“There is no disputing the fact that Bayern were the better team. They stopped us from playing our game as they wouldn’t allow us to counterattack, which was our strength. The first time we got behind Bayern’s defence, we scored. We escaped in a way, but we got the goal that gave us the trophy and we were ecstatic.
“The only thing on my mind after the game was picking up the trophy and celebrating with it. It was just sheer excitement, knowing that we’d won and that we were going to get the trophy. I remember getting up there and receiving it from the UEFA official and then just holding it aloft to the fans. The trophy is heavy; it’s not a one-handed trophy like the league championship back then. The league championship, which we won the previous season, was a one-handed trophy, but for lifting the European Cup you needed two hands.
“It was pure joy. It’s a magnificent trophy, the best in the world. Getting your hands on it as a professional footballer, it’s the ultimate club prize, the most iconic trophy you can win as a club player. The size of it and what it depicts; it’s just immense. After seeing Liverpool and Nottingham Forest win it the years before, I was thinking how great it would be to win that cup. And we managed to keep the European Cup in England, as for six years on the trot an English team won it, which is a marvellous thing from an English point of view.
“After the celebrations in the stadium, we got onto the bus and someone put the trophy in the toilet, to keep it upright and steady. But when we got off the bus, everyone was like, ‘Well, where’s the trophy? It must be on the bus somewhere.’ People were looking for it, before it was found in the end.
“There is no disputing the fact that Bayern were the better team. They stopped us from playing our game as they wouldn’t allow us to counterattack, which was our strength. The first time we got behind Bayern’s defence, we scored. We escaped in a way, but we got the goal that gave us the trophy and we were ecstatic.
“The only thing on my mind after the game was picking up the trophy and celebrating with it. It was just sheer excitement, knowing that we’d won and that we were going to get the trophy. I remember getting up there and receiving it from the UEFA official and then just holding it aloft to the fans. The trophy is heavy; it’s not a one-handed trophy like the league championship back then. The league championship, which we won the previous season, was a one-handed trophy, but for lifting the European Cup you needed two hands.
“It was pure joy. It’s a magnificent trophy, the best in the world. Getting your hands on it as a professional footballer, it’s the ultimate club prize, the most iconic trophy you can win as a club player. The size of it and what it depicts; it’s just immense. After seeing Liverpool and Nottingham Forest win it the years before, I was thinking how great it would be to win that cup. And we managed to keep the European Cup in England, as for six years on the trot an English team won it, which is a marvellous thing from an English point of view.
“After the celebrations in the stadium, we got onto the bus and someone put the trophy in the toilet, to keep it upright and steady. But when we got off the bus, everyone was like, ‘Well, where’s the trophy? It must be on the bus somewhere.’ People were looking for it, before it was found in the end.
“Soon after, the trophy did get seriously lost. A few players took it to an event in a pub where it was taken away by someone and brought up to Sheffield. It went missing for a night, but it was brought back in the end – it turned out it was a bit of a joke.
“In those days, the players were able to keep the trophy for a few days with them and I brought it home for a weekend as well. My family from Liverpool came down. My brothers are big Liverpool fans, so they could take pictures with it. I’ve got lots of photographs which I took of everybody with the trophy. I’ve got that nice memory of having the trophy at my house. I have a picture of my young son actually in the trophy as well.
“Nowadays, you can’t take the trophy with you. A security guard has to bring it if you want to take it somewhere. When I had a reunion with Kirkby Boys, my old district team in Liverpool, Phil Thompson – who had also played there – brought the Champions League trophy. But then there was a guy with him who looked after the trophy, to make sure it was safe and that it didn’t get damaged.
“Apart from Thompson, there was also Terry McDermott and Kenny Swain at Kirkby Boys who won the European Cup in their careers. Me and Phil even came from the same school (Brookfield) and were captains of our teams when winning it in consecutive years (1981 and 1982). To come from such a small place and have four players picking up the European Cup takes some beating.”
“There is no disputing the fact that Bayern were the better team. They stopped us from playing our game as they wouldn’t allow us to counterattack, which was our strength. The first time we got behind Bayern’s defence, we scored. We escaped in a way, but we got the goal that gave us the trophy and we were ecstatic.
“The only thing on my mind after the game was picking up the trophy and celebrating with it. It was just sheer excitement, knowing that we’d won and that we were going to get the trophy. I remember getting up there and receiving it from the UEFA official and then just holding it aloft to the fans. The trophy is heavy; it’s not a one-handed trophy like the league championship back then. The league championship, which we won the previous season, was a one-handed trophy, but for lifting the European Cup you needed two hands.
“It was pure joy. It’s a magnificent trophy, the best in the world. Getting your hands on it as a professional footballer, it’s the ultimate club prize, the most iconic trophy you can win as a club player. The size of it and what it depicts; it’s just immense. After seeing Liverpool and Nottingham Forest win it the years before, I was thinking how great it would be to win that cup. And we managed to keep the European Cup in England, as for six years on the trot an English team won it, which is a marvellous thing from an English point of view.
“After the celebrations in the stadium, we got onto the bus and someone put the trophy in the toilet, to keep it upright and steady. But when we got off the bus, everyone was like, ‘Well, where’s the trophy? It must be on the bus somewhere.’ People were looking for it, before it was found in the end.
“There is no disputing the fact that Bayern were the better team. They stopped us from playing our game as they wouldn’t allow us to counterattack, which was our strength. The first time we got behind Bayern’s defence, we scored. We escaped in a way, but we got the goal that gave us the trophy and we were ecstatic.
“The only thing on my mind after the game was picking up the trophy and celebrating with it. It was just sheer excitement, knowing that we’d won and that we were going to get the trophy. I remember getting up there and receiving it from the UEFA official and then just holding it aloft to the fans. The trophy is heavy; it’s not a one-handed trophy like the league championship back then. The league championship, which we won the previous season, was a one-handed trophy, but for lifting the European Cup you needed two hands.
“It was pure joy. It’s a magnificent trophy, the best in the world. Getting your hands on it as a professional footballer, it’s the ultimate club prize, the most iconic trophy you can win as a club player. The size of it and what it depicts; it’s just immense. After seeing Liverpool and Nottingham Forest win it the years before, I was thinking how great it would be to win that cup. And we managed to keep the European Cup in England, as for six years on the trot an English team won it, which is a marvellous thing from an English point of view.
“After the celebrations in the stadium, we got onto the bus and someone put the trophy in the toilet, to keep it upright and steady. But when we got off the bus, everyone was like, ‘Well, where’s the trophy? It must be on the bus somewhere.’ People were looking for it, before it was found in the end.
“There is no disputing the fact that Bayern were the better team. They stopped us from playing our game as they wouldn’t allow us to counterattack, which was our strength. The first time we got behind Bayern’s defence, we scored. We escaped in a way, but we got the goal that gave us the trophy and we were ecstatic.
“The only thing on my mind after the game was picking up the trophy and celebrating with it. It was just sheer excitement, knowing that we’d won and that we were going to get the trophy. I remember getting up there and receiving it from the UEFA official and then just holding it aloft to the fans. The trophy is heavy; it’s not a one-handed trophy like the league championship back then. The league championship, which we won the previous season, was a one-handed trophy, but for lifting the European Cup you needed two hands.
“It was pure joy. It’s a magnificent trophy, the best in the world. Getting your hands on it as a professional footballer, it’s the ultimate club prize, the most iconic trophy you can win as a club player. The size of it and what it depicts; it’s just immense. After seeing Liverpool and Nottingham Forest win it the years before, I was thinking how great it would be to win that cup. And we managed to keep the European Cup in England, as for six years on the trot an English team won it, which is a marvellous thing from an English point of view.
“After the celebrations in the stadium, we got onto the bus and someone put the trophy in the toilet, to keep it upright and steady. But when we got off the bus, everyone was like, ‘Well, where’s the trophy? It must be on the bus somewhere.’ People were looking for it, before it was found in the end.
“Soon after, the trophy did get seriously lost. A few players took it to an event in a pub where it was taken away by someone and brought up to Sheffield. It went missing for a night, but it was brought back in the end – it turned out it was a bit of a joke.
“In those days, the players were able to keep the trophy for a few days with them and I brought it home for a weekend as well. My family from Liverpool came down. My brothers are big Liverpool fans, so they could take pictures with it. I’ve got lots of photographs which I took of everybody with the trophy. I’ve got that nice memory of having the trophy at my house. I have a picture of my young son actually in the trophy as well.
“Nowadays, you can’t take the trophy with you. A security guard has to bring it if you want to take it somewhere. When I had a reunion with Kirkby Boys, my old district team in Liverpool, Phil Thompson – who had also played there – brought the Champions League trophy. But then there was a guy with him who looked after the trophy, to make sure it was safe and that it didn’t get damaged.
“Apart from Thompson, there was also Terry McDermott and Kenny Swain at Kirkby Boys who won the European Cup in their careers. Me and Phil even came from the same school (Brookfield) and were captains of our teams when winning it in consecutive years (1981 and 1982). To come from such a small place and have four players picking up the European Cup takes some beating.”
“There is no disputing the fact that Bayern were the better team. They stopped us from playing our game as they wouldn’t allow us to counterattack, which was our strength. The first time we got behind Bayern’s defence, we scored. We escaped in a way, but we got the goal that gave us the trophy and we were ecstatic.
“The only thing on my mind after the game was picking up the trophy and celebrating with it. It was just sheer excitement, knowing that we’d won and that we were going to get the trophy. I remember getting up there and receiving it from the UEFA official and then just holding it aloft to the fans. The trophy is heavy; it’s not a one-handed trophy like the league championship back then. The league championship, which we won the previous season, was a one-handed trophy, but for lifting the European Cup you needed two hands.
“It was pure joy. It’s a magnificent trophy, the best in the world. Getting your hands on it as a professional footballer, it’s the ultimate club prize, the most iconic trophy you can win as a club player. The size of it and what it depicts; it’s just immense. After seeing Liverpool and Nottingham Forest win it the years before, I was thinking how great it would be to win that cup. And we managed to keep the European Cup in England, as for six years on the trot an English team won it, which is a marvellous thing from an English point of view.
“After the celebrations in the stadium, we got onto the bus and someone put the trophy in the toilet, to keep it upright and steady. But when we got off the bus, everyone was like, ‘Well, where’s the trophy? It must be on the bus somewhere.’ People were looking for it, before it was found in the end.
