The 1968 European Championship: stories and scandals

[Sporting]

Some recent mentions of the 1968 European Championship perked my interest, so I got looking and there are a thousand stories to tell, not only in terms of the football but also politics, scandals and more.

My own memories of the tournament come down to a vague feeling that I watched England vs Yugoslavia, and being pissed off at the latter’s goal.

And we all know Alan Mullery’s international claim to fame.

[Sporting]

I keep getting:

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I created the content on Word and copied and pasted over, as aI've done before.

[Sporting]

Group qualification: Austria – Greece:

https://www.ufwc.co.uk/2011/02/austria-vs-greece-1967/

With just five minutes left to play, referee Gyula Gere of Hungary saw fit to send off Greece’s star player, Takis Loukanidis. For the record, Panathinaikos’s footballing all-rounder Loukanidis is now considered one of Greece’s best ever players and was regarded at the time as something approaching a living Greek god. Inevitably, the Greek supporters in the crowd were enraged, and mindless mayhem immediately erupted.

Scores of spectators, apparently of both Greek and Austrian persuasion, charged onto the pitch and began to engage in a mass brawl. Players from both sides were caught up and became involved in furious fistfights, while ref Gere was unceremoniously bashed over the head with a bottle.

A full-scale riot was underway, and 200 Austrian policemen, with horses, dogs, and big sticks, were sent onto the pitch to put an end to it. Order was eventually restored but there was no sensible way that play could continue, so the match was abandoned.

[Sporting]

And I hadn't been aware that Bobby Charlton played twice against five 5 Real Madrid players shortly before the 68 European Cup semi final:

[Sporting]

Hungary – USSR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYJCZgfVZO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AArsgFedWHg

I have no idea, but did the Prague Spring cast any kind of shadow over these matches?

[Various Artist]

I love that you've sourced that match report on Austria-Greece from the Unofficial Football World Championships site, Sporting. Not having kept up with the UFWC since the start of the pandemic, I've also just learned that Wales' match against Italy the other day was for the world title.

[cantagalo]

Interesting that the Italy-Soviet Union semi-final was decided on a coin toss (recently we had a discussion about coin tosses but I can't remember which thread), whereas the final against Yugoslavia was allowed to go to a replay.

I suppose deciding the winners of an entire tournament on the flip of a coin would be even more farcical than a semi-final where a replay presumably would have meant rescheduling the final.

[sw2borshch]

It's in the abolishing away goals thread?

[cantagalo]

Sporting

You might be interested in the latest Dotun Adebayo/Tim Vickery podcast.

https://twitter.com/brazilshirtpod/s...810042368?s=21

[Sporting]

Thanks, good stuff.