91:Rotterdam Revisited

Red00012

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Documentary on the 1991 European Campaign by Andy Mitten.



Well worth a watch. I hadn’t realised we played Wrexham in the lead up to the final and Steve Bruce scored 19 goals that season.
 
Should be in United Forum

I didn't make it to Rotterdam but did all the home matches on the way

people will forget that English clubs had been banned from Europe so this Euro run was even bigger than usual
 
That tackle on Paul Ince was disgusting.
 
Watched it last night, brilliant took me back to the days when you knew that the team was special and destined for something great, Mark Hughes second goal in the final was epic and Bryan Robsons performance incredible. Always look on the bright side of life !!
 
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Red00012 said:
Documentary on the 1991 European Campaign by Andy Mitten.



Well worth a watch. I hadn’t realised we played Wrexham in the lead up to the final and Steve Bruce scored 19 goals that season.
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Really enjoyed watching that. Thanks for posting.
 
Wrexham remains my only European away, on the balcony of the Turf pub - big regrets that I didn't go to the final with cheap as chips coach & ticket packages available
 
my most vivid memory is my old man going "for fecks sake" when Hughes took it too wide when he went around the keeper

and then mayhem
 
Great Documentry although some of the Ai usage on the pictures was a bit jarring.

In retrospect that final win is one of United's most impressive wins considering the opposition ever which for whatever reason seems to go under the radar most of the time, that Barcelona side won their league at a canter that year and would go on to win the European cup the following year, a fantastic footballing side all things considered and it rarely comes up when ranking United's greatest moments.

Also a bit of a hypothetical but had united gotten Robson's best years not in those wilderness years but when it finally started to up it's gears than I reckon it would have gotten an extra league or two and maybe a European cup on top, a shame really.
 
Was 11 pens for Bruce for that season, rest mostly set peice headers but still impressive - never get defenders taking pens nowadays, would be FPL gold !
 
lovely stuff, a good lad is Andy, i must be of a similar vintage. The 90s were an amazing football time though for our generation, the rise of Utd and that iconic zeitgeitistic World Cup of USA 94 that permeated into the EPL afterwards.
 
That was my first trip abroad, had to get a 1 year passport specially for it

First season back in Europe after the ban, I think it was fair to say a lot of us were concerned how the Dutch police were going to handle the 'invasion', fair do's they were great, indeed much better than how British cops handled away fans in those days.

I left OT on a coach at midnight and arrived in Rotterdam mid-afternoon, a lot of beer was drunk on that journey, the multi-colored Dutch Guilders were weird, a bit like the EUR notes today but we'd never seen anything like that then.

Sang myself hoarse at the match and like most was soaked to the skin with the "Manchester" weather, was expecting a huge party on the way back but TBH everyone was so knackered that by the time we reached Belgium we'd all crshed out!

More beer for breakfast on the Calais/Dover ferry and the long journey up to Manchester with cars tooting the coach the whole way, Chester Road was a mass of people applauding, waving and cheering and I arrived back at OT mid-afternoon, found my car in the car park and then drove 200 yards to work to give all the CIty fans some stick and then back to a mates house in Heywood to re-watch the game on video.

One of the greatest days of my life :p :cool:
 
Rekindled some great memories of a brilliant time to be 16! Like some I went to every home game but not the final, great shout to those who made it to Rotterdam. I remember feeling we’d lost it leaving the Montpellier game at home, but it turned out to be the catalyst for a new dynasty. Although the Legia tie was effectively already won, I felt really proud to be at a European Semi Final after so many years in the doldrums. Felt very special back then, still does now.
 
Red in STL said:
That was my first trip abroad, had to get a 1 year passport specially for it

First season back in Europe after the ban, I think it was fair to say a lot of us were concerned how the Dutch police were going to handle the 'invasion', fair do's they were great, indeed much better than how British cops handled away fans in those days.

I left OT on a coach at midnight and arrived in Rotterdam mid-afternoon, a lot of beer was drunk on that journey, the multi-colored Dutch Guilders were weird, a bit like the EUR notes today but we'd never seen anything like that then.

Sang myself hoarse at the match and like most was soaked to the skin with the "Manchester" weather, was expecting a huge party on the way back but TBH everyone was so knackered that by the time we reached Belgium we'd all crshed out!

More beer for breakfast on the Calais/Dover ferry and the long journey up to Manchester with cars tooting the coach the whole way, Chester Road was a mass of people applauding, waving and cheering and I arrived back at OT mid-afternoon, found my car in the car park and then drove 200 yards to work to give all the CIty fans some stick and then back to a mates house in Heywood to re-watch the game on video.

One of the greatest days of my life :p :cool:
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Awesome, stuff of dreams!
 
We don't give a shit
We don't give a feck
'Cause we came home with the Cup Winners Cup

Still got my 91 top. Now adidas have released that one again.
 
Bicko said:
Wrexham remains my only European away, on the balcony of the Turf pub - big regrets that I didn't go to the final with cheap as chips coach & ticket packages available
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Not my only one but definitely my shortest trip… about ten minutes :lol:

Used to love UEFA Cup and ECWC… always felt a very close second European trophy because of small number of clubs in the EC. We could have probably won another if Robson (and … ? Wilkins, Moses?) didn’t miss SFs v Juventus.

Looking forward to tonight.
 
To those who lived it, just how big was winning the Cup Winners' Cup in those days? Equivalent to winning something in between the Champions League and Europa League? I was only five then and my first memories of football didn't come until two to three years after this.
 
Kopral Jono said:
To those who lived it, just how big was winning the Cup Winners' Cup in those days? Equivalent to winning something in between the Champions League and Europa League? I was only five then and my first memories of football didn't come until two to three years after this.
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So the European Cup (as it was) was league winners and holders only, due to the nature of the draw you could play anyone in any round and some times, well fairly often strong teams would get knocked out quite early. The UEFA Cup would have more teams in it, and often teams that were on the up and possibly the up coming champions of countries, which for many at that point in time would suggest it was the hardest of the European competitons to win. The CWC, though similar to the European Cup, was talked about as being strong as apart from ourselves, all the winners would have gone through and won a very similar competition to gain entry.

To win in Europe then was still a big deal, in much the same way it was a big deal to win the FA Cup. Once they revamped the European Cup to the Champions League and the big hard sell was made to push it, and the public bought into the sell, the other two competitions lost some of the prestidge in much the same way the FA Cup has.
 
Tribec said:
So the European Cup (as it was) was league winners and holders only, due to the nature of the draw you could play anyone in any round and some times, well fairly often strong teams would get knocked out quite early. The UEFA Cup would have more teams in it, and often teams that were on the up and possibly the up coming champions of countries, which for many at that point in time would suggest it was the hardest of the European competitons to win. The CWC, though similar to the European Cup, was talked about as being strong as apart from ourselves, all the winners would have gone through and won a very similar competition to gain entry.

To win in Europe then was still a big deal, in much the same way it was a big deal to win the FA Cup. Once they revamped the European Cup to the Champions League and the big hard sell was made to push it, and the public bought into the sell, the other two competitions lost some of the prestidge in much the same way the FA Cup has.
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Good summary.

I’ll add that the free market globalization of football after EU, the Bosman Verdict and after the galloping economical growth of the top end of the pyramid, has led to a situation were the difference in strengths between leagues, and between teams, has increased a lot. This means that when United won the Cup Winners Cup, facing Pecsi Muncas from Hungary, Legia Warszawa from Poland and even Wrexham, was a tougher prospect than meeting the cup winners from those nations would be now.

I was beyond joy when we won, a joy that was boosted by the facts that United had never won anything more than the FA cup in my lifetime, had never even participated in the big cup (The European Cup) in that period, and had never passed beyond the quarter finals of any international cup more than once in my life (SF vs Juventus in the 1984 UEFA cup) if I remember correctly. We were far from as entitled as those who grew up during the Ferguson era.

Also I think it helped that it was the time before swarms of Keyboard Warriors gave the illusion you can sometimes get these days, that winning a European cup is nothing really, that any coach that didn’t win the CL three times in a row is really an incompetent fool and if he did, but not this year, he’s at least a dinousaur, that beating Lyon in a QF is nothing unless you won 10-0 over two games because Ligue 1 is a nothing league etc etc. Perhaps winning then felt bigger than it was, whereas winning now feels smaller than it is, because of that.
 
Great days - we knew something was building (even though we had been hit and miss in the league yet again but we had built momentum with cup runs in the league cup and cup winners cup). The club ran flight or coach options - I was at uni and went via coach - remember them leaving in staggered timings the night before the game from the old forecourt where the Trinity statue is now.

We were told ‘no alcohol’ but everybody was drinking on the ferry (official fanzone in Rotterdam was zero alcohol though). Remember we outnumbered Barca fans 2 to 1 - and getting affirmation about just how big a club we were despite being not very good for 2 decades.

Game passed in a blur - but last 10 minutes dragged when Koeman pulled one back). Celebrations at the end created life long memories… Start of the glory years came the year before with the FA cup win- but this was on another scale and remains my second favourite Euro away final after Barcelona 99 - Moscow was a great win but not a great trip. Come on Reds!
 
It’s good to see mark hughes back doing United things, even wearing a United kit seems weird now. If you were born this side of 2000, you might not even know he played for us.
 
Andy Mitten getting his mates brother to forge a letter from the Mayor of Rotterdam so his Headmaster wouldn't have an issue with him going :lol:


Watched it last night great watch!
 
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One of my most favourtie trophies won as a United supporter, great memories fair play to Andy Mitten and co for putting this together.
 
I was 17 at the time, like a few have said, I went to the home games but no way would my parents let me go to the aways!.
That 2nd goal of Hughes is an iconic goal I remember thinking at the time how has he managed to bury that.

The parade was crazy thinking back, I was stood outside Broughton baths when the bus came past, then ran after it for some reason!

Great memories, football was so different then really, and the music was amazing coming out of Manchester.
 
Watched it last night - really good. Was only young at the time but vaguely remember a couple of the games on itv. Montpellier away was the big one before the final. Hughes' second in the final is in United folklore, as is that shirt.
 
It was a ridiculously easy run to the final and you could argue we needed it more than Barca, but still, a major milestone in the early Fergie years. It showed we could live with top sides and laid the foundation for the golden period from 91-92 onwards.

After 91 we didn't finish outside the top three until Moyes took over!!
 
Got some luck as well with Stoichkov and Zubizeretta both missing. Some incredible players at Barca then and we beat team. They went on to win the European Cup the following year
 
I have to say when I watched it, it brought back the joy of it all, the thrill of that run, I even remember the pararde the next night, they ended it going through Eccles, they were due at 7pm, it was closer to 10pm when the got through and headed back towards Old Trafford or the Cliff.

The one negative note I had with the whole thing, was the only mention of Big Les Sealey was Robbo when talking about the goal they scored. He'd been the story of the FA cup final replay the season before. He'd had his knee sliced open in the league cup final a month or so before this final hence why his knee was so heavily banadaged. I just felt he deserved a bit more than a passing comment in the whole thing.
 
I still have that Hughes second goal as one of my aesthetically pleasing goals of all time.
 
For those of us who lived through it, United’s victory in the 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup was far more than just a European trophy—it felt like a turning point, not just for the club, but for the country, the culture, and even the sport itself.

The 1980s had been, let’s be honest, grim. Thatcherism cast a long, divisive shadow—economically brutal, socially fractured, and culturally bleak. Football mirrored the era. Grounds were crumbling, attendances were dropping, and the game was plagued by hooliganism and violence. The ban on English clubs in Europe after Heysel only added to the sense that we were in footballing exile, stuck watching our best years go by.

So when United marched into Rotterdam in May ’91 and beat Barcelona—a proper European giant—it wasn’t just a football match. It felt like vindication. It felt like re-entry into the world. Ferguson, still forging the early chapters of his legend, had already given us a taste of silverware with the FA Cup in ’90, but this was different. This was Europe. This was glamour. And it was United, proudly flying the flag again.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The ‘90s were beginning to crackle with promise. Acid house and Madchester were exploding out of the North. The music was ours again—warehouse parties, baggy jeans, and 808 State’s synths blaring out Cubik as the soundtrack to a new youth culture. The Cold War was over. Thatcher was out. Even football was starting to change: less boot-and-thump, more technique, flair, and continental influence. The game was starting to feel alive again.

And United were at the heart of it. The 2-1 win over Barcelona, with Mark Hughes in full battering-ram mode and that beautiful midfield of Robson and Ince grinding and grafting, was symbolic. We weren’t just back—we were ready. Ready to dominate. Ready to dream again.

That night in Rotterdam wasn’t the biggest trophy we’d ever win. But it might just have been the most meaningful. It was a beacon that told us things were changing—for the better. For United. For football. For all of us.

Oh, and after watching the brilliant documentary, I went and bought the 1991 track jacket. Couldn’t resist. Some things just feel right.
 
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