1979–80 Football League Cup Explained

The 1979–80 Football League Cup was the 20th season of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The winners qualified for the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, if not already qualified for European competition.Wolverhampton Wanderers won the competition by defeating the reigning holders and European champions Nottingham Forest 1–0 in the final on 15 March 1980. This was their second League Cup success, after winning in 1974.

1979–80 League Cup
Country:	England &
Num Teams:	92
Winners:	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second:	Nottingham Forest
Prev Season:	1978–79
Next Season:	1980–81

First round

The 56 Football League clubs who had comprised the Third and Fourth Divisions during the previous season, plus the bottom eight of the Second Division, all competed from the first round. Ties were two-legged affairs, with the away goals rule being applied after extra time where necessary. If teams could still not be divided, penalties were taken. Games were staged on 11/13 and 14–15 August 1979.

First leg

width=175	Home Team	width=20	Score	width=175	Away Team	width= 125	Date
	1–1		11 August 1979
	0–2		11 August 1979
	0–3		11 August 1979
	2–1		11 August 1979
	5–1		11 August 1979
	2–0		11 August 1979
	3–0		11 August 1979
	2–0		11 August 1979
	2–2		11 August 1979
	1–3		11 August 1979
	2–1		11 August 1979
	1–2		11 August 1979
	2–1		11 August 1979
	1–0		11 August 1979
	1–0		11 August 1979
	2–1		13 August 1979
	1–5		11 August 1979
	3–1		11 August 1979
	1–1		11 August 1979
	1–2		11 August 1979
	1–1		11 August 1979
	1–1		11 August 1979
	2–1		15 August 1979
	2–1		11 August 1979
	4–1		11 August 1979
	1–2		11 August 1979
	4–1		11 August 1979
	1–1		11 August 1979

Second leg

width=175	Home Team	width=50	Score	width=175	Away Team	width= 125	Date	width= 50	Agg
	1–2	Wimbledon	14 August 1979	2–6
Barnsley	2–1^[1] ^[2]		14 August 1979	3–3
Blackburn Rovers	3–2		14 August 1979	6–2
	0–0	Swansea City	14 August 1979	1–4
	1–4	Southend United	21 August 1979	2–6
	1–3^[3]	Torquay United	14 August 1979	3–4
	1–2	Wrexham	14 August 1979	2–3
	1–1	Peterborough United	14 August 1979	2–4
	1–3	Huddersfield Town	15 August 1979	2–5
	0–3	Bradford City	14 August 1979	2–3
Doncaster Rovers	3–1		14 August 1979	4–2
Exeter City	2–1		15 August 1979	5–2
	2–1	Chesterfield	14 August 1979	3–6
	1–2	Sheffield Wednesday	14 August 1979	2–3
	1–1	Gillingham	14 August 1979	1–4
	2–2	Northampton Town	15 August 1979	3–4
Plymouth Argyle	2–0		14 August 1979	2–1
Reading	2–1		15 August 1979	7–2
	0–1	Blackpool	14 August 1979	1–2
Rotherham United	3–0		14 August 1979	5–1
	0–0	Grimsby Town	14 August 1979	0–2
Shrewsbury Town	1–0		14 August 1979	3–2
Swindon Town	2–0		14 August 1979	3–1
Tranmere Rovers	1–0		15 August 1979	3–1
	0–0	Chester	14 August 1979	1–2
	2–1	Colchester United	14 August 1979	2–3
	0–0	Stockport County	15 August 1979	1–2
	3–2^[4] ^[5]	Mansfield Town	14 August 1979	3–3

Second round

The 28 first round winners were joined by the remaining clubs from the Second Division and all from the First Division. Ties for the first time in League Cup were two-legged affairs at this stage of the competition, with the away goals rule being applied after extra time where necessary. If teams could still not be divided, penalties were taken. Games were staged on 28–29 August and 3–5 September 1979.

First leg

width=175	Home Team	width=20	Score	width=175	Away Team	width=125	Date
	2–1		28 August 1979
	1–1		29 August 1979
	1–2		28 August 1979
	2–0		28 August 1979
	1–0		28 August 1979
	1–1		28 August 1979
	3–0		28 August 1979
	0–2		28 August 1979
	0–1		29 August 1979
	3–1		28 August 1979
	2–0		28 August 1979
	1–1		28 August 1979
	1–0		28 August 1979
	0–1		29 August 1979
	1–1		29 August 1979
	2–2		29 August 1979
	3–0		28 August 1979
	0–0		28 August 1979
	0–0		29 August 1979
	2–2		28 August 1979
	2–1		28 August 1979
	4–3		29 August 1979
	1–1		28 August 1979
	5–0		28 August 1979
	1–1		29 August 1979
	1–1		29 August 1979
	2–2		29 August 1979
	1–0		28 August 1979
	2–1		29 August 1979
	0–0		29 August 1979
	1–1		29 August 1979
	3–1		28 August 1979

Second leg

width=225	Home Team	width=50	Score	width=225	Away Team	width=125	Date	width=50	Agg
Arsenal	7–0		4 September 1979	8–1
Aston Villa	0–2^[6] ^[7]		5 September 1979	2–2
	0–2	West Ham United	4 September 1979	1–5
	0–1	Peterborough United	5 September 1979	0–1
	0–2	Queens Park Rangers	5 September 1979	1–4
	1–2	Brighton and Hove Albion	4 September 1979	1–4
	1–0	Everton	5 September 1979	1–2
	1–2	Plymouth Argyle	4 September 1979	3–4
	1–1	Swindon Town	5 September 1979	1–2
Coventry City	0–0		4 September 1979	1–0
Crystal Palace	7–0		4 September 1979	8–1
Exeter City	5–1^[8]		5 September 1979	6–4
	0–1	West Bromwich Albion	5 September 1979	1–2
	1–4	Grimsby Town	4 September 1979	1–5
Liverpool	4–0		4 September 1979	4–0
Manchester City	2–1		4 September 1979	3–2
Manchester United	3–1		5 September 1979	4–3
Mansfield Town	4–2^[9]		4 September 1979	7–6
Middlesbrough	1–1^[10]		4 September 1979	2–1
	2–2^[11] ^[12]	Sunderland	5 September 1979	4–4
Norwich City	4–2		5 September 1979	5–3
Nottingham Forest	6–1		5 September 1979	7–2
	3–1	Northampton Town	4 September 1979	3–4
	0–1	Birmingham City	4 September 1979	1–3
	1–1	Bristol City	4 September 1979	1–2
	0–0	Chesterfield	4 September 1979	0–3
Southend United	0–0		3 September 1979	2–1
	1–3^[13]	Stoke City	4 September 1979	2–4
	0–1	Notts County	5 September 1979	0–1
Wimbledon	2–2^[14] ^[15]		4 September 1979	4–4
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–0		4 September 1979	3–1
	0–3	Southampton	5 September 1979	0–8

Third round

Ties were straight knockout games, with additional replays if required. The original games were staged on 25–26 September 1979.

Home team	Score	Away team	Date
Arsenal	2–1		25 September 1979
	0–0		25 September 1979
	1–2	Exeter City	26 September 1979
	1–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	25 September 1979
Grimsby Town	3–1		25 September 1979
Liverpool	3–1		25 September 1979
	1–1		26 September 1979
	0–3	Queens Park Rangers	25 September 1979
	1–3	Nottingham Forest	25 September 1979
	0–1	Brighton and Hove Albion	25 September 1979
Norwich City	4–1		26 September 1979
	1–1		26 September 1979
	0–0		25 September 1979
	2–2		26 September 1979
West Bromwich Albion	2–1		26 September 1979
	1–1		25 September 1979

Replays

width=175	Home Team	width=20	Score	width=175	Away Team	width=125	Date
Bristol City	4–0		2 October 1979
Everton	4–1		9 October 1979
	0–0^[16]		1 October 1979
Sunderland	1–0		3 October 1979
Swindon Town	2–1		3 October 1979
Wimbledon	1–0^[17]		2 October 1979

2nd Replay

width=175	Home Team	width=20	Score	width=175	Away Team	width=125	Date
West Ham United	5–1		8 October 1979

Fourth round

Ties were straight knockout games, with additional replays if required. The original games were staged on 30–31 October 1979.

Ties

width=175	Home Team	width=20	Score	width=175	Away Team	width=125	Date
	0–0		30 October 1979
	1–1		30 October 1979
Grimsby Town	2–1		30 October 1979
Liverpool	2–0		30 October 1979
	1–1		30 October 1979
	1–1		31 October 1979
	0–0		31 October 1979
	1–2	Swindon Town	30 October 1979

Replays

width=225	Home Team	width=20	Score	width=175	Away Team	width=125	Date
Arsenal	4–0		13 November 1979
Norwich City	3–0		7 November 1979
Nottingham Forest	3–0		14 November 1979
West Ham United	2–1		5 November 1979
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0		6 November 1979

Fifth round

Ties were straight knockout games, with additional replays if required.

2nd Replay

Semi-finals

Ties were once again two-legged affairs with the winners advancing to the final. Extra time and then penalties would be used in the second leg if required.

Second leg

Nottingham Forest won 2–1 on aggregateWolverhampton Wanderers won 4–3 on aggregate

Final

See main article: 1980 Football League Cup Final.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST: 1 Peter Shilton 2 Viv Anderson 3 Frank Gray 4 John McGovern (c) 5 David Needham 6 Kenny Burns 7 Martin O'Neill 8 Ian Bowyer 9 Garry Birtles 10 11 John Robertson Substitute: 12 John O'Hare Manager: Brian Clough

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS: 1 Paul Bradshaw 2 Geoff Palmer 3 Derek Parkin 4 Peter Daniel 5 Emlyn Hughes (c) 6 George Berry 7 Kenny Hibbitt 8 Willie Carr 9 Andy Gray 10 John Richards 11 Mel Eves Substitute: 12 Colin Brazier Manager: John Barnwell

width=50% valign=top

MATCH OFFICIALS Assistant referees: M.J.R. Barker (Oswestry) B.A. Champion (Bristol) Reserve referee: B.H. Daniels (Brentwood)

width=50% valign=top

MATCH RULES 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Replay (at Manchester United) if scores still level One named substitute Maximum of 1 substitution

References

General

• Web site: English League Cup 1979/1980 . 3 February 2009 . Soccerbase.
• Web site: England League Cup Full Results 1960–1996 . 3 February 2009 . Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20090221012511/http://rsssf.com/tablese/engleagcuphistfull.html. 21 February 2009 . live.
• Web site: English League Cup 1979–1980 : Results . 19 January 2012 . Statto . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064050/http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/league-cup/1979-1980/results . 4 March 2016 . dead . dmy-all .

Specific

Notes and References

1. After Extra Time
2. [Barnsley F.C.|Barnsley]
3. After Extra Time
4. After Extra Time
5. [Mansfield Town F.C.|Mansfield Town]
6. After Extra Time
7. [Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]
8. After Extra Time
9. After Extra Time
10. After Extra Time
11. After Extra Time
12. [Sunderland F.C.|Sunderland]
13. After Extra Time
14. After Extra Time
15. [Wimbledon F.C.|Wimbleon]
16. After Extra Time
17. After Extra Time