 Twice in the three seasons that followed, Ipswich came within one game of winning the League championship, but finished as runners-up to Liverpool and Aston Villa, respectively. However, Ipswich did win the club's only European trophy when they lifted the 1980 – 81 UEFA Cup. Wark set a competition record by scoring 14 goals — including two, one in each leg — in the final as Ipswich overcame Dutch side AZ 67 Alkmaar 5 – 4 on aggregate. Wark's record equalled the long-standing scoring record in a European competition, set by José Altafini of A.C. Milan in the 1962 – 63 European Cup. Wark's personal triumph that year was to win a European accolade, Young Player of the Year, and gain the acclaim of his fellow professionals in England to earn the PFA Player of the Year award. He ended the 1980 – 81 season with 36 goals.
