on 15 September 1976, Stal Mielec played at home against Real Madrid in a European Cup match. Real Madrid came to Mielec with their strongest line-up. In the colours of the “Königs” played for example: German World Champion Paul Breitner, Dane Henning Jansen, Manuel Velazquez, Jose Antonio Camacho, Gregorio Benito or striker Santillana. Such a ‘star-studded collection’ must have generated huge interest from fans all over Poland, and it did. It is likely that if the Mielec stadium had a capacity of 80 000, that is how many spectators would have sat in the stands. Interest in our team’s match against Real Madrid was huge.
There were even ideas to hold the match in Chorzów! The Silesian Stadium could hold 100,000 people. This scenario was strongly advocated by Silesian activists, but the then activists of the Stal Mielec Factory Sports Club did not even consider such a solution. According to many football historians and journalists, up to 40,000 people watched the match against Real Madrid from the stands.Just before the game, a storm passed over the city and it quickly became dark. Real’s players had no intention of waiting and went on the attack from the first whistle of the referee. They scored the first goal in the seventh minute through Santillana. The second goal was added in the 52nd minute by Vicente Del Bosque and it seemed to be over.
But then Stal went on the offensive and scored Sekulski’s goal a quarter of an hour before the end of the match. In the very end Krzysztof Rześny was able to equalise. – To this day, I don’t know how the goalkeeper defended my hit,” recalled our legendary right defender in an interview.
The match ended with a score of 1:2. The return match in Spain was lost 0:1, although according to observers they were a much better team.
STAL MIELEC – REAL MADRID 1-2 (0-1)
0-1 Santillana (7)
0-2 Vicente Del Bosque (52)
1-2 Ryszard Sekulski (74)
Stal Mielec: Zygmunt Kukla – Krzysztof Rześny, Marian Kosiński, Edward Bielewicz, Witold Karaś, Włodzimierz Gąsior (46. Edward Oratowski), Grzegorz Lato, Henryk Kasperczak, Zbigniew Hnatio, Jerzy Krawczyk, Ryszard Sekulski.
Coach: Edmund Zientara
Real Madrid: Miguel Angel Suarez – Benito Rubio, Juan Cruz Sol Oria, Jose Antonio Camacho, Jose Martinez Sanchez Pirri, Vicente Del Bosque, Henning Jensen, Paul Breitner, Santillana (86. Francisco Uria), Manuel Velazquez, Carlos Lacasia.
Coach: Miljan Miljanić
