The Greatest Capital One Cup Finals

Chelsea and Tottenham face off this Sunday for the Capital One Cup. The 55th annual Capital One Cup will follow some classic games throughout the history. These five games that have been deemed the greatest Capital One Cup Finals all have something in common. All five consisted of come from behind wins. Let’s hope this Sunday’s game can live up to these classics. Now onto the top five.

 

5) 1961 Aston Villa 3-2 agg. aet Rotherham United

From 1961-1966, the League Cup Final was played over two legs. In the first Final, Aston Villa and Rotherham United played in a home-and-home series.

Rotherham United was in the second division and they went out to a commanding 2-0 lead after the first leg. Barry Webster and Alan Kirkman scored two goals in four minutes and were on their way to a major upset.

As the two teams went back to Villa Park, Villa matched what Rotherham United did at their home. Alan O’Neill and Harry Burrows scored two goals in three minutes to equalize in aggregate. Tied 2-2 and going into extra time, Peter McParland put away the winning goal in the 109th minute and placed Aston Villa into a historic win.

 

4) 1967 QPR 3-2 West Brom

In the first League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium and first Final to be decided by a single game, Queens Park Rangers did the unthinkable. They became the first third division team to win the League Cup and they did it in stunning fashion on the big stage of Wembley.

The first half saw West Brom beat in the third division team 2-0 and with two Clive Clark goals, it looked as if it would be a blowout. Then the second half came around and QPR kicked it into high gear. Roger Morgan scored the first off of a great header, Rodney Marsh snuck in the second, and after a goalkeeper error, Mark Lazarus scored the game winner in the 81st minute, sealing one of the biggest upsets in League Cup history.

 

3) 1983 Liverpool 2-1 aet Manchester United

The 1983 League Cup Final pitted the two fierce rivals and boy, did they put on a show. Back in 1983, Liverpool was going for three consecutive League Cups and accepting silverware left and right while Manchester United was only averaging a trophy a decade.

This game looked like it would be Manchester United’s Cup for the taking. They took the lead thanks to an individualistic marvel of a goal from Norman Whiteside in the 12th minute. Manchester United was about to walk up the steps to get their winners medal but Liverpool showed their power. Alan Kennedy from way outside the box, shocked everyone with the equalizer in the 75th minute and in extra time, Ronnie Whelan curled in the winner in the 98th minute. Liverpool won their third League Cup in a row, on their way to four consecutive and Bob Paisley celebrated his final trophy as Liverpool manager.

 

2) 1969 Swindon Town vs. Arsenal

The top two games will be highly familiar to Arsenal fans and they both ended in the same way. In this game, third division side Swindon Town did the honor.

The first goal scored by Swindon Town took an unfortunate bounce against Arsenal. Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson tried to slide kick the ball out but the ball bounced off of Roger Smart, who got the goal in the 35th minute. Swindon Town had one hand on the trophy until Arsenal equalized in the 86th minute. Usually when this happens, the team that scores last and especially a team that’s two divisions higher are going to take the win. Arsenal would be wrong.

Going into extra time, things were getting tense. Then in the 104th minute, Don Rogers scored the goal to break the deadlock. Five minutes later, Rogers scored again and sealed victory for the small third division team.

 

1) 1988 Luton Town vs. Arsenal

Similar to 1969, Arsenal would get upset at Wembley by a small team. This time, Luton was in the top division but they shouldn’t have been a match for the powerful Arsenal team.

The game itself went all over the place. First, Luton Town scored in the 13th minute to take the lead. Then, after almost an hour of defending, Arsenal broke through and scored the equalizer in the 71st minute. Arsenal then took the lead three minutes later thanks to Alan Smith. All seemed lost for Luton but they were resilient on this day. After a penalty save from Andy Dibble, Danny Wilson scored the equalizer in the 82nd minute and then Brian Stein got his brace in stoppage time to get the late winner and capped off a thrilling game.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp

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