Jimmy
talking...
This evening's visit of Ajax of
Amsterdam brings a taste of
European football back to Eiland
Road something we hope to
savour on a more regular basis next
season.
At the outset of the season I made it
clear that one of our objectives this
campaign is to qualify for European
football again and if we cannot do it
by winning a trophy then we hope
to do it by finishing high enough in
the First Division to clinch one of
the places in the UEFA Cup.
Playing in Europe is important I feel
both from a player's point of view
and from the club viewpoint, not to
mention the additional interest
Continental clubs provide for our
own supporters.
Being involved with the top clubs in
n Europe gives players a broader
outlook and helps to make them a
more complete player. Being able to
pit their wits and their skills against
teams who play a different style of
football, as most Continental teams
do, is an obvious way for our players
to gain valuable experience.
From the club's point of view,
taking part in Europe brings in
additional revenue which is always important in days when the cost
of running a top club continues to spiral.
I always enjoyed playing for England. The involvement at top level
was always a pleasure for me and so it is for most players—especially
at a club where not so long ago taking part in European football was
accepted as being a normal course of events.
Since then the team has been essentially re-shaped and though we
still have a lot of experience in the side we have not had the
opportunity to show our paces against Continental opposition, apart
from pre-season friendlies, since 1975 when we were beaten in the
final of the European Cup.
Tonight's match however gives us a chance to show what we can do
and the lads are looking forward to it.
Our opponents are one of the most famous of European teams and I
would put them alongside Real Madrid in this respect.
Real of course won the European Champions Cup for five years in a
row, beginning from the first year of the competition in 1956. But Ajax
have figured prominently in the competition over the years and are
one of three teams to record the major achievement of winning this
much coveted European trophy three years in succession.
The other team, you will remember, is Bayern Munich who, after
beating Atletico Madrid in 1974 and ourselves in 1975, went on to
clinch the hat-trick by beating St. Etienne the following year in the
final at Hampden Park.
Since then Ajax, like ourselves, have found the need to rebuild their
side and they succeeded in winning the championship of the Dutch
League last season which brought them back into the European Cup.
They are enjoying quite a successful season, having successfully
surmounted the first two hurdles in the European Cup with a victory
over the Norwegian side Liilistroem in the first round and a success at
the expense of Levski Spartak of Bulgaria in the second.
In addition they were lying second in their championship campaign
last week, so obviously they are a team to be reckoned with tonight.
We look forward to a good game.
Manny Cussins
Chairman
Rayner Barker
Jack Marjason
R. Brian Roberts
Robert R. Roberts
Sidney G. Simon
Brian Woodward
President:
The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Harewood
Chairman: Manny Cussins
Directors: Rayner Barker, M.C.I.T., M.B.I.M.,
Jack Marjason,
R. Brian Roberts, J.P., F.I.O.B.,
Robert R. Roberts, Sidney G. Simon,
Brian Woodward
ELLAND ROAD, LEEDS LS11 OES
Telephone: 716037
Leeds United Information Service:
Telephone: 702621/5
Team Manager: Jimmy Armfield
General Manager/Secretary: Keith Archer
Commercial Manager: Mike Lockwood
