The Cup. Well, England has two cups – the F.A. Cup, the oldest tournament in the world, and the Football League Cup. Sometimes English writers place the FL Cup higher than the F.A. Cup. Sometimes it is the opposite. UEFA recognizes F.A. Cup as the national cup. Leeds met Arsenal at the final and won 1-0. Cup mattered back then. For Leeds it was also sweeter ending of the season, after losing the title by a point.
By names, much better team than Derby County. By ambitions too. By expectations also. Yet, a cup, not a title.
The Football League Cup – different animal. Just to show the many-faced and competitive English football – Stoke City won the final, beating Chelsea 2-1. Stoke City were not among league’s favourites. Chelsea too were not as great as at least 5 other clubs. The beauty of cup tournaments – David wins over Goliath. One name at least was huje: Gordon Banks. Typical for that time – the superstar goalkeeper, perhaps the best in the world, played for small club. It was nice to know Banks won a cup. Soon misfortune stroke the great goalkeeper – he lost an eye in car accident, his career in England was over.
4th row, left to right: Mike Bernard, Alan Bloor, Mike Pejic
3rd row: Jimmy Greenhoff, Gordon Banks
2nd row: Tony Waddington (manager), George Eastham, John Marsh, John Mahoney
1st row: Terry Conroy, Peter Dobing, John Ritchie, Denis Smith
Well, hardly famous squad. Some fairly decent players – Conroy, Mahoney. Some promise, never fully developed – Greenhoff. And surprising national player in the near future – the guy with Yugoslavian name, Pejic, eventually played few games for England. They proudly display the FL Cup, though.