Stoke City 2-1 Chelsea (1971-72 League Cup Final)

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1972 League Cup Final
0Scoreline	Stoke City 2-1 Chelsea
0Date	4th March 1972
0Competition	League Cup
0Referee	Norman Burtenshaw
0Stadium	Wembley Stadium
0Attendance	100,000

Chelsea and Stoke City met in the 1972 League Cup Final on 4 March 1972 at Wembley Stadium, with Stoke seeking their first major honour and Chelsea looking to regain the trophy they had won seven years earlier. Chelsea would lose the match 2-1; an early goal by Terry Conroy was cancelled out by Peter Osgood – his fourth cup final goal for Chelsea – just before half-time, but George Eastham scored the winner for Stoke with just under 20 minutes remaining. The match would be Chelsea's last major cup final for 22 years.

Contents 1 Match review 2 Match details 3 Road to the Final 4 Gallery

Match review

Chelsea suffered an early setback after a Jimmy Greenhoff shot was deflected off David Webb, with Conroy's resulting header giving Stoke an early lead in the 5th minute of the game. The bad start for Chelsea compounded their FA Cup defeat a week earlier at the hands of lowly Orient. Chelsea got back into the game just before half-time when Osgood equalised.

The second-half begin with Chelsea seemingly determined to put pressure on Stoke, but their efforts were thwarted by World Cup-winner Gordon Banks, the Stoke goalkeeper, who made some great saves to deny Chelsea. Stoke resisted the Chelsea pressure and started to play their game, before reaping the reward in the 67th minute when George Eastham scored from close range after Bonetti had made a good save from a Jimmy Greenhoff volley. This proved to be the winner as Stoke won their first major trophy.

Match details

4 March 1972 15.00	Stoke City	2 - 1	Chelsea	Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 100,000 Referee: Norman Burtenshaw
	Conroy 5' Eastham 67'		Osgood 45'

STOKE CITY: GK 1 Gordon Banks DF 2 John Marsh DF 3 Mike Pejic MF 4 Mike Bernard DF 5 Denis Smith DF 6 Alan Bloor MF 7 Terry Conroy MF 8 Jimmy Greenhoff FW 9 John Ritchie FW 10 Peter Dobing (c) MF 11 George Eastham Substitutes: MF 12 John Mahoney Manager: Tony Waddington

CHELSEA: GK 1 Peter Bonetti DF 2 Paddy Mulligan DF 3 Ron Harris (c) MF 4 John Hollins DF 5 John Dempsey DF 6 David Webb MF 7 Charlie Cooke FW 8 Chris Garland FW 9 Peter Osgood MF 10 Alan Hudson MF 11 Peter Houseman Substitutes: FW 12 Tommy Baldwin Manager: Dave Sexton

Road to the Final

Season	Day	Date	Month	Year	Round	Opposition	Venue	Result	Score	Additional Information
1971-72	Wed	8	Sep	1971	2nd Round	Plymouth Argyle	Home	Won	2-0
1971-72	Wed	6	Oct	1971	3rd Round	Nottingham Forest	Away	Drew	1-1
1971-72	Mon	11	Oct	1971	3rd Round Replay	Nottingham Forest	Home	Won	2-1
1971-72	Wed	27	Oct	1971	4th Round	Bolton Wanderers	Home	Drew	1-1
1971-72	Mon	8	Nov	1971	4th Round Replay	Bolton Wanderers	Away	Won	6-0
1971-72	Wed	17	Nov	1971	5th Round	Norwich City	Away	Won	1-0
1971-72	Wed	22	Dec	1971	Semi Final 1st Leg	Tottenham Hotspur	Home	Won	3-2
1971-72	Wed	5	Jan	1972	Semi Final 2nd Leg	Tottenham Hotspur	Away	Drew	2-2	(5-4 aggregate)

Gallery

Osgood shot saved by Stoke keeper Banks

Osgood scores Chelsea's equaliser

League Cup

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Finals: 1965 (1st leg • 2nd leg) • 1972 • 1998 • 2005 • 2007 • 2008 • 2015