Date: Wednesday, 3^rd October 1973.

Venue: Elland Road, Leeds.

Competition: UEFA Cup, First Round, Second Leg.

Score: Leeds United 6 Stromsgodset Idrettsforening 1.

Scorers: Leeds United: Clarke (2), Jones (2), F. Gray, Bates. Stromsgodset Idrettsforening: S. Pettersen.

Attendance: 18,680.

Teams:

Leeds United: Harvey; Reaney (O’Neill), Cherry; Bremner, Ellam, Yorath; Lorimer, Clarke (McGinley), Jones, Bates, F. Gray.

Stromsgodset Idrettsforening: Thun; Wolner (Aarseth), Pedersen; Nostdahl, S. Andersen, Amundsen; Larsen, B. Andersen, Presberg, S. Pettersen, I. Pettersen (Halvorsen).

Referee: Richard Casha (Malta).

After successfully holding United in the first leg, Stromsgodset became the latest in a long line of Scandinavian casualties when they were hammered in the return leg. Despite their surprise home draw, Stromgodset knew they would be in for a long night in the Elland Road leg two weeks later. So it proved as United won 6-1 for a comfortable 7-2 aggregate victory. However the battling Norwegians gave a good account of themselves and always tried to get forward whenever they had some possession. They had made a remarkable rise up the Norwegian League moving up from the Fourth Division to the First Division and qualification for Europe in just ten seasons.

United gave Roy Ellam a chance to prove himself on the European stage and there were bloodings too for Jimmy O’Neill and Billy McGinley as second half substitutes. The goals flowed thick and fast as both Allan Clarke and Mick Jones bagged a brace. Allan Clarke opened the scoring after eleven minutes, then Jones got on the score-sheet nine minutes later, but surprisingly Steiner Pettersen had scored for the visitors before half time and Clarke made the score 3-1 three minutes before the break. Frank Gray scored in the fifty-seventh minute and Mick Bates got another five minutes later, before Mick Jones rounded off the 6-1 score-line six minutes from time to put United through with a 7-2 aggregate.

Once again it was Allan Clarke who opened the scoring after eleven minutes, snapping up Svein Andersen’s back-pass to beat goalkeeper Inge Thun. However, as in the First Leg, Stromgodset hit back, Steinar Pettersen swapping passes with Bjorn Andersen before shooting past David Harvey seven minutes later. Any hopes of a sensation were dissolved just three minutes later when Mick Jones regained United’s lead and they went into the interval 3-1 up after Allan Clarke had got his second goal, which was set up by Mick Jones and Billy Bremner, after Stromgodset failed to clear a corner three minutes before the interval.

Frank Gray registered his first European goal with a right foot shot from a Peter Lorimer cross after fifty-seven minutes and then Mick Bates took a leaf out of Peter Lorimer’s book with a blistering twenty-yard drive to make it 5-1 five minutes later. That was the signal for Revie to blood a couple more youngsters, sending on Billy McGinley for his European debut along with defender Sean (Jimmy) O’Neill. Six minutes from the end Mick Jones completed the scoring after good work by Peter Lorimer and to cap a satisfactory night’s work Reserve Centre-Half Roy Ellam came through his first senior outing since breaking his arm the previous season without any problems.

Match Action:

Allan Clarke gets one of his goals at Elland Road.

Players:

United gave European experience to Billy McGinley, Roy Ellam and Jimmy O’Neill

Allan Clarke (2), Mick Jones (2), Frank Gray and Mick Bates got the Leeds goals

Steiner Pettersen got Stromsgodset’s goal