Book Review: Paris 75 by Billy Morris

The 1974-75 season saw reigning First Division Champions Leeds United under the guidance of Brian Clough following Don Revie’s departure to take up the England job. It was to be a very short period in the Elland Road hot seat, with Clough lasting just 44 days. The mild-mannered Jimmy Armfield then had the task of steadying the ship and bringing back pride to those in the white shirt.

Whilst Leeds were never in the hunt for the title that season, they made steady progress in the European Cup. FC Zurich were seen off in the First Round 5-3 on aggregate, with Hungarian opposition Ujpesti Dozsa beaten 5-1 over the two-legs. In the Quarter Finals Anderlecht were dispatched with a 3-0 win at Elland Road and a 1-0 victory in Brussels. This set up a Semi-Final tie with Barcelona.

That is the factual footballing background to Paris 75 which opens on 01 April 1975 with the Semi-Final first-leg against the Catalan side just eight days away. The books timeline then predominantly follows events to the 29 May 1975, the day after the European Cup Final in Paris and the infamous game between Leeds and Bayern Munich.

As in Morris’ other Leeds United centric books, the real life exploits of the Elland Road team are played out against a fictional background. And once again readers are treated to his tried and trusted combination of gritty Leeds life, terrace culture and the criminal underworld, with gangster Alan Connolly at the centre of the fictional storyline that builds to a crescendo in the French capital.

Whilst the history books tell us that Leeds controversially lost the Final to Bayern 2-0 resulting in a riot at the end of the game from the United faithful, the use of the Final venue in Paris as a device for the Connolly plotlines is a cracker.

It is though to an extent a homage to the game that Leeds and many others believe saw them robbed of the biggest prize in European club football. The events of that night will always be part of Leeds history and the chant “We Are the Champions, Champions Of Europe” still rings out on occasions at Elland Road some 50 years later.

(Publisher: Independently published. July 2024. Paperback: 211 pages)

 

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