1968 Football League Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1968)
The 1968 Football League Cup Final culminated the eighth Football League Cup season. Occurring on 2nd March 1968 in front of 97,887 at Wembley Stadium, the match saw Leeds United defeat Arsenal 1-0 to claim not only its first League Cup, but also its first major trophy.
Background
Leeds and Arsenal, as First Division members, entered the tournament in the Second Round.[1][2] Leeds' road to the Final saw it defeat Luton Town, Bury, Sunderland, Stoke City, and Derby County.[2] Meanwhile, Arsenal's campaign consisted of it overcoming Coventry City, Reading, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, and Huddersfield Town.[2] Both clubs were appearing in their first League Cup Final.[3]
Heading into the match, Leeds had confidence after achieving a 16-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, eight of them involving clean sheets.[4] However, the team was also experiencing fatigue after already having played 45 matches.[4] Additionally, many within the team were reminded of the various times they lost key matches within the League and in Cup tournaments.[5][4] This included a loss to Liverpool in the 1965 FA Cup Final, a loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the 1967 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final, finishing twice runners-up in recent First Division seasons, and losing twice in the semi-finals of other recent FA Cups.[4][5] By this point, Leeds had yet to win a major trophy, but this only motivated some within the club.[6][5][4] Among them included Don Revie, who stated "It would be a nice reward if we could win this one following four years of hard toil and sweat. If we do succeed I feel it will be a springboard for even bigger things."[4] However, Arsenal too had ambitions; after several unsuccessful years under Billy Wright, the club were seeking their first major trophy since 1953.[4]
The Match
The Final itself occurred on 2nd March 1968 in front of 97,887 at Wembley Stadium.[7] Leeds held the advantage early on with opportunities being denied by Arsenal defender Bob McNab.[4] However, Arsenal fought back, although David Jenkins was unable to capitalise on an opening made by his team.[4] After 18 minutes, Leeds took the lead when, after Arsenal goalkeeper Jim Furnell blocked Eddie Gray's shot, it rebounded towards Terry Cooper, who produced a volley to make it 1-0 despite protests from the Gunners that Furnell was fouled while blocking Gray's shot.[4][6][5][7] Arsenal held greater possession of the ball, but was generally unable to convert this into goalscoring opportunities.[4] Leeds also demanded a penalty when Jack Charlton was brought down by Furnell, but this was denied by referee Les Hamer.[6] Prior to half-time, Arsenal captain Frank McLintock knocked over Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake, to the fury of the latter's team, triggering a fracas that was dealt with by Hamer.[4][5][6]
Arsenal again controlled possession during the second-half, but Leeds nearly doubled their lead when a shot from captain Billy Bremner went just wide of the far post.[4] Another incident occurred when Bremner hit Furnell in a shooting attempt, to the Arsenal players' outrage.[4] Sprake later claimed there was hostility between the two clubs, amplified by the London newspapers generally despising the Yorkshire team.[4][5] Leeds continued with a defensive strategy;[6] Arsenal however nearly equalised when George Armstrong shot the ball into the Leeds' net, but a foul on Johnny Giles meant it was disallowed.[4] Thus, Leeds held on to claim its first major trophy, and Yorkshire's first since Sheffield Wednesday won the 1935 FA Cup.[5][6][4][7]
Despite newspapers such as The Guardian criticising the game's low-quality, it was of little concern to the Leeds players, who were finally able to celebrate after many near-misses in the 1960s.[4][5][6] In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Leeds' Gray recalled that "The club had never won a major trophy so it was terrific for us to finally break that duck, especially against one of the so-called more established clubs. Don always wanted to make Leeds part of the elite and beating Arsenal in a Cup final helped do that. From that day on teams started to fear us. Once you have lifted a major trophy the way others look at you changes. We felt more confident to kick-on, too."[5] This proved true when Leeds won the following Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and later the 1968/69 First Division title, among other accolades.[8][5][4] However, they have yet to win another League Cup, while Arsenal have since won it twice in 1987 and 1993.[9][8]
Availability
The match was not televised live, as Football League officials, including secretary Alan Hardaker, were concerned that doing so would reduce ground attendance.[5] Nevertheless, ITV filmed the match and broadcast 50 minutes of highlights on the following Sunday as part of ATV London's Star Soccer and ABC's World of Soccer, becoming the first League Cup Final to be televised by the broadcaster.[10][11][5] Commentary for the Star Soccer broadcast was provided by Hugh Johns, while the World of Soccer transmission may have had commentary from Barry Davies.[10] The broadcast attracted controversy however, as it occurred at the same time Leeds were engaging in its homecoming parade.[5] As few had means of recording television back then, many fans opted to watch the highlights when they aired, reducing the parade attendance to only 15,000.[5] This infuriated Revie, who demanded that no similar television clash occur again.[5]
Ultimately, whereas ITV's full coverage of the subsequent 1969 Football League Cup Final has resurfaced, its 1968 broadcast has yet to resurface.[12] The only known footage to have publicly resurfaced originates from newsreels such as British Pathé and as part of a documentary on the match.[12]
Gallery
Videos
Images
See Also
- 1937 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1937)
- 1938 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1938)
- 1939 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1939)
- 1947 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1947)
- 1948 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1948)
- 1948 Summer Olympics (partially found television coverage of London Games; 1948)
- 1949 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1949)
- 1950 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1950)
- 1951 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1951)
- 1952 Coupe de France Final (partially found footage of football match; 1952)
- 1955 Scottish Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1955)
- 1956 Southern Junior Floodlight Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1956)
- 1966 FIFA World Cup Final (partially found original colour film of international football match; 1966)
- 1967 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1967)
- 1971 WFA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1971)
- 1973 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1973)
- 1974 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1974)
- 1976 WFA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1976)
- 1977 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1977)
- 1978 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1978)
- 1979 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1979)
- 1980 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1980)
- 1981 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1981)
- 1982 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1982)
- 1985-1986 WFA Cup (lost list of entries for football tournament; 1985)
- Arsenal 1-1 Sheffield United (lost radio commentary of football match; 1927)
- Arsenal 7-1 Hibernian (lost footage of charity football match; 1952)
- Arsenal vs Arsenal Reserves (lost footage of early BBC televised football match; 1937)
- Atlético Madrid 1-1 Real Madrid (lost footage of El Derbi Madrileño La Liga football match; 1958)
- Barbados 4–2 Grenada (partially found soccer match footage; 1994)
- Barnet 3-2 Wealdstone (lost footage of Athenian League football match; 1946)
- Bedford Town 1-2 Arsenal (partially found footage of FA Cup match; 1956)
- Brian Clough's Football Fortunes (lost DOS port of football management game; 1987)
- Carlisle United 2-1 Plymouth Argyle (partially found footage of Football League Third Division match; 1999)
- Charlton Athletic 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (lost footage of FA Cup match; 1947)
- Chelsea 1-1 Burnley (partially found footage of FA Cup match; 1956)
- Chelsea 2-0 Sparta Prague (lost footage of international football match; 1957)
- England 0-1 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1938)
- England 1-0 Scotland (lost footage of Schools' International football match; 1952)
- England 1-1 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1947)
- England 1-3 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1949)
- England 2-0 Italy (partially found footage of international football match; 1949)
- England 3-0 France (partially found footage of international football match; 1947)
- England 3-0 Rest of Europe (partially found footage of international football match; 1938)
- England 6-0 Switzerland (partially found footage of international football match; 1948)
- Falkirk 3-2 Newcastle United (lost footage of football match; 1953)
- FIFA Soccer 2002 (lost build of cancelled Game Boy Advance port of football game; existence unconfirmed; 2001-2002)
- France 3-1 West Germany (partially found footage of international football match; 1952)
- France 6-3 Belgium (partially found footage of FIFA World Cup qualifying match; 1956)
- Hallo! Bundesliga (lost GolTV series; mid 2000s-mid 2010s)
- Juventus 1-7 A.C. Milan (partially found footage of Serie A football match; 1950)
- Lowestoft Town 3-0 AFC Hornchurch (partially found footage of Isthmian League Premier Division play-off final; 2014)
- Manchester United Championship Soccer (lost build of cancelled Sega Mega Drive port of football game; 1995)
- National Professional Soccer League (partially found footage of soccer matches; 1967)
- Netherlands 0-0 Sweden (lost footage of international football match; 1952)
- PSV Eindhoven 2-1 E.V.V. Eindhoven (lost footage of Netherlands Football League Championship match; 1950)
- Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (partially found footage of El Clásico La Liga football match; 1959)
- Real Madrid 3-0 Racing Santander (lost footage of La Liga football match; 1954)
- San Lorenzo de Almagro 1-1 River Plate (lost footage of Argentine Primera División football match; 1951)
- Scottish Universities 1-1 English Universities (lost footage of international football match; 1952)
- Serbia vs Albania (found footage of abandoned UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match; 2014)
- Stade de Reims 2-1 FC Metz (partially found footage of French Division 1 football match; 1956)
- United! (lost British soap opera; 1965-1967)
- Walthamstow Avenue 0-2 Queen's Park (lost footage of friendly football match; 1951)
- West Ham United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (partially found footage of FA Cup match; 1956)
References
- ↑ English Football League Tables detailing the 1967/68 First Division table. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Soccerbase detailing the road to the Final. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ Culture of Football Classics listing the League Cup Finals and their results. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 Mighty Leeds detailing the prelude to the match, and the encounter itself. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 Yorkshire Post detailing the club history Leeds achieved by winning the Cup, and summarising the televised highlights that caused controversy. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Leeds United FC History summarising the match and providing various photos and newspaper clippings of it. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 11 vs 11 detailing the match's result and statistics. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Transfer Markt detailing Leeds' trophy cabinet. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ Arsenal detailing its trophy cabinet. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Archived ITV Football detailing the highlights of the match televised as part of Star Soccer and World of Soccer. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ Archived ITV Football noting the match featured on ATV London as part of Star Soccer. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Missing Episodes discussing the missing ITV broadcast of the match. Retrieved 2nd Oct '22