How Leeds United's supreme Elland Road confidence helped them topple Italian giants Juventus

And so it proved in the 1971 Fairs Cup final.

Leeds had already made British footballing history by winning the competition in 1968, when they triumphed again with the first ever away goals final victory in ‘71 against Italian giants Juventus.

An initial attempt to play the first leg in Italy proved to be a false start, as torrential rain forced a second half abandonment.

Barry Foster described treacherous conditions in his Yorkshire Post report.

“The rain which was falling when Leeds arrived in Turin, restarted this afternoon and developed into a fierce thunderstorm as kick off time approached,” he wrote.

“The ditch separating spectators from the pitch was filled with water.

“An hour before the kick off, the terraces were a sea of umbrellas and plastic macs. Their owners saw the referee inspect the sodden pitch, on which pools of water were lying, twice before the kick off. At first it was thought unlikely the match would go on. But about 50,000 of the 70,000 capacity were already in the ground.

“Firecrackers exploded on the terraces while groundsmen fought the pitch and eventually the players appeared. It looked impossible to play but postponement promised even more difficult problems.

“The match started on time with Leeds kicking off against the tide and wind. It was soon obvious that the match should never have started. Ground passing was impossible. The ball just stuck as soon as it hit the mud. And it was a bath for the players each time they fell and that was often.”

The game was called to a halt and the two sides met two days later on in a hastily-rescheduled second attempt.

And after a 2-2 draw in Turin, during which Paul Madeley and Mick Bates cancelled out goals from Roberto Bettega and Fabio Capello, Leeds tucked their away goals under their arm and said what they always said to their continental opponents.

“We could defend but we could attack and score goals. We were a great team in Europe,” said the late legendary Norman Hunter.

“You go into European competitions, play in front of a hostile crowd against a very physical team, with some dubious refereeing and then you get a result and you put your finger up and say ‘Leeds, we will see you at Leeds.’”

Revie was without Eddie Gray, who had sustained a shoulder injury in the (first) first leg, but still boasted plenty of attacking firepower in his side.

Attacking midfielder Peter Lorimer had been the competition’s top goalscorer with eight, the first time they won it, and had netted twice in the first round of the 1970/71 tournament against

Norwegian outfit Sarpsborg, converted a penalty at home to Dresden in round two and scored in both legs of the quarter-final against Vitória Setúbal.

Striker Allan Clarke had grabbed goals in each leg of the third round clash with Sparta Prague.

The team was full of goals – defender Jack Charlton scored three en route to the final and captain Billy Bremner four from midfield, including the decisive goal at Anfield that ousted semi-final opponents Liverpool.

He, Lorimer and Clarke were all involved in the only goal Leeds needed to become European champions.

A Bremner free-kick, 12 minutes in, fell to Lorimer, he couldn’t get a shot away but the ball fell to Clarke and he spun to fire brilliantly past Roberto Tancredi.

Pietro Anastasi levelled shortly after but it wasn’t enough for Juve.

“I’m very, very proud,” said Revie.

“Although we had to rely upon the rule which says away goals count double, let no one mistake the fact that Leeds took the trophy on merit.”

Leeds got a result at Elland Road, just like they always knew they could.