1973 UEFA Cup Revisited

To Bill Shankly, UEFA Cup success in 1973 meant so much. The League Championship may have been his bread and butter, but glory in Europe was the realisation of a long-held ambition and the culmination of eight consecutive seasons of continental action - a feat no other English club could boast.

Tommy Smith, Liverpool captain at the time, recalls: "We'd gone close before in 1965 when a dodgy referee cost us a place in the final of the European Cup and then the following year we got beat in the Cup Winners Cup Final. Shanks was delighted to get his hands on a European trophy and there's no doubt we deserved it.

"The UEFA Cup was always regarded as the lesser of the three European competitions, but it was the hardest of them all to win. There was an extra round for starters, and the two-legged final didn't make it any easier. You'd also come up against emerging clubs who were on the verge of great things, like Monchengladbach for example."

Borussia Monchengladbach, a name that would become etched into Anfield folklore, boasted 11 full internationals and players like Bertie Vogts, Jupp Heynckes, Rainer Bonhof and Gunter Netzer. The pre-match talk from their camp revolved around how they'd come to Anfield and attack. But straight from the kick-off it was obvious that they intended nothing of the sort. Netzer, thought to be their main attacking threat from midfield, occupied a deep-lying position, and the Borussia defence soaked up Liverpool's pressure with ease.

With rain falling heavily, however, large puddles appeared and parts of the pitch became submerged. After 28 minutes, Austrian referee Erich Linemayr took the players off the field. He waited 20 minutes before officially abandoning the match.

"The ground was so hard the water wouldn't drain away. It was like trying to play football in a pool. The ref called the game off, but Shanks had seen enough in that time to change his tactics for the following night. I think someone was looking down on us that night.We were struggling without the big man Toshack up front and the rain proved to be a blessing in disguise."

One player who didn't welcome the abandonment was Brian Hall. "I came off the pitch with no reason to believe I'd played badly. I was playing against Bertie Vogts, and the fact that I'd had a reasonable 20 minutes against him shows I didn't play badly. I turned up the following night fully expecting to play again only to be told an hour before kick-off that I wasn't in the team. It was a little annoying to say the least."

Hall was replaced by John Toshack whose aerial presence, Shanks believed, would upset the German defence. Toshack had been furious about being left out the previous night and after a blazing row with the boss he thought his Anfield career was over.

The decision to reinstate him was an inspired one. Toshack linked up with Keegan to devastating effect as Liverpool ran riot and overwhelmed Borussia. Twice in the first half, he provided the killer assist for Keegan. On 62 minutes, Borussia's weakness in the air was again exploited as Larry Lloyd powerfully headed home a Keegan corner. With the clock ticking away, however, Borussia were awarded a penalty in front of the Kop.

"Jupp Heynckes was a powerful striker of the ball," recalls Ray Clemence. "But I'd watched him take a penalty a few weeks earlier when he put the ball to the keeper's right, and I made a mental note of that. As he kicked the ball, I was on my way and I managed to get a hand to the ball and push it around the post." The importance of the save would not become apparent to a fortnight later.

Liverpool, it seemed, were home and dry, but Shanks had other ideas. ?We're here on a mission and not for fun," he warned as the team arrived in Germany. "Although we're three-nil up, it's not all over. It's only half time."

An estimated 4,000 Liverpudlians followed the Reds to Gladbach in the Ruhr Valley, and their nerves were put through the shredder on the night.Borussia were unrecognisable from the first leg, laying siege to the Liverpool goal inside the Bokelbergstadion straight from the kick-off. Netzer controlled the game and before half-time Heynckes had scored twice - the second a delightfully curled effort past Clemence with that emphatically 70s black-and-white panelled ball.

Fortified by a Shankly call-to-arms at half time, Liverpool hung on desperately to their slender aggregate advantage. As the tension built and the minutes ticked away, Shankly paced up and down the touchline, constantly checking his watch, before the final shriek of Russian referee Pavel Kazakov's whistle hailed a European first and an unprecedented Liverpool double. Skipper Tommy Smith proudly collected the giant silver vase and paraded it before a mini pitch invasion of jubilant fans.

"In the second leg the boss told us to contain them and hit them on the break. It was a real battle and it was up to me as captain to organise us so we conceded no further goals. Joe Fagan said afterwards that it was the best game I'd ever played for Liverpool as skipper.

"I never realised how big the cup was. It had a big stone base and weighed a ton. I remember on the lap of honour some big fat guy jumped on my back and I nearly collapsed. After such a gruelling match I was absolutely knackered. I eventually made it to the dressing room and I said to Shanks, 'Here you are boss, the cup's yours'. I handed it to him, but I don't think he realised how heavy it was either. He nearly dropped it!"

Success in Europe confirmed what Shankly already knew - his second great side had come of age. On the plane home from Germany, he told reporters: "The people on the Continent are beginning to get frightened of Liverpool. Gunter Netzer told me so tonight."

The German striker was right. Anew force in European football had emerged.