Iconic Moments in Football No.49
This week’s ‘Iconic Moment’ comes from the 1974 Charity Shield between the league champions Leeds United and FA Cup winners Liverpool.
The match was the first Charity Shield to be held at Wembley and made it into much more of a showpiece occasion to start the season.
Don Revie had left Leeds United at the end of the season and was controversially replaced by Derby County’s Brian Clough. Many of the Leeds United didn’t want Clough at their cub and he would only last 44 days in charge before walking out of the club.
Clough’s opposite number was Bob Paisley, who was also making his first match in charge of the club. Just as Clough was replacing a club hero in Revie, Paisley was replacing a real Liverpool icon in Bill Shankly. Liverpool decided that the best way to show their gratitude for his service was to let him lead his Liverpool side out at Wembley one final time, just as he had three months prior in the FA Cup Final.
There were 67,000 at Wembley for the game, which was quite a surprise considering that the top two sides in England were playing each other. Wembley held 100,000 at the time and the vast open spaces on the terraces were visible on the television coverage and in photos from the day.
The game itself was quite ill-tempered and after Leeds striker Allan Clarke injured Liverpool defender Phil Thompson in the first minute, he became the victim of several challenges from Thompson’s team mates.
Just before the hour mark, Johnny Giles caught Kevin Keegan with a punch to the face and was incredibly just given a booking for the offence. Tempers boiled over and just a minute or so later, a fight broke out on the pitch.
The incident between Giles and Keegan took place outside Leeds United’s penalty area and Liverpool were awarded a free-kick.
The two Liverpool players who took the kick had a breakdown in communication and the ball slipped away from them. A Leeds defender hoofed the ball away from danger and all hell broke loose.
Leeds captain Billy Bremner and Keegan traded punches and the referee was given no option but to send both players off.
Keegan was the first to be sent from the field of play and as he walked slowly off the pitch, he ripped his shirt off and threw it onto the touchline before making the long walk to the Wembley dressing rooms. Bremner was close behind and just like Keegan, removed his shirt and threw it off the pitch.
Liverpool won the game 6-5 on penalties after the game finished 1-1. Leeds goalkeeper David Harvey was the only player to miss a kick, hitting Leeds’ sixth penalty against the Liverpool crossbar.
The incident marred the game and the Football Association came down hard on both players, banning them both for two months and fining them each £500.
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