1981 Football League Cup final

Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other The 1981 Football League Cup Final was a football match between Liverpool and West Ham United on 14 March 1981 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1980–81 Football League Cup, the 21st staging of the Football League Cup, a competition for the 92 teams in The Football League. Both teams were appearing in their second final, and had both lost their first finals in 1966 and 1978 respectively.

Both teams entered the competition in the second round. Liverpool's matches were generally comfortable victories, with the exception of the semi-final against Manchester City, which they won 2–1 over two-legs. West Ham's matches were generally close affairs, they only won by more two goals once, when they beat Burnley 6–0 over two-legs in the second round.

Watched by a crowd of 100,000, the first 90 minutes was goalless and the final went to extra time. Liverpool opened the scoring in the 118th minute, when defender Alan Kennedy scored. The goal was hotly contested as the shot passed over Sammy Lee of Liverpool in an offside position, obstructing the view of the West Ham goalkeeper, Phil Parkes. Referee Clive Thomas controversially allowed the goal to stand, his opinion being that Lee was not interfering with play. After the game, the usually placid West Ham manager, John Lyall, uncharacteristically expressed his anger to Thomas and said he "felt cheated". This was later misrepresented by Thomas as Lyall saying that "Thomas had cheated". The Liverpool lead lasted two minutes, as West Ham equalised courtesy of a Ray Stewart penalty, after a Liverpool handball on the line blocked a goal bound header from Alvin Martin. With the final score 1–1, the match was replayed on 1 April, at Villa Park, Birmingham. West Ham went ahead in the opening minutes, when Paul Goddard scored. However, their lead was short-lived as goals from Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen gave Liverpool the lead. No further goals were scored in the second half and Liverpool won the final 2–1 to win the competition for the first time.

Route to the final

Liverpool

Liverpool started slowly and lost the first leg of their 2nd-round game with Bradford City, before scoring four goals in the return leg at Anfield. They then scored a total of 12 goals in home ties against Swindon Town, Portsmouth and Birmingham City. In the semi-final they won their first leg at Manchester City, before a home draw allowed them to reach their second League Cup Final.

West Ham United

West Ham United played three Third Division sides in Burnley, Charlton Athletic and Barnsley to reach the quarter-final. Here, they beat First Division Tottenham Hotspur 1–0. In the semi-final; they recovered from losing the first leg to Coventry City to win the tie 4–3 on aggregate.

Match

Details

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Liverpool Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg West Ham United Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

1 Template:Flagicon Ray Clemence 2 Template:Flagicon Phil Neal 3 Template:Flagicon Alan Kennedy 4 Template:Flagicon Colin Irwin 5 Template:Flagicon Ray Kennedy (c) 6 Template:Flagicon Alan Hansen 7 Template:Flagicon Kenny Dalglish 8 Template:Flagicon Sammy Lee 9 Template:Flagicon Steve Heighway downward-facing red arrow 10 Template:Flagicon Terry McDermott 11 Template:Flagicon Graeme Souness Substitute: 12 Template:Flagicon Jimmy Case upward-facing green arrow Manager: Template:Flagicon Bob Paisley

1 Template:Flagicon Phil Parkes 2 Template:Flagicon Ray Stewart 3 Template:Flagicon Frank Lampard, Sr. 4 Template:Flagicon Billy Bonds (c) 5 Template:Flagicon Alvin Martin 6 Template:Flagicon Alan Devonshire 7 Template:Flagicon Jimmy Neighbour 8 Template:Flagicon Paul Goddard downward-facing red arrow 9 Template:Flagicon David Cross 10 Template:Flagicon Trevor Brooking 11 Template:Flagicon Geoff Pike Substitute: 12 Template:Flagicon Stuart Pearson upward-facing green arrow Manager: Template:Flagicon John Lyall

Replay

Details

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Liverpool Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg West Ham United Template:Preview warning

1 Template:Flagicon Ray Clemence 2 Template:Flagicon Phil Neal 3 Template:Flagicon Alan Kennedy 4 Template:Flagicon Phil Thompson (c) 5 Template:Flagicon Ray Kennedy 6 Template:Flagicon Alan Hansen 7 Template:Flagicon Kenny Dalglish 8 Template:Flagicon Sammy Lee 9 Template:Flagicon Ian Rush 10 Template:Flagicon Terry McDermott 11 Template:Flagicon Jimmy Case Substitute: 12 Template:Flagicon Colin Irwin Manager: Template:Flagicon Bob Paisley

1 Template:Flagicon Phil Parkes 2 Template:Flagicon Ray Stewart 3 Template:Flagicon Frank Lampard, Sr. 4 Template:Flagicon Billy Bonds (c) 5 Template:Flagicon Alvin Martin 6 Template:Flagicon Alan Devonshire 7 Template:Flagicon Jimmy Neighbour 8 Template:Flagicon Paul Goddard 9 Template:Flagicon David Cross 10 Template:Flagicon Trevor Brooking 11 Template:Flagicon Geoff Pike Substitute: 12 Template:Flagicon Stuart Pearson Manager: Template:Flagicon John Lyall

External links

• LFC History Match Report Template:Webarchive
• LFC History Match Report (Replay) Template:Webarchive