Cardiff City v Real Madrid, 1971
Cardiff City v Real Madrid was a famous night at Ninian Park in March 1971, as the Second Division side took on the Spanish giants in the first leg of a European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final tie. Cardiff, who knocked out French side Nantes in the previous round, had cup pedigree – their 1927 FA Cup win remains the only time the trophy has left England – and qualified for the competition as winners of the Welsh Cup.
Despite selling their star striker John Toshack to Liverpool in November 1970, the season was a successful one for Cardiff City under manager Jimmy Scoular. Their run in Europe began with an 8-0 drubbing of Cypriot side Pezoporikos, before impressively beating Nantes 7-2 on aggregate, with a 5-1 win at Ninian Park. They finished third in the Second Division, though only the top two were promoted at that time, long before the play-offs were introduced. Relegated from the First Division in 1962, they were not to return to the top flight until 2013 – by which time they had left Ninian Park for the Cardiff City Stadium.
Much-travelled English forward Brian Clark was the hero of this game, heading in a cross from 17-year-old winger Nigel Rees. Starting in place of ineligible striker Alan Warboys, Clark went on to finish the season as the club’s top scorer. He later had the distinction of scoring the first Football League goal on a Sunday, for Millwall in 1974. Another Welsh Cup win in 1971 secured European football again for Cardiff the following season; they qualified for the Cup Winners’ Cup 14 times overall, a now-permanent record for any club in Europe.
Cardiff City v Real Madrid 1971
Real, already six-time European Cup winners at that date, finished the 1970/71 season in a disappointing fourth place behind champions Valencia in La Liga. This side featured European champions in Manuel Sanchís, Pirri, captain Ignacio Zoco, Manuel Velázquez, Amancio and Ramón Grosso. In charge of Real, former player Miguel Muñoz was coming towards the end of a 14-year spell which established him as the club’s most successful manager with two European Cup wins (1960 and 1966) in addition to nine La Liga titles. Along the way he became the first winner of the European Cup as both player and manager; in 1955 he had scored Real’s first-ever goal in European competition. Later, as national team manager from 1982-88, Muñoz took Spain to the final of the 1984 European Championships and the World Cup quarter-finals two years later in Mexico.
Cardiff City 1970/71
From Bangor City beating Napoli 2-0 in 1962 to Merthyr Tydfil’s 2-1 victory over Atalanta in 1987, Welsh teams have provided many one-off upsets in the Cup Winners’ Cup. Cardiff’s best season was 1967/68, when they reached the semi-finals, which remains the furthest any Welsh side has gone in European competition. Wrexham made it to the quarter-finals in 1975/76, only beaten by eventual winners Anderlecht, an achievement matched by Newport County in 1980/81.
Clubs competing in the English league system were allowed to enter the Welsh Cup up until 1995 but if an English side, such as Chester or Crewe, won, they could not enter European competition; the best-placed Welsh side entered instead. Cardiff City won the competition 22 times, second only to Wrexham with 23, while Shrewsbury Town hold the record for English teams, with six wins between 1891 and 1985. The last English winner of the Welsh Cup was Hereford United in 1990.
Match details for Cardiff City – Real Madrid; Ninian Park, European Cup Winners’ Cup Quarter-Final First Leg, Wednesday 10 March 1971:
Cardiff City: 1. Jim Eadie, 2. David Carver, 3. Gary Bell, 4. Mel Sutton, 5. Don Murray, 6. Leighton Phillips, 7. Peter King, 8. Ian Gibson, 9. Brian Clark, 10. Bobby Woodruff, 11. Nigel Rees. Manager: Jimmy Scoular. Scorer: Clark
Real Madrid: 1. José Luis Borja, 2. Fernando Zunzunegui (sub. José Luis), 3. Manuel Sanchís, 4. José Antonio Grande, 5. Goyo Benito, 6. Pirri, 7. Ignacio Zoco, 8. Manuel Velázquez, 9. Amancio (sub. Sebastián Fleitas), 10. Ramón Grosso, 11. Miguel Pérez. Manager: Miguel Muñoz
Attendance: 47,500
Real Madrid players at Ninian Park ahead of the game
Scoular was understandably delighted with the performance and result, stating “whatever happens, nobody can take anything away from the players for their wonderful show.” Muñoz admitted, “Cardiff played a lot better than when I saw them in the league and they are a difficult side to beat.” The Spanish giants had to battle to overcome them in the second leg with two second-half goals, before progressing to the final. The occasion remains one of the most dramatic and notable in Cardiff City’s long history.
The European Cup Winners’ Cup ran between 1960 and 1999, after which it was incorporated into the new UEFA Europa League. Tottenham were the first British club to lift the trophy, in 1963; later winners included Chelsea (twice), Arsenal, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, West Ham, Aberdeen and Rangers. The 1970-71 competition was won by Chelsea for their first-ever European trophy, beating Real Madrid 2-1 in a replay after knocking out holders Manchester City in the semi-finals.
The fortunes of British clubs in European competition is one of the topics in my book Before the Premier League: A History of the Football League’s Last Decades.
Cardiff City goalscorer Brian Clark