Today is the 40th anniversary of Leeds United's European Cup final loss to Bayern Munich and while John Giles recalled a "peculiar" match marked by strange refereeing decisions in the Germans' favour, that last ever match in the lilywhite shirt was not his biggest disappointment as he told Off The Ball tonight.
"The biggest disappointment was definitely in '73. Being beaten by Sunderland in '73 [in the FA Cup final], definitely," he told Ger.
"We were expected to win it. We were playing a Second Division team, we were odds-on to do it. We were a very good team and the attitude was right. It was Wembley at the time when the Cup meant a lot. To be beaten was humiliating."
That final was under the stewardship of legendary manager Don Revie, unlike in '75 when he had departed. And John has his own ideas why Leeds did not keep Revie.
"I have my own theory why Don left. Don was at Leeds for 14 years and was very successful, [the presumption] was that the directors would love him and it doesn't happen that way. Don became very strong because of his results and I think the directors resented him.
Former Leeds and England manager Don Revie (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)
"But they only thing they could control was his money and Don was on £15,000 a year at Leeds - which was buttons," he said, before sharing his memories of former Leeds team-mate Albert Johanneson, the first black player to appear in an FA Cup final, and who met a sad end.
John also spoke about the sudden passing of his friend and panel colleague Bill O'Herlihy and looked ahead to the FA Cup final between Arsenal and Aston Villa.
