During the seventies two English teams ruled the roost and by the end of the decade had become the bitterest rivals in English football. Liverpool, under the legendary Bill Shankly and Leeds United guided by that cunning fox Don Revie, became one of the most entertaining club sides in the country.

Leeds were hated for their occasionally negative tactics but always admired for their stunning team work. The names of Lorimer, Giles and Bremner are now carved into the Elland Road brickwork. When the mood took them and the moon was in the right position. Leeds were magnificently unstoppable.

But football was also struck down by a potentially deadly disease. Hooliganism and fighting between the fans were to become a common sight on English grounds. At the 1974 European Cup Final between Leeds and Bayern Munich, riot police had to intervene as both sets of supporters threatened to kill each other.

A couple of years earlier Spurs fans had also gone on the warpath in the UEFA Cup Final against Feyenoord. An epidemic had begun to poison the game and FA, the game’s main governing body was helpless. At home, Chelsea’s trouble making fans caused havoc and a match against Luton was just one example of their hot headedness. Trailing 3-0 their supporters poured onto the pitch and tried to stop the match.

The annual England against Scotland match had always been highly charged and passionate but in 1977, things got out of control. Hundreds of drunken Scottish fans, delighted after their team had beaten England at Wembley, flooded onto the pitch and wrecked the old stadium. Posts and cross- bars were ripped out of the ground and Gordon Mcqueen’s winner for Scotland meant £18,000 had to be paid for repairs.

When Fulham’s Johnny Haynes became the first £100 a week player, football knew that every player in the country would have his price. By the Seventies players, compared to their predecessors were earning a kings ransom. Alan Ball moved from Everton to Arsenal for £100,000, Martin Peters, England’s World Cup winner switched from West Ham to Spurs for £200,000 and Leighton James, that wily Burnley winger cost £300,000.

But it was in Europe that English clubs would make the most lasting impression. Liverpool won the first of their European Cups in 1977 with a handsome victory against Borussia Munchengladbach in Rome. Another European Cup would follow against Bruges at Wembley. Nottingham Forest, under the miracle worker Brian Clough twice picked up the trophy with attack minded, swashbuckling football.