The European Cup Winners Cup was a cup for National Cup Winners run by UEFA between 1960 and 1999.
Welsh teams who played in the English football leagues also competed in the Welsh Cup with the winners qualifying for the ECWC , which was always somewhat controversial as they also competed in the FA Cup with Cardiff City reaching the FA cup final in 2008.
The story of Welsh clubs in ECWC is littered with amazing stories and many giant killing acts.
BANGOR CITY
Bangor City competed in the 1962/63 ECWC and were drawn against Italian giants Napoli.
Bangor City were playing in the Cheshire Counties League and had won the Welsh Cup beating Wrexham in the final.
They took on Napoli at Farrar Road in front of 12.000 fans on 5th September 1962 and produced an incredible 2-0 win with goals from Roy Matthews and Ken Birch.
They went to the Naples in front of 80,000 Italian fans and although they lost 3-1 , the scores being level and before the away goals rule , the tie moved into a replay.
The replay was played in London at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium where Napoli eventually progressed winning 2-1.
After a long absence Bangor City returned to ECWC in 1985 drawing with Norwegian side FK Fredikstad – 1-1 away and 0-0 at home to progress on away goals to the Second Round where they lost both legs to Athletico Madrid , 2-0 at home and 1-0 away
CARDIFF CITY
Cardiff City were competing in the Second Division (second tier) of English football during three amazing runs in ECWC
In 1964 Cardiff City opened their first European campaign with a 0-0 draw in Denmark against Esbjerg , before winning 1-0 in Cardiff to progress to Round 2, with a Peter King goal.
Cardiff were then drawn against the holders Sporting Lisbon and produced a major shock winning 2-1 in Lisbon with goals by Greg Farrell and Derek Tapscott with only a late goal giving the hosts some hope in the return at Ninian Park. A crowd of 24,000 saw Cardiff secure a 0-0 draw and a place in the 3rd round.
The opponents for the Welsh side were Spain’s Real Zaragoza and once again Cardiff produced a creditable away performance despite being 2 goals behind after 12mins , then fought back to draw 2-2. The Welsh team drew a crowd of 38,458 and were left disappointed as they were unfortunate to lose 1-0.
Cardiff City once again qualified for the ECWC in 1967 drawing 1-1 away to Shamrock Rovers before a young John Toshack scored in a 2-0 second leg win at home.
The second round saw Cardiff draw 1-1 with NAC Breda in Eindhoven before winning 4-1 at Ninian Park with Toshack again on the scoresheet.
This took Cardiff beyond New Year and into the Quarter Final where a Barrie Jones goal gave the bluebirds a 1-0 first leg lead against Torpedo Moscow.
The freezing temperatures in Moscow saw the second leg played in Tashkent with the Russians prevailing by the same 1-0 scoreline , a third game was required to settle the tie.
On 3rd April 1968 Cardiff again won 1-0 with Norman Dean scoring with the game played in Augsburg , Germany.
Cardiff City incredibly reached the ECWC semi final and Norman Dean scored after 4mins away to SV Hamburg but the Germans equalised to set up a massive night at Ninian Park.
The crowd of 43,000 witnessed Norman Dean open the scoring again after 10mins but Hamburg soon equalised. Uwe Seeler who played at 4 World Cups for West Germany put Hamburg ahead before an equaliser by Brian Harris his only Cardiff City goal set up a grandstand finish . Sadly for the Welsh a late goal by Honig took Hamburg to the final.
This was the most successful season for any Welsh club in Europe.
Cardiff City had one further amazing season in Europe beginning in 1970 with an 8-0 win over PO Larnaca with a second leg 0-0 draw in Cyprus.
In the second round French club Nantes arrived in Cardiff and took an early lead before the Welsh side came back to win 5-1 and inflicted another defeat in France 2-1 to win 7-2 on aggregate.
This win set up an incredible evening on 10 March 1971 as 47,000 fans witnessed Cardiff City beat the mighty Real Madrid 1-0 with Brian Clark scoring.
Real Madrid in the end won 2-0 in the Bernabeu with two quick goals early in the second half.
It shows how well Cardiff City had done as it took a team of the calibre of Real Madrid to end their European adventure of 1970/71.
In 1988 Cardiff reached Round 2 beating Derry City 4-0 at home after the first leg ended 0-0 away. It was a step too far for the Welsh side as they lost 2-1 at home and 4-0 away to Aarhus of Denmark.
NEWPORT COUNTY
Newport County qualified for the ECWC in 1980 as an English Third Division club and were encouraged with being drawn against Crusaders of N Ireland. A 4-0 win in the home leg included a goal by a young striker John Aldridge and completed the victory with a 0-0 draw in Belfast.
The second round also offered a kind draw against Norway’s FK Hauger, and again the away leg was 0-0 before Somerton Park witnessed a 6-0 win with John Aldridge scoring again with Tommy Tynan scoring twice.
This set up a famous Quarter Final against East German side Carl-Zeiss Jena where the Germans led twice at home only for Tommy Tyan to equalise both times as the first leg ended 2-2.
Newport saw it’s biggest footballing night as the teams came out on 18th March 1981 in front of a capacity crowd of 18,000. Sadly there was no fairytale ending with a first half goal for the Germans winning the tie despite Newport hitting the woodwork and having five shots cleared off the line.
SWANSEA CITY
In 1982 Swansea City had reached the heady height of the top flight of English Football m the First Division under the management of John Toshack
They entered the Preliminary Round of the ECWC and beat Sporting Braga of Portugal 3-0 at home before losing 1-0 away to set up a First Round tie with Sliema Wanderers of Malta
On a record breaking night at the Vetch Field , the Swans ran out 12-0 winners before winning again in Malta 5-0.
The Second Round saw a visit from French Cup winners Paris St Germain with Argentinian World Cup Winner Osvaldo Ardiles. The French side prevailed with a 1-0 win before completing the job in Paris with a 2-0 victory.
WREXHAM
Wrexham first qualified for the ECWC in 1972 where they faced FC Zurich. Albert Kinsey scored Wrexham first ever European goal a minute after Zurich opener to draw 1-1 in the away leg. There were 18.189 at the Racecourse to see the Welsh side win 2-1 and 3-2 on aggregate. Wrexham raced into a 3-0 lead over Hajduk Split, however a late away goal proved vital , the 3-1 win at home was followed by a 2-0 away defeat which saw them eliminated on away goals.
As a Third Division club they were again in ECWC in 1975/76 where they beat the Swedish team Djurgardens 2-1 at home with a last minute winner from Gareth Davies before a Graham Whittle goal earnt a 1-1 draw in Sweden to seal a place in Round 2.
Wrexham then faced Polish cup winners Stal Rzeszow and having won 2-0 at the Racecourse , a 1-1 draw in Poland carried the Welsh cup winners in the Quarter Final of ECWC for the first time. A late Mel Sutton goal taking the pressure off as the Poles tried to level the tie.
Wrexham then faced the might of Belgium’s Anderlecht with a 1-0 defeat in Brussels meant a massive crowd of 19,668 for the return leg in Wales full of hope for a Semi Final place.
On the hour mark Stuart Lee scored for Wrexham and levelled the tie m however Dutch legend Robbie Rensenbrink scored what would prove to be the decisive goal on 77 minutes.
Anderlecht would go on win the cup beating West Ham in their home city of Brussels 4-2.
In 1983 Aberdeen under Alex Ferguson won the ECWC beating Real Madrid in the final , their defence of the trophy was ended in the 1984 semi final by Porto who would lose the final to Juventus 2-1.
The following season saw Wrexham by this time in the English Fourth Division drawn against Porto and this seemed a total mismatch in terms of the two teams.
When the first leg was played at the Racecourse , it was a major shock when Jim Steel’s goal gave Wrexham a 1-0 victory but nothing could have prepared the Welsh team’s fans for what would transpire in the second leg.
I vividly remember the game kick off as all European games played in Portugal in this era at 9.30pm UK time. I was listening to the commentary from BBC Wales radio broadcast with a crackly signal as the evening unfolded.
The second leg in Portugal started badly for Wrexham with Fernando Gomes levelling the tie after only 5 minutes, as Porto led 1-0 on the evening.
Porto then took the lead overall when Jamie Magalhaes scored a stunning left foot volley after 18 minutes and the tie looked over when Gomes netted from the penalty spot after 38 minutes as Porto raced into a 3-0 lead.
Wrexham however were immediately given a lifeline when in a rare attack they won a free kick in the Porto half. Kevin Rogers crossed and Jake King sweetly volleyed home. Porto were stunned before half time when Jake King scored again just before half time and suddenly Wrexham led on away goals and the scent of a real shock was in the air.
The 25,000 crowd however saw their superstar Paolo Futre restore Porto’s lead.
Then the drama in the 89th minute as John Muldoon collected a pass from Jim Steel, who was clattered to the ground , the referee waved play on , with the substitute Muldoon racing clear, he crossed into the penalty area , where the ball was met and flicked into the net by Barry Horne.
Porto 4 Wrexham 3 , as Wrexham levelled the aggregate and win on away goals.
Sadly the Second Round saw Wrexham draw another European giant in Italian side Roma who won 2-0 in Rome and 1-0 in Wrexham
In 1986 Wrexham once again won a First Round tie beating FC Zurrieq of Malta , 3-0 away and 4-0 at home to set up a mouth watering tie with Spanish giants at the time Real Zaragoza.
A goalless first leg in Spain meant a crowd of 14,550 at the Racecourse to see another amazing night of European football where Wrexham came so close to another major upset. The tie was level after 180 minutes at 0-0.
The Spanish side opened the scoring through Patrico Yanez after 98 minutes however Wrexham were back level in the tie when Steve Massey netted 4 minutes later, before Yanez scored again on the stroke of half time in extra time. Steve Buxton levelled at 2-2 after 108 minutes , but Wrexham were unable to force a winning goal.
Real Zaragoza reached the semi final before losing to eventual winners Ajax.
Wrexham again reached the Second Round in 1990 after drawing 0-0 at home to Lyngby they won 1-0 in Denmark.
This led to a another massive match as they played Manchester United but lost both legs 3-0 away and 2-0 at home.
The Wrexham result in Porto is still one of the most famous nights in Welsh football history
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