1977 Football League Cup Final

The 1977 Football League Cup Final was played between Aston Villa and Everton and required three games to decide the winner. The first match took place at Wembley Stadium on 12th March and is known as one of the most forgettable games ever to be played at Wembley with neither team managing to effect a notable attempt on goal during the entire game. ITV were due to screen 'highlights' of the game the following day but chose to drop the match altogether so poor was the quality on offer. The first replay on 16th March was only marginally better as the teams again played out a draw, this time at Hillsborough the home of Sheffield Wednesday. Both teams at least managed a goal apiece on this occasion although both were scored by Everton players with Bob Latchford's last-minute equaliser nullifying Roger Kenyon's earlier own-goal.

The second replay took place at Old Trafford on the 13th April and was anticipated with under whelming publicity as the previous games seemed to indicate the teams had tactically nullified each other into submission but thankfully the third attempt to decide the fate of the 1977 League Cup turned out to be an entertaining and dramatic affair with both teams attacking more freely. The game is probably best remembered for a 40-yard goal from Villa centre-half Chris Nicholl and Brian Little scoring his second of the match in dramatic fashion during the dying seconds of the game to give Villa a 3-2 victory. Mike Lyons and Bob Latchford scored for Everton.

Both teams had seemed to be on the cusp of joining the elite of English football but Everton manager Gordon Lee was unable to build upon this promising start to his reign as manager and Villa manager Ron Saunders had to break-up and rebuild his squad before he would eventually find major success with the capture of the League Championship in 1981.