Tottenham 2-0 Aston Villa
League Cup final, February 27, 1971
For Aston Villa this was a throwback to the days when they were a footballing force. Now struggling in the Third Division Vic Crowe's men had somehow reached Wembley, where they faced a star-studded Tottenham side boasting the likes of Alan Mullery, Alan Gilzean and Martin Peters.
Martin Chivers (78, 82)
League Cup final,
February 27, 1971
Wembley,
Referee: J. Finney,
Att: 100,000
Underdogs Villa made light of their third-tier status and gave Tottenham the runaround, Andy Lochhead seeing his shot cleared off the line and Chico Hamilton striking the cross-section of post an bar. Spurs, though, weathered the storm and their class eventually told as Martin Chivers scored twice in the space of three minutes, pouncing on a loose ball with 11 minutes left before racing through a tiring Villa rearguard to put the match to bed.
Key Figures
Andy Lochhead
The tall, strong Scotsman caused Tottenham all sorts of problems with his muscular presence and was unlucky not to give his side the lead when his goalbound snap-shot was turned away.
Alan Mullery
Tottenham's captain had skippered England earlier in the week and his experience told as Spurs withstood concerted Villa pressure before hitting the underdogs with a sucker punch.
Martin Chivers
Spurs had been fortunate to survive for 79 minutes without conceding and Chivers had been quiet until he struck, but the great players rise to occasions such as these and the England international showed his class with two crucial finishes.
Did You Know...?
Steve Perryman, at 19 years of age, became the youngest player to appear in a League Cup final at Wembley.
Tottenham had won five out of five FA Cup finals but never before appeared in the League Cup final.
It was the third time in 10 years Aston Villa had appeared in the League Cup final. They tasted victory in 1961 and defeat in 1963.
What Happened Next
Tottenham finished third in the league, losing the final game of the 1970-71 season at home to Arsenal, who clinched the Double at White Hart Lane. Spurs went on to won the inaugural UEFA Cup the following campaign and returned to Wembley to reclaim the League Cup in 1973.
Aston Villa just missed out on promotion to the Second Division by coming fourth in the third tier but won promotion to the Second Division the following season with a record 70-points haul. Under Ron Saunders in 1975, Villa finally ended their League Cup hoodoo by beating Norwich 1-0 at Wembley.
We want your help to grow the MirrorFootball.co.uk archive! Leave your comments about this piece of football history by clicking on the 'Your Memories' tab above. Tell us who or what you'd like to see covered in the MirrorFootball.co.uk archive by emailing archive@mirror.co.uk
(PDF2.5MB)
