Archie Knox has never been afraid to embark on football spying missions.
Yet the Aberdeen assistant manager found himself in the midst of scenes straight from a John Le Carre novel when he flew to Poland 40 years ago.
His brief seemed straightforward: to run the rule over Lech Poznan, the team whom the Dons had been drawn against in the last 16 of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
However, as the Cold War continued between the global superpowers, there was nothing simple about penetrating the Iron Curtain, even for a game of football.
And Knox has never forgotten how his trip turned into one of those strange encounters where he half expected to be briefed by MI5 after his mission was completed.
Archie was both shaken and stirred
Following Aberdeen’s victories over Swiss rivals Sion and dangerous Albanian opponents Dinamo Tirana, who pressed the Scots all the way in the tie, Alex Ferguson was determined to find out as much as he could about Lech Poznan in advance.
So the ever-willing Knox was despatched on another of his assignments where his job was to size up the Poles’ strengths and weaknesses, prior to their trip to Pittodrie.
However, when he arrived at Warsaw Airport in early October 1982, he was met by an enigmatic gentleman who purported to be there on Poznan’s behalf; a claim which might have carried more weight if he had offered any help to his temporary guest.
That wasn’t the only shock to the system suffered by Knox, who was tailed wherever he went by his new companion, even to the stage where they slept in the same hotel room.
He later told The Press and Journal: “It was a bit strange to get so much attention from this lad. But what made it even worse was the fact that he could speak as much English as I could Polish – which was nil.
“Still, after that, I now know how to nod in Polish!”
Poznan trip remembered without soggy pages
If it was a farcical situation, matters didn’t improve when Knox went along to watch Poznan play and had his efforts badly hampered by a deluge at the arena.
As he said: “It was a big wide open stadium and it absolutely poured with rain. I soon gave up trying to take notes because it was hopeless. My notebook was like a piece of blotting paper after just a few minutes and it was crumpling in my hand.”
Nonetheless, if Knox hardly had his problems to seek, he has always been one of life’s resourceful customers. His paper may have dissolved, but he still managed to overcome the obstacles to file a dossier on the club who flew to Aberdeen on October 19.
He concluded that Poznan were a potent side and definitely not to be taken lightly, and spelled out his belief that the Dons needed a decent cushion in the first leg to be confident of prevailing in the return match in Poland.
“It is important we perform at our best at Pittodrie, because they seem capable of giving us trouble in the game at their place,” he told the Evening Express, following a tiring six-hour journey home from Warsaw, via Brussels and London. “They are probably a better team than Tirana, so we need to be careful to establish a lead at home.”
The Dons were in the right mood
In advance, Ferguson declared that he would be satisfied with a 2-0 win, while a 3-0 victory would be “perfect” for his charges as they chased a quarter-final place.
And, although they weren’t quite able to achieve the latter result, Aberdeen showed sufficient class and composure to control most of the proceedings and, importantly, never looked like conceding in front of a packed crowd.
They were made to wait until the second period, but a brace of goals in three minutes from Mark McGhee (55) and Peter Weir (57) established an advantage which their domination deserved, with Gordon Strachan gaining plaudits for an indefatigable display where he seemed to cover every blade of the Pittodrie turf.
Ferguson wasn’t 100% happy – so what’s new – but his words at the post-match press conference reflected his pleasure that the Dons were cranking up momentum.
As he said: “We could maybe have had two or three more goals with the chances we created, but we never lost one and that’s so important in these European matches.
“It was a good effort, we didn’t have any bad players tonight, they put in a shift and they got what they deserved. I am reasonably content – we still have to go over there and play really well, but we have given ourselves a marvellous opportunity of getting into the quarter-finals and it’s up to them (Poznan) to come out and try to break us down.”
By this stage, the Dons were a confident squad, packed with ambitious characters, and there was no sense of nerves when they embarked on their quest in Poland to become the first-ever Aberdeen team to reach the last eight of a European tournament.
And, in truth, no amount of spies could have prevented Ferguson, Knox and their colleagues from boldly marching into uncharted territory.
Bell tolled for Poznan in the second leg
The Press and Journal described their 1-0 success in terms typical of the period when the Pittodrie club achieved glories which, sadly, they can only dream about nowadays.
Following a “thoroughly professional, if not brilliant performance” by the visitors, a goal in the 59th minute by Dougie Bell, set up by Weir and McGhee, was the final nail in the coffin for the Polish team who battled hard, but were lacking in a cutting edge.
“Over the 90 minutes, Willie Miller and Alex McLeish were the Dons’ outstanding players, while Bell came close to challenging the defensive pair and Strachan was, as usual, industrious and busy and was unlucky to have a goal chopped off.
“Alex Ferguson said: ‘We played great possession football and it is very pleasing that we have continued to keep clean sheets in Europe (this was the fourth consecutive game in the competition where Jim Leighton had not been beaten).
“We know it will get tougher from here, but we are ready for what the draw gives us.”
Aberdeen were among stellar company in the ECWC. They could have faced Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Paris St Germain, Waterschei, Austria Vienna or a German team with an illustrious pedigree and a formidable group of international stars.
And, of course, it was Bayern Munich whom the Scots were pitted with when the draw was made; an outcome which some central belt journalists believed was a bridge too far.
Not Fergie, though. As he said: “One of the great things about the European Cup Winners’ Cup is that you know who you will be playing against as early as December and you have plenty of time to prepare for the games in March.
“The draw had matched us with the mighty Bayern Munich and that news brought a huge excitement to Pittodrie which we had never witnessed or experienced before.
“It seemed everybody wanted to get tickets. Everybody was thrilled about these games.”
The Dons were on the charge and it was wonderful to behold.
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