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In Barcelona...


BEE

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40 years ago today this happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Oe4RkfSbg

Was anyone there? I wasn't even born but an old boy in my work was telling me his foot went through the floorIng when he was on his way in and done his ankle in; ended up having to be helped on the pitch at the end and apparently Franco's police started using rubber bullets/beanbags. He stayed in Spain for a week after the game and him and his mate had no interaction with back home and were convinced we'd been stripped of the cup due to the invasion and the game had to be re-played :lol:

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A breath of fresh air!...Ahhhhh

My uncle John was at the game and I remember years ago when I went to stay with my cousins my elder would take me upstairs to the hall cupboard wher the envelope was with the grass taken from the Nou camp pitch was kept... It's still there to this day and seeing it has always held very special memories for me as I was a kid when I first saw it:)

Much later.. I was able to buy 2 copies of the Rangers news from an elder friend of mine, 1 was the edition when we beat Bayern in the semis and the other was after we won the trophy with the headline " cup kings of Europe " I also managed to track down the Rennes ticket from the game at Ibrox!...very sweet! :)

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I am pleased to confirm that I WAS THERE on 24th May 1972. One of the truly great days in my life. Still got the ticket and a few photos. Was just a student at the time. 11 students, we hired a 12 seater Land Rover and left on the Sunday and arrived back on the following Saturday. Just got home an hour before the Scotland - England game that afternoon.

I had a great time in Barcelona. Met some Spanish students in Catalunya Square on afternoon before game and arranged to meet them after match. They took me to a couple of really good clubs. Got back to hotel really late (about 4 am) and had to sleep in the Land Rover. We were treated like heroes because of the way the Guardia Civil had attacked us and then been chased off the park. The locals loved that!!! I will have a glass of a special malt later today to drink to the memory. I'll have a lump in my throat and tear in my eye when I remember that game and the entire trip. We were shafted by UEFA instead of the Spanish police. Our own media didn't help either. There was NO trouble before the game. The park invasion was sheer joy and not one Russian player was harmed in any way. If it hadn't been for Franco's militia there would have been only praise. Even later back in the city and outlying resorts, there was no trouble. The locals being Catalan, they despised Franco's imported thugs in uniform. I went back 2 years later to the Barca tournament (still got those tickets also) where we played Bilbao and Barca. Ajax were the 4th team involved. Barcelona invited Rangers back because of the way things went in 1972. That shows you how they viewed our Club and fans from the ECWC Final.

I went to the Barca Bears dinner last Friday and could hardly see for my eyes welling up as I spoke to Wee Bud and Colin Stein.

For anyone too young to have been in Barcelona or who couldn't be there, the easiest way to describe the feeling at the final whistle is:

Remember how you felt when Novo's penalty went in against Fiorentina? Well take that feeling and double it !!!

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I am pleased to confirm that I WAS THERE on 24th May 1972. One of the truly great days in my life. Still got the ticket and a few photos. Was just a student at the time. 11 students, we hired a 12 seater Land Rover and left on the Sunday and arrived back on the following Saturday. Just got home an hour before the Scotland - England game that afternoon.

I had a great time in Barcelona. Met some Spanish students in Catalunya Square on afternoon before game and arranged to meet them after match. They took me to a couple of really good clubs. Got back to hotel really late (about 4 am) and had to sleep in the Land Rover. We were treated like heroes because of the way the Guardia Civil had attacked us and then been chased off the park. The locals loved that!!! I will have a glass of a special malt later today to drink to the memory. I'll have a lump in my throat and tear in my eye when I remember that game and the entire trip. We were shafted by UEFA instead of the Spanish police. Our own media didn't help either. There was NO trouble before the game. The park invasion was sheer joy and not one Russian player was harmed in any way. If it hadn't been for Franco's militia there would have been only praise. Even later back in the city and outlying resorts, there was no trouble. The locals being Catalan, they despised Franco's imported thugs in uniform. I went back 2 years later to the Barca tournament (still got those tickets also) where we played Bilbao and Barca. Ajax were the 4th team involved. Barcelona invited Rangers back because of the way things went in 1972. That shows you how they viewed our Club and fans from the ECWC Final.

I went to the Barca Bears dinner last Friday and could hardly see for my eyes welling up as I spoke to Wee Bud and Colin Stein.

For anyone too young to have been in Barcelona or who couldn't be there, the easiest way to describe the feeling at the final whistle is:

Remember how you felt when Novo's penalty went in against Fiorentina? Well take that feeling and double it !!!

Enjoy that yon there whisky!...if I knew ye better I'd buy it for u!

In my lifetime the Novo penalty reduced me to tears of joy...on the living room floor iirc! :)

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Enjoy that yon there whisky!...if I knew ye better I'd buy it for u!

In my lifetime the Novo penalty reduced me to tears of joy...on the living room floor iirc! :)

Thanks mate. I'll certainly enjoy the tipple. :beer1:

Hard to believe it's 40 years. I really don't feel that old!!!

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40 years ago right now I was looking down on the city of Barcelona from where our hotel was (Tibidabo). It was on a hill top at north west overlooking the city. We were just getting ready to head into the city for a momentous day. I can feel the emotion right now. What a day that was!!!

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40 years ago right now I was looking down on the city of Barcelona from where our hotel was (Tibidabo). It was on a hill top at north west overlooking the city. We were just getting ready to head into the city for a momentous day. I can feel the emotion right now. What a day that was!!!

The weather in Glasgow today will bring back memories of Barcelona too..you know what they say about Gers fans and the weather..the sun always shines for the righteous!:)

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The weather in Glasgow today will bring back memories of Barcelona too..you know what they say about Gers fans and the weather..the sun always shines for the righteous!:)

It certainly does. The weather was great back then. The Bacardi was dirt cheap too. Had a few beers as well, lunch in a pretty decent restaurant. The pound was worth a lot more than the peseta so my money went far indeed. As I was only a very poor student, money was tight but prices in Spain were really cheap. It all added to the great day.

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It certainly does. The weather was great back then. The Bacardi was dirt cheap too. Had a few beers as well, lunch in a pretty decent restaurant. The pound was worth a lot more than the peseta so my money went far indeed. As I was only a very poor student, money was tight but prices in Spain were really cheap. It all added to the great day.

Tell us some more about watching the game and the goals being scored... some of those memories :)

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When you watch it back it's incredible the slide tackles that fly in and players just get up and on with it! A much better game than the over paid poofy pros play now a days!

Also it's funny to see the keeper pick up a pass back, drop it to his feet then pick it up again before booting it up the park! :lol:

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Tell us some more about watching the game and the goals being scored... some of those memories :)

I had one of the cheap tickets 90P which put me on the top tier opposite the main stand. I had a great view of the first 2 goals because of the angle. When Colin Stein put us ahead I was absolutely ecstatic. I felt we ran the show for the first hour. John Greig "tackled" their star player very early on which helped. When wee Bud nodded in the second, we were going wild. I can't remember too much singing, just a lot of really loud noise. Everybody was yelling, cheering, encouraging the team to win. I managed to get a change of location at half time to one of the lower tiers. Then wee Bud scored from McCloy's huge kick out early in the second half. The Russians were looking for offside but the ball went so high it took an age to come down and wee Bud had easily run in behind their defence to score the third. Dave Smith was the best player on the park. We seemed to tire a bit after that and the Dynamo team started to play a bit. Their second goal with a few minutes to go meant it was a bit edgy but we held out. The joy at the final whistle is indescribable. The nearest I can think of is add Lovenkrands last minute cup winner to Edu's against the tims plus Novo's penalty against Fiorentina and then double it. I'm not kidding when I say my heart was pumping so hard it felt that it would burst out my chest. I'm choking up typing this. What memories!!!

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I had one of the cheap tickets 90P which put me on the top tier opposite the main stand. I had a great view of the first 2 goals because of the angle. When Colin Stein put us ahead I was absolutely ecstatic. I felt we ran the show for the first hour. John Greig "tackled" their star player very early on which helped. When wee Bud nodded in the second, we were going wild. I can't remember too much singing, just a lot of really loud noise. Everybody was yelling, cheering, encouraging the team to win. I managed to get a change of location at half time to one of the lower tiers. Then wee Bud scored from McCloy's huge kick out early in the second half. The Russians were looking for offside but the ball went so high it took an age to come down and wee Bud had easily run in behind their defence to score the third. Dave Smith was the best player on the park. We seemed to tire a bit after that and the Dynamo team started to play a bit. Their second goal with a few minutes to go meant it was a bit edgy but we held out. The joy at the final whistle is indescribable. The nearest I can think of is add Lovenkrands last minute cup winner to Edu's against the tims plus Novo's penalty against Fiorentina and then double it. I'm not kidding when I say my heart was pumping so hard it felt that it would burst out my chest. I'm choking up typing this. What memories!!!

Excellent! thanks for sharing that, it must have been a magical experience :)

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Excellent! thanks for sharing that, it must have been a magical experience :)

There was just one slight regret, I never saw the trophy. As everyone knows, the after-match rammy with the Spanish police thugs prevented the trophy being presented on the night. The team paraded it at Ibrox on the Thursday but we were somewhere in the south of France at that time. Still doesn't spoil anything though.

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