1965 Football League Cup final

{{more citations needed|date=August 2020}}

{{EngvarB|date=April 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}

{{Infobox football match

| title = 1965 Football League Cup Final

| image =

| event = 1964–65 Football League Cup

| team1 = Chelsea

| team1association =

| team1score = 3

| team2 = Leicester City

| team2association =

| team2score = 2

| details =

| firstleg = First Leg

| team1score1 = 3

| team2score1 = 2

| details1 =

| date1 = 15 March 1965

| stadium1 = Stamford Bridge

| city1 = London

| man_of_the_match1a =

| man_of_the_match1atitle =

| man_of_the_match1b =

| man_of_the_match1btitle =

| referee1 = Jim Finney (Hereford)

| attendance1 = 20,690

| weather1 =

| secondleg = Second Leg

| team1score2 = 0

| team2score2 = 0

| details2 =

| date2 = 5 April 1965

| stadium2 = Filbert Street

| city2 = Leicester

| man_of_the_match2a =

| man_of_the_match2atitle =

| man_of_the_match2b =

| man_of_the_match2btitle =

| referee2 = Kevin Howley (Billingham)

| attendance2 = 26,957

| weather2 =

| 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=

width=100%

|width=50% valign=top|

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

|Round 2

align=right|Birmingham City0–3Chelsea
Round 3align=right|Chelsea4–0Notts County
Round 4align=right|Chelsea3–2Swansea City
Round 5align=right|Workington Town2–2Chelsea
Round 5 replayalign=right|Chelsea2–0Workington Town
Semi-final (1st leg)align=right|Aston Villa2–3Chelsea
Semi-final (2nd leg)align=right|Chelsea1–1Aston Villa
colspan=4 align=center|(Chelsea won 4–3 on aggregate)

|width=50% valign=top|

=Leicester City=

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

|Round 2

align=right|Leicester City0–0Peterborough United
Round 2 Replayalign=right|Peterborough United0–2Leicester City
Round 3align=right|Grimsby Town0–5Leicester City
Round 4align=right|Leicester City0–0Crystal Palace
Round 4 Replayalign=right|Crystal Palace1–2Leicester City
Round 5align=right|Coventry City1–8Leicester City
Semi-final (1st leg)align=right|Plymouth Argyle0–1Leicester City
Semi-final (2nd leg)align=right|Leicester City3–2Plymouth Argyle
colspan=4 align=center|(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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chelseafc.com/en/about-chelsea/history/key-matches/key-match24|publisher=Chelsea Football Club|title=Chelsea 3 Leicester 2 / Leicester 0 Chelsea 0 – League Cup Final|date=7 January 2018|access-date=14 August 2020}} (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.

=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.

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=

{{football box

|date=15 March 1965

|time=19:30

|team1=Chelsea

|score=3–2

|team2=Leicester City

|report=

|goals1=Tambling {{goal|33}}
Venables {{goal|70|pen.}}
McCreadie {{goal|81}}

|goals2=Appleton {{goal|46}}
Goodfellow {{goal|75}}

|stadium=Stamford Bridge, London

|attendance=20,690

|referee=Jim Finney (Hereford) }}

width="100%"

|valign="top" width="50%"|

{| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"

|colspan="4"|

width=25|width=25|
GK1{{flagicon|ENG}} Peter Bonetti
CH2{{flagicon|ENG}} Marvin Hinton
FB3{{flagicon|ENG}} Ron Harris
FB4{{flagicon|ENG}} John Hollins
CH5{{flagicon|ENG}} Allan Young
CH6{{flagicon|SCO}} John Boyle
OR7{{flagicon|ENG}} Bert Murray
MF8{{flagicon|SCO}} George Graham
FW9{{flagicon|SCO}} Eddie McCreadie
MF10{{flagicon|ENG}} Terry Venables (c)
OL11{{flagicon|ENG}} Bobby Tambling
colspan=3|Manager:
colspan=4|{{flagicon|SCO}} Tommy Docherty

|

|valign="top"|

|valign="top" width="50%"|

style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"

|colspan="4"|

width=25|width=25|
GK1{{flagicon|ENG}} Gordon Banks
CH2{{flagicon|SCO}} John Sjoberg
FB3{{flagicon|ENG}} Richie Norman
FB4{{flagicon|ENG}} Len Chalmers
CH5{{flagicon|SCO}} Ian King
WH6{{flagicon|ENG}} Colin Appleton (c)
W7{{flagicon|SCO}} Billy Hodgson
IR8{{flagicon|ENG}} Graham Cross
FW9{{flagicon|SCO}} Jimmy Goodfellow
IL10{{flagicon|SCO}} David Gibson
W11{{flagicon|SCO}} Tom Sweenie
colspan=3|Manager:
colspan=4|{{flagicon|SCO}} Matt Gillies

|}

=Second leg=

{{football box

|date=5 April 1965

|time=19:30

|team1=Leicester City

|score=0–0

|team2=Chelsea

|report=

|goals1=

|goals2=

|stadium=Filbert Street, Leicester

|attendance=26,957

|referee=Kevin Howley (Billingham) }}

width="100%"

|valign="top" width="50%"|

{| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"

|colspan="4"|

width=25|width=25|
GK1{{flagicon|ENG}} Gordon Banks
RB2{{flagicon|ENG}} Clive Walker
LB3{{flagicon|ENG}} Richie Norman
MF4{{flagicon|SCO}} Bobby Roberts
CH5{{flagicon|SCO}} John Sjoberg
CH6{{flagicon|ENG}} Colin Appleton (c)
W7{{flagicon|SCO}} Billy Hodgson
IR8{{flagicon|ENG}} Graham Cross
FW9{{flagicon|SCO}} Jimmy Goodfellow
IL10{{flagicon|SCO}} David Gibson
W11{{flagicon|ENG}} Mike Stringfellow
colspan=3|Manager:
colspan=4|{{flagicon|SCO}} Matt Gillies

|

|valign="top"|

|valign="top" width="50%"|

style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"

|colspan="4"|

width=25|width=25|
GK1{{flagicon|ENG}} Peter Bonetti
CH2{{flagicon|ENG}} Marvin Hinton
FB3{{flagicon|SCO}} Eddie McCreadie
FB4{{flagicon|ENG}} Ron Harris
CH5{{flagicon|ENG}} John Mortimore
CH6{{flagicon|ENG}} Frank Upton
OR7{{flagicon|ENG}} Bert Murray
MF8{{flagicon|SCO}} John Boyle
FW9{{flagicon|ENG}} Barry Bridges
MF10{{flagicon|ENG}} Terry Venables (c)
OL11{{flagicon|ENG}} Bobby Tambling
colspan=3|Manager:
colspan=4|{{flagicon|SCO}} Tommy Docherty

|}

Sources:{{cite web|url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/chelsea-v-leicester-city-15-march-1965-28561/|title=Chelsea v Leicester City, 15 March 1965 – match report|website=11v11.com|publisher=AFS Enterprises|access-date=14 August 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/leicester-city-v-chelsea-05-april-1965-28562/|title=Leicester City v Chelsea, 05 April 1965 – match report|website=11v11.com|publisher=AFS Enterprises|access-date=14 August 2020}}

References

{{reflist}}