This competition and this year may not seem particularly signicant to even the most commited of football fans, but it was a signicant year for clubs from eastern Europe. European footballing powers such as Real Madrid and Liverpool entered this tournament but they were not to be seen in the final. Or even the semi-final. Some great teams had won this trophy such as Barcelona and Chelsea but 1975 threw a spanner in the works. This was a year in which three of the four semi-finalists came from the more unfashionable nations from a modern perspective, one of which, went on to triumph and lift a major European trophy to the surprise of the many.
The previous five winners of this competition had all come from established nations as had the majority of the beaten finalists. Therefore, the presence of such a quantity of clubs from 'minor' nations in the latter stages proved even more surprising. The first major shock to the system came in the Round of 16. Liverpool faced Hungarian side Ferencvaros who had achieved substantial domestic success but failed to make an impact in continental competition. Few fancied the Hungarians to get any sort of result in the atmosphere at Anfield so when they came away with an extremely credible 1-1 draw, the European football community stood up. A 0-0 draw in the return leg sent Ferencvaros through and a major upset had taken place.
Having gained passage to the last 8, things weren't going to get any easier. Teams such as Real Madrid and Benfica still stood in the way of the route to the final for this supposably lesser teams from the east. Compared to their ficture against Liverpool, Ferencvaros received a more favourable, yet still challenging, tie against Swedes Malmo. The Hungarians prevailed once more with a 4-2 aggregate win. Red Star Belgrade from what used to be Yugoslavia received the hardest match, being paired with Real Madrid who had an outstanding european record.
Incredibly both sides managed to win their respective home legs 2-0 so the tie was settled on penalties. Red Star won and another massive scalp had been taken. Already the semi-finals had two places occupied by smaller teams and PSV of the Netherlands took the third. The fourth was up for grabs between Dynamo Kiev of the USSR and Bursaspor of Turkey. It was perhaps not surprising that Kiev won this tie but in doing so they set up the amazing situation of three eastern teams occupying four sports in a major european tournament. One team from this group was guarenteed a place in the final.
Kiev were paired with PSV and Ferencvaros (pictured) with Red Star.
Unfortunately for the Dutch, the Soviets triumphed 4-2 on aggregate and the other semi resulted in a Hungary win. So it would be a Hungary/Soviet final and regardless of the result, a less fashionable team would win the trophy. It was Kiev that ran out winners with a convincing 3-0 win but eastern european heads could be held high after this momentous year. This remains Fernecvaros' best European performance but there are signs in the last few years of a re-emergence of power in these regions. The last two UEFA cups have been won by Zenit from Russia and Shakthar of Ukraine and the likes of BATE of Belarus and Cluj of Romania have reached the group stages of the Champions League. In a similar way to Shakthar's strip, the future seems bright for Eastern European football.
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