The Undisputed Champions of Europe

How the Gods of Football Became European Royalty

Steven Scragg

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801500371
• Year: 2021

The Undisputed Champions of Europe is a trilogy-ending homage to the golden era of the European Cup. A place where the gods of the game battled for the biggest prize in club football; a place where the likes of Di Stéfano, Eusébio, Best, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Dalglish, Gullit and so many others became legends, as they skated across thin ice to glory, in the colours of clubs that are now considered European royalty. An entirely different beast than the Champions League, it was a competition where you had to win your domestic league title to gain entry. With no safety net of group stages, one bad night of football was enough to send you back to square one. In contrast to today's Champions League winners - whose status as Europe's best team is regularly disputed - the winners of the European Cup truly were the undisputed kings of Europe. These are the stories and glories of football's highest achievers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Who Do You Think You Are?
• 2. Hampden Park, 1960
• 3. A Team of Light
• 4. Milanese Magic
• 5. Immortals
• 6. 1968/69 – The Shifting Tectonic Plates of the European Cup
• 7. Lowlands Uprising
• 8. Bavarian Bravado
• 9. With Such Simplicity, the European Cup Surely is Won
• 10. Midland Bank
• 11. With or Without Keegan
• 12. Heysel
• 13. The Years of the Ban
• 14. Belgrade Calling
• 15. The Holy Grail
• Afterword: A Super League of Their Own
• Photos