Alternative Football History Part IX – Only Liverpool banned from Europe! 1985/86
I’ve been trying to think of a subject matter for this series for a while and have finally come up with one. It is an idea that came from a terrible tragedy but something that even now plays on the mind of the fans of the clubs directly involved.
We all have moments in our club’s history where we think what would happen if things went slightly different. For a few clubs in the late 1980’s, the opportunity of playing European football was taken away because of the actions of several mindless Liverpool fans in the 1985 European Cup Final. 39 Juventus fans died in a disaster when they tried in vain to escape from some Liverpool fans charged at them causing a wall to crumble to the ground.
As a result of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, English clubs were banned from European competitions for six years and Liverpool for seven years. Liverpool’s bitter rivals Everton never got the chance to play in the European Cup, something that wrangles with their fans 35 years on. Clubs like Oxford United, Coventry City, Luton Town and Wimbledon won the League and FA Cup during this ban and were therefore unable to compete in Europe.
After the ban was lifted in 1991, none of the four clubs got anywhere near qualifying for Europe again. Indeed, Oxford United and Luton Town dropped in to non-league at some point before returning to the Football League and Coventry City even slipped down to the fourth tier for a couple of seasons.
Wimbledon went one further and left London to become MK Dons. the majority of their fans took to supporting a new club called AFC Wimbledon, who have climbed up the non league pyramid to the third tier of the Football League.
Their fans never got to see their heroes play against the continent’s elite and it was a bitter pill to swallow for both fans and players alike. But what if they had been allowed to compete in Europe and only Liverpool were banned from Europe. It’s time to crank that Delorean up to 88 miles per hour and see what would happen. Oh the irony that the ban came into effect in 1985…..
1985/86 season
Everton fans were decidedly excited about the 1985/86 season and for very good reason. They finally had the chance to play in the European Cup!
In the First Round they drew Belgian side Anderlecht and beat them 1-0 on aggregate. The tie was settled by a Gary Lineker goal in the first leg at Goodison Park, with the goal coming in the 15th minute.
The Second Round gave the fans a chance to visit Cyprus as they drew Omonia Nicosia. The first leg was played in Cyprus and Everton won convincingly 5-0 and they won 3-1 in the return leg back home.
Bayern Munich exacted their revenge for their defeat in the European Cup Winners Cup Semi Final the previous season, beating Everton home and away in the Quarter Final. The aggregate score was 3-1 after a 2-0 home win in Munich was followed by a 1-0 win at Goodison Park.
English clubs fared worse in the UEFA Cup with both Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton making early exits, with both losing in the First Round.
Tottenham lost 4-1 on aggregate to Sporting Lisbon and Southampton lost on away goals to French side Nantes.
The Saints were desperately unlucky as they drew 2-2 in the first leg in France and with the scores level at 1-1 in the second leg, they were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute. Jimmy Case stepped up and had his penalty hit the inside of the post before rolling along the goal line before being hacked away by a Nantes defender.
Meanwhile, Manchester United did the best out of the four competing English clubs, reaching the semi final of the European Cup Winners Cup.
In the first round they were given a tough draw against Benfica, the side that they had beaten in the European Cup Final seventeen years before.
A confident 1-0 win in Lisbon courtesy of a 34th minute goal from Bryan Robson was followed by a 2-0 win at Old Trafford.
Italy’s Sampdoria were next and United won 2-1, winning 2-0 at Old Trafford before losing 1-0 in the second leg in Genoa.
United needed to cross the Iron Curtain to visit Czechoslovakia’s Dukla Prague in the Quarter Final. They had no worries though, comfortably winning 6-1.
The run came to an end though in the semi finals as Dynamo Kiev beat them 1-0 at Old Trafford after a goalless draw in Kyiv.
Coming up tomorrow: English sides competing in Europe during the 1986/87 and 1987/88 seasons
About Author
