Camel Filter

style

Robert Helies is a totally different referee than Jack Taylor, the ref of the 1971 final. Where Taylor was heavy set, slow, calm, relaxed and even a bit patronizing, Helies is quick, fit and talkative. He is bit wild, he shouts, waves his arms, runs to the point where the free kick has to be taken, points the players where to stand, and all this with big gestures so everyone can see. Helies runs along with the players, is just as fast as they are. Another thing you never see anymore: He pushes players away, lifts the injured ones up from the ground - none of that 'what if a player has broken something?'

yellow card

Helies gave Ajax a free kick in the box, it should have been a penalty but in those days a penalty was only awarded for hard fouls, this was a minor one. And that goes for all fouls: what is now considered a bookable offense was then no more than a talking to. Helies calls the player over, looks angry at him, wiggles his finger so the audience know what he's doing: he warns him. One more time and you'll get booked.
A referee from this century would have shown his yellow card at least five times in this match. Helies only showed it once: for pushing a player while another was lying on the ground. The foul that caused it all - a really bad one - went unpunished.
Cards were relatively new then and it is clear they were used differently.
Ajax' Sjaak Swart scored with his arm, he didn't get booked, not even reprimanded, nothing happened to him, the ref called to play on, that was all.

diagonal man

A strict diagonal man, Helies lets his linesman do the job when something happens in the opposite corner, Helies himself already standing where the ball will end up after the free kick has been taken. Good team work.

match

Ajax attacked furiously from the very start but did not make a goal until the second half. Inter had some chances, but they were mainly busy stopping the Dutch.

in perspective

It's fun to see how the Ajax players' hair had grown since the final a year earlier. None of them seem to have had a haircut in years and side burns grew a foot long. Not unlike the way tatoos on arms seem to grow these days (2012).
The Billboards around the field urge the people to light up a cigarette (Camel Filter the brand is called in Dutch) or have a drink (actually it was an ad for liquor). A few minutes before the end of the match fans start climbing the makeshift fence around the field to be able to party with their team after the final whistle.