Euphoria
Cardiff City, Real Madrid and a famous night at Ninian Park
The names Cardiff City and Real Madrid don’t often go together in football. The Welshmen and the Royals in Spain couldn’t contrast any further. On the 10th of March 1971, though, the two sides met in the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup.
It’s a night nobody associated with Cardiff City will ever forget; a story passed down from generation to generation. The Cardiff City underdogs shocked the football world and beat the giants of Real Madrid 1–0 in the first leg of their Quarter Finals clash.
Gary Bell, one of the Cardiff players, recalled the feeling among the squad when the draw was made.
“I can remember the euphoria among the lads and around the city when the draw was announced. Dear me! Not only were the great Real Madrid team coming to play at Ninian Park, we were going to play at the Bernabeu. What a fantastic draw. I’d seen them on the television, but had never even dreamed of playing against them.”
The Bluebirds team that night was a good one, but were still considered the underdog. Ian Gibson played in midfield, Jim Eadie in goal, Dave Carver, Don Murray — captain — and Leighton Phillips in defence, whilst Bell lined up at left-back. Up-front was Brian Clark and Bobby Woodruff.
The first leg took place at Cardiff City’s Ninian Park, an old and traditional stadium in the Welsh capital. Cardiff fans had packed into the small stadium, with an attendance of 47,500 recorded that night.
This was arguably the biggest game for Cardiff City in their history, whilst for Real Madrid it was merely a clash against minnows that they should win. This is echoed by the attendance in the second leg, with only 10,000 Madristas filling the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg.
For the Cardiff players, there was a sense of belief even though they were facing one of the game’s best, as Bell explains:
“On the day of the game there was a nervous tension in the group, but we knew we were a good team and could give a good account of ourselves. Jimmy Scoular kept everybody’s feet on the ground. He made sure it was business as usual.
Jimmy told us we could beat Real Madrid and everybody played their part in a fantastic victory.”
During the game, Cardiff played with no fear and simply went at the giants of Real Madrid. All the odds were stacked against the Bluebirds in a true David vs Goliath task, so they had nothing to lose.
On the 31st minute of the match, teenager Nigel Rees swung in a pin point cross from the left hand by-line to an unmarked Brian Clarke to head home. The Ninian Park crowd went wild.
Reports say Cardiff City could’ve scored more that day, but the sole Clarke goal was enough to defeat the men from Madrid. The local South Wales Echo reported after the game “Whatever happens in Madrid, nobody can take anything away from the players for their wonderful show.”
Cardiff went on to lose the second leg 2–0 at the Bernabeu, but none of that mattered. Still, to this day, Cardiff City’s 1–0 victory against Real Madrid is famous and is a truly great European moment.
