1965 Football League Cup final explained

1965 Football League Cup Final
Event:1964–65 Football League Cup
Team1:Chelsea
Team1score:3
Team2:Leicester City
Team2score:2
Firstleg:First Leg
Team1score1:3
Team2score1:2
Date1:15 March 1965
Stadium1:Stamford Bridge
City1:London
Referee1:Jim Finney (Hereford)
Attendance1:20,690
Secondleg:Second Leg
Team1score2:0
Team2score2:0
Date2:5 April 1965
Stadium2:Filbert Street
City2:Leicester
Referee2:Kevin Howley (Billingham)
Attendance2:26,957
Previous:1964
Next:1966

The 1965 Football League Cup Final, the fifth to be staged since the competition's inception, was contested between Leicester City and Chelsea over two legs. Leicester, the holders, were aiming to become the first side to retain the trophy while Chelsea were seeking to become the first London side to win it. Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate, with all the goals coming in the first leg.

Route to the final

Chelsea

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Round 2Birmingham City0–3Chelsea
Round 3Chelsea4–0Notts County
Round 4Chelsea3–2Swansea City
Round 5Workington Town2–2Chelsea
Round 5 replayChelsea2–0Workington Town
Semi-final (1st leg)Aston Villa2–3Chelsea
Semi-final (2nd leg)Chelsea1–1Aston Villa
(Chelsea won 4–3 on aggregate)
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Leicester City

Round 2Leicester City0–0Peterborough United
Round 2 ReplayPeterborough United0–2Leicester City
Round 3Grimsby Town0–5Leicester City
Round 4Leicester City0–0Crystal Palace
Round 4 ReplayCrystal Palace1–2Leicester City
Round 5Coventry City1–8Leicester City
Semi-final (1st leg)Plymouth Argyle0–1Leicester City
Semi-final (2nd leg)Leicester City3–2Plymouth Argyle
(Leicester City won 4–2 on aggregate)

Match reviews

The final was contested over two home-and-away legs, as was customary for the League Cup at the time.

First leg

The first leg took place on 15 March 1965 at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home ground. Chelsea took the lead in the match twice, first through Bobby Tambling and then through a penalty kick by captain Terry Venables, but Leicester City equalised on both occasions, via defender Colin Appleton and forward Jimmy Goodfellow. With ten minutes left, Chelsea's Eddie McCreadie received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and went on a sixty-yard run, dribbling past several Leicester players before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Gordon Banks. The match ended 3–2 in Chelsea's favour. This was in spite of the fact that Chelsea only had ten players on the pitch for most of the match, after Allan Young – in his first and only appearance of the season – had suffered an early injury.[1] (Substitutions were not allowed at the time.)

McCreadie was actually Chelsea's starting left-back by trade; however, due to an injury to forward Barry Bridges, Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty had been forced to deploy McCreadie as an emergency forward, instead of in his usual spot, for the first leg.[1]

Second leg

McCreadie's goal in the first match would ultimately prove to be the difference in the tie. The second leg was played at Leicester's Filbert Street on 5 April and ended in a 0–0 draw, giving Chelsea a 3–2 aggregate win and the League Cup championship. Although Leicester applied strong pressure and were in control of much of the match, they were unable to make a critical breakthrough in their home leg, as both sides kept clean sheets. Chelsea centre-halves Frank Upton and John Mortimore – neither of whom had played in the first leg – performed admirably in the second leg and were instrumental in preventing Leicester from creating chances.[1]

For Chelsea, this marked the first-ever domestic cup title in the club's history (they would not win their first FA Cup until 1970).

Players and officials

First leg

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GK 1 Peter Bonetti
CH 2 Marvin Hinton
FB 3 Ron Harris
FB 4 John Hollins
CH 5 Allan Young
CH 6 John Boyle
OR 7 Bert Murray
MF 8 George Graham
FW 9 Eddie McCreadie
MF 10 Terry Venables (c)
OL 11 Bobby Tambling
Manager:
Tommy Docherty
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GK 1 Gordon Banks
CH 2 John Sjoberg
FB 3 Richie Norman
FB 4 Len Chalmers
CH 5 Ian King
WH 6 Colin Appleton (c)
W 7 Billy Hodgson
IR 8 Graham Cross
FW 9 Jimmy Goodfellow
IL 10 David Gibson
W 11 Tom Sweenie
Manager:
Matt Gillies

Second leg

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GK 1 Gordon Banks
RB 2 Clive Walker
LB 3 Richie Norman
MF 4 Bobby Roberts
CH 5 John Sjoberg
CH 6 Colin Appleton (c)
W 7 Billy Hodgson
IR 8 Graham Cross
FW 9 Jimmy Goodfellow
IL 10 David Gibson
W 11 Mike Stringfellow
Manager:
Matt Gillies
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GK 1 Peter Bonetti
CH 2 Marvin Hinton
FB 3 Eddie McCreadie
FB 4 Ron Harris
CH 5 John Mortimore
CH 6 Frank Upton
OR 7 Bert Murray
MF 8 John Boyle
FW 9 Barry Bridges
MF 10 Terry Venables (c)
OL 11 Bobby Tambling
Manager:
Tommy Docherty

Sources:[2] [3] [1]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chelsea 3 Leicester 2 / Leicester 0 Chelsea 0 – League Cup Final. Chelsea Football Club. 7 January 2018. 14 August 2020.
  2. Web site: Chelsea v Leicester City, 15 March 1965 – match report. 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. 14 August 2020.
  3. Web site: Leicester City v Chelsea, 05 April 1965 – match report. 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. 14 August 2020.