Referee Michel Kitabdjian who took charge of Leeds United's controversial Bayern Munich defeat passes away aged 89

The 45th anniversary of one of the greatest injustices English football has ever seen arrives later this month - with the date of March 28, 1975 being a Spring day at Paris's Parc de Princes stadium which everyone of a Whites persuasion will painfully recall.

The scoreline dictated that Bayern Munich won the European Cup after a 2-0 win over Leeds, courtesy of goals from Franz Roth and 'Der Bomber' himself in Gerd Muller, but it did not tell half of the story.

Two decisions from Kitabdjian denied Leeds becoming just the second English side to lift the continent's big prize.

Just two years after the shambolic refereeing by Greek referee Christos Michas in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup Final against AC Milan, Leeds found themselves on the wrong end of more awful decisions.

Two penalty appeals went against Leeds in a first half which they dominated, most notably when Allan Clarke was blatantly fouled by 'Der Kaiser' Frank Beckenbauer.

Clarke later said in an interview: "It most certainly was a penalty when Beckenbauer brought me down.

"I saw him fifteen years later when he admitted that we were far and away the better side and, yes, it was a penalty. Fifteen years later, you can say that. It won't alter the result."

Worse, if that was possible, was to come in the second half, when in the 66th minute, a perfectly legitimate volley from Peter Lorimer was chalked off for a perceived offside offence, with Billy Bremner supposedly the culprit.

Kitabdjian awarded a goal, but upon conferring with the officials, he incredibly changed his mind.

Lorimer, reflecting on that controversial moment in another later interview, recalled: "Beckenbauer was involved in both major incidents in the game. He went straight to the linesman. He was held in such stature that he could dominate officials.

"I'd looked at the referee to see if he had given it and he pointed to the half-way line, but Beckenbauer protested and he changed his mind. Had he given that, we would have won, no doubt about it."

It was the prelude to all hell breaking loose in the Leeds end, with a barrel load of salt applied by virtue of two late Bayern goals.

The immediate legacy may have been riotous scenes, but the defeat had longer-term ramifications and denoted the gradual demise of Leeds as one of the super-powers in the English game.

It was certainly a sad and unjustified end to the Leeds careers of several greats, including Bremner and Johnny Giles and one that will rankle with the United family forever and a day.

UEFA initially slapped a four-year ban on Leeds following the crowd trouble, but it was reduced to two years after a well-argued appeal by manager Jimmy Armfield.

Offering his thoughts on that night in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post in 2015, Frank Gray - who lined up with his team-mates for the biggest game of their life on that Parisian evening - recalled: "I think if we'd won that, things would have been totally different for Leeds United.

"A lot of the older players such as Johnny and Billy were coming towards the end of their careers after the European Cup final.

"It would have been easier to attract the top players if we were European champions and we could well have continued after that.

"Not winning the European Cup final was a big defining point in Leeds history.

"It was sad. I watched a documentary on Bayern Munich on Sky and all their players were talking about that game saying that they should not have won it and that all the referee's decisions went their way and that Peter's goal was a goal and that it should have been a penalty.

"We knew we should have won that game and we were the better team that night, no doubt about that.

"Bayern knew that as well and it was one of those games.

"It was a defining moment in the decline of the club after that, definitely. If we'd won that, it would have been totally different."

Ultimately, Gray was one of the fortunate ones. He went onto lift the European Cup later on in his career with Nottingham Forest, but it was something that was denied for the likes of his elder brother Eddie, who was on the bench and came on during the game for Terry Yorath.

For Trevor Cherry, an unused sub on that night and then in his prime at 27, the pain of being dropped from the starting line-up for the final - after excelling in the semi-final second leg in successfully man-marking Barcelona and Holland legend Johan Cruyff in a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp - was compounded by those unjust events on the pitch.

"It proved a bad night for the club," Cherry recalled.

"With refereeing decisions, you wonder what goes on sometimes and it was the same then. But having said that, it was a shame we couldn't get in the final by winning the league say two years before as the team then (in 1974-75) was coming towards the end and not at its peak."