1978 FA Cup final
Event | 1977–78 FA Cup | ||||||
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Date | 6 May 1978 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Referee | Derek Nippard (Dorset) | ||||||
Attendance | 100,000 | ||||||
The 1978 FA Cup final was an association football match between Arsenal and Ipswich Town on 6 May 1978 at the old Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1977–78 FA Cup, the 97th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Four-time winners Arsenal were appearing in their ninth final, whereas Ipswich Town were making their debut at Wembley and in their first FA Cup final. Each team had progressed through five rounds to reach the final. Ipswich had needed a replay in the fifth round to proceed past Bristol Rovers while Arsenal won all of their ties at the first time of asking and went into the final as clear favourites.
The game was watched by a stadium crowd of around 100,000 and was broadcast live on television and radio. Ipswich dominated the match, hitting the
Route to the final
The FA Cup is English football's primary cup competition. Clubs in the highest tier of English football enter the FA Cup in the third round and are selected randomly out of a hat with the remaining clubs. If a match is drawn, a replay comes into force, ordinarily at the ground of the team who were away for the first game. As with league fixtures, FA Cup matches are subject to change in the event of games being selected for television coverage and this often can be influenced by clashes with other competitions.[1]
Arsenal
Round | Opposition | Score |
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3rd | Sheffield United (a) | 5–0 |
4th | Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) | 2–1 |
5th | Walsall (h) | 4–1 |
6th | Wrexham (a) | 3–2 |
Semi-final | Orient (n) | 3–0 |
Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue; (n) = Neutral venue |
Arsenal entered the 1977–78 FA Cup in the third round where they faced Second Division team Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Four goals in a ten-minute spell in the first half, from David O'Leary, Malcolm Macdonald (2) and Frank Stapleton, effectively ended the match as a contest. United had missed a penalty after O'Leary's opener and conceded a fifth to Stapleton in the second half, as Arsenal proceeded to the fourth round with a 5–0 victory.[2] Wolverhampton Wanderers were Arsenal's fourth round opponents at Highbury. In front of a crowd of nearly 50,000, Wolves made the better start but Alan Sunderland's header from a Macdonald cross gave Arsenal a lead against the run of play. Kenny Hibbitt equalised but the game was decided in the final minutes when Wolves' defender Bob Hazell was sent off; Macdonald scored the winner seconds later.[3] The fifth round saw Arsenal drawn at home against Walsall, against whom, in the 1932–33 FA Cup they had lost 2–0 in what is regarded as one of the greatest FA Cup upsets in the history of the competition.[4][5][6] The upset was not repeated as Arsenal won 4–1 with goals from Stapleton (2), Macdonald and Sunderland; Alan Buckley scored the consolation for Walsall.[7]
Welsh third-tier side Wrexham were Arsenal's sixth round opponents, the match taking place in front of 25,000 supporters at the Racecourse Ground. An early header from Wrexham's prolific striker Dixie McNeil went wide of Pat Jennings' post and 25 minutes in, Macdonald tapped home after Stapleton's header was parried by Wrexham goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki. Wrexham increased their tempo and were denied by the referee as he disallowed a Bobby Shinton goal for offside. The Welsh side equalised midway through the second half, with a McNeil header, his eleventh goal of his FA Cup campaign. Arsenal quickly retook the lead through a Sunderland header, and extended it to 3–1 in the 73rd minute after a Liam Brady slice was delicately finished by Willie Young. Graham Whittle pulled one back for Wrexham with ten minutes to go but the match ended 3–2 and Arsenal were through.[8] The semi-final, played at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge as a neutral venue, was against lower-league Orient who had already knocked out First Division teams Norwich City, Chelsea and Middlesbrough. Arsenal took the lead in the fifteenth minute through a deflected Macdonald strike, and doubled their advantage three minutes later as Macdonald scored again, this time courtesy of a deflection by Orient defender Glenn Roeder. Graham Rix extended the North London club's lead midway through the second half to see Arsenal into the final as 3–0 victors.[9]
Ipswich Town
Round | Opposition | Score |
---|---|---|
3rd | Cardiff City (a) | 2–0 |
4th | Hartlepool United (h) | 4–1 |
5th | Bristol Rovers (a) | 2–2 |
Bristol Rovers (h) | 3–0 | |
6th | Millwall (a) | 6–1 |
Semi-final | West Bromwich Albion (n) | 3–1 |
Key: (h) = Home venue; (a) = Away venue; (n) = Neutral venue |
Ipswich's first game in the 1977–78 FA Cup was away at Second Division Welsh club
The match at The Den had just commenced when George Burley's speculative effort found the back of the Millwall net prompting violence in the terraces. The fighting spilled onto the pitch and forced a 17-minute delay in the match, after which Ipswich continued to dominate but could not extend their lead. Early in the second half, a goal-line clearance from Millwall's Jon Moore fell to Mariner who finished it to double Ipswich's lead. Mariner scored again with fifteen minutes to go, tapping in from a Turner cross. Dave Mehmet pulled one back for Millwall after a Barry Kitchener effort was saved by Cooper, but Ipswich then scored three times in as many minutes. Wark, Talbot and Mariner (completing his hat-trick) added to the scoreline which ended 6–1 and Ipswich progressed.[14] The semi-final, against West Bromwich Albion, was played at Arsenal's Highbury as a neutral venue. The opening goal came from a diving header: Talbot displayed "outrageous bravery" to score at the near post from a Mills cross.[15] Injured in doing so, Talbot was forced to withdraw from the match and sustained three stitches and concussion. Ipswich extended their lead in the 21st minute after Cyrille Regis failed to clear a Mick Lambert corner which was turned in by Mills. Hunter gave away a penalty with less than thirteen minutes to go which was duly converted by Tony Brown but Wark restored the two-goal lead with a late header from a Woods corner. The match ended 3–1 and Ipswich had qualified for their first ever FA Cup final and first visit to Wembley Stadium.[15]
Pre-match
Arsenal were appearing in the final of the FA Cup for the first time since their defeat to Leeds United in the 1972 final. They had won the cup on four other occasions (in 1930, 1936, 1950 and 1971) and were making their ninth appearance in the FA Cup final overall.[16]
Ipswich were considered underdogs: bookmaker
The final was televised by the BBC as part of their Grandstand show. David Coleman was the main commentator for the BBC with punditry from Jimmy Hill, Lawrie McMenemy and Trevor Brooking.[21] ITV also broadcast the match live in its World of Sport programme, and BBC Radio 2 provided radio commentary.[22] Although two days of rain had preceded the final, the conditions were good for the match with sunny skies. Before the match, the players were presented to Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, and her husband Angus Ogilvy.[23]
Match
Summary
The match, the fiftieth FA Cup final held at Wembley, kicked off in warm sunshine in front of a crowd of around 100,000, refereed by Derek Nippard. Arsenal kicked off and were initially dominant with an O'Leary shot past the post from an Alan Hudson cross. At the other end, a Mariner strike from a Woods header beat Jennings' dive but was off-target. After fifteen minutes, Talbot was beginning to establish himself as the main power in midfield. Along with Kevin Beattie making runs from defence, Ipswich began to over-run their opposing midfielders Liam Brady and Hudson, forcing them to play deeper in their own half. Twenty-year-old David Geddis caused the Arsenal left side of defence problems, passing to Woods on the right side of the pitch whose cross was missed by Osborne but struck well by Mariner only for him to see it ricochet off the bar. Geddis then saw his bouncing shot saved by Jennings and Arsenal's Macdonald cleared another attempt. The first half ended goalless. In the 52nd minute, Mariner set Wark up by the edge of the Arsenal penalty area: the Scotsman's firm shot struck the upright, once again leaving Jennings stranded. O'Leary initiated a rare attack for the London club and created an opportunity for Sunderland who saw the ball saved at his feet by Ipswich's goalkeeper Cooper. Brady was substituted in the 65th minute for Rix. Woods and Talbot then combined to set Wark up once again but his first-time shot rebounded off the post. It was Burley's turn next to trouble the Arsenal goal: his header from Woods' cross produced an exceptional save from Jennings to keep the scores level at 0–0. With thirteen minutes left, Geddis took the ball and advanced towards the opposition penalty area, and drove in a low shot at a difficult angle. Arsenal's Young stuck out a foot to defend it and deflected the ball to Roger Osborne who shot past Jennings with a first-time left-footed shot from 10 yards (9.1 m) to put Ipswich ahead. Osborne was soon substituted for Lambert and Ipswich continued to dominate the game until the final whistle.[24][25]
Details
Arsenal
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Ipswich
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Match rules
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Post-match
Ipswich's manager Bobby Robson was delighted: "What a day for us. We deserved it. We played some decent football didn't we?"[26] While he singled out Mariner for particular praise, Robson noted "the whole team played well ... everything went right for us".[26] Osborne later revealed that his substitution came about as a result of him being overcome with emotion and feeling faint having scored the late goal.[26] Arsenal manager Terry Neill was less positive about his team's performance: "I am not going to say very much ... then I'm going to piss off to have a drink". He went on to compliment Ipswich, noting that "we didn't play as well as we can do, but Ipswich deserved it today, no doubt about that".[26] Arsenal captain Pat Rice apologised to fans stating that Arsenal were "lucky to escape with just a 1–0 defeat".[27]
As of 2023[update] it remains Ipswich Town's only FA Cup triumph and they have not appeared in the final since,
References
- ^ "Rules of The FA Cup Challenge Cup". TheFA.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
- ^ Wilcox, Paul (9 January 1978). "Arsenal appeal". The Guardian. p. 16. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Pawson, Tony (29 January 1978). "Wolves are turned away from the door". The Observer. p. 22. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Briggs, Daniel (14 January 2016). "On this day in 1933: Walsall 2–0 Arsenal". Walsall F.C. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Murray, Scott (7 January 2016). "A brief guide to ... the FA Cup third round, where even the minnows have their day". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ Motson, John (2 January 2015). "FA Cup: John Motson's 10 FA Cup third-round shocks". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ Pawson, Tony (19 February 1978). "When the ghost went west". The Observer. p. 24. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ McIlvanney, Hugh (12 March 1978). "They came to bury Wrexham and went on to praise them". The Observer. p. 28. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ McIlvanney, Hugh (9 April 1978). "Wonders of the Orient case". The Observer. p. 28. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ BBC Suffolk. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Steggles, Jack (30 January 1978). "Pool's anger as Ipswich hit jackpot". Daily Mirror. p. 30. Retrieved 11 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Welch, Julie (19 February 1978). "The Turner way to draw". The Observer. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Alexander, Jeremy (1 March 1978). "Straight shooters". The Guardian. p. 20. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Welch, Julie (12 March 1978). "Blow after blow for Millwall". The Observer. p. 28. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ a b Yallop, Richard (10 April 1978). "Ipswich outgun the Wile bunch". The Guardian. p. 20. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ a b c "FA Cup finals, 1872–today". The Football Association. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "1978 – Osborne's year". BBC Sport. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
- ^ a b Lacey, David (6 May 1978). "More options open to Arsenal". The Guardian. p. 22. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "League Division One end of season table for 1977–78 season". 11v11.com. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ Reading Evening Post. 5 May 1978. p. 14. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Cup Final Grandstand: The 1978 FA Cup Final: Arsenal v Ipswich Town". BBC Genome. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ "Television/Radio". The Guardian. 6 May 1978. p. 10. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ Lawrence, Ken (6 May 1978). "Friendliness rules, O.K.!". Sports Argus. p. 30. Retrieved 16 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ McIlvanney, Hugh (7 May 1978). "Ipswich, the one goal slaughterers". The Observer. p. 28. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Lacey, David (8 May 1978). "Ipswich, simply successful..." The Guardian. p. 26. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d Atkin, Ronald (7 May 1978). "Carried away". The Observer. p. 28. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Rice apologises to Arsenal supporters". Liverpool Echo. 8 May 1978. p. 18. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Ipswich Town v Manchester City, 11 April 1981". 11v11.com. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "Ipswich's '78 FA Cup-winning team". BBC Sport. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
External links
- Game facts at soccerbase.com
- Photo gallery on BBC Suffolk