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The 1981 UEFA Cup Final was an
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match played over two legs between AZ '67 of the Netherlands and
Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
of England. The first leg was played at
Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...
,
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
, on 6May 1981 and the second leg was played on 20 May 1981 at the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
, Amsterdam. It was the final of the 1980–81 season of European cup competition, the
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
. 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 Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
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 John Wark (born 4 August 1957) is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. W ...
scored from the penalty spot. Second half goals from
Frans Thijssen Frans Thijssen (born 23 January 1952) is a Dutch former footballer. He started his professional career in 1970 with NEC Nijmegen. In 1973, he moved to FC Twente, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons. Thijssen won fourteen caps fo ...
and
Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored ...
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 Kurt Welzl (born 6 November 1954) is an Austrian former professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Americ ...
before taking the lead after a goal from
Johnny Metgod Johannes Anthonius Bernardus Metgod (born 27 February 1958) is a Dutch former professional footballer who works as assistant manager of United Arab Emirates. Club career Playing as a centre-back, Metgod started his professional career in the 19 ...
. Wark scored again for Ipswich to equalise the leg, but AZ '67 struck back through
Pier Tol Kees "Pier" Tol (born 12 July 1958) is a Dutch retired international footballer who made over 300 professional appearances in the Dutch league, scoring over 100 goals. Club career Born in Volendam, Tol played professionally for FC Volendam, AZ'6 ...
and
Jos Jonker Jos Jonker (born 23 April 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer. A midfielder, he played for Vitesse '22, Telstar, FC Den Haag and AZ '67 during his career. He also gained two caps for the Netherlands national team. Football care ...
. No further goals were scored and Ipswich won the final 5–4 on aggregate to win their first and, as of 2022, only European trophy.


Background

The
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
was an annual football club competition organised by
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
between 1971 and 2009 for eligible clubs. It was the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the
UEFA European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competiti ...
. From 2010, the UEFA Cup evolved into the Europa League. Ipswich Town had made their first appearance in European football in the
1962–63 European Cup The 1962–63 European Cup was the eighth season of the European Cup, a football competition for European clubs. The competition was won by Milan, who beat two-time defending champions Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium in London. Milan's v ...
and, before the 1980–81 season, their most successful tournament was the
1973–74 UEFA Cup The 1973–74 UEFA Cup was the third season of the UEFA Cup since its inception in 1971. It was won by Dutch side Feyenoord who defeated English side Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham ( ...
, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by
Lokomotive Leipzig 1. Fußballclub Lokomotive Leipzig e.V. is a German football club based in the locality of Probstheida in the Südost borough of Leipzig, Saxony. The club may be more familiar to many of the country's football fans as the historic side VfB Lei ...
. This was Ipswich's eighth European campaign. AZ's first European experience was in the
1978–79 UEFA Cup The 1978–79 UEFA Cup was won by Borussia Mönchengladbach on aggregate over Red Star Belgrade. The third club was revoked to Switzerland and Poland, and it was assigned to Bulgaria and East Germany. First round ...
where they reached the second round, losing 5–4 on penalties to
FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...
. The 1980–81 UEFA Cup campaign was their third season in European football. Ipswich Town qualified for the 1980–81 UEFA Cup as a result of finishing third in the
Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
the previous season, behind
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, who also qualified for the UEFA Cup, and
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, who qualified for the
1980–81 European Cup The 1980–81 European Cup was the 26th season of the European Cup football club tournament, and was won for a third time by Liverpool, who beat six-time champions Real Madrid in the final. In the 11 seasons up to and including this one, there wer ...
. AZ '67 finished the
1979–80 Eredivisie The Dutch Eredivisie in the 1979–80 season was contested by 18 teams. Ajax won the championship. League standings Results See also * 1979–80 Eerste Divisie * 1979–80 KNVB Cup References Eredivisie official website - info on all s ...
season in second place, three points behind champions
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
. 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 The 1978–79 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by FC Barcelona in the final in Basel against Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German footba ...
which the English club won 2–0 on aggregate.


Route to the final


Ipswich Town F.C.

Ipswich's
1980–81 UEFA Cup The 1980–81 UEFA Cup was won by Ipswich Town on aggregate over AZ Alkmaar. According to the 1979 UEFA decision, Fairs Cup entry criteria were finally abolished, and UEFA ranking was introduced. Albania did not join, and it ceded its place to ...
campaign commenced in the first round against the Greek team Aris Salonika. The first leg, at Ipswich's home ground
Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...
, was an ill-disciplined match which saw Aris'
Giorgos Foiros Georgios Firos ( el, Γεώργιος Φοιρός; born 8 November 1953) is a Greek football manager and former football player. Career Born in Evosmos, Thessaloniki, Firos played center-back or sweeper. He was one of the very few players that ...
sent off after a second yellow card towards the end of the first half. Ipswich were awarded three
penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...
, all of which were converted by
John Wark John Wark (born 4 August 1957) is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. W ...
, who scored a fourth from open play.
Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored ...
struck a fifth for Ipswich before Aris scored from the spot through
Theodoros Pallas Theodoros Pallas ( el, Θεόδωρος Πάλλας; born in 1949), a Greek football player, was a defender for Aris Thessaloniki F.C. during the period 1966–80. He followed Dinos Kouis Dinos Kouis (Greek: Ντίνος Κούης) is a ...
in what would be a consolation goal in a 5–1 win for Ipswich,Henderson, p. 141 described as a "sparkling" victory by the ''
Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...
''. Two weeks later, Aris won 3–1 in the return leg, taking an early 2–0 lead with goals from
Thalis Tsirimokos Thalis Tsirimokos ( el, Θαλής Τσιριμώκος; 7 September 1954 – 19 June 2022) was a Greek footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of footb ...
and Konstantinos Drampis, before
Eric Gates Eric Lazenby Gates (born on 26 June 1955) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Gates' brother Bill was also a professional footballer who played for Middlesbrough from 1961 to 1973. Club career Ipswich Town ...
pulled one back for Ipswich. Although Zeleliolis scored a third for Aris midway through the second half, Ipswich progressed to the next round 6–4 on aggregate, where they faced
Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
of Prague. A 3–0 home win saw Wark score twice more; he was then substituted off with a tendon injury, to be replaced by
Kevin Beattie Thomas Kevin Beattie (18 December 1953 – 16 September 2018) was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich ...
who scored a third for Ipswich with a free kick, described in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' as a "thunderbolt". The goal would prove to be pivotal as Ipswich, without regular goalkeeper Paul Cooper, midfielder
Frans Thijssen Frans Thijssen (born 23 January 1952) is a Dutch former footballer. He started his professional career in 1970 with NEC Nijmegen. In 1973, he moved to FC Twente, where the midfielder played for nearly six seasons. Thijssen won fourteen caps fo ...
and striker Mariner, all through injury, lost the away leg 2–0 with goals from
Antonín Panenka Antonín Panenka (born 2 December 1948) is a Czech retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent most of his career representing Czechoslovak club Bohemians Prague. Panenka won UEFA Euro 1976 with the national team of Czec ...
and Tibor Mičinec. Ipswich still qualified for the third round 3–2 on aggregate. Three weeks later, Ipswich faced
Widzew Łódź RTS Widzew Łódź () is a Polish football club based in Łódź. The club was founded in 1910. Its official colours are red and white, hence their nicknames ''Czerwona Armia'' (Red Army) and ''Czerwono-biało-czerwoni'' (Red-white-reds). History ...
from Poland, who had defeated Manchester United and
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
in previous rounds, at Portman Road. Wark once again found the net, scoring a hat-trick; goals from
Alan Brazil Alan Bernard Brazil (born 15 June 1959) is a Scottish broadcaster and former football player, most notably for Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and internationally for Scotland. He played as a forward before being forced to r ...
and Mariner completed a comprehensive 5–0 victory. The only negative was a trip to hospital for
Mick Mills Michael Dennis Mills MBE (born 4 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Southampton and Stoke City. He managed Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City. During his career he achieved Ipswich Town's ...
for 15 stitches in a cut to his shin. On a frozen pitch which many observers considered to be dangerous, Widzew Łódź won the away leg 1–0 with scoring for them but went out 5–1 on aggregate. The lead from the first leg allowed the Ipswich manager
Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
to withdraw Mariner and
Arnold Mühren Arnold Johannes Hyacinthus Mühren (born 2 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. His older brother Gerrie, also a midfield player, won three European Cup titles with Ajax in the early 1970s. Mühren is among the few play ...
: he noted at the time that he was prioritising Ipswich's league challenge. After a three-month break, Ipswich faced the French team
AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...
in the quarter-finals in March 1981, the first leg being held in the
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is a multi-purpose stadium in Saint-Étienne, France. It is used primarily for football matches, and tournaments such as the UEFA Euro 1984 and 2016, the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. It i ...
. The Dutch player
Johnny Rep John Nicholaas Rep (born 25 November 1951) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right winger. He holds the all-time record for FIFA World Cup goals for the Netherlands with 7. Playing career Rep played as a right-footed ...
put the home team in the lead after 16 minutes, but a
brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cur ...
from Mariner and goals from Mühren and Wark ensured Ipswich took a 4–1 lead into the second leg. The victory against the French team has been described by the ''
Ipswich Star The ''Ipswich Star'' (formerly ''Evening Star'') is a daily evening local newspaper based in Ipswich, UK published by Archant. The newspaper started publication on 17 February 1885 and is published Monday to Friday. History The newspaper was kno ...
'' as one of the greatest performances in Ipswich's history. Robson noted: "We have demolished a good side with one of the best victories anyone has achieved in Europe in the past ten years." Ipswich won the game at Portman Road 3–1 with goals from
Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...
, Mariner and another penalty from Wark, while Saint-Étienne's consolation goal came from Jacques Zimako. Winning the tie 7–2 on aggregate, Ipswich progressed to the semi-finals where they met the German side 1. FC Köln. Both legs finished 1–0 to Ipswich: Wark scored again in the home leg, his 12th goal of the European campaign, and Butcher headed in a Mills free kick in Cologne. The 2–0 aggregate victory ensured that Ipswich qualified for their first (and, , their only) European cup final, where they would face Dutch team AZ '67.


AZ '67

AZ '67 started their European campaign in the first round at home against the Luxembourg team
Red Boys Differdange Football Association Red Boys Differdange was a football club, based in Differdange, in south-western Luxembourg. It is now a part of FC Differdange 03. History Red Boys was founded as ''SC Differdange'' in 1907, the year after Luxembourg's first ...
, against whom AZ had won 16–1 on aggregate in the opening round of the
1977–78 UEFA Cup The 1977–78 UEFA Cup was won by PSV Eindhoven on aggregate over Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Ca ...
. This time, the first leg ended 6–0 with goals from
Hugo Hovenkamp Hugo Hermanus Hovenkamp (born 5 October 1950, in Groningen) is a former Dutch football defender, who played for the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in the late 1970s, early 1980s. He started his professional career for FC Groningen. Hovenkamp made his i ...
,
Kristen Nygaard Kristen Nygaard (27 August 1926 – 10 August 2002) was a Norwegian computer scientist, programming language pioneer, and politician. Internationally, Nygaard is acknowledged as the co-inventor of object-oriented programming and the programming ...
, Jan Peters (2),
Kurt Welzl Kurt Welzl (born 6 November 1954) is an Austrian former professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Americ ...
and
Pier Tol Kees "Pier" Tol (born 12 July 1958) is a Dutch retired international footballer who made over 300 professional appearances in the Dutch league, scoring over 100 goals. Club career Born in Volendam, Tol played professionally for FC Volendam, AZ'6 ...
. The second leg, played in front of 1,500 spectators at the
Stade du Thillenberg Stade du Thillenberg is a football stadium in Differdange, in south-western Luxembourg. It is currently the home stadium of FC Differdange 03 Foussballclub Differdange 03 is a football club based in Differdange, Luxembourg. History Differdan ...
,
Differdange Differdange ( lb, Déifferdeng or (locally) ; german: Differdingen) is a commune with town status in south-western Luxembourg, west from the country's capital. It lies near the borders with Belgium and France and it is located in the canton of ...
, ended in a 4–0 victory to the Dutch team, which included a
Kees Kist Cornelis Kist (born 7 August 1952) is a Dutch former professional footballer and manager. He played as a striker, and most notably won the European Golden Shoe for the 1978–79 season. Club career Born in Steenwijk, Kist started his career at ...
hat-trick. In the second round, AZ faced the Bulgarian side Levski Spartak with the first leg held at the
Georgi Asparuhov Stadium Georgi Asparuhov Stadium ( bg, Стадион „Георги Аспарухов“), due to sponsorship currently known as Vivacom Arena – Georgi Asparuhov ( bg, Виваком Арена – Георги Аспарухов), nicknamed Gerena ( ...
in Sofia. Kist put the Dutch club ahead early in the second half but
Emil Spasov Emil Spasov ( bg, Емил Спасов; born 1 February 1956 in Sofia) is a former Bulgarian footballer who played as a midfielder or striker. Spasov started his career with Levski Sofia in 1974 and stayed in the club until 1988 with short br ...
equalised and the game ended 1–1. The second leg was one-sided as AZ won 5–0 in front of 15,000 spectators at the
Alkmaarderhout Alkmaarderhout, locally known as "De Hout" (Dutch for "the wood(s)"), in a city park in Alkmaar, North Holland, Netherlands. The park is one of the oldest city parks in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = ...
. Tol scored the opening goal in the first half, and second-half goals from Nygaard, Kist, Peters, and a second from Tol ensured a 6–1 aggregate victory and qualification for the third round against the Yugoslav team Radnički Niš. The first leg was played at the
Čair Stadium Čair Stadium ( sr-cyr, Стадион Чаир, ''Stadion Čair'') is a multi-purpose stadium in Niš, Serbia. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Radnički Niš. After a partial reconstruction that began in 2011, t ...
in
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
in front of a crowd of 27,000 and once again saw AZ take the lead through a first-half Tol goal. Radnički Niš equalised early in the second half with a penalty from
Dragan Pantelić Dragan Pantelić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Пантелић; 9 December 1951 – 20 October 2021) was a Yugoslav professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He scored over 20 goals over the course of his career, mainly from pen ...
before AZ regained the lead with a goal from Kist. With less than ten minutes remaining,
Aleksandar Panajotović Aleksandar Panajotović (; born 28 January 1952) is a former Yugoslav and Serbian footballer. Club career After growing up in Kruševac, Panajotović moved to Pirot with his family when still a child. He initially played handball but later switc ...
equalised for Niš and the game ended 2–2. At home, AZ once again dominated their opposition, with another Kist hat-trick and goals from Nygaard and Welzl ending the game 5–0 and the tie 7–2 on aggregate to the Dutch club. Three months later, AZ faced their quarter-final opponents
Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...
of Belgium. The first leg was played at the Alkmaarderhout in front of 13,400 spectators. Two first half goals, from Tol and Welzl, settled the match and AZ took a 2–0 advantage into the second leg. The second leg saw AZ's only defeat on their route to the final, losing 1–0 to a first-half
René Verheyen René Verheyen (born 20 March 1952) is a retired Belgian football midfielder. Club career During his active career he played for Lokeren (1974–1982), Club Brugge (1983–1987) and K.A.A. Gent (1987–1988). He has since his retirement work ...
goal, but the Dutch side still progressed to the semi-final, winning 2–1 on aggregate. The first leg of the semi-final, against French opponents
Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy Soc ...
took place at the Stade Auguste Bonal in
Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two Subprefectures in F ...
.
Peter Arntz Peter Arntz (born 5 February 1953 in Leuth, Gelderland) is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Arntz came through the famous Go Ahead Eagles youth system and made his debut for their senior team in February 1971 a ...
opened the scoring for AZ early in the match, but
Bernard Genghini Bernard Genghini (born 18 January 1958 in Soultz-Haut-Rhin, Haut-Rhin) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. International career Genghini earned 27 caps and scored six goals for the France national team. He ...
equalised soon after, and the game ended 1–1. The second leg, at the Alkmaarderhout, saw Sochaux take an early lead through Genghini before goals from Metgod, Jonker and Peters gave the Dutch team an aggregate 4–2 lead. scored a late consolation goal for the French club but the game ended 3–2 to AZ, and the Dutch team qualified for their first European cup final.


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 Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. Gates had also just recovered from a calf injury. This was the club's 65th match of the season. AZ '67, who had defeated
Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...
in the
Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
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. The first leg took place at Portman Road on 6May 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 Adolf Prokop (born 2 February 1939) was a football referee from East Germany. He is mostly known for supervising two matches in the FIFA World Cup, one in 1978 FIFA World Cup, 1978 and one in 1982 FIFA World Cup, 1982. He was also active at the ...
, waved away appeals after Gates was brought down by AZ's Richard van der Meer. 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 Eduard Willem Treijtel (born 28 May 1946) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He won the Intercontinental Cup in 1970 and the UEFA Cup in the 1973–74 season with Feyenoord. Club career Treijtel was born in ...
. 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. Ipswich took the lead through Wark, who had recently been named the
PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...
, scoring from the penalty spot after 30 minutes following a Hovenkamp
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
. It was Wark's 13th goal of the European campaign and which ensured that he had scored in every round of the competition.
Russell Osman Russell Charles Osman (born 14 February 1959) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre back in the Football League for Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town, Leicester City F.C., Leicester City, Southamp ...
cut out Tol's subsequent breakaway chance before Thijssen's 39th-minute strike flew over the bar. 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. 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, saw the English team win the game and take a 3–0 lead into the second leg at the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
in Amsterdam. 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. Thijssen was named man of the match. After the game, the AZ coach
Georg Keßler Georg Kessler (born 23 September 1932) is a German former football manager. Honours Sparta Rotterdam *KNVB Cup runner-up: 1970–71 Anderlecht *Belgian First Division: 1971–72 *Belgian Cup: 1971–72 Hertha BSC *DFB-Pokal runner-up: 197 ...
was circumspect: "there are another 90 minutes to play, but naturally it will be very difficult for us." Robson's future at Ipswich was subject to debate as he had been linked to other clubs including
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, who had offered him a then-British record of £1million over ten years. 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."


Details


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. Van der Meer was the only injury problem for AZ '67. 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. Thijssen scored four minutes into the game following a poor clearance of a Gates corner by AZ's Peter Arntz, giving Ipswich a 4–0 aggregate lead. Almost immediately AZ struck back: Hovenkamp's long ball into the area to Metgod brought Cooper out to challenge, but Metgod chipped the ball to Austrian striker Welzl whose header made the score 1–1. Welzl clipped the post shortly afterwards before a Peters cross was headed home by an
unmarked In linguistics and social sciences, markedness is the state of standing out as nontypical or divergent as opposed to regular or common. In a marked–unmarked relation, one term of an opposition is the broader, dominant one. The dominant defau ...
Metgod. Wark scored in the 38th minute with a well-struck shot from a corner, before Tol headed in a Jonker pass to make the aggregate score 5–3. Cooper made two saves late in the second half which were described by Mike Green writing in the ''
Aberdeen Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspap ...
'' as "superb", including one to deny a Welzl header from . Jonker scored AZ's fourth of the day with a 25-yard free kick with 16 minutes to go. Despite most of the later action taking place in the Ipswich penalty area, the English club held on to win 5–4 on aggregate, and Cooper was named man of the match. 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 teethrelieved and happy." 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."


Details


Post-match

Ipswich's Wark set a competition record by scoring 14 goals, equalling the long-standing scoring record in a European competition, set by
José Altafini José João Altafini (; born 24 July 1938), also known as "Mazzola" in Brazil (as when he started to play it was noted that he resembled the Italian legend Valentino Mazzola), is an Italian-Brazilian former footballer, who played as a forward. ...
of
A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...
in the 1962–63 European Cup. The tally was later exceeded by
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, who scored 15 in the
1995–96 UEFA Cup The 1995–96 UEFA Cup was the 25th season of Europe's then-tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was won by German club Bayern Munich on aggregate over Bordeaux of France. Girondins de Bordeaux went to the finals all the way f ...
. A civic reception was held on 24 May 1981 where around 50,000 supporters were present at
Ipswich Town Hall Ipswich Town Hall is a municipal building in Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is a Grade II listed building. History The first town hall had its origins in a chapel dedicated to St Mildrith which had been converted into a civic ...
to see the team and the trophy. At the event, Robson announced that he would remain with Ipswich for the following season, having turned down Sunderland and opting not to apply for the Manchester United manager's position. He left Ipswich in 1982 to become the
England national football team manager The role of an England national football team manager was first established in 1946 with the appointment of Walter Winterbottom. Before this, the England national football team was selected by the "International Selection Committee", a proces ...
, leading England to the semi-finals of the
1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
. This was the best result for the nation since another former Ipswich manager,
Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...
, led the country to World Cup victory in
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
. Ipswich's defence of the UEFA Cup started in September 1981 against
Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
's
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
. The first leg ended 1–1 with Thijssen scoring for Ipswich and John Hewitt equalising. The second leg at
Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen ...
saw both
Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...
and John Wark score from the penalty spot before
Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...
settled the tie with two goals. Ipswich went out of the cup 4–2 on aggregate. After that, Ipswich's most successful campaign to-date was when they made it to the third round of the
2001–02 UEFA Cup The 2001–02 UEFA Cup was won by Feyenoord at their home ground in the final against Borussia Dortmund. It was the second time they won the competition. Liverpool could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2001–02 U ...
. The season after the final, AZ '67 played in the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
where they were eliminated in the second round 5–4 on aggregate by Liverpool. Subsequently, AZ '67's most successful European football campaign was when they reached the semi-final of the
2004–05 UEFA Cup The 2004–05 UEFA Cup was the 34th edition of the UEFA Cup. The format of the competition had changed from previous seasons, replacing that from the previous one after the abolition of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1999; an extra qualifying round was ...
where they lost 4–3 on aggregate to the Portuguese club
Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...
.


References


Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1981 Uefa Cup Final 2 Uefa Cup Final 1981 Uefa Cup Final 1981
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
Uefa Cup Final 1981 Uefa Cup Final 1981 Uefa Cup Final Uefa Cup Final UEFA Cup Final UEFA Cup Final, 1981 1980s in Amsterdam 20th century in Suffolk