1978 Football League Cup Final


The 1978 Football League Cup Final was the eighteenth League Cup final, and was contested between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The initial match resulted in a 0–0 draw at Wembley Stadium on 18 March 1978. The replay was four days later at Old Trafford, and saw John Robertson score from the penalty spot after a professional foul by Phil Thompson on John O'Hare, which TV replays confirmed was just outside the penalty area. This was enough to win the cup for Forest, who thus became the first club to achieve a League and League Cup double.
In the this
game, one of his last for Liverpool, stalwart Ian Callaghan received the only booking of his long career with the club.

Match details

Nottingham Forest
Red shirts/White shorts/Red socks		0–0
Liverpool
White shirts/Black shorts/White socks
Manager: Brian Clough
Team:
1 Chris Woods
2 Viv Anderson
3 Frank Clark
4 John McGovern
5 Larry Lloyd
6 Kenny Burns
7 Martin O'Neill
8 Ian Bowyer
9 Peter Withe
10 Tony Woodcock
11 John Robertson
Substitute:
12 John O'Hare
Scorers:
None
Half-time:
0–0
Competition:
Football League Cup
Date:
15.00 GMT Saturday 18 March 1978
Venue:
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance:
100,000
Referee:
Pat Partridge
Match rules:
90 minutes.
30 minutes extra-time if necessary.
Match replayed if scores still level.
One named substitute.
Manager: Bob Paisley
Team:
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Tommy Smith
4 Phil Thompson
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Kenny Dalglish
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 Terry McDermott
11 Ian Callaghan
Substitute:
12 David Fairclough
Scorers:
None

Source for team line-ups:

Replay

Nottingham Forest
Yellow/Yellow shorts/Yellow socks		1–0
Liverpool
Red shirts/Red shorts/Red socks
Manager: Brian Clough
Team:
1 Chris Woods
2 Viv Anderson
3 Frank Clark
4 John O'Hare
5 Larry Lloyd
6 Kenny Burns
7 Martin O'Neill
8 Ian Bowyer
9 Peter Withe
10 Tony Woodcock
11 John Robertson
Substitute
12 Steve Elliott
Scorers:
  • Robertson
Half-time:
0–0
Competition:
Football League Cup
Date:
19.45 BST, Wednesday, 22 March 1978
Venue:
Old Trafford, Manchester
Attendance:
54,375
Referee:
Pat Partridge
Match rules:
90 minutes.
30 minutes extra-time if necessary.
Match replayed if scores still level.
One named substitute.
Manager: Bob Paisley
Team:
1 Ray Clemence
2 Phil Neal
3 Tommy Smith
4 Phil Thompson
5 Ray Kennedy
6 Emlyn Hughes
7 Kenny Dalglish
8 Jimmy Case
9 Steve Heighway
10 Terry McDermott
11 Ian Callaghan
Substitute
12 David Fairclough
Scorers:
None

Road to Wembley

Nottingham Forest

Forest's route to the final included victories over First Division teams West Ham United, Aston Villa and Leeds United. They also beat neighbours Notts County.

Liverpool

Liverpool were drawn at home to First Division teams in their first 3 rounds. They defeated Chelsea by 2 goals to nil in round 2, and Derby County by the same scoreline in round 3. They then drew 2-2 at home in round four against Coventry City, before winning the replay 2-0 at Highfield Road. They then beat Third Division Wrexham 3-1 in the quarter-final at The Racecourse Ground, before edging out Arsenal in a two-legged semi-final, which saw Liverpool winning 2-1 at Anfield and drawing 0-0 at Highbury.