A group of Leeds United supporters have been responding to a recent Twitter post from the club in which they reminded fans the 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was never televised. According to @LUFC, the Football Association had declared: “One live football match on television a week is enough. Also, there will be no highlights.”
The Whites, under Don Revie’s management, became the last-ever winners of the competition after earning a 1-1 draw with Italian giants Juventus at Elland Road and as a result, lifted the trophy courtesy of the away goals rule (as per the Yorkshire Evening Post).
Leeds had already managed a 2-2 draw in Turin, which in the end proved enough – and here is how a sample of the club’s faithful responded to the post on social media.
That’s not very fair!
— Trickyfandango ???? (@Trickyfandango) June 3, 2020
Nothing like the wonderful FA to do anything anti Leeds
— David Wild (@wildnoe) June 3, 2020
No surprise there then !
— mangelwurzel (@cheeno64) June 3, 2020
Yes, I did know. MOT.
— Deansy (@Alister50950086) June 4, 2020
Do you think the FA would have been more lenient had it not been Leeds?
Yes
No
It’s clear from the above responses that these fans feel the FA may have been more lenient had it been another British club competing in the final. When you consider the amount of live football available to us in 2020, it seems unthinkable that a European final would not be broadcast on television – in fact, it sounds outrageous. Supporters of the Yorkshire-based club continued to react on Twitter with some who were in attendance sharing their memories.
I was at the game but don’t remember a lot of it. I do remember the team parading the trophy at the end of the game though
— Follow Me And LUFC (@FollowMeAndLUFC) June 3, 2020
I remember the goals quite well bearing in mind it’s 49 years ago. I also remember the trophy being paraded, don’t remember too much about the rest of the game though. Fabio Capello was of course playing for Juventus.
— Keith Lightle (@KeithLightle) June 3, 2020
The good news is that as modern-day football fans, we are unlikely to ever experience our teams playing in a major final without being able to watch the events unfold on television. Leeds won the aforementioned competition twice in their history, having been victorious three years prior to their 1971 triumph (as per leedsunited.com). Therefore, in our view, although many supporters were denied the chance to watch it, it remains a huge moment in the club’s rich history.