Left to right: Bobby Charlton, George Best,
Matt Busby and Denis Law
May 29, 1968: Wembley Stadium in West London hosts the European Cup Final. Manchester United play Benfica of Lisbon, Portugal.
Matt Busby managed Manchester United to the Football League Division One title in 1956 and 1957. After the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, he had to rebuild his team almost from scratch. But they managed to finish 2nd in 1959. It was an outlier: The next 4 seasons, they finished 7th, 7th, 15th and 19th, barely avoiding relegation to Division Two in 1963, although they did manage to win the FA Cup.
By that point, the players known as "The Trinity" were in place: English forward Bobby Charlton, Scottish forward Denis Law, and Northern Irish winger George Best. In 1964, they finished 2nd. In 1965, they won the League again. In 1966, they finished 4th. In all 3 seasons, they reached the Semifinals of the FA Cup. In 1966, as his ill-fated "Busby Babes" did in 1957 and 1958, they reached the Semifinal of the European Cup. And in 1967, they won another League title, qualifying them for the European Cup again in the 1967-68 season.
All this success, both before and after the Air Disaster, made them a popular team beyond the Manchester area: Television coverage made them nationally popular, especially with Charlton having helped England win the 1966 World Cup; and Best's long hair, skill and personality making him the most popular player in the country. Man United were probably the most popular team in England.
This success did not necessarily transfer to their national teams: Although Charlton and midfielder Norbert "Nobby" Stiles were members of England's 1966 World Cup winners, Law's Scotland and Best's Northern Ireland did not qualify for that tournament. Scotland, with Law, did famously beat England, with Charlton and Stiles, 3-2 at Wembley Stadium in London on April 15, 1967, but the Scots' claim of being "Unofficial World Champions" was not taken seriously.
In 1967, Celtic F.C. of Glasgow became the 1st British team to win the European Cup. It was embarrassing for England's big clubs that a team from Scotland had beaten them to it. So English fans got behind United in their 1967-68 bid.
Their 1st Round match was against Hibernians -- not the one in Edinburgh, Scotland, but the Champions of the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. A 4-0 win at their home grand of Old Trafford was followed by a 0-0 draw in Malta. In the 2nd Round, they beat the Champions of Yugoslavia, FK Sarajevo, drawing 0-0 in Bosnia and winning 2-1 at Old Trafford.
In the Quarterfinal, they played Polish Champions Górnik Zabrze, winning 2-0 at home and losing 1-0 away, advancing on aggregate. In the Semifinal, they played 6-time Champions Real Madrid, winning 1-0 at home, and drawing 3-3 at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, advancing 4-3 on aggregate.
They would face the Champions of Portugal, Sport Lisboa e Benfica. led by Eusébio, one of the greatest players in the world. They had won the European Cup in 1961 and 1962, lost the 1963 Final to AC Milan, and lost the 1965 Final to Internazionale Milano.
In the Semifinal of the 1966 World Cup, England, with Charlton and Stiles, beat Portugal, with Eusébio. Now, their clubs were facing each other in the biggest team championship in European sports.
But Manchester United had fitness concerns. Stiles was recovering from a knee injury. Law was not: He underwent surgery on his knee on the Saturday before the Final, and would still be in hospital (as they would say in Britain) on Wednesday night. Brian Kidd, on his 19th birthday, would be replacing one of the greatest centre forwards the sport has ever known.
A crowd of 92,225 plowed into Wembley, and 250 million people watched on television all over Europe. Oddly, given their standard home color of red, United knew that Benfica also usually wore red. So United wore all blue for this contest. Knowing that United usually wore red, Benfica chose not to: They wore white with red trim. There were probably a lot of people, in the stadium and watching on TV, who were confused.
The game kicked off at 7:45 PM London time (2:45 on the U.S. East Coast). Otto Glória, the Brazilian who had managed Portugal in the '66 World Cup and was now managing many of the same players for Benfica, decided that, with Law out, the best way to keep United at bay was to get rough with Best, and he was knocked down 6 times in the 1st half, with only 1 yellow card being given.
Despite a Eusébio shot that beat goalkeeper Alex Stepney and hit the crossbar, the 1st half ended scoreless. Charlton struck first, in the 53rd minute. Jaime Graça scored in the 79th, to tie the game. Stepney had to make 2 saves on Eusébio in stoppage time, and the game remained 1-1 at the whistle. It went to extra time.
In the 92nd minute, Stepney took a long goal kick, which was headed on by Kidd, and collected by Best. The flamboyant Ulsterman, whose hair had gotten him nicknamed "El Beatle" by the Spanish-language press, dribbled past the Benfica defenders, and then around goalkeeper José Henrique, concluding by rolling the ball into an empty net. It was 2-1 United.
In the 94th, David Sadler launched a header at Henrique, who saved it. But the rebound came to Kidd, and the birthday boy headed it in, making the score 3–1. Benfica were finished, and, in the 99th, Kidd passed to Charlton, who scored a capper. United won, 4-1.
Kidd with the European Cup, a.k.a. "Ol' Big Ears"
They became the 1st English team to win the European Cup. Through the 2022 season, the trophy, and the tournament known since 1992 as the UEFA Champions League, has been won by the following teams: Liverpool, 6 times, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005 and 2019; Manchester United, 3, 1968, 1999 and 2008; Nottingham Forest, 2, 1979 and 1980; Chelsea, 2, 2012 and 2021; and Aston Villa, 1, 1982.
Four other English teams have reached the Final without winning. Leeds United lost to Bayern Munich in 1975, and Arsenal to Barcelona in 2006, both with accusations of dodgy officiating. Tottenham Hotspur lost to Liverpool in 2019. And Manchester City lost Chelsea in 2021. (UPDATE: Man City won in 2023, beating Inter Milan.)
*
May 29, 1968 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:
* A doubleheader was split at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Chicago Cubs won the opener, 9-2. The Philadelphia Phillies won the nightcap, 8-3. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 2-for-6 with a walk.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Joe Horlen outpitched Dave McNally. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4. Frank Robinson did not play.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 1-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Dave Boswell pitched a 3-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with a walk, while Rod Carew went 1-for-4.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Willie Mays hit a home run.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 3-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Denny McLain pitched a 4-1 hit shutout, and was already 8-1 on the season. Al Kaline was injured, and did not play.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-4 at the Oakland Coliseum. Sal Bando hit a home run. Rookie Reggie Jackson entered the game as a defensive replacement, and did not come to bat. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* Both New York teams got rained out, even though they were not both at home. The New York Yankees and the Washington Senators were rained out at Yankee Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Yankees won the opener, 13-4. Stan Bahnsen was the winning pitcher. Mickey Mantle had perhaps his last big day at the plate, going 5-for-5 with 2 home runs (the 523rd and 524th of his career) and 5 RBIs.
The Senators won the nightcap, 6-2. Camilo Pascual, who pitched for the "old" Senators and, after their move, the Minnesota Twins, won this game for the "new" Senators, outpitching Fred Talbot, Jim Bouton, Fritz Peterson and, as Bouton called him, the Dooley Womack. Roy White hit a home run for the Yankees.
* The New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Mets swept a doubleheader from , 6-3 and 5-4 In the 1st game, Jerry Koosman outpitched Jim Bunning. In the 2nd game, Dick Selma outpitched Bob Veale. Over the 2 games, Roberto Clemente went 2-for-8 with an RBI.
* And the Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves were rained out at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 6. The Braves swept, 5-0 and 2-1. Phil Niekro pitched a 4-hit shutout in the 1st game. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4 in the 1st game, but 3-for-3 with a walk in the 2nd game.
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