Ian Ure stood at the urinal in the San Siro at half-time in the European Cup semi-final when his legs started trembling with nervous excitement.
Dundee were holding AC Milan 1-1 in the first leg on April 24 1963 and the fair-haired centre-half was daring to dream of lifting the European Cup at Wembley.
Ure’s Wembley dream would be flushed down the pan 45 minutes later when Milan scored four goals in the second-half to put the tie out of sight.
The Spanish match official Vicente Caballero was later found guilty of corruption but Ure still puts Dundee’s defeat down to poor defending as oppose to a dodgy ref.
Ure, 82, is one of the surviving members of Bob Shankly’s swashbuckling team which reached the semi-final after defeating Cologne, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlecht.
He told me: “I still remember going for a pee and the backs of my legs started trembling with excitement because I thought we were going to win the European Cup.
“It was 1-1 at that stage – Milan scored a quick goal but we equalised through Alan Cousin midway through the half and might have gone in ahead at the break.
“We knew we wouldn’t lose the return leg at Dens but they just hit us with four goals after the break from high crosses and there was no way back from that point.
“I’ve heard the dodgy ref theory since time immemorial but our left flank was simply overwhelmed in the second-half at the San Siro and we defended badly.”
Alex Stuart had replaced injured skipper Bobby Cox in the number three jersey while Doug Houston took the place of the injured Hugh Robertson on the left-wing.
“I think we would have beaten Milan in the first leg if our first XI had played and we would certainly have gone on to win the European Cup at Wembley,” said Ure.
“Wembley would have suited that Dundee team because it was like a bowling green and we were at our best on a great surface because we were a passing team.
“We would have beaten Eusébio’s Benfica because we had already knocked out Sporting Lisbon and they were the Portuguese champions and the better team.”
Ure was a key figure at the back
Dundee defeated Milan 1-0 in front of 37,000 fans at Dens in the return leg but went out 5-2 on aggregate and were left to reflect on what might have been.
Dundee’s achievement was remarkable when considering the demographics.
In 1962, the population of Dundee – then Scotland’s third city – was 180,000; Cologne 750,000, Lisbon and Brussels each 1.5 million and Milan 2.5m.
Little wonder then, as Ure liked to put it, that Dundee were seen as the ‘wee team’ that had spectacularly over-performed!
Dundee of course qualified for the European Cup after being crowned champions of Scotland for the first time in 1962 with Ure a key figure in defence.
Ure also won the highly-prestigious Scottish Footballer of the Year Award for 1962 and his performances had also been recognised by appearances for the Scottish national team as he battled with Celtic’s captain Billy McNeill for the number five jersey.
So what was the key to Dundee’s success 60 years ago?
“Shankly,” Ure replies.
“He was the main man – the catalyst for our success.
“He was a no-nonsense individual and didn’t suffer fools gladly.
“He didn’t care who you were – you might have been the King or the Queen – but if you didn’t agree with his way of thinking you were for the high jump.
“Shankly was an honest Ayrshireman – you couldn’t con him.
“For me he was the best and he was the glue that kept it all together.”
Author, broadcaster and authority on Scottish football, Bob Crampsey, declared that Bob Shankly’s Dundee FC in the early 1960s were better than Jock Stein’s Lisbon Lions and “the best pure footballing team produced in Scotland since the war”.
Ure highlighted the signing of 37-year-old Gordon Smith who had been pensioned off by Hearts in the summer of 1961 following a recurring ankle injury.
Smith was known as Scotland’s Stanley Matthews and was part of the ‘Famous Five’ forward line that helped steer Hibs to three league titles in the 1940s and 1950s.
Ure said: “I never saw Smith in his pomp with the Famous Five but there was still gas in the tank when he arrived at Dens although he was past his best.
“He had a great eye for a cross and although he was an old-fashioned right-winger he used to feint and turn back on to his left foot and drive the ball across goal.
“Alan Cousin and Alan Gilzean just needed to get their head on it and typically they did which is why the two of them scored so many goals as a partnership at that time.”
Playing with Best, Law and Charlton
Ure was a man in demand following his European Cup heroics.
Arsenal manager Billy Wright moved quickly and in August 1963 the London giants splashed out £62,500 to secure Ure and break the world record fee for a centre-half.
Ure remained at Highbury for six years before moving to Manchester United for another world record fee for a centre-half when Matt Busby paid £80,000.
“When I signed for Dundee from Ayr Albion in 1958 I was on £10 a week,” he said.
“My best wage was when I was paid £120 a week at Manchester United.
“Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best were my team-mates but if they were getting more money than I was at that time it was only marginally.
“Nowadays you see players with half the talent being paid £400,000 a week.
“I don’t regret playing in the 1960s and 1970s because I am truly grateful for all the good times I had at Dundee, Arsenal, Manchester United and St Mirren.
“But I would have liked to have been paid a bit more money!”
Ure spent a few seasons at Old Trafford before a short spell afterwards with St Mirren and then a brief foray into the world of management with East Stirling.
He spoke to me before talking about his life and times in football with Dundee FC, Grey Lodge, Hampden and St Andrews United Football Memories groups.
Dundee season ticket holder and Hampden Football Memories volunteer Alastair Robertson brought him through from Ayrshire for the talk at the Gardyne campus.
Alastair said: “Ian took us on a journey from his schooldays at Ayr Academy, playing with Ayr Albion, the Dundee league winning side, success at Arsenal, playing with Manchester United and St Mirren.
“A gladiator himself, Ian talked about his clashes with Billy Bremner, John Charles, Derek Dougan and Denis Law during his time in England; how he won the League Cup with Arsenal; and how he led Scotland to away victories against England and Spain.”
George Laidlaw, Tayside & Fife Regional co-ordinator for Football Memories, said the Dundee FC FM group was set up just over five years ago in partnership with Alzheimer’s Scotland.
He added: “What a treat to listen to one of the greats of British football.
“He is as fit as a 70-year-old with the brain of a 60-year-old!
“He entertained the group with his frank and honest assessment of football then and now and gave us some great memories.
“I held his championship medal and his shirt worn by another colossus John Charles.
“A real legend and gentleman, Ian took time to provide football memories for every guest in the 40-strong group although the time was too short.
“We could have spent many more hours happily listening to Ian.
“These were precious nostalgic stories.”
