Aston Villa celebrated the greatest night in the club’s history on this day in 1982.
Peter Withe’s solitary strike defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 at De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam to ensure the Villans were European champions.
Villa had already progressed past Valur, Dynamo Berlin, Dynamo Kyiv and Anderlecht en route to the showpiece final.
Here’s how they did it, on the road to Rotterdam…
Valur
Villa completed an emphatic 7-0 first-round triumph over Valur in September 1981 as we took the first steps on our historic journey to lifting the European Cup.
Having secured a 5-0 win at Villa Park in the first leg, Villa travelled to Iceland to take on Valur in the second leg in Reykjavik and duly wrapped up a 2-0 victory.
Dynamo Berlin
Having registered a 2-1 triumph in our second-round first leg tie against Dynamo Berlin in then East Germany, the Villans suffered a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park on November 4, 1981 but duly progressed on the away goals rule.
Aggregate victory ensured Villa secured their place in the last eight of the competition as we continued our march to an historic triumph.
Dynamo Kyiv
Following a hard-fought goalless draw against Dynamo Kyiv in the quarter-final first leg tie in eastern Europe, Villa sealed a famous 2-0 home triumph to confirm their progress into the last four.
Almost 40,000 fans were at Villa Park for the return encounter on 17 March, 1982 as, on a challenging sandy and muddy playing surface, an early goal from Gary Shaw and a header from Ken McNaught sealed Villa's place in the semi-finals.
Anderlecht
Villa put one foot into the European Cup final on April 7, 1982 after beating Anderlecht 1-0 at Villa Park in the first leg of their semi-final, Tony Morley striking the winner after 28 minutes as the champions of England overcame their Belgian counterparts.
Tony Barton’s side clinched their place in the final on April 21 courtesy of a tense goalless draw in the second leg on a dramatic night at Émile Versé Stadium in Brussels, which unfortunately saw running incidents among fans in one stand behind a goal as events off the field provided the backdrop for those on it.
Bayern Munich
Wednesday, May 26, 1982 – a date forever etched into Villa history as we went on to lift the biggest prize in European club football.
Withe struck the decisive blow after 67 minutes against Bayern Munich, turning home Morley’s cross as young goalkeeper Nigel Spink thwarted the German giants time and time again having replaced the injured Jimmy Rimmer after nine minutes.
Captain Dennis Mortimer picked up the famous trophy as Villa were crowned Kings of Europe.
