An all-English European final was a let-down after touring the continent

LAST week's Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur reminded me that 53 years ago this month Wolves were part of the first ever European final between two English clubs.

- By CLIVE CORBETT Bugle correspondent

Back then, the UEFA Cup final, as it was then called, was a two-legged affair, with the matches played on 3 and 17 May. As the reactions below from some of the men from Molineux show, it was something of a disappointment that a journey that had taken Wolves from Portugal to Holland, to East Germany and Hungary via Italy, would now end in a European final against Spurs.

John McAlle: “We were so disappointed that it was not a real European game.”

John Richards agreed: “It just lost all of its attraction. We'd gone all over the place, East Germany, Italy and Hungary, and had played some of the best football the team had ever played against really top sides. Then suddenly it ends up being like another domestic cup clash.”

Dave Wagstaffe shared this view: “It was a big anti-climax. We had the best defensive record in Europe that season and it was no mean feat to go to all those places.”

Frank Munro: “After travelling all over Europe having two English teams in the final was a real disappointment”.

Phil Parkes said: "If it'd been like now, a one-off game, it wouldn't have been so bad,” and Derek Parkin added: “I think that's why there wasn't any media interest really.”

Ken Hibbitt felt that the team got little credit for their achievement: “I think the supporters knew, but nationally I don't think much was mentioned about us going all through the UEFA Cup, knocking all these teams out like Carl Jeiss Jena, Juventus and Ferencvaros without getting beaten, until we met an English team in the final. Why don't they ever mention it? They'd go wild about it now. I find that sad.”

Steve Daley agreed: “It didn't seem a big issue at the time because we were in the final, but it would have been nice to have played a foreign team. Years and years later you look back and realise that it was not as big in the seventies.”