Cancelled Cold war-era football tie finally completed after 65 years

New Straits Times

2 days ago

LURGAN; A European football tie cancelled due to Cold War-era tensions was finally completed in Northern Ireland on Saturday, 65 years on from its original schedule in 1960.
Glenavon FC hosted FC Erzgebirge Aue – known as Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt during the communist era – in Lurgan, 25 miles (40 kilometres) west of Belfast.
Over 1,000 away fans traveled from Germany to cheer on the visitors, who were East German champions in 1960.
The original tie was scrapped after both teams – on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain that divided Europe after World War II – were denied entry visas during a period of heightened political tension.
"Those were hard times, governments weren't talking, no-one was let in or out," John Duggan, 91, who played for Glenavon in 1960, told AFP in Lurgan before the game.
Duggan was part of a powerful Glenavon side which was crowned 1959-60 Irish League champions, granting qualification for the European Cup.
But despite Europe's governing body UEFA allowing the home and away legs to take place in neutral countries, Glenavon withdrew from the competition due to lack of funds.
Saturday's unique match, organised as a pre-season friendly after fans from both teams got in touch to probe the idea of fulfilling the long-forgotten fixture, ended in a 2-0 win for the German side.
The game followed a "first-leg" of the rematch last year in Aue - 185 miles (300 kilometres) south of Berlin - which was won 5-0 by the Germans.
The completion of the tie was "a missing chapter for both club's histories, it's great to finally get it played," Adam Carson, lifelong Glenavon fan and the club's supporter liaison officer, told AFP.
"Politics paused it, but football endured," said Carson, who originally hatched the idea.
When Glenavon qualified for European competition in 2014 Carson noticed that there was a European Cup game in 1960 that was never played and "put a couple of tweets" about it, he said.
The idea was that "wouldn't it be great to go across to Germany and actually play this game 60 years later," he said.
Carson's messages on social media were spotted by counterparts at the German side - who currently play in the third division of the Bundesliga - and a bond between the two clubs was forged.
FC Erzgebirge Aue fan and its volunteer press official Max Richter, who first contacted Carson about a link-up, said that "today we close this little gap in our history and play this game which never happened.
"The years when we were champions were in the 1950s and '60s, our club was big then, for all our fans that love the history of our club it was very important to be here," he told AFP.
Robert Turkington, a Glenavon fan who was born in 1948 and has followed them since the 1950s "when we were a great side", remembers the original game's cancellation.
"I was only a kid but I remember people were disappointed, today is just brilliant to see," he told AFP with a beaming smile.
Glenavon fan Gareth Bridges, who went to the first leg in Germany, said that "a real camaraderie has developed between both sets of supporters.
"Hopefully it is something that can develop between the two clubs into the future as well," the 39-year-old told AFP. - AFP