Battle of Britain 1970

For the first time in European Cup history the Scottish and English league champions we’re paired together in the semi-final of the 69/70 competition which was dubbed the ‘Battle of Britain’. Jock Stein’s Glasgow Celtic would take on the heavily fancied Leeds United managed by Don Revie. In the tight first leg at Elland Road, Celtic edged the tie with a solitary goal coming in the first minute of the game by George Connelly.

The return leg was switched from Parkhead to Hampden Park to help accommodate the large demand for tickets, and that they did with a record breaking 136,505 supporters in attendance. Ironically it was boyhood Celtic fan and Scotland international Billy Bremner who opened the scoring for Leeds to draw the tie level with a 30 yard thunderbolt. However, shortly after the half time break Celtic edged back ahead when they scored twice in quick succession with goals from John ‘Yogi’ Hughes and Bobby ‘Chopper’ Murdoch to send the Celts to their second European Cup final in their history.