Howard Wilkinson talks about The Battle of Britain 20 years on.

[Gazza_8 233]

HOWARD WILKINSON can still hear the eerie silence which engulfed Elland Road when Mark Hateleyâ??s volley nestled in the top corner.

 

But the former Leeds boss admits it was NOTHING compared to the hush that greeted Gary McAllisterâ??s strike at Ibrox two weeks previously.

 

Even 20 years on, Wilkinson insists the atmosphere in Glasgow for the first leg of the Battle of Britain was the most unique experience of his career.

 

And he wonâ??t forget the return match in a hurry either after Hateleyâ??s early goal and Ally McCoistâ??s clincher wrecked the Englishmanâ??s Champions League dream.

 

Gers won that memorable tie 4-2 on aggregate but Wilkinson still feels his mighty Leeds side deserved more against Walter Smithâ??s men.

 

He told MailSport: â??The first thing that comes to mind when I think of that night? Hateley scoring a goal, the likes of which he had never scored before and never scored since. He took it down 25 yards out, half turned and volleyed into the top corner.

 

â??There was a stunned silence at Elland Road but it wasnâ??t as intense as when McAllister scored at Ibrox in the first leg.

 

â??Iâ??ve never quite witnessed anything like that. When that goal went in it was like Iâ??d just been standing next to an explosion because within a millisecond I couldnâ??t hear anything. The atmosphere in Glasgow that night was the most unique experience of my career as a manager.

 

â??It wasnâ??t just noise. The intensity of it and how constant it was, it just blended into one big sound. It was like a series of shockwaves coming through the air one after the other â?? like a high-level hiss.

 

â??In the end the result was a fair one. But in terms of what happened over the two games I think we deserved more.â?

 

Leeds were denied by Rangers keeper Andy Goram in the second leg as he made heroic saves to frustrate Eric Cantona, Gary Speed and Gordon Strachan.

 

And Wilkinson reckons the defeat had a detrimental effect on his sideâ??s league

campaign that year.

 

He said: â??Goram was inspired for Rangers at Elland Road.

 

â??It was as if he was telepathic â?? Andy seemed to know exactly where to dive for every shot on goal we had.

 

â??It was as if, no matter what we did, nothing would go in for us.

 

â??The result was damaging. We were unbeatable at home that season but couldnâ??t kick a can in away games.

 

â??So a win over Rangers would have possibly given us the lift that we needed. It might have been one of those moments that sometimes happen in a season.

 

â??Had we won that match we would have had bigger games to look forward to in the Champions League and that might have driven us on to perform better.

 

â??Instead, we were back to being on the crest of a depression. Iâ??ve heard people in Scotland say we were big favourites at Elland Road but itâ??s wrong to say that.

 

â??We had lost the first leg 2-1. It was the first experience of Europe for most of our players and we had some young ones.

 

â??We saw it as nothing other than a massive game. We were 2-1 down and in no time Hateley did that to me. I thought he was a friend as well!â?

 

The similarities between Rangers and Leeds United since that Battle of Britain clash are striking.

 

Over-zealous spending in the transfer market and gross mismanagement at board level saw both clubs go into administration.

 

Leeds ended up plunging down the divisions while Rangers were liquidated and had to start again on the bottom rung.

 

Wilkinson would love to say he didnâ??t see it coming but always knew the big spending would come back to haunt Leeds.

 

And heâ??s saddened moves werenâ??t made to protect the clubs before it was too late to save them from disaster.

 

He said: â??Iâ??d be lying if I said I canâ??t believe what theyâ??ve gone through.

 

â??As an outsider you look and think: â??It should have been impossible for this to happen.â?? But it has happened.

 

â??And part of me always felt that, with the money both clubs were spending, it would come back to haunt them eventually.

 

â??Itâ??s a possibility for a lot of clubs in Britain now. But if you looked at football clubs as ships then Rangers and Leeds United were ocean liners.

 

â??You would think they could take a torpedo but that has proved not to be the case. You would like to think someone at the clubs would have said at one point: â??Weâ??ve had a warning here â?? let's do something about it.â??

 

â??It has been a lemming-like charge to the end of a cliff for Rangers and Leeds and it saddens me.â?

[Annan Bear 0]

Still remember that night like it was yesterday. Was in the Govan stand right in line with the Copland Road 18 yard box when McAllister scored and what had been a wall of noise went deadly silent. For a few seconds the only sound was the couple of Leeds fans in the middle of the Govan stand celebrating before they were bundled away by security men. Then the support burst back into life and continued for the rest of the game and a great 2-1 win thanks in no small part to John Lukic's howler allowing Ally McCoist to score. Brilliant Euro night - sadly missed.

[Gazza_8 233]

“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of that night? Hateley scoring a goal, the likes of which he had never scored before and never scored since. He took it down 25 yards out, half turned and volleyed into the top corner."

 

Bullshit Howard. Hateley scored many a cracking goal.

[Gribz 743]

Bullshit Howard. Hateley scored many a cracking goal.

 

TBH that goal his best, it was an absolute peach.

 

But yeah he did score other quality goals. One thing that Hateley had which he wasnt really recognised for was pace, I remember him scoring a cracker at Pittodrie running away from a defender who had a head start on him.

[craig 5,199]

Was behind the press corps that night in the Main Stand and I swear the main stand was moving with all the noise being generated.

 

Easily the best atmosphere I have had the pleasure of enduring at a game, especially after that stunning strike from McAllister.

 

Was Lukic's howler not from a Durrant corner where he tried to punch clear and instead punched it straight in ? Think he blamed the floodlights after the game