On This Day MCFC’s first European Trophy

On this day (29 April) 1970 Manchester City won the European Cup Winners’ Cup beating Gornik Zabrze from Poland 2-1 at the Prater Stadium in Vienna.  For those wondering, this meant that City had won a UEFA tournament years before many prominent ‘European’ teams including Liverpool, Barcelona, Juventus etc. Note: The Fairs Cup was not established as a UEFA competition and had some odd entry rules (one team from a city plus initially only teams from cities that had staged trade fairs could enter, hence its title. London entered it one year!).

The following table shows the span of success between each club’s first UEFA trophy and their most recent for the 20 or so clubs with the biggest span between first and most recent European success.

Also, for subscribers, here are a few comments and feelings from supporters, players, and others affected by the Gornik final in 1970. These were gathered as part of a project I organised to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the final. As we’ve now reached the 54th anniversary they have become an even greater historical record.