TONIGHT WE WELCOME ONE OF
WORLD FOOTBALLS' GREAT CLUBS
TO LOFTUS ROAD. QPR PRESS
PUBLICATIONS MANAGER PHIL
HARRIS TAKES A LOOK BACK AT
WHAT MAKES TONIGHT'S VISIT SO SPECI
WESLEY SONCK
W undoubtedly
a good year
for English
football, it is
also
■emembered well in other
torners of Europe. Only a few
•nnnthc aftor England's World
i a small Dutch
it ripples through
ital game with a
heralded the birth
ie game's great
ten a supremely
onfident Liverpool
side travelled to
Amsterdam to
take on an
unfamiliar Ajax
de in the second
und of the
opean Cup that
few would have
jmed any other
ime a than
:able English
after a 5-1
inspired by a
n Cruyff, no-one
gard this exciting
cullii uuuit again.
Bill Shankly, somewhat sourly,
reckoned his side would win
the return leg 7-0 to progress,
but a 2-2 draw at Anfield
sealed the Merseysiders' fate
and reassured Ajax manager
Rinus Michels that his side
were capable of playing with,
and beating, the best. They
had been Dutch champions for
three consecutive years, but
now it wasn't only domestic
audiences that sat up and took
notice.
Ajax were founded by local
businessmen in 1900 and as
an amateur side enioved
reasonable success bot
and post war, but it w
until the mid 60s, and
years building up to th
triumph over Liverpool
the Amsterdam club b
make real progress, ur
master tactician, Michi
This era saw the birth
now legendary 'total f
philosophy that allowc
players in an attacking
formation the freedon
express themselves in
of the pitch, whilst rer
part of a strictly organ
whole.
Teenage prodigy Cruy
the heartbeat of this ti
with the addition of ft
world stars such as Ru
and iohan Neeskens, I
domination became a
possibility.
Ajax reached their firsi
European Cup final in
1969,
only to
lose 4-1
to a
brilliant AC
Milan side. But
within two years,
they were back and
would go one better t
pick up the European
Cup for the very first t
Greek side Panathinaikos w
defeated by two goals to n
Wembley Stadium to provit
richly deserved affirmation
Ajax's arrival as a European
force. At a time when footl
on the continent had long
been dominated by the old
guard of Italy and Spain an
to a lesser extent, England,
Dutch revolution was as
BOGDAN LOBONT
