The Battle of Britain
This match proved to be a massive tie. Indeed, pre-match newspaper arrogance even assumed that whoever won the semi would be the automatic tournament winners. Celtic were pitched against Leeds United. Inevitably, this was styled as the Battle of Britain. The English media expected England’s top side to easily dispose of the Scots.
Celtic players walk out for the Leeds Utd v Celtic European Cup semi-final first leg on 1st April 1970. Photo The Celtic Wiki
Both fixtures did prove to be Titanic battles. This time, Celtic were away in the first leg and so travelled to Elland Road on 1 April 1970. The Bhoys were in good spirits; three days beforehand, a 0-0 draw at Tynecastle had given them the point they needed to clinch their fifth successive title.
Thousands of Celts went south to England, cramming into the away and home ends. Despite English anticipation of victory, the home crowd was stunned when the Celts took the lead after only 40 seconds, with George Connelly knocking home the ball.
The remainder of the game – almost still the entire 90 minutes! – was an epic affair. Both sides pressed and could easily have scored at different times, but Celtic were clearly the superior team, a fact acknowledged afterwards even by Leeds captain Billy Bremner. And Jimmy Johnstone later said he thought this had been his finest European game in the Hoops.
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