1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final

1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final

Event	European Cup Winners' Cup 1971–72
Rangers Dynamo Moscow 3 2
Date	24 May 1972
Venue	Camp Nou, Barcelona
Referee	José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)
Attendance	24,701
← 1971 1973 →

The 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was contested between Rangers and Dynamo Moscow on 24 May 1972. The match was played at the Camp Nou in Barcelona where Scottish team Rangers defeated their Soviet opponents 3–2. This was the first time a Soviet team had reached a European final and the players could have been awarded the coveted title Master of Sport, had they won in Barcelona. Before the event, many concerns were expressed for possible troubles between Spanish police and Russian supporters. Due to the political background of the time in Spain, with the last years of Francisco Franco's right-wing dictatorship, it was clear that the Russian players and supporters would have found themselves in a very hostile environment.

Route to the final

Rangers began their route to the final by beating Stade Rennes 2–1 on aggregate. The first leg was drawn 1–1 with Willie Johnston scoring for Rangers. Rangers won the return leg 1–0 through Alex MacDonald. The second round saw Rangers play Sporting Lisbon from Portugal. Rangers led the first half of the first leg 3–0, but lost two goals in the second half to lead 3–2 going into the second leg. The second leg finished 3–2 to Sporting, 5–5 on aggregate. Willie Henderson scored for Rangers in extra time but Rangers then lost a goal with six minutes left to make it 6–6 on aggregate. What followed has been described as being one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of any European tournament. The Dutch referee Laurens van Raavens failed to recognise that Rangers, having scored three away goals to Sporting's two, had won the tie. But the referee made both teams take five penalties each, with Rangers losing the shootout. After Rangers manager Willie Waddell pointed out the away goals rule to UEFA, the referee was overruled, the result overturned and Rangers were heading into the next round. Rangers then played Torino, Italian league leaders at the time, and won 2–1 on aggregate. In the semi final Rangers played Bayern Munich, who had beaten Rangers in the final five years previously in Nuremburg. Rangers progressed 3–1 on aggregate to reach their third European final.

Dynamo Moscow began their campaign by defeating Olympiakos 3–1 on aggregate, before beating the Turkish side Eskişehirspor 3–0. Moscow’s quarter final was against Red Star from Yugoslavia, who had reached the semi final of the European cup the previous year. Moscow made it through 3–1 on aggregate again. In the semi final Moscow played Dynamo Berlin from Germany. Scores were drawn 1–1 after both the first and second leg. Dynamo Moscow went through after a penalty shootout to become the first Russian club to reach a European final.

Match summary

First half

Rangers had a two goal lead by half time. The first was scored by forward Colin Stein. The second was scored by Willie Johnston after he headed in a David Smith pass with six minutes to go before half time.

Second half

Rangers went 3–0 up minutes into the second half as Willie Johnston scored his second after a long kick out by goalkeeper Peter McCloy. Dynamo Moscow came back into the match when with thirty minutes left for play Eshtrekov scored. They continued to pressure Rangers and scored again with three minutes left with a goal from Makhovikov. Rangers held on to secure their only trophy in Europe in front of almost 25,000 people.

Pitch invasion

Main article: 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final riots

The end of the contest was overshadowed by a pitch invasion by hundreds of Rangers supporters one minute before the final whistle, which held the game up for several minutes. In the sixties and seventies it was common to see pitch invasions at matches, including European finals. While it was argued that the pitch invaders may simply have been celebrating victory prematurely due to the misinterpretation of the final whistle (the referee had blown for a throw-in, others – including the Dinamo Moskva team as well as some neutral observers – believed that the pitch invasion was a calculated action by the fans designed to stop the Soviet side's momentum. In the final minutes, Dinamo were pressing hard to equalise but the sudden pitch invasion gave the Rangers defenders respite and deeply unnerved the Soviet players.

Dinamo Moskva and the Soviet FA demanded a replay on the grounds of the pitch invasion, arguing that the actions of the Rangers fans was intended to influence the result by ensuring the Russian team did not equalise. While UEFA initially seemed sympathetic and some neutral commentators agreed that the game should be replayed, no replay was ever scheduled and Rangers were allowed to keep the trophy. Rangers did however lose the possibility of defending the trophy as they were fined and handed a two year ban from European competition following their fans' behaviour, which was later reduced to a one-year ban.

Match details

24 May 1972	Rangers	3 – 2	Dynamo Moscow	Camp Nou, Barcelona Attendance: 24,701 Referee: José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Spain)
	Stein  23' Johnston  40'  49'		Eshtrekov  60' Makhovikov  87'

Rangers

Dynamo Moscow

RANGERS: GK 1 Peter McCloy DF 2 Sandy Jardine DF 3 Willie Mathieson DF 4 John Greig (c) DF 5 Derek Johnstone MF 6 David Smith MF 7 Tommy McLean MF 8 Alfie Conn FW 9 Colin Stein MF 10 Alex MacDonald FW 11 Willie Johnston Substitutes: GK Gerry Neef DF Alex Miller FW Derek Parlane Manager: William Waddell

DYNAMO MOSCOW: GK 1 Vladimir Pilguy DF 2 Vladimir Basalayev DF 3 Yozhef Sabo (c) DF 4 Valeri Zykov DF 5 Vladimir Dolbonosov 69' MF 6 Yevgeni Zhukov MF 7 Oleg Dolmatov MF 8 Aleksandr Makhovikov MF 9 Anatoly Baidachny FW 10 Andrei Yakubik 56' FW 11 Gennady Yevriuzhikin Substitutes: MF 12 Vladimir Eshtrekov 56' FW 13 Mikhail Gershkovich 69' Manager: Konstantin Beskov

See also

• European Cup Winners' Cup 1971–72
• 1972 European Cup Final
• 1972 UEFA Cup Final

External links

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final at UEFA.com