1972 Football League Cup Final
Encyclopedia
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. The result was a significant upset as Stoke won 2–1, with the 35-year-old George Eastham
scoring the winning goal late on.
It was Stoke City's first major trophy, and to date the only major trophy of their history.
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CHELSEA:
|
GK
1
Peter Bonetti
DF
2
Paddy Mulligan
DF
3
Ron Harris
(c)
MF
4
John Hollins
DF
5
John Dempsey
DF
6
David Webb
MF
7
Charlie Cooke
FW
8
Chris Garland
FW
9
Peter Osgood
MF
10
Alan Hudson
MF
11
Peter Houseman
Substitutes:
FW
12
Tommy Baldwin
Manager:
Dave Sexton
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
and Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
. Chelsea went into the match as strong favourites having won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
in the previous two seasons, whereas Stoke were attempting to win their first major trophy. The result was a significant upset as Stoke won 2–1, with the 35-year-old George Eastham
George Eastham
George Edward Eastham, OBE is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a non-playing member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad...
scoring the winning goal late on.
It was Stoke City's first major trophy, and to date the only major trophy of their history.
Match details
| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> | STOKE CITY: | |||
| GK | 1 | Gordon Banks Gordon Banks Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff .... |
||
| DF | 2 | John Marsh John Marsh (footballer) John Jackie Marsh is an English former footballer who played for Stoke City. He played as a right back.-Career:... |
||
| DF | 3 | Mike Pejic Mike Pejic Mike Pejic , is a retired English-Serbian footballer. His father was Serbian and his mother was English.-Career:... |
||
| MF | 4 | Mike Bernard Mike Bernard (footballer) Mike Bernard is an English-born former footballer who played as a midfielder in The Football League in the 1960s and 1970s.-Playing career:... |
||
| DF | 5 | Denis Smith |
||
| DF | 6 | Alan Bloor Alan Bloor Alan Bloor is an English professional footballer and manager, now retired. He made close to 400 appearances in the Football League for both Potteries teams... |
||
| MF | 7 | Terry Conroy Terry Conroy Terry Conroy is a former professional footballer, who spent most of his career with Stoke City.-Stoke City:He joined the Potters from the Irish club, Glentoran for £10,000 in March 1967. He went on to make 333 Cup and League appearances for Stoke, scoring 66 goals... |
||
| MF | 8 | Jimmy Greenhoff Jimmy Greenhoff James "Jimmy" Greenhoff is an English former football player. He was a skilful forward and although capped five times at under-23 level, once as an over-age player, he never played for the full side, and is labelled as the finest English player never to play for England... |
||
| FW | 9 | John Ritchie |
||
| FW | 10 | Peter Dobing Peter Dobing Peter Dobing is an English former footballer, who played for Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Stoke City.-Career:... |
||
| MF | 11 | George Eastham George Eastham George Edward Eastham, OBE is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a non-playing member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad... |
||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| MF | 12 |  John MahoneyJohn Mahoney (footballer) John Mahoney is a former Welsh international footballer who played as a midfielder between the 1960s and 1980s. He attained 51 caps for Wales.-Career:... |
||
| Manager: | ||||
| Tony Waddington Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington was an English football player and manager. He managed Stoke City F.C. from 1960 until 1977 and guided them to their only major trophy - the League Cup in 1972. He later managed his only playing club, Crewe Alexandra, from June 1979 to July 1981... |
||||
Peter BonettiPeter Bonetti
Peter Phillip Bonetti is a former football goalkeeper for Chelsea, the St. Louis Stars, Dundee United and England. Bonetti was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes and his graceful style, for which he was given the nickname, "The Cat"...
Paddy Mulligan
Patrick Martin "Paddy" Mulligan is a retired Irish footballer who played mainly as a right-back.Mulligan started his senior career playing for Bohemians in 1963. However after only two games he signed for Shamrock Rovers in December 1963...
Ron HarrisRon Harris (footballer)
Ronald Edward Harris , better known as Ron "Chopper" Harris, is a former English footballer who played for Chelsea in the 1960s and 1970s. Harris is widely regarded as one of the toughest defenders of his era - along with players such as Tommy Smith MBE and Norman Hunter - hence the nickname...
(c)
John HollinsJohn Hollins
John William Hollins MBE is a retired English footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective centre back.Hollins' son, Chris Hollins is the main sport presenter on BBC Breakfast....
John Dempsey (footballer)
John Dempsey is a former footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s as a defender.Starting his career with Fulham, making his debut in 1963 and 149 appearances over six years, Dempsey was signed for West London rivals Chelsea by Dave Sexton in January 1969 for £70,000...
David WebbDavid Webb (footballer)
David James Webb is an English former professional footballer who made 555 appearances in the Football League playing for Leyton Orient, Southampton, Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City, Derby County, A.F.C. Bournemouth and Torquay United. He became a manager, taking charge of A.F.C...
Charlie CookeCharlie Cooke (footballer)
Charles 'Charlie' Cooke is a former Scottish footballer. He was a talented and skilful winger who played for Aberdeen, Dundee, Chelsea and Crystal Palace before ending his career in the United States....
Chris GarlandChris Garland
Christopher "Chris" Garland is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Bristol City, Chelsea and Leicester City between the 1960s and 1980s. He was capped once by England at under-23 level....
Peter OsgoodPeter Osgood
Peter Leslie Osgood was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton at club level, and was also capped four times by England in the early 1970s.-Chelsea:Born in a small road named Kentons Lane in Windsor, Osgood...
Alan HudsonAlan Hudson
Alan Anthony Hudson is a former English footballer.-Biography:Born and brought up near the King's Road, Hudson was rejected by boyhood club Fulham as a schoolboy before signing for Chelsea Juniors...
Peter HousemanPeter Houseman
Peter Houseman was an English footballer.-Chelsea:Born in Battersea, Houseman signed professional terms with Chelsea in 1963, having played for the Chelsea Juniors...
Tommy BaldwinTommy Baldwin
Thomas "Tommy" Baldwin is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Arsenal, Chelsea, Millwall, Manchester United and Brentford. He was capped twice by England at under-23 level....
Dave SextonDave Sexton
David "Dave" Sexton OBE is an English former football manager and player.-Playing career:Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he started his playing career with West Ham United in 1948. Playing mainly at inside-forward, he would finish his career with time at Luton Town, Leyton Orient,...
External links
- 1972 League Cup final at The English Football Archive
- Match stats at soccerbase.com
- Final line-ups at Football Focus