1974 FA Cup final

The FA Cup, known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual knockout association football competition in men's domestic English football. Organised by and named after The Football Association (The FA), the tournament was first played during the 1871–72 season and is the world's oldest association football competition. The 1974 match at Wembley was the 93rd FA Cup Final.^{[citation needed]}

The match was Liverpool's fifth appearance in the final. They had won the competition once, defeating Leeds United 2–1 after extra time in the 1965 final. Liverpool had been runners-up in 1914, when they lost 1–0 to Burnley; in 1950, beaten 2–0 by Arsenal; and in 1971, beaten 2–1 after extra time by Arsenal.^{[citation needed]}

Newcastle were appearing in a then record eleventh final. They had won the competition six times and been runners-up four times. Their first appearance was in the 1905 final at Crystal Palace which they lost 2–0 to Aston Villa. They reached the 1906 final too but were again beaten, this time 1–0 by Everton. Newcastle's third final was in 1908, again at Crystal Palace. They had finished fourth in the First Division that season, after winning the league in 1906–07 and, in the semi-final, they had beaten Fulham 6–0. Their 1908 final opponents were Wolverhampton Wanderers ("Wolves") who had just finished ninth in the Second Division. Newcastle were therefore strong favourites to win their first FA Cup but, in a major shock, Wolves won the final 3–1. Newcastle's first win was in the 1910 final when they defeated Barnsley 2–0 in a replay at Goodison Park after the first match at Crystal Palace had ended 1–1. Newcastle reached the final again in 1911 and another replay was necessary, following a goalless draw at Crystal Palace against Bradford City, but they lost the replay at Old Trafford, Bradford winning 1–0. Newcastle appeared in two inter-war finals, winning both. They defeated Aston Villa 2–0 in the second Wembley final, nicknamed the "Rainy Day Final"; and in 1932 they defeated Arsenal 2–1 in the "Over The Line Final". Newcastle enjoyed tremendous success in the early 1950s when the great Jackie Milburn was their centre forward. They won the FA Cup three times from 1951 to 1955: defeating Blackpool 2–0 in 1951, Arsenal 1–0 in 1952 and Manchester City 3–1 in 1955.^{[citation needed]}

Liverpool entered the competition in the third round and were drawn at home against Doncaster Rovers, who were struggling in the bottom half of the Fourth Division, eventually finishing 22nd and therefore 90th of the 92 Football League clubs. At Anfield, Doncaster were close to achieving a major shock but Liverpool managed to secure a 2–2 draw and then won the replay 2–0 at Belle Vue. Liverpool struggled again in the fourth round, unable to score at Anfield against Second Division Carlisle United, who were promoted to the First Division at the end of the season. As in the previous tie, Liverpool won the replay 2–0, played at Brunton Park.^{[citation needed]}

In the fifth round, Liverpool were drawn at home again and were in a "tie of the round" situation against one of their main rivals Ipswich Town, who had won at Old Trafford in the fourth round to knock out Manchester United. This time, despite facing strong opposition, Liverpool achieved victory at the first attempt and qualified for the quarter-final stage with a 2–0 win. In the sixth round, they were drawn away for the first time in the tournament against Second Division Bristol City and won 1–0 at Ashton Gate. In the previous round, Bristol City had beaten the First Division leaders Leeds United at Elland Road.^{[citation needed]}

Liverpool now faced their sometime "bogey team" Leicester City in the semi-final at Old Trafford. After a goalless draw, the replay took place at Villa Park and Liverpool won 3–1.^{[citation needed]}

Newcastle United entered the competition in the third round and were drawn at home against non-league Hendon, who were the reigning champions of the regional Isthmian League. Hendon came close to a major upset and held Newcastle 1–1 at St James' Park. Newcastle recovered to win the replay 4–0 at Vicarage Road, Watford. A similar situation arose in the fourth round when Newcastle were drawn at home against struggling Fourth Division side Scunthorpe United, who also achieved a 1–1 draw at St James' Park. In the replay at the Old Showground, Newcastle won 3–0.

In the fifth round, Newcastle won 3–0 away to Second Division West Bromwich Albion.^{[citation needed]} This set up a sixth round home tie against Nottingham Forest who, like West Brom, were a mid-table Second Division team. Newcastle won the match 4–3 after trailing 3–1, but The Football Association ordered a replay as Newcastle supporters had rioted and invaded the pitch in the second half. This ended in a 0–0 draw after extra time, and Newcastle finally won the tie 1–0 in a second replay at Goodison Park.

In the semi-final at Hillsborough, Newcastle faced Burnley who were above them in the First Division table. Newcastle nevertheless won the match 2–0 with two second half goals by Macdonald.^{[citation needed]}

Liverpool had more of the play in the first half but, with few clear chances, the match was goalless at half-time.^[2]

Liverpool dominated the second half despite having a goal by Alec Lindsay disallowed for offside. Many considered this decision incorrect as television replays showed that Newcastle's Alan Kennedy inadvertently played the final pass to Lindsay, so the goal should have stood. ^[2] Kevin Keegan opened the scoring with a volley after Tommy Smith had passed the ball into the penalty area from the right.^[2] With half an hour to go, Ray Clemence became a virtual spectator.^[2] The second goal was scored by Steve Heighway, who had scored Liverpool's only goal in the 1971 final. He ran onto a header by John Toshack and placed the ball wide of Liam McFaul.^[2] Near the end, a passing move by several Liverpool players ended with Smith playing another right field pass, this time across the front of the goalmouth, that was turned into the net by Keegan from close range.^[2]

After the match ended, some Liverpool supporters ran onto the pitch and bowed down at Shankly's feet. He said afterwards: "These are the people, who came on the field and bowed down, these are the people I'm pleased for, more than anybody else, more than myself".^[3]

Specific

General

• Kelly, Stephen F. (1997). Bill Shankly: It's Much More Important Than That. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0003-5.
• Rothmans Football Yearbook 1974–75. London: Queen Anne Press Ltd. 1974.
• Shankly, Bill; Roberts, John (1976). Shankly. London: Arthur Barker Ltd. ISBN 0-213-16603-8.
• Smith, Tommy (2008). Anfield Iron. London: Transworld Publishers. ISBN 978-0-593-05958-6.

• "LFC History – Match Report". LFC History. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
• "No. 39 – The 1974 FA Cup Final". This Is Anfield. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2016.