1970 Football League Cup final

The 1970 Football League Cup Final took place on 7 March 1970 at Wembley Stadium with an attendance of 97,963. It was the tenth Football League Cup final and the fourth to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion, with City winning their first of the two trophies that season; on 29 April they would win the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup final against Górnik Zabrze 2–1.

1970 Football League Cup Final

Event	1969–70 Football League Cup
Manchester City West Bromwich Albion 2 1
after extra time
Date	7 March 1970
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	V James (York)
Attendance	97,963

The pitch had been criticised by Joe Mercer as a "pig of a pitch" due to recent snowfall and the fact the Horse of the Year Show had been held at Wembley a few days earlier. In muddy pitch conditions, Jeff Astle opened the scoring for Albion with a header after five minutes, becoming the first player to score in the final of both the League Cup and FA Cup at Wembley. He had already scored in the first leg of the 1966 League Cup Final four years previously, however that was at West Ham's Boleyn Ground. City equalised from a low shot to the left corner by Mike Doyle to send the game into extra time, and eventually won 2–1, with Glyn Pardoe scoring the winner when he volleyed the ball into the net from close range.

Players and officials

7 March 1970

Manchester City	2–1 (a.e.t.)	West Bromwich Albion
Doyle 60' Pardoe 102'		Astle 5'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 97,963

Referee: V James (York)

Manchester City

West Bromwich Albion

1 Joe Corrigan 2 Tony Book (c) 3 Arthur Mann 4 Mike Doyle 5 Tommy Booth 6 Alan Oakes 7 George Heslop 8 Colin Bell 9 Mike Summerbee 10 Francis Lee 11 Glyn Pardoe Substitute: 12 Ian Bowyer Manager: Joe Mercer

1 John Osborne 2 Doug Fraser 3 Ray Wilson 4 Tony Brown (c) 5 John Talbut 6 John Kaye 7 Len Cantello 8 Colin Suggett 9 Jeff Astle 10 Asa Hartford 11 Bobby Hope Substitute: 12 Dick Krzywicki Manager: Alan Ashman

Background

Honours were shared in the league matches between the two sides during the 1969–70 league season, with Manchester City gaining a 2–1 victory at Maine Road and West Bromwich Albion winning 3–0 at The Hawthorns. City went on to achieve a 10th-place finish in the First Division, while Albion finished 16th. The only previous meeting between the two sides in the League Cup had taken place at the third round stage of the 1966–67 competition; on that occasion, Albion progressed by a 4–2 scoreline and went on to reach that season's final.