1963 Football League Cup final explained

1963 Football League Cup Final
Event:	1962–63 Football League Cup
Team1:	Birmingham City
Team1score:	3
Team2:	Aston Villa
Team2score:	1
Firstleg:	First Leg
Team1score1:	3
Team2score1:	1
Date1:	23 May 1963
Stadium1:	St Andrew's
City1:	Birmingham
Referee1:	E. Crawford
Attendance1:	31,850
Secondleg:	Second Leg
Team1score2:	0
Team2score2:	0
Date2:	27 May 1963
Stadium2:	Villa Park
City2:	Birmingham
Referee2:	A. W. Sparling
Attendance2:	37,921
Previous:	1962
Next:	1964

The 1963 Football League Cup Final, the third to be staged since the competition's inception, was contested between local rivals Birmingham City and Aston Villa over two legs. Aston Villa had won the inaugural competition in 1960–61, and had beaten Birmingham 4–0 in their most recent League meeting,^[1] while Birmingham were seeking to win their first major trophy. Birmingham won 3–1 on aggregate, with all the goals coming in the first leg.

Match summary

The first leg took place on 23 May 1963 at Birmingham's home ground, St Andrew's. Birmingham took the lead when Harris fed Auld who crossed for Ken Leek's powerful shot, but Aston Villa equalised via Bobby Thomson. Seven minutes into the second half, the same combination of players made it 2–1, and after 66 minutes Jimmy Bloomfield met a Harris cross to score off the post to give Birmingham a 3–1 lead.^[1] The second leg four days later at Villa Park was goalless. With former England centre half Trevor Smith marking Thomson out of the game^[2] and Birmingham's defensive tactics including regularly kicking the ball out for throw-ins,^[3] Aston Villa were unable to break their opponents down.

Players and officials

First leg

1  Johnny Schofield 2  Stan Lynn 3  Colin Green 4  Terry Hennessey 5  Trevor Smith (c) 6  Malcolm Beard 7  Mike Hellawell 8  Jimmy Bloomfield 9  Jimmy Harris 10  Ken Leek 11  Bertie Auld Manager:  Gil Merrick

1  Nigel Sims 2  Cammie Fraser 3  Charlie Aitken 4  Vic Crowe (c) 5  John Sleeuwenhoek 6  Gordon Lee 7  Alan Baker 8  George Graham 9  Bobby Thomson 10  Ron Wylie 11  Harry Burrows Manager:  Joe Mercer

Second leg

1  Nigel Sims 2  Cammie Fraser 3  Charlie Aitken 4  Vic Crowe (c) 5  Lew Chatterley 6  Gordon Lee 7  Alan Baker 8  George Graham 9  Bobby Thomson 10  Ron Wylie 11  Harry Burrows Manager:  Joe Mercer

1  Johnny Schofield 2  Stan Lynn 3  Colin Green 4  Terry Hennessey 5  Trevor Smith (c) 6  Malcolm Beard 7  Mike Hellawell 8  Jimmy Bloomfield 9  Jimmy Harris 10  Ken Leek 11  Bertie Auld Manager:  Gil Merrick

Road to the final

Birmingham City

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Round 2 Birmingham City 6–0 Doncaster Rovers Round 3 Barrow 1–1 Birmingham City Round 3 replay Birmingham City 5–1 Barrow Round 4 Birmingham City 3–2 Notts County Round 5 Birmingham City 6–0 Manchester City Semi-final (1st leg) Birmingham City 3–2 Bury Semi-final (2nd leg) Bury 1–1 Birmingham City   (Birmingham City win 4–3 on aggregate)

Aston Villa

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Round 2 Aston Villa 6–1 Peterborough United Round 3 Aston Villa 3–1 Stoke City Round 4 Aston Villa 6–2 Preston North End Round 5 Aston Villa 4–1 Norwich City Semi-final (1st leg) Sunderland 1–3 Aston Villa Semi-final (2nd leg) Aston Villa 0–0 Sunderland   (Aston Villa win 3–1 on aggregate)

External links

• League Cup 1963 at rsssf.com

Notes and References

1. Book: Matthews, Tony . Birmingham City: A Complete Record . 1995 . 33 . Breedon Books . 1-85983-010-2 .
2. News: Obituary: Trevor Smith . Ivan . Ponting . The Independent . London . 15 September 2003 . 3 May 2022 . registration . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201128152928/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/trevor-smith-37104.html . 28 November 2020.
3. Book: Jawad, Hyder . Strange Magic: Birmingham City v Aston Villa . 6 March 2005 . The Birmingham Post . 27–28 .