portugal and Finland made up the group.  Poland started off away to Finland and were 3-0 up before two late goals gave them a scare.  Portugal then also turned up in Finland and came away with a victory.  Portugal hadn’t qualified for a major tournament since they finished 3^rd in 1966.  They pulled off a surprise by beating Poland, 2-1.  Poland then dropped points at home to Finland, and with USSR beating both Finland and Portugal, it looked tough for the Poles.

USSR then drew in Poland and won in Finland, and then completed the Poles misery by winning in Moscow.  With two matches remaining, Portugal travelled to Poland needing to win.  Carlos Manuel got the only goal of the game and Portugal won, 1-0, leaving things finely poised for the final game of the group in Lisbon, between Portugal and USSR.  A draw and USSR were through.  One minute before half-time and Rui Jordao converted the penalty for the only goal of the game.  Portugal had dramatically won the group.

Group 3 saw England drawn against Denmark, Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg.  England had a new manager, Bobby Robson and he shook things up by refusing to include England's talisman of the past eight years, Kevin Keegan.  They started nervously with a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen.  Trevor Francis two goals looked to have won it, until Jesper Olsen grabbed a late equaliser.   
Luxembourg were the whipping boys as both Greece and Denmark beat them, before England’s tricky visit to Greece.  Goals from Tony Woodock (2) and Sammy Lee gave England an impressive, 3-0 win.   They followed this with a thumping of Luxembourg, 9-0 when Luther Blissett scored a hat-trick on his debut.   Hungary, who England had met in the qualifying group for the 1982 World Cup, then beat Luxembourg, 6-2 both at home and away.  In between this, England dropped crucial points as Greece came to Wembley and walked off with a 0-0 draw.   England then beat Hungary, 2-0 at Wembley.   When Greece won in Hungary and then Denmark beat them too, it all came down to the match at Wembley between England and Denmark.  England were wasteful and Allan Simonsen converted a penalty that proved to be the only goal.  Denmark had beaten England for the first time and now held control of the group.

England’s hopes were raised when Denmark lost, 0-1 in Hungary, but they needed Greece to beat them too.  Goals from Preben Elkjaer and Simonsen gave Denmark a 2-0 win and they’d won the group.  Not even a 4-0 win for England in Luxembourg was enough and having qualified for the last two major international tournaments, England would again have a summer off.  Denmark had qualified, for only their 2^nd major tournament, having finished 4^th in the Euros in 1964.

Group 4 contained Wales who were drawn against Bulgaria, Norway and Yugoslavia.  They began with an Ian Rush goal winning the game at home to Norway.  Norway then beat Yugoslavia, and drew in Bulgaria.  Yugoslavia then won in Bulgaria before hosting the Welsh.  A cracking game saw Brian Flynn put Wales in front early on, but then 2 goals in 3 minutes saw the Yugoslavs lead 2-1.  When Niko Kranjcar’s Dad extended the lead just before half-time the Welsh had cause to be concerned.  But then Ian Rush got a goal back almost immediately, and they trailed 2-3 at the break.  Jesic then added a 4^th for the Yugoslavs, before Joey Jones and Robbie James levelled things for Wales.  The game ended 4-4, one to be remembered for a long time.   Jeremy Charles scored the only goal to be Bulgaria and then Wales gained a good 0-0 draw in Oslo. 

At this point, Wales were top of the group, 2pts clear of Norway and 3pts clear of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.  Yugoslavia then beat Norway to move into 2^nd.  Wales then travelled to Sofia, knowing victory would go a long way to qualifying them.  Unfortunately, Rusi Gochev got the only goal and Wales suffered their first and only defeat of the campaign.  They could redeem themselves if they beat Yugoslavia at Cardiff.   Robbie James gave them a first-half lead, and they held it until the last 10 minutes when Bazdarevic grabbed a late equaliser and Wales had missed another opportunity.  The final game in the group was in Split as Yugoslavia took on Bulgaria.  The Yugoslavs had to win as their goal difference was inferior to Wales and so a draw would see the Welsh go through.

Bulgaria scored first, but then Safet Susic grabbed an equaliser immediately.  Susic scored again early in the second half but then Georgi Dimitrov equalised.  The 90 minutes were up and Wales were getting ready to celebrate, but then Radanovic headed a very late winner and Yugoslavia had pipped the Welsh for qualification.

Group 5 contained the World Champions, Italy, along with Czechoslovakia, Romania, Sweden and Cyprus.  Italy were expected to cruise through as only the Czechs had competed in the ’82 World Cup and the ’80 Euros.  Romania got off to a great start beating Cyprus and Sweden.  Czechoslovakia and Sweden played out a 2-2 as Sweden scored 2 goals in the last 3 minutes to gain a point.  Italy’s first outing was in Milan against the Czechs, but they were disappointing in a 2-2 draw.  Italy were at home again, in Florence when Romania were the opponents, but were again disappointing in a 0-0 draw.  In February 1983, Italy travelled to Cyprus to gain their first victory of the campaign.  It didn’t turn out that way as they needed an equaliser from Graziani to gain a point.  Three games, three draws for the World Champions.  Cyprus then took points off the Czechs as well and the group was wide open.  In the return, Czechoslovakia thumped Cyprus, 6-0.  On the same day, Italy travelled to Bucharest, but Boloni scored the only goal of the game and Romania won, 1-0.  Italy were still winless from 4 matches, and 4pts behind the leaders, Romania.

The Czechs then swung things their way by beating Romania in Bucharest.  At the end of May 1983, Italy were in Stockholm to try and get their campaign going.  Eriksson and Corneliusson scored for the home side and Italy had lost again.  They would now need to win their last three matches, and that still might not be enough.  The group continued to ebb and flow as Romania beat Sweden, who then beat Czechoslovakia.  Sweden topped the group from Romania on goal difference, with Czechoslovakia 2pts behind.  Both Romania and the Czechs had a game in hand.

Sweden’s final match was in Naples.  Italy needed to win, and overturn a goal difference of -9.  After 20 minutes Glenn Stromberg put the visitors in front, and when he doubled the lead 7 minutes later the home fans were distraught.  Italy would now need a miracle.  It didn’t happen and Sunesson gave Sweden a famous 3-0 win.   Italy, the World Champions, were eliminated.  They had not won in their six matches.  Romania then won in Cyprus to move level on points with Sweden.  The Czechs, who would need to win their last 2 matches, then met Italy in Prague.  Petr Rada scored twice to heap more embarrassment on Italy as they won, 2-0.  The game between Romania and Czechoslovakia would decide the group.  The Czechs needed to win, the Romanians just needed a draw.  Geolgau gave Romania the lead, eight minutes from the end, Luhovy equalised but it wasn’t enough for the home side and Romania had won the group.  Italy finally picked up a win when they beat Cyprus, 3-1, but this was one of their worst ever qualification campaigns.

Group 6 had Northern Ireland up against European Champions, West Germany, along with Austria, Albania and Turkey.  Northern Ireland had reached the 2^nd phase in Spain ’82, as had Austria.  West Germany were losing finalists in Spain.  The Austrians flew out of the blocks with wins over Albania (5-0) and Turkey (4-0).  They also beat the Irish, 2-0 in Vienna with two goals from Walter Schachner.  In November 1982, West Germany arrived at Windsor Park.  18 minutes in and Ian Stewart scored, and this proved to be the only goal of the game.   A famous win and Northern Ireland’s bid was now back on track.  All that good work was then ruined when they couldn’t beat Albania in Tirana (0-0). 

Into 1983 and the Irish beat Turkey, 2-1, and Albania, 1-0 at home.  The Germans had recovered their form against the same opponents, but then were held to a 0-0 draw in Vienna.  Northern Ireland then welcomed group leaders, Austria to Windsor Park.  Goals from Billy Hamilton, Norman Whiteside and Martin O’Neill, gave them a 3-1 win.  Austria still lead the group, but only on goal difference from the Irish.  Austria were then beaten in Germany too.  Northern Ireland then missed their chance to take a real hold on the group as they lost 0-1 in Turkey.  Two goals each from Rudi Voller and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge helped the Germans see off Turkey, 5-1.  That win took the Germans to the top of the group for the first time, with 3 teams on 9pts.  16^th November 1983 was a significant day for the group.  Austria were in Turkey and Northern Ireland travelled to Hamburg.  In Istanbul, Turkey put paid to Austria’s chances with a 3-1 win.  Norman Whiteside scored the only goal in Hamburg and the Irish had beaten West Germany, 1-0 to pull off a famous double.  The group all hinged on the final game as West Germany were at home to Albania.  The Germans just needed to win, as their goal difference was far superior to Northern Ireland’s.  Remarkably, Tomori gave Albania the lead in the first half, but within a minute, Rummenigge had scored his 7^th goal of the campaign.  Things stayed like that going into the final 10 minutes as the Irish hoped and prayed for no more goals.  Gerhard Strack broke Irish hearts with a late winner for the Germans.  It proved to be his only international goal, and West Germany won 2-1 to win the group on goal difference.

Group 7 contained Spain, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Iceland and Malta.  Spain had disappointed in the ’82 World Cup, and none of the other countries qualified.  The Dutch were surprisingly held to a draw in Iceland.  They then got their campaign underway by beating the Irish, 2-1.  Both Ireland and Spain beat Iceland, before the two met in Dublin.  Ashley Grimes put the Irish in front after just 2 minutes, but by the hour Spain were 3-1 up.  Frank Stapleton then scored twice and Ireland had gained an impressive draw.  After the Dutch thrashed Malta, 6-0 the big game of the group came in February 1983 in Seville as Spain took on Netherlands.  The only goal of the game came just before the break when Senor converted a penalty and the Spanish had the advantage.

Spain then beat Ireland at home and then won away at the two minnows of the group, Iceland and Malta.  Although, they only beat them by one goal each time and that could be significant if goal difference determines the winner.  To illustrate this, Netherlands then beat Iceland, 3-0.  In October in Dublin, the Dutch turned up and Ireland raced to a 2-0 lead in the first 35 minutes.  Gary Waddock and a Liam Brady penalty gave the Irish a dream start.  But in the second half, the Dutch came out a different side and two goals from Ruud Gullit and one from Marco Van Basten gave Netherlands a valuable 3-2 win.  Netherlands and Spain then met in Rotterdam.  After this game both countries had Malta to play, so a win for Spain would ensure their qualification, but a win for Netherlands and they could win the group on goal difference.  Peter Houtman put the home side in front midway through the first half.  Carlos Santillana then equalised just before half-time.  Midway through the second half and Ruud Gullit scored, what proved to be, the winner.   Now it would be down to how many goals each side could score against Malta.  The Irish then beat Malta, 8-0 when Mark Lawrenson helped himself to 2 goals.  Netherlands were first up, beating Malta 5-0.  Frank Rijjkaard scored twice, with his 2^nd coming in injury time and could prove significant.  Netherlands looked to have done more than enough to qualify, they had a goal difference of +16, scoring 24 goals.  Spain’s goal difference was just +5, so for Spain to overhaul them, they needed to win by 11 goals.  Only 25,000 turned up in Seville, a measure of how slim the Spanish public thought their chances were. 

Santillana scored after 16 minutes.  But then Degiorgio equalised for Malta and this spelt disaster.  Two minutes later, Santillana scored again and then completed his hat-trick inside the opening half-hour.  3-1 to Spain was the half-time score and qualification seemed a world away.  Poli Rincon then made it 4-1 early in the second half.  6 minutes later and Rincon scored again.  Then during a crazy three minutes, Maceda scored twice and Rincon completed his hat-trick.  25 minutes to go and Spain lead 8-1.  Into the last 15 minutes and Santillana popped up with his 4^th goal of the night, which was matched 2 minutes later as Rincon scored his 4^th.  10-1 and Spain still needed to score twice more.  Manuel Sarabia then scored with 10 minutes to go, and then Senor scored the magic 12^th goal.  Spain had pulled off the unbelievable and won 12-1.  They had matched Netherlands goal difference but went through by virtue of having scored more goals.  

So qualification was complete.  France, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Romania, West Germany and Spain.

Would the finals be all that good, though, without World Champions, Italy, or Poland, who were 3^rd in Spain?  Not to mention England or Netherlands?