The 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the tenth season of the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

. It was played on 7 August and 11 September 1968 between Leeds United A.F.C. of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Leeds United won the tie 1–0 on aggregate, having won the first leg 1–0 at home prior to a 0–0 draw in the second leg. It was both clubs' second appearance in the final, with Leeds United having been defeated finalists to

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in the previous season's final, whilst Ferencváros won the tournament in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

having beat

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 the final.

Route to the final

The

was created in 1955 as a tournament between cities that hosted international

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...

s. It originally had an irregular format with the competition taking place over multiple seasons, before the format was changed such that it took place over a single season. The

1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The tenth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1967–68 season. The competition was won by Leeds United over two legs in the final against Ferencváros. It was the first English victory in the competition, despite sides from the country hav ...

was the 10th season of the competition. Both teams took part in five rounds prior to reaching the final. The first leg saw Leeds beat Luxembourgish side Spora Luxembourg 16–0 over two legs before victories over

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...

, Hibernian and Rangers saw Leeds set up a semi-final against Scottish side

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. The first leg saw Leeds draw 1–1, before an Eddie Gray goal late in the second leg saw Leeds seal their place in the final. Despite losing 3–1 to Romanian side Argeș Pitești in the first leg of their first round tie, Ferencváros won the second leg 4–0 to advance to the next round. The second round saw Ferencváros come from behind to beat

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

, before victories over

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 ...

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

saw the Hungarian side reach the final.

Match

First leg

The attendance for the first leg, hosted at Leeds United's

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

, was just 25,268, with the match being televised live on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

cited as the reason for the surprisingly low figure. The referee for the first leg was Swiss referee

Rudolf Scheurer Rudolf Scheurer (May 25, 1925 – November 1, 2015) was a football (soccer) referee from Bettlach, most remembered for supervising four matches at the FIFA World Cup: two in 1970 and 1974. During his peak times, Scheurer was a high-profile refe ...

. Both sides had early chances, with Ferencváros

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

István Szőke István Szőke (13 February 1947 – 1 June 2022) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a midfielder for Ferencvárosi TC.Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

, before Leeds'

Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...

had a shot well saved after

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

István Géczi István Géczi (, 16 March 1944 – 10 September 2018) was a Hungarian football goalkeeper, who played for Ferencvárosi TC. He won a silver medal in football at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and also participated in the 1966 FIFA World Cup and ...

's free kick fell straight to Mick Jones. Leeds scored the first and only goal of the game in the 41st minute as Lorimer's corner fell first to Jack Charlton before Mick Jones bundled the ball over the line, despite complaints from the Hungarian side that Charlton fouled goalkeeper István Géczi in the build-up. The second half saw both teams have chances to score, though the away side had the best chances, with

István Szőke István Szőke (13 February 1947 – 1 June 2022) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a midfielder for Ferencvárosi TC.Gyula Rákosi Gyula Rákosi (born 9 October 1938) is a former Hungarian footballer. During his club career he played for Ferencvárosi TC. He earned 41 caps and scored 4 goals for the Hungary national football team from 1960 to 1968, and participated in ...

failed to beat Leeds goalkeeper

Gary Sprake Gareth Sprake (3 April 1945 – 18 October 2016) was a Welsh professional footballer. A goalkeeper, he played for Leeds United and Birmingham City and also won 37 caps for Wales. Sprake became known during his career as a brilliant goalkeeper ...

Second leg

The second leg, hosted in front of a crowd of 76,000 at

' Népstadion, was under threat of not taking place due to growing tensions between the east and west as a result of the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

. The second leg saw Leeds play much more defensively than in the first, with Leeds described as having a 'ten-man defence'. Ferencváros dominated, with strong first-half chances falling to

Gyula Rákosi Gyula Rákosi (born 9 October 1938) is a former Hungarian footballer. During his club career he played for Ferencvárosi TC. He earned 41 caps and scored 4 goals for the Hungary national football team from 1960 to 1968, and participated in ...

and

István Szőke István Szőke (13 February 1947 – 1 June 2022) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a midfielder for Ferencvárosi TC.Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

stated, "As the final whistle drew nearer every minute seemed like an hour." Victory over Ferencváros marked Leeds' first major European honour.

''Leeds United win 1–0 on aggregate''

References

RSSSF
{{Ferencvárosi TC matches 2 International club association football competitions hosted by Hungary International club association football competitions hosted by England Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final 1968

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

International sports competitions in Budapest 1960s in Budapest Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final 1960s in Leeds Sports competitions in Leeds

Route to the final

Match

First leg

Second leg

See also

References