CITY 5 SK LIERSE 0
(8-0 on Aggregate)
European Cup Winners Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg
26th November 1969
Attendance 26,486
Scorers Summerbee(22), Lee(48 & 55), Bell(60 & 71)
Ref Rudolph Gloekner
City Mulhearn, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee, Bell, Bowyer, Lee, Jeffries – sub Towers(75), Dowd(unused), Connor(unused), Heslop(unused), Owen(unused)
Lierse Engelen, Mertens, Bogaertes, Eynde, Meichielsen, De Ceulaer, Willems, Van Obstal, De Nul, Janssens, Min – used subs Put(65), Laeremans(77)
GOALS FROM MIKE SUMMERBEE AND FRANCIS LEE PUT CITY 2-0 UP
The now defunct European Cup Winners Cup consisted of just 32 clubs when the Blues entered the competition as FA Cup winners in the 1969/70 season. Four aggregate victories would send two clubs all the way to the final in Vienna.
…Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring, better known as SK Lierse, were a part-time outfit from Belgium who weren’t expected to progress too far in the competition, but they had seen off Cypriot side APOEL in the previous round, winning the home leg 10-1, so they were no mugs, either. Still, City eased throught the first leg with a 3-0 win in Belgium making the return game at Maine Road seemingly nothing more than a formality; however the opening exchanges proved to be anything but.
Lierse came at City like Tigers and should have been 2-0 up inside 15 minutes. Had they taken their chances, the Blues just might have been on the end of the most dramatic turnaround in the history of European club competition. Lierse striker De Nul was causing no end of problems and had one effort scrambled off the line and he then hit the post with a snap shot out of nothing, with Ken Mulhearn well beaten. The Belgians had clearly understood their manager’s instructions to throw caution to the wind and see where it took them and their brave approach earned the respect of a half full Maine Road.
Freezing conditions had left the pitch rock hard and the Blues were finding it difficult to get the ball on the ground and play their natural passing game but, in true ballet on ice style, a change of footwear (this time at the break), would prove the undoing of their opponents. Just 3 minutes after the re-start, Mike Summerbee blasted City ahead, ending any lingering hopes Lierse might have had of causing an upset. From then on , the Blues were imperious and Colin Bell Francis Lee were particurlarly impressive, adding a goal each in quick successionto make it 3 goals in 12 minutes.
Youngster Derek Jeffries was making a good impression with his intelligent passing and technique standing out, but it was Bell and Lee who completed the rout, each scoring another goal to give City a 5-0 win on the night and 8-0 aggregate overall, a club record.ADAPTED FROM THE CLASSIC MATCH BY DAVID CLAYTON IN THE CITY MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2008
FRANNY LEE MAKES IT 3-0
COLIN BELL SCORES THE FOURTH
IT’S 5-0 AS COLIN BELL SCORES HIS SECOND GOAL
