| Match Pictures | Matches: 1983 – 1984 | 1983-84 Pictures |
Trivia
- Stand was ticket only.
- Possibly the most contoversial game ever played at Celtic Park.
- Peter Grant missed a penalty.
- Game was cancelled from the record books after UEFA order a replay at a neutral venue.
- Weinhofer claims to have been struck by a missile and Rapid appealed to UEFA.
- Rapid coach Otto Baric threw a bottle on to the park after Celtic were awarded a penalty and it was 15 minutes before the game restarted.
- Herbert Claessen the West German UEFA observer had to come from the stand to help calm the situation.
- Eddie McGarrell, a red cross volunteer, denies that Weinhofer had any injuries.
- Rapid telexed a protest to UEFA before they arrived back in Vienna.
- After a UEFA inquiry the result stands, Celtic are fined £4000 for bottles thrown and Rapid fined £5000 for Kienast’s behaviour.
- However Rapid appeal and UEFA double their fine to £10,000 – however they order a replay of the game to be played 100 miles from Celtic Park.
- Celtic choose Old Trafford for the venue on December 12th.
- In the final of the tournament, the Everton fans had a banner that said along the lines that should have been Celtic they were playing in the final – Everton won 3-1.
Review
The match was for the most part in football terms a joy for Celtic. The support had gathered in great numbers and were in full voice. We were treated to some wonderful football from our side that lifted our spirits, and when McClair put us in front, we knew that we were in for some special. Murdo MacLeod grabbed a second to put us in front on away goals and we were not taking our foot off the pedal. What we didn’t count on was the extreme cynicism of the Austrian, and the match turned into one of the darkest nights in both football’s and our club’s history.
Tommy Burns raced into the box to score from a rebound and send the support into raptures. We were 3-0 ahead and had practically put ourselves through to the next round of the tournament. The Austrians were in pieces but rather than be spurred on, instead they resorted to violence. Kiensat was so incensed that a goal was given instead of a foul against their keeper in the (mistaken) belief that the challenge that led to the goal should have been penalised, that on the first chance he raced up to Tommy Burns and punched him on the back of the neck. A disgusting and cowardly act, and picking out Tommy Burns (as decent a man as you’ll ever get) is just startling.
These moments need some strong action from the officials, but that is not what we got. Instead what we got from the official was a limp wristed response. Firstly, after the more eagle eyed linesman pointed out the infringement, the referee sent off Kiensat but then failed to somehow not award Celtic a penalty!!! The referee was baffling even the most patient of match observers. The Rapid goalkeeper then decided to join in on the violence and kicked Burns as well. What should have been a simple set of decisions for the referee, saw him instead waste too much time discussing with his linesmen during which time the UEFA observers had to persuade the Austrian captain not to lead his team off the park (why when they were the cheats!).
For one game that was all too much but it wasn’t over. With 12 mins left, one idiot amongst the Celtic crowd threw a bottle on to the pitch, and next one of the Rapid Vienna players (Weinhofer) rolled about the ground as if he had just been hammered. The catch? The bottle was thrown nowhere near the player. He was acting it all up! Taken off the pitch, he was later seen wrapped up in bandages. It was an embarrassing and cringing farce.
Television highlights showed that Weinhofer had not been hit by a bottle. Red Cross man Eddie McGarrell, a first-aid attendant with 35 years’ experience, helped Weinhofer when he fell to the ground and submitted a report to Celtic that said: “I saw no sign of bleeding, bruising or any other injury affecting the player, and he was fully conscious.” The linesman on the night confirmed this also!
For Celtic, the full-time whistle couldn’t come fast enough. However, we were finally awarded a penalty late on which Peter Grant missed! If the support could put with any more drama then this wasn’t the type they wanted.
Paul McStay was the best player on the park and was ably supported by Provan, MacLeod and McClair. Celtic were worthy winners on the night and deserved to go through before the Austrian’s misbehaviour started.
Full-time and thankfully it was all over. Celtic had clearly won on every count, but most importantly on aggregate 4-3 to take us through, and that’s that. It was a horrible night but we had the next round to look forward to, or so we thought!
The Aftermath
This was never going to be buried. Too much skulduggery had gone on by the Austrians, but the press were all behind us (both at home and abroad) and repercussions would surely see the Austrians penalised heavily. Instead, UEFA in their infinite competence, in a manner only they and FIFA could manage, botched it all up.
Firstly, Rapid Vienna tried to play the victims in all this and UEFA sent them packing and fined them £6000k for their efforts (sic!) in the match. After all that and a relative slap on the wrist, Rapid Vienna should have moved on, but they had the gall to appeal once more over the UEFA judgement.
Despite strong support by Scottish grandees, including SFA president Ernie Walker (who described any chance of the original decision being overturned as inconceivable), UEFA, in probably it’s most incredulous set of decisions ever, overturned the original decisions and ordered that a third tie had to be replayed to decide the outcome. UEFA had declared that the goalkeeper was hit by something small(!) and Rapid Vienna had their fine doubled. Doesn’t make sense until you note that only 3 of the 21 UEFA men were present and they refused to watch video evidence of what had happened. Shows that they weren’t handling it correctly and likely behind the scenes manoeurvres were being played against us. It was farcical.
If Rapid Vienna were not liable, then why the doubling of the fine? Why weren’t Celtic fined higher if we were in the wrong? The truth as we all know is that UEFA bungled it. It set a poor precedent and the sympathies and support for Celtic flooded in from even unexpectedly sympathetic observers in England. Years later Leeds were in the same position when their German opponents should have been thrown out of the European Cup but weren’t after a match rule irregularity (the then rule of not being allowed more than 3 non-domestic players on the pitch). The Rapid Vienna game saw UEFA stick their collective heads in the sand and make matters worse.
A third game at a neutral venue (Old Trafford in Manchester) was the final decision (another cop-out) and Celtic were hard done by. We should have been fairly through to the quarter-finals having won against the despicable antics of our opponents and the UEFA mandarins hadn’t the guts to do what was right and back us to the hilt.
It was to be another difficult night to come.
It is always easy to paint one side as being evil and the other as angels, but in this case it is more than a fair description. What happened in this game goes beyond the limits and it’s incredible to look back and see how spineless UEFA were in handling this affair. A sad indictment on the game’s authorities.
It was all a tragedy and a poor comedy, but history in certain ways was cruel to both sides as neither side achieved much again after this season for a long time thereafter in European competitions. We never recovered in Europe until around 2000. In that sense, probably Rapid Vienna got the last laugh. This match damaged the club’s confidence in Europe in coming years but other factors compounded the whole events.
It was a sad end to an otherwise worthy long era in Europe for Celtic that began so long ago in the heady sixties.
Teams
Celtic
Bonner W McStay, MacLeod, Aitken, McAdam Grant Provan P McStay McClair Burns (Reid 90) McGarvey
Subs: Latchford Sinclair Colquhoun Chalmers
Goal Scorers: McClair (32), MacLeod (44), Burns (68)
SK Rapid Vienna
Ehn, Lainer, Pregesbauer, Garger, Weber, Kienast, Brauneder (Willfurth), Brucic, Krankl, Pacult (Weinhofer), Kranjcar
Sent Off: Kienast
Referee: Johansson (Sweden)
Att: 48,813
Articles
Pictures
KStreet
Articles
The findings of the Control and Disciplinary Committee of U.E.F.A. on 15th November 1984.
Appeal Committee of U.E.F.A. on 23rd November 1984. Decision.
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Quotes
David Hay:
“The only time I really think of the Rapid fiasco is when people mention it to me. I know I’ll never forget what happened but it was a long time ago now. The most annoying thing was we thought we were in the last eight of the Cup Winners Cup and as far as we were concerned that was the end of the story. I don’t think anyone could believe the decision to replay the game in Manchester and on the night we just froze. A lot of people said we should never have agreed to play the game down there but the alternative would have been just withdrawing from the Cup Winners Cup. That was unthinkable as far as I was concerned. The club hadn’t enjoyed a lot of success in Europe for some time and the general feeling was if we’d beaten them once we could do it again. But as history shows it wasn’t to be. Of course it took a long time to get over it but I never used it as an excuse for our failings.”
Frank McGarvey:
“To this day, I still dislike talking about Celtic’s game against Rapid Vienna in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup back in 1984. Celtic had a fantastic team then that could score goals from all over the park. We had Brian McClair, Davie Provan, Paul McStay and Mo Johnston. I firmly believed we had a great chance of winning a European trophy that season.
“Having trailed 3-1 from the first game over in Austria, we won the second leg comfortably by 3-0 to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the competition fair and square. Then we were cheated out of it. Goals from Brian, Davie and Tommy Burns should have ensured one of the greatest comebacks in our European history. It was a pretty straightforward triumph. Peter Grant even missed a penalty. However, the Rapid players knew they were beaten so they started carrying on, playacting and fouling our guys.
“That really agitated the Celtic support. A few of our fans in the Jungle threw some things, including a bottle, onto the pitch. I suppose it just takes a couple of drunken idiots to spoil things for everyone. And they certainly ruined it for Celtic that season. Of course, that sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable. But one of their players, Rudolf Weinhofer, fell to the ground clutching his head as if he had been struck by a sniper’s bullet. None of the missiles went anywhere near to him. Television evidence proved that conclusively. I was the first player over to Weinhofer and there was nothing wrong with him at all. This picture shows Roy Aitken trying to get him to his feet. Even after the game he was at it. He came out of the Rapid dressing room with a huge bandage on his head. He looked like he was wearing a turban.
“Uefa looked into the match and ruled it would have to be played again, and down in Manchester at Old Trafford. I didn’t want to play that match. But we had no choice.”
Peter Grant:
“Amid all the mayhem, that was actually really funny and I still wind Paul up about it,” said Grant. “As Krankl was shouting at his team-mates to walk off, Paul ran up to him and in his best European accent screamed ‘Hans, you are a cheat!’. Not a swear word to be heard, typical of Paul.”
Hans Krankl (still lying) in 2003:
“The Rapid Vienna encounter against Celtic was the most horrible football experience ever. Our defender Weinhoffer was hit by a bottle on the head and after consulting our coach Otto Baric, I decided to lead the players off the field. The atmosphere was intense and the referee had lost the plot and lost control of the situation. However, Rapid’s President persuaded us to finish the match as that was unsporting and said he would complain to UEFA. The Celtic supporters branded us cheats but we won the match 1-0 in the end, although we lost the final 3- 1 to another British team, Everton.”
Caught in time (Times)
Celtic fan attacks Gordon Strachan, November 1980
Rodger Baillie
It would have been understandable if the Celtic manager permitted himself a flash-back to the day he too was attacked on the same pitch – and with considerably more force than Dida. It happened on November 8, 1980, as Aberdeen, under Alex Ferguson, travelled to Glasgow to tweak the nose of one half of the Old Firm in their own backyard, something Fergie relished, whether it be at Parkhead or Ibrox.
But it was not the 2-0 victory for Aberdeen that made the headlines. It was the unprovoked attack on Strachan by Celtic fan John Poderis. Journalist Jack Webster, author of Aberdeen’s official histories, recalls the scene: “It happened on the left-hand side of the pitch as you look from the main stand. Gordon was operating on the Aberdeen right wing beside the old Jungle, which was really a corrugated roof on an enclosure, where the most die-hard Celtic fans congregated.
“The supporter raced out of the Jungle, with the law in pursuit, but they couldn’t catch him, and, in Glasgow parlance, Gordon got a right doing. Nothing could justify that attack, although I suppose in a perverse way it was a tribute to his ability as a footballer, because the Old Firm fans couldn’t stand watching him take their teams apart.”
Later Strachan admitted he had a panic attack when he considered what the consequences might have been: “You start thinking of all the possibilities. What if he had had a knife in his hand?” Celtic were fined £1,000 by the Scottish Football Association for the pitch invasion. Strachan, who a quarter of a century later was appointed Celtic manager, said: “It was a campaign of hate that spilled over on to the field of play.”
Graphically describing the incident, he said: “I had gone on a run up the park, beating three or four players and having a shot at goal. As I made my way back I saw a chap coming over the wall of the Jungle. It seems a bit incredible now, but this fellow actually passed two police officers on the way. I turned and thought I had better pay attention to [Celtic player] Tommy Burns when I next saw the guy wandering about in the centre circle. He had a bottle with him, but it fell out of his hand. I tried to concentrate on the game, but the next thing I knew he was beside me and launching his attack.
“I covered my face, but he got me by the neck and pulled me to the ground. A big chap he was, too. Luckily my teammates Doug Rougvie and Doug Bell were smartly on hand to save me from further damage, and the Celtic players came to my rescue as well. I was completely shaken by the experience and might as well have come off the park. I was walking about in a daze.
“My wife, Lesley, was in the stand that day, paying her first visit to Celtic Park, so you can imagine what impression she got of the place. We are kidding ourselves if we think there is only a small minority of people who approve of that kind of action.”
In this instance the Celtic fans soon turned against the attacker, however. After receiving death threats he lost his job, fled to England, split from his wife and hit the bottle. To add insult to injury, his only son is a Rangers supporter. Now living in a Salvation Army hostel in London, Poderis, who was fined £140 and banned for life from watching Celtic, says: “I would like to tell Gordon it was nothing personal and I apologise.
“If I could, I would turn back the clock on this incident, but I can’t. It has had a big impact on my life, but there is nothing I can do about it. Now I just get by and take each day as it comes.”
Four years later Celtic were involved in another flashpoint concerning the Jungle, in a Cup Winners’ Cup game against the Austrian side Rapid Vienna. This time they were unfairly pilloried. It began, as it was to end, badly for Celtic. They lost 3-1 in Vienna, with substitute striker Alan McInally red-carded and a booking for captain Danny McGrain also ruling him out the return game on November 7, 1984. However, by half-time in the second leg Celtic had clawed back the deficit to lead by aggregate on the away goals rule.
The third Celtic goal on 68 minutes was the catalyst for the trouble. When the Rapid keeper, Karl Ehn, fumbled a shot by Frank McGarvey, Burns scooped the ball into the net. The Austrian players protested bitterly and two minutes later Reinhard Kienast was sent off for a blatant kick at Burns.
There was a l5-minute delay after another clash between Burns and Ehn, and Rapid’s Rudolf Weinhofer went down poleaxed, claiming he had been hit by a bottle thrown from the Jungle. To add to the drama, Peter Grant missed a penalty.
Television highlights showed that Weinhofer had not been hit by a bottle, although he left the ground with his head swathed in bandages. Red Cross man Eddie McGarrell, a first-aid attendant with 35 years’ experience, helped Weinhofer when he fell to the ground and submitted a report to Celtic that said: “I saw no sign of bleeding, bruising or any other injury affecting the player, and he was fully conscious.”
When Uefa’s disciplinary committee pronounced judgment, it was nearly a clean sweep for Celtic. They were fined £4,000 for two bottles thrown, but Rapid were fined £5,000 for their on-field behaviour, Kienast was banned for four games and coach Otto Baric was given a three-match touchline suspension. Weinhofer’s claim that he had been struck by a bottle was dismissed.
Rapid successfully appealed. A third game was scheduled for Old Trafford. It ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Glasgow side, but much worse was an attack by a Celtic fan on Rapid’s keeper, Herbert Feurer, followed by another kicking the scorer, Peter Pacult. Celtic were fined £17,000 and ordered to play their next home European game behind closed doors.
As Celtic wait for the verdict from Switzerland on last week’s fan attack, they can only hope that Uefa shows more common sense than it did in 1984.
Rapid draw brings back memories of bitter and controversial battle
The Scotsman newspaper
Yesterday’s Europa League group stage draw in Monte Carlo would have provoked bitter recollections in the minds of many Celtic supporters of a certain vintage when it placed their club in the same section as the Austrian side.
An appetising Group C is completed by top seeds Hamburg and Israeli outfit Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but it is the name of Rapid which will have captured the attention of many Celtic fans.
In 1984, Celtic and Rapid were involved in one of the most controversial ties in European football history when they were paired in the second round of the Cup Winners’ Cup.
After losing the first leg 3-1 in Vienna, a game which saw Celtic striker Alan McInally sent off, Davie Hay’s men were in inspired form in the return at Parkhead. Leading 3-0 through goals from Brian McClair, Murdo MacLeod and Tommy Burns, they appeared to be cruising into the quarter-finals.
The tie took a dark and dramatic turn, however, when Rapid midfielder Reinhard Keinast was sent off for punching Burns inside the penalty area. It prompted a 15 minute break in play as the Rapid players remonstrated with the match officials.
Before the action restarted, with a penalty kick which Peter Grant missed, Rapid player Rudolf Weinhofer left the field claiming he had been struck by one of several bottles thrown by Celtic supporters. Television pictures showed Weinhofer, who left the ground with his head bandaged in comedy fashion, had not been hit. The crowd disorder remained a serious matter, however, and Rapid demanded Celtic’s elimination from the tournament.
The Uefa disciplinary committee initially ruled that the result should stand. While Celtic were fined £4,000 for the bottle-throwing, Rapid were fined £5,000 for the conduct of their players, Keinast received a four-match ban and Weinhofer’s claim that he had been struck was dismissed.
Rapid lodged an appeal, however, and, with a personal testimony from their club doctor, succeeded in persuading Uefa that Weinhofer was hit by a ‘small object’ not seen on television.
The second leg was ordered to be replayed, at a venue no less than 100 miles from Parkhead. Old Trafford was selected and on a grim night for Celtic, they lost 1-0 to a goal from Peter Pacult who is now the Rapid manager.
Sadly, the frustration of the Celtic fans manifested itself in violence as both Pacult and Rapid goalkeeper Karl Ehn were assaulted following pitch invasions. Uefa subsequently imposed a £17,000 fine on Celtic and ordered them to play their next home European tie behind closed doors. Rapid went on to reach the final of the tournament where they lost 3-1 to Everton.
Celtic learn their history lesson
We’ve been here before. That was the collective feeling of a good many of us who witnessed the antics of Dida, the collapsible goalkeeper, at Celtic Park on Wednesday night. Suddenly it was Oct 2, 1985 all over again. There were differences, of course, most of which vividly marked the passage of time and events.
Celtic Park in the mid-80s was a throwback to the industrial age of football grounds, a great shadowy cave of an arena with the largest acreage of terracing in Britain. And, as in an animated version of a Lowry painting, clouds of smoke bellowed from beneath the low-slung roof of the Jungle, where the die-hards stood. Just as tobacco was not proscribed within the crowd, neither was alcohol — a crucial detail.
On that date, 22 years ago almost to the day of Wednesday’s encounter with AC Milan in the Champions League group stage, Celtic were also in European action, but against Rapid Vienna in the second round of the Cup Winners Cup.
On that occasion, too, an opposing player went down so abruptly and with such absence of probable cause that observers immediately looked all around for a grassy knoll, but for Dida, read Rudolf Weinhofer, and instead of a clueless fan, it was a thrown beer bottle that did the damage.
Not, that is, to Weinhofer — the bottle landed several feet from him – but rather to Celtic’s chances of progress in Europe. The flashpoint came when Rapid’s goalkeeper tried to kick Celtic’s fiery midfielder, Tommy Burns, and the Swedish referee took all of 15 minutes to consult his linesman, amidst swarms of bickering players.
It was during this interlude that Weinhofer, spying an opportunity, went to ground, materialising after the game with a bandage round his head and claiming to have been struck by the bottle. But then, as now, TV evidence was available and it showed Weinhofer to be lying.
The matter went to Uefa, who concluded — without corroboration — that the player must have been hit by something. Celtic were fined £4000 and there the matter would have ended, except that Rapid appealed.
When the appeals committee heard the case, only three members were present from a possible 21.They came to the remarkable conclusion — without corroboration — that Weinhofer had been struck by ‘a small object’ and that the tie should be replayed at least 100 miles from Celtic Park.
Old Trafford was designated as the neutral venue, the game went ahead before a capacity crowd and Celtic lost by the only goal; Rapid went on to reach the final, losing to Everton. To make matters worse, a Celtic fan, domiciled in Windsor, managed to scale the security fence and — while in the grip of two policemen who had him by the arms — plant his boot with full force into the crotch of the nearest Rapid player.
The consequences were a further fine by Uefa of £17,000, plus the imposition of a closed-doors game for the home leg of their first European tie of the following season, which happened to be against Atletico Madrid and so was effectively a further fine of something like £350,000.
The true story of Celtic’s battle with Rapid Vienna
Provided by: The Times
It’s 1984, and after losing 3-1 in the first leg of their Cup Winners’ Cup tie in Vienna, Celtic were 3-0 up at home and cruising into the next round when the game descended into mayhem as a Vienna player fell to the ground claiming to have been hit by a bottle. Uefa ordered a third game to be played at Old Trafford after an appeal by Rapid and the present Vienna manager, Peter Pacult, scored the only goal of the match.
But what really went on in Glasgow? Here, for the first time, is evidence that Rapid cheated as Christer Drottz, one of the linesmen, recalls the events of that night
Objective accounts of the notorious Celtic-Rapid Vienna Cup Winners’ Cup tie of 1984 are notable by their absence even after 25 years.
Christer Drottz, though, is one man who can claim to be truly neutral in his assessment of the events of that evening. The Swede was a linesman at Celtic Park and a first-hand eyewitness when Rudi Weinhofer, the Rapid midfield player, claimed to have been so badly incapacitated by a bottle thrown from the “Jungle” terracing that he was unable to finish the game, sending the tie into tumult.
Uefa accepted that with Rapid a man short – they had used all of their substitutes – the game, which Celtic had won 3-0, had been made “irregular” and ordered a replay that Rapid won to advance to the quarterfinals.
Rapid players insist to this day that they saw blood on Weinhofer’s head; the Celtic players who participated in that tie are equally insistent there was no evidence of injury. It has always seemed a case of one side’s word against the other – but with Celtic and Rapid reunited, although perhaps not as friends, for Thursday’s Europa League tie at Celtic Park, Drottz, now 63, living peacably in Gothenburg and safely retired from running the line for Uefa, is keen to relate the truth of what happened that fateful evening.
“The game was very hard,” Drottz recalls. “The Celtic players were playing with the boots against Rapid and I told the referee at half-time that he must take it more seriously and take out yellow and red cards but he was very shaky and not so good.
“After half-time it got worse and worse and then Celtic’s No 10 [Tommy Burns] was playing with the boots against the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper was afraid and took away his hands and he [Burns] got up and kicked the ball into goal.”
That goal made it 3-0 to Celtic and so incensed were Rapid by Burns’ challenge on Karl Ehn, the goalkeeper, that Reinhard Kienast, the centre-back, punched Burns and was dismissed by Kjell Johanssen, the referee, on the advice of Drottz.
A few minutes later, Ehn extracted further revenge on Burns by kicking him inside the penalty area. “The referee asked me if it was a penalty and I said, ‘Yes’,” Drottz says. “The game was then stopped for nine or ten minutes as Rapid protested.
“From the crowd they threw two bottles but none of them hit a player. There were some small coins thrown on – this happens in matches sometimes – and I got some on my head and the player of Rapid Vienna [Weinhofer] got one on his head. He said it was a bottle but it wasn’t.
“We couldn’t see blood [on Weinhofer] and I told the referee, ‘We must look at his head.’ I knew this could be important later. He [Weinhofer] was keeping both hands on his head so we took his hands away from his head and there wasn’t blood. Rapid people told us later in the changing rooms that their doctor had seen blood but there was no blood.”
Weinhofer would leave the stadium with his head wrapped so extensively in a bandage that he would be nicknamed, hilariously, in Austria as “Turban Rudi”.
“He was pretending,” Drottz says. “I’m sure of that because I was calm – I don’t know why but I was. When Rapid appealed and Uefa decided to replay the game, that was the wrong decision. Even after 25 years I can understand if Celtic people are still angry about this. After that, Kjell Johanssen [who has since died] was not given any more games at international level. I got a lot more matches at international level – in ’88 I was in Frankfurt at the European Championships for Italy-Spain.
“I have no sympathy with any of the Rapid players. It was a good match for me and I like matches when it’s tough – Scottish football is tough isn’t it? – and you can act. I like games like that – if nothing happens in a game it’s not so good. It’s up to the referee to stop ugly play. Afterwards, Kjell Johanssen was sorry because I think he was feeling he had lost the game but it was a hard one to referee.”
Swedish understatement has rarely been used so appositely. It would be true to suggest that Peter Pacult was closely involved in the infamous Celtic-Rapid Vienna Cup Winners’ Cup tie of 1984. He scored the opening goal against Celtic in the first leg in Vienna and was substituted at Celtic Park by Rudi Weinhofer, the Rapid player who later notoriously claimed to have been felled by a missile thrown from the “Jungle” terracing.
That incident persuaded Uefa to replay the second leg, which Celtic had won 3-0, and it was Pacult who streaked away to score the only goal of the third game, at Old Trafford.
The game in England concluded less happily for him when he was assaulted by a Celtic supporter.
Given the intrinsic role he played in 1984, it seems almost preordained that with the clubs finally thrown together again, uncannily on the 25th anniversary of the original tie, Pacult should now be the manager of Rapid Vienna.
“It feels something like fate,” he says. “I’m looking forward to it and seeing the stadium at Celtic. It is a big success for our club to qualify.”
It certainly is. Rapid’s elimination of Aston Villa in the qualifying round was the first time that any Austrian club has knocked an English opponent out of European competition and Rapid followed that up by thrashing SV Hamburg, top of the German League, 3-0 in their opening Europa League match.
Unfortunately for those Celtic supporters and former players frenziedly seeking revenge for the events of 1984, the rematch arrives just as Rapid are enjoying a serious resurgence. Much of that has to do with Pacult, who recalls vividly the conclusion of the match in Manchester, when Old Trafford was heaving with seething Celtic supporters.
“I remember there was a police escort, a ring of police all around the players [as they left the pitch at the end of the match],” he says, “and I went straight towards the dressing room and was just hit by a leg from the side directly. This leg went into my balls – the place here it hurts the most… I didn’t see this guy coming and he kicked through just a small gap with his leg.
I fell down but tried to get up as fast as I could because I didn’t want any more incident and when I looked there was this guy with a Celtic jersey on and the police trying to get him away.”
That did not dissuade Pacult from expressing the hope, after the victory over Villa, that his club might land Celtic in the group stage of the Europa League.
“That was more joking around,” he says. “I said Celtic because it’s a big club with big tradition and after all these 25 years something like destiny to have this Europa League match after one of the biggest moments of my playing career. Everybody was really smiling the next day. I wished for a German team also and we got Hamburg.”
The events of a quarter century ago add a fiery, extra ingredient to Thursday’s encounter. “The whole Rapid team had a very, very bad day,” Pacult says of the game in Glasgow. “We didn’t start like we could.
“Our goalkeeper, Herbert Feurer, was injured; he was having an operation and couldn’t play in Glasgow. We got beaten but it was not the fault of Karl Ehn, who was a good second goalkeeper. It was because the whole team, from the first minute, played very badly.”
Pacult’s absolution of blame on the part of Ehn is admirable but Ehn looked nervous all evening and appeared faulty at all three goals, not least the third, when, confronted by a fast incoming Tommy Burns, Ehn pulled out of a fierce challenge, allowing Burns to deposit the ball in the net and make it 3-0.
Fury spread through the Rapid players after that. Reinhard Keinast, the centre-back, was dismissed by Kjell Johanssen, the referee, for punching Burns off the ball and then Ehn conceded a penalty when he kicked Burns inside the penalty area.
As Rapid players protested against the award, Weinhofer fell to the ground claiming to have been struck on the head by a bottle. He was swiftly removed from the action by Rapid, who subsequently claimed that the player had sustained injuries that prevented him finishing the match. Uefa bought their story and ruled that the match be replayed – to Celtic’s fury.
“The ref was a catastrophe,” Pacult says of Johnassen, “so bad, especially at the third goal. The Celtic striker ran into the goalkeeper; it was 100 per cent a foul although not so important as Celtic were already in the next round by then.
“I didn’t see what happened with Weinhofer because at that moment I had such pain – some days before the game, in a derby against Austria Vienna, I got a broken rib. It was hurting me during the second game, in Glasgow, hurting me a lot. I can’t even remember where I was when he fell down. I was not involved – I was with the doctor.
“The players knew that on that day they had a bad day – it was not that Celtic were so strong – and the atmosphere in the dressing room; well, we were so disappointed because the team thought we were out and that was it.
“When Weinhofer came to the dressing room he was bleeding and discussing something with directors and team officials. I was not talking to him too much because we players were disappointed. The shock only came later when we realised it had been such a great scandal.
“The officials of Rapid did what any other club would do. The Celtic supporters should be pissed off with Uefa, not Rapid.
“Twenty-five years ago also happened Liverpool against Juventus at Heysel where a lot of people died. When Liverpool and Juventus met each other again in the Champions League they treated each other with respect and we should also look forward now.”
“We took his hands away and there wasn’t any blood. Rapid people told us later in the changing rooms that their doctor had seen blood but there was no blood.” Weinhofer would leave the stadium with his head wrapped so extensively in a bandage that he would be nicknamed, hilariously, in Austria as “Turban Rudi”.
“He was pretending,” Drottz says. “I’m sure of that because I was calm — I don’t know why but I was. When Rapid appealed and Uefa decided to replay the game, that was the wrong decision. Even after 25 years I can understand if Celtic people are still angry about this. After that, Kjell Johanssen [who has since died] was not given any more games at international level. I got a lot more matches at international level — in ’88 I was in Frankfurt at the European Championships for Italy-Spain.
“I have no sympathy with any of the Rapid players. It was a good match for me and I like matches when it’s tough — Scottish football is tough isn’t it? — and you can act. I like games like that — if nothing happens in a game it’s not so good. It’s up to the referee to stop ugly play. Afterwards, Kjell Johanssen was sorry because I think he was feeling he had lost the game but it was a hard one to referee.”
Swedish understatement has rarely been used so appositely.
“I went towards the dressing room and was just kicked by a fan from the side Peter Pacult scored the goal in the Old Trafford rematch. Ironically, he is now the Vienna manager.
He remembers that 1984 tie but is calling for calm as his side face Celtic in the Europa League
Graham McColl
(c) 2009 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved
The Times
Evening Times 8th November 1984
