the League Cup final, and he performed heroics behind an overworked defence as Leeds won the Fairs Cup, the club's first European honour. In 1969, Sprake was again a regular as Leeds won the League championship. In 1970, Sprake and Leeds chased a treble of the League, the FA Cup and the European Cup, but ended up with nothing. The League title went to Everton who won by nine points, and Leeds went out of the European Cup in the semi-finals to Celtic. The FA Cup Final provided the stage for the second of Sprake's most memorable errors. In the 1970 FA Cup Final, Leeds were playing Chelsea and took an early lead through Jack Charlton. Chelsea chased an equaliser, but when attacking midfield player Peter Houseman hit a left foot shot shortly before the break, it seemed tame and directionless enough for Sprake to save it safely. Sprake dived full length to save it but it squirmed through his grasp and rolled into the net. At the time, the Wembley surface was in poor condition, with the stadium having hosted the Horse of the Year Show days earlier and having much of the grass turned into hard turf lumps as a result, as well as the presence of a vast covering of sand. In the second half, Mick Jones put Leeds ahead with just six minutes to go, but Chelsea again equalized. Sprake suffered a knee injury and was replaced by David Harvey in the replay, which Chelsea won 2–1. Sprake was still the first-choice keeper for Leeds in the following two seasons, but was replaced by Harvey at the tail of both, including the 1972 FA Cup Final. Sprake watched from the sidelines as Leeds defeated Arsenal 1–0 in 1972 with a goal from Allan Clarke and a superb performance by Harvey at the other end. In the same year, due to his need of first-team football, Sprake publicly criticised Revie for his treatment of him and so his relationship with his manager, teammates, and the Leeds supporters soured. He only played once in the 1972–73 season, missed two more Cup finals, and eventually left for Birmingham City for £100,000 (breaking the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper in the process) to play first-team football and regain his place in the Welsh team. International career Sprake was the youngest-ever goalkeeper to appear for Wales when he made