1970 FA Cup Final

The first 1970 FA Cup Final took place on 11 April 1970 at Wembley Stadium and ended 2–2. The replay at Old Trafford was on 29 April. It was the first Wembley final not to be decided on the day and marked a clash of footballing contrasts. Chelsea, the flamboyant southerners, faced Leeds United, the uncompromising, yet talented, northerners. Both sides were challenging for their first ever FA Cup win and entered the final as two of the best teams of the era, having finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the First Division that season. After four hours of fiercely contested football, Chelsea eventually ran out 2–1 winners in the replay. It was also the only time between 1923 and 2000 that an FA Cup Final was played at a stadium other than Wembley.

Match review

The first match at Wembley took place on the 11th April, around a month earlier than was typical for FA Cup finals, due to the FA's wish for the England team, who were world champions and were defending their trophy in Mexico, to have time to acclimatise to the Mexican climate [cite web |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/viewArticle.arc?toDate=1969-02-11&fromDate=1969-02-10&currentPageNumber=1&resultsPerPage=10&sortBy=default&offset=0&viewName=&addFilters=&removeFilters=&addCat=&queryKeywords=FA+Cup&sectionId=1040&currPgSmartSet=1&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1969-02-10-12&articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1969-02-10-12-006&xmlpath=&pubId=17&totalResults=1&addRefineFilters=&removeRefineFilters=&addRefineCat=&next_Page=false&prev_Page=false&date_dd_From=10&date_mm_From=02&date_yyyy_From=1969&date_dd_to_range=11&date_mm_to_range=02&date_yyyy_to_range=1969&date_dd_from_precise=10&date_mm_from_precise=02&date_yyyy_from_precise=1969&isDateSearch=false&dateSearchType=range&refineQuerykeywordText= |title=The Times Archive |accessdate=2008-09-02 |publisher=Times Newspapers Ltd. |date=1969-02-10 ] . The game was hampered by a poor pitch, the Horse of the Year show having taken place there a week previously. In a game where Leeds were generally seen to have had the best of the play — with winger Eddie Gray in particular giving David Webb a torrid time — the Yorkshiremen took the lead after 20 minutes when Jack Charlton's downward header from a corner didn't bounce, meaning Eddie McCreadie mis-timed his clearance and the ball rolled over the line. Towards the end of the first half, Chelsea's Peter Houseman drove a low shot from convert|20|yd, which goalkeeper Gary Sprake fumbled, and it, too, rolled over the line for the equaliser. Leeds appeared to have secured the game six minutes from full-time when an Allan Clarke header hit the post and Mick Jones reacted first to put the ball into the net, but just two minutes later Ian Hutchinson headed in the equaliser from John Hollins' cross to take the match to a replay. This would be the first FA Cup final replay since 1912.

The replay at Old Trafford, watched by a television audience of 28 million, a record for an FA Cup final, became one of the most notorious matches in English football. Modern day referee David Elleray "replayed" the match years later, and concluded that the sides should have received six red cards and twenty yellow cards between them. Not long into the match, Ron Harris caught Eddie Gray with a kick to the back of the knee, an action which virtually immobilised the Scot. Charlton kneed and headbutted Peter Osgood and Chelsea's goalkeeper Peter Bonetti was injured after being bundled into the net by Leeds' Jones, who minutes later rounded the limping immobile Bonetti and scored the opener. Norman Hunter and Ian Hutchinson traded punches while McCreadie and Johnny Giles lunged at opposition players.

Chelsea's equaliser eventually came after a flowing move from which Osgood scored with a diving header from a Charlie Cooke cross. Charlton should have been marking Osgood, but had 'lost' him, whilst chasing Hutchinson to exact retribution for a deadleg administered in the Chelsea penalty area a minute or so earlier. In scoring, Osgood became the last player to date to have scored in every round of the FA Cup. With the game at 1–1 in extra time, Hutchinson sent in a long throw-in which missed almost every player in the penalty area, but came off Charlton's head and looped towards the far post, before being put into the unguarded net by Webb to give the Londoners the lead for the first time. Chelsea kept the lead to secure their first FA Cup win.

Match details

Wembley

footballbox
date=1970-04-11
15:00 BST
team1=Chelsea
score=2 – 2
(a.e.t.)
team2=Leeds United
report= [http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1970.htm (Report)]
goals1=Houseman goal|41
Hutchinson goal|86
goals2=Charlton goal|41
Jones goal|84
stadium=Wembley, London
attendance=100,000
referee=Eric Jennings

valign="top"
valign="top" width="50%"

External links

* [http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1970.htm Match report] at fa-cupfinals.co.uk
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=258936 Game facts] at soccerbase.com
* [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=258937 Replay facts] at soccerbase.com