1972 Football League Cup Final

1972 Football League Cup Final
Event 1971–72 Football League Cup
Date 4 March 1972
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Referee Norman Burtenshaw (Great Yarmouth)
Attendance 97,852

The 1972 Football League Cup Final took place on 4 March 1972 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Stoke City.

Chelsea went into the match as strong favourites having won the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the previous two seasons, whereas Stoke were attempting to win their first major trophy. Terry Conroy put Stoke into the lead early on but Chelsea hit back through Peter Osgood just before half time. Stoke got the decisive final goal from veteran George Eastham to end their 109-year wait for a major honour.[1] It remains the club's only major trophy victory; the closest they have come since then to beating this achievement was in 2011 when they lost to Manchester City in the 2011 FA Cup Final.

Match review

Both sides reached the final after epic semi-final ties with Chelsea beating Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke, West Ham United.[1] The match took place on 4 March 1972 at Wembley Stadium in front of 97,852 with around 35,000 travelling down from Stoke-on-Trent.[1]

Despite it being Stoke's first major final they showed no signs of nerves as they took the game to the "Blues" and after only five minutes, a long throw-in from Peter Dobing was headed on by Denis Smith.[1] Chelsea's defence panicked and Terry Conroy was quickest to react to put Stoke into the lead.[1] Chelsea improved their game, but it was Stoke who should have scored again with both Dobing and Jimmy Greenhoff being denied by the agile Peter Bonetti.[1] A rare mistake from Alan Bloor inside his own goal-area brought Chelsea an equaliser just before half-time with Peter Osgood taking full advantage.[1]

After the break Stoke again forced Chelsea back into their own half and although the play became rather scrappy both sides should have scored.[1] But then on 73 minutes George Eastham scored a second goal for Stoke after Greenhoff's shot was only blocked by Bonetti.[1] Gordon Banks made a number of fine saves to keep Stoke's one goal advantage intact and Stoke held out to secure their first major trophy.[1] The club marked the achievement by parading the trophy in an open top bus around Stoke-on-Trent.[1]

Match details

4 March 1972
Stoke City 2–1 Chelsea
Conroy 5'
Eastham 73'
Osgood 45'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 97,852
Referee: N. Burtenshaw
GK 1 England Gordon Banks
DF 2 England Jackie Marsh
DF 3 England Mike Pejic
MF 4 England Mike Bernard
DF 5 England Denis Smith
DF 6 England Alan Bloor
MF 7 Republic of Ireland Terry Conroy
MF 8 England Jimmy Greenhoff
FW 9 England John Ritchie
FW 10England Peter Dobing
MF 11England George Eastham
Substitutes:
MF 12Wales John Mahoney
Manager:
England Tony Waddington
GK 1 England Peter Bonetti
DF 2 Republic of Ireland Paddy Mulligan
DF 3 England Ron Harris (c)
MF 4 England John Hollins
DF 5 Republic of Ireland John Dempsey
DF 6 England David Webb
MF 7 Scotland Charlie Cooke
FW 8 England Chris Garland
FW 9 England Peter Osgood
MF 10England Alan Hudson
MF 11England Peter Houseman
Substitutes:
FW 12England Tommy Baldwin
Manager:
England Dave Sexton

Road to Wembley

Home teams listed first.

Stoke City

Round 2: Southport 1–2 Stoke City

Round 3: Oxford United 1–1 Stoke City

Replay Stoke City 2–0 Oxford United

Round 4: Manchester United 1–1 Stoke City

Replay Stoke City 0–0 Manchester United
2nd Replay Stoke City 2–1 Manchester United

Quarter final: Bristol Rovers 2–4 Stoke City

Semifinal, 1st leg: Stoke City 1–2 West Ham United

Semifinal, 2nd leg: West Ham United 0–1 Stoke City

Replay Stoke City 0–0 West Ham United
2nd Replay Stoke City 3–2 West Ham United

Chelsea

Round 2: Plymouth Argyle 0–2 Chelsea

Round 3: Nottingham Forest 1–1 Chelsea

Replay Chelsea 2–1 Nottingham Forest

Round 4: Chelsea 1–1 Bolton Wanderers

Replay Bolton Wanderers 0–6 Chelsea

Quarter final: Norwich City 0–1 Chelsea

Semifinal, 1st leg: Chelsea 3–2 Tottenham Hotspur

Semifinal, 2nd leg: Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 Chelsea

Chelsea won 5–4 on aggregate

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.

External links

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