IT was 50 years ago today (Wednesday), on April 15, 1970 that Celtic took on Leeds United at Hampden in the second leg of the European Cup semi-final.

Here we visit an earlier Celtic View interview with Hoops legend, Davie Hay for his story behind the classic Battle of Britain encounter which follows up on his reminiscences from the first leg at Elland Road two weeks previously.

AFTER taking the wind out of Leeds United’s sails with a 1-0 victory at Elland Road in the first leg of the 1970 European Cup semi-final, Davie Hay returned with the Celtic squad to joyous scenes in Glasgow.

The result had given them a commanding position for the return match at Hampden Park. But there would be no chance of premature celebrations among the Hoops squad.

Despite believing they had the quality to beat any side on their day, Hay and his team-mates knew there was still a massive hurdle to overcome against the English champions.

“I think it was just the same thing as the first leg,” he said. “Although we had the one-goal advantage and that edge, we still knew it would be a tall order and that it would need more than a good performance from ourselves to get through.”

Up in Glasgow, they had one extra weapon to count on though – the gathered masses of the Celtic support. There had been huge anticipation for the match even before the draw was carried out.

So to accommodate the extra demand, Celtic had decided to move their home match to the greater capacity afforded at Hampden. Those tickets and any extras were quickly snapped up.

The attendance at Hampden remains a record for a European club match, with 136,505 packing into the terracing. And, with only around 4,500 supporters travelling up from Yorkshire for the game, the crowd was completely one-sided. Hearing the constant roars of ‘Celtic…Celtic’ was an inspiration to Jock Stein’s team and sent a shiver down the spine of the Leeds players.

Hay played in front of some big crowds during his career, but he never experienced anything quite like that night.

“It’s a record for a European Cup tie and has never been matched again,” said Hay.” “It was an unbelievable atmosphere and as good an atmosphere as I have ever played in.

“The majority of fans were Celtic supporters, but there may have been a few neutrals there for the Scotland versus England thing as well. There were very few, if any, Leeds fans there - if there were you couldn’t hear them. It was just a sensational atmosphere.”

Leeds had arrived in Scotland in a positive mood. Manager Don Revie told the press he was convinced that his side could overcome the odds and get a result. And when the match kicked-off they tried to unsettle the Hoops by a subtle tactical switch.

Peter Lorimer and Eddie Gray switched wings to try and stem Celtic’s threat from the full-backs. Watching on the sidelines though, Stein was unmoved. He called Revie’s bluff and eventually both players reverted back to their normal positions.

“What Leeds did initially was to switch their wingers,” said Hay. “I remember Lorimer started as outside-left and Gray at outside-right. Then there was talk whether we as full-backs should switch over.

“Although Tommy Gemmell was at left-back and I was the right-back, we could both play on each other’s side of the field. But Big Jock said no – we won’t change our shape and eventually they reverted to their normal flanks.

“But I think that was just a ploy by Leeds to see if they could switch our full-backs around, as even in those days Celtic’s full-backs offered a threat going forward.”

Roared on by the partisan Hampden support, Celtic went straight on the attack, forcing a series of corners and peppering the Leeds goal with shots and crosses.

It was one-way traffic, but in a rare foray forward by the visitors, the crowd was stunned into brief silence when Billy Bremner, a Hoops supporter, put Leeds in front with a wonder goal.

Picking the ball up inside the Celtic half, he drove forward before unleashing a powerful strike from 30 yards which flew straight into the top corner.

Despite that setback, Hay insisted there was no panic among the side.

“We went behind very early to a fantastic goal, but never at that time, not at any time did I feel we were not going to win,” he said. “I firmly believed that playing that night we would win, as I felt we had more initiative in that leg than we had in the first leg. We had waves and waves of attack and eventually Leeds wilted.”

Read Part Two of the Hampden clash later today.

50 years ago today: Davie Hay’s Leeds at Hampden Story Part One