Franz Beckenbauer: Yorkshire memories of 'Der Kaiser' for Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United

Der Kaiser - who has passed away at the age of 78 - was the heartbeat of the West German side in the 1966 World Cup, with the then 20-year-old famously notching a brace in the thrilling 5-0 group win over Switzerland which captivated a crowd of 36,000.

It was in Sheffield where the immaculate defender, a ball-playing centre-half par excellence, first announced himself on the world stage.

Classy, cool, confident, Beckenbauer was one of only three men to win the World Cup as both a player (1974) and manager (1990). It doesn’t get any better than that.

Other greats such as Helmut Haller and Uwe Seeler took the field for West Germany at S6, while the likes of Spain’s Luis Suarez and Francisco Gento and infamous Argentine Antonio Rattin also featured during group matches at Hillsborough, one of four club grounds still intact that staged matches in England’s glory year of ‘66 - the others being Old Trafford, Villa Park and Goodison Park.

Beckenbauer became the most decorated.

Alongside ‘66, Beckenbauer was a central figure against a Yorkshire side in May 1975.

The scoreline dictated that Beckenbauer’s Bayern Munich won the European Cup after a 2-0 win over Leeds United, courtesy of goals from Franz Roth and ‘Der Bomber’ Gerd Muller, but it did not tell half of the story.

Wretched refereeing from Frenchman Michel Kitabdjian denied Leeds becoming just the second English side to lift the continent's big prize, with that dark Parisian evening becoming an infamous one in the history of Leeds.

Two penalty appeals went against Leeds in a first half which they dominated, most notably when Allan Clarke was blatantly fouled by Beckenbauer.

Worse, if that was possible, was to come in the second half, when in the 66th minute, a perfectly legitimate volley from Peter Lorimer was chalked off for a perceived offside offence, with Billy Bremner supposedly the culprit.

Kitabdjian awarded a goal, but upon conferring with the officials, he incredibly changed his mind.

It was the prelude to all hell breaking loose in the Leeds end, with a barrel load of salt applied by virtue of two Bayern goals.

A hugely controversial night for sure, but what cannot be in dispute is the class of Beckenbauer, when looking back at his stellar career.

His playing days may have been over, but Beckenbauer’s poise was still there for all to see when he strode out at Elland Road in July 1985 in a fundraising match to raise funds for the Bradford City fire disaster appeal.

An England versus West Germany international featured all but four of the original participants in the 1966 final in 90 nostalgic minutes.

Upwards of £50,000 was raised with a crowd of 19,496 turning up in Leeds despite poor weather.

Earlier in 1970, Beckenbauer was part of that West German side who avenged their World Cup final loss to England in an epic quarter-final in the Mexican city of Leon, with Terry Cooper and his Leeds colleague Norman Hunter feeling the pain acutely.

England lamentably let a 2-0 lead at the Guanajuato Stadium slip against Helmut Schon's side, with Muller's extra-time winner landing the final blow.

A brilliant first hour had seen England lead 2-0 with one foot, seemingly, in the semi-finals.

Alan Mullery put Alf Ramsey's side ahead on 31 minutes with his first international goal for over thirty matches, with the Spurs midfielder ending a delightful move when he coolly fired home following a slide-rule pass from Keith Newton.

The Everton defender was heavily involved in the second four minutes after the interval when his cross was turned in at the far post by Martin Peters.

At the midway point of the second half, England were cruising, with Schon admitting in later years: 'When it got to twenty minutes from the end of normal time, I felt that our chance had gone."

What he did still have was Beckenbauer and Muller.

Germany did eventually pull one back when Beckenbauer escaped the shackles of Mullery before firing home a low shot under the body of Peter Bonetti, drafted in late on for the ill Gordon Banks, who had originally been named in England's line-up on the morning of the game.

Bonetti seemed to atone for his error as Germany piled on the pressure with a fine save to deny Muller, prompting commentator David Coleman to state: 'Banks got the OBE - Bonetti will be knighted'. Famous last words..

England, who had earlier brought on Colin Bell for Charlton when they were leading 2-0 - in a perceived move to protect Charlton for the semi-finals - continued to be forced back and they were finally breached again on 76 minutes.

A high ball from Karl-Heinz Schnellinger was not dealt with and captain Seeler's back header looped over the stranded Bonetti, out of position, to level proceedings, with England, as Coleman succinctly put it, starting to toil in a game which 'they never looked like losing.'

Germany had the momentum with Beckenbauer, freed of his detail to shadow Charlton, starting to control the game.

The final act arrived on 108 minutes when Muller nipped in front of England's laboured defence to net the winner, with that devastating pain of defeat felt thousands of miles away back home.

Four days later, the Conservatives surprisingly won the general election and many senior Labour figures even highlighted England's shock loss as one of the main reasons for their loss on polling day.

Minister Tony Crosland famously said the defeat was down to a "mixture of party complacency and disgruntled Match of the Day millions." Beckenbauer and co had something to do with it..