On route to the 2nd round St Mirren defeated Tromso 1-0 on aggregate with a goal from, current Rangers coach, Kenny McDowell. KV Mechelen meanwhile comfortably took care of Dinamo Bucharest winning 1-0 (den Boer) at home before winning the 2nd leg 0-2 (Hofkens, den Boer). Mechelen were drawn at home for the first meeting, on Wednesday 21st October 1987, and a crowd of 6,146 watched the following players compete.
Mechelen : Prued'homme, Cluytens, Rutjes, Clijsters, Koeman, Sanders, Theunis (De Wilde 46 Mins), De Mesmaeker, Hofkens, den Boer, Ohana.
St Mirren : Money, Winnie, Godfrey, Cooper, Wilson, Walker (Dawson 77 mins), Cameron, Fitzpatrick (Hamilton 59 mins), Chambers, Lambert, Ferguson.
Referee : Hartmann (Hungary)
Mechelen it appears had most of the goal scoring opportunities in this match but (like the previous league campaign) failed to make them count. Firstly the Israeli forward Ohana went close on 15 minutes, followed by Money saving efforts from Erwin Koeman and Theunis. Just before half-time Koeman had a header wide and Ohana, again, went close. After the break Mechelen increased their efforts in search of a goal. At one stage they forced three corners in succesion, with the first of them being the closest to a goal. The kick from Koeman was deflected by den Boer and Winnie saving with a goal-line clearance. In the later stages of the match De Wilde and den Boer hit shots against the bar. Michel Prued'homme would have been delighted not to have conceeded a goal. Just seven days prior to this match he was in goal for Belgium in a 2-0 win for Scotland at Hampden Park. This International match resulted in Belgium failing to qualify for the European Championship Finals for the first time since 1976. A crowd of 12,000 were at Love Street to watch the following players -
St Mirren : Money, Dawson, Wilson, Fitzpatrick, Godfrey, Cooper, Lambert, Walker (Hamilton 63 mins), Chalmers, McDowall (Shaw ?? mins), Cameron.
Mechelen : Prued'homme, Cluytens, Jaspers, Rutjes, Hofkens, Theunis, Sanders, De Mesmaeker, Koeman, Ohana, den Boer. Referee: Halle (Norway)
This visit to Scotland was to prove a happier memory for Prued'homme, with the Belgian club gaining revenge for the International defeat three weeks previous. This time Mechelen were determind to score, and again had most of the chances. In the 20th minute Ohana made a dangerous run and cross which came to nothing, but St Mirren had been warned. With 26 minutes gone Ohana made an opening for den Boer but the, normally prolific, striker wasted this chance. Mechelen did not have long to wait for a goal with Ohana turning two defenders before hammering a shot past Money in the 34th minute. Prued'homme was then called in to action saving an effort from Ian Cameron in 39 minutes. Shortly after the restart Mechelen increased their lead with Ohana getting the decisive goal with 50 minutes gone. A den Boer shot rebounded off the post and Ohana tucked the ball in the net. This was the end to the scoring, and with that Mechelen progressed to the quarter-finals where they were drawn to meet Dynamo Minsk.
Mechelen were again drawn at home first and this time a goal from De Wilde after 86 minutes gave them a 1-0 lead to take to Minsk. In the return the Belgian League leaders went ahead through Ohana on 29 minutes. The Russians (!?) equalised, on the night, through Kistev, but could not do enough to stop Mechelen reaching the semi-final. Once again the Belgians were given a home tie first this time against Atalanta Bergamo. The Italian second division side were beaten 2-1 with goals from Ohana and den Boer. Mechelen would repeat this score in the return with goals from Rutjes and Emmers. (Sorry cannot find the Italian scorers). Mechelen were now in the final against the holders Ajax.
At the Stade de la Meinau (Strasbourg, France) on the 11th May 1988, Mechelen, managed by Dutchman Aad de Mos, met Ajax in the UEFA Cup-Winners Cup Final.
Mechelen : Michel Prued'homme, Wim Hofkens (Paul Theunis 73 mins), Lei Clijsters (c), Graeme Rutjes, Geert Defrem, Koenraad Sanders, Marc Emmers, Erwin Koeman, Pascal De Wide (Paul De Mesmaeker 60 mins), Piet den Boer, Eli Ohana.
Ajax : Stanley Menzo, Danny Blind, Peter Larsson, Jan Wouters, Frank Verlaat (Hennie Meijer 73 mins), Aaron Winter, Arnold Muhren (c), Arnold Scholten, John van't Schip (Dennis Bergkamp 37 mins), John Bosman, Rob Witschge.
Referee : Dieter Pauly (West Germany).
A crowd of 39,446 watched a game, effectively, decided by a decision from the referee. In the 16th minute, a move between den Boer and Emmers resulted with the latter closing in on goal, Blind commited a "professional" foul and left the referee with little option but to show the red card. With Ajax now reduced to 10 men it was only a matter of time before the Belgians would score. Although goalless at half-time, it would not remain that way for long. Eight minutes into the second half Ohana, by the left hand side corner flag with two defenders marking him, found space to send in a cross to the near post which den Boer headed into Menzo's bottom right hand corner. Mechelen had won the Cup-Winners Cup at their first attempt, and became the last Belgian winners.
This now meant Mechelen would meet another Dutch side, the Champions Cup winners, PSV Eindhoven in the European Super Cup. At this time the trophy was played with home and away matches, again Mechelen were to play at home first. The first leg on 1st February 1989 resulted in a comfortable 3-0 win for Mechelen, two goals from John Bosman, signed from Ajax, and an own goal from Stan Valckx. In the return match in Eindhoven the hosts won 1-0 with a goal from Hans Gillhaus in the 78th minute. With this Mechelen became the last Belgian side to win a European trophy.
In the Cup-Winners Cup Mechelen would again reach the semi-final and face, Italian opposition, Sampdoria. Sampdoria won 4-2 on aggregate to deny Mechelen a chance to retain their trophy. All was not lost however as Mechelen would finish the season as Champions of Belgium.
* Only 3 sides have beaten St Mirren 2-0 in European competition - St Etienne, Feyenoord and Mechelen. Mechelen are the only side to do so at Love Street.
* Leo (Lei) Clijsters is the father of tennis players Kim and Elke.
* Former players include; Phillipe Albert, Joos Valgaeren, Bruno Versavel, Marc Wilmots, Kennet Andersson, Johnny McLeod, Jean-Jacques Misse-Misse.
Andrew Boyd
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