1977 was a bad year for Everton and April was its cruellest month. Liverpool won the League, the European Cup and knocked the Toffees out of the FA Cup under controversial circumstances when Bryan Hamilton’s late ‘winner’ was chalked off by referee Clive Thomas. The disallowed goal meant a replay, which Liverpool won, effectively ending Everton’s season. This semi-final heartbreak was spread across the 23rd and 27th, while on the 13th they had lost in the League Cup Final to Aston Villa. This defeat came in a dramatic second replay, completing a footballing saga that had started at Wembley on March 12th.
The first Final was an underwhelming affair, ending goalless, with a suspension of play to search for a spur that had fallen off of a bandsman’s boot probably the highlight. A replay 4 days later culminated with a stoppage time equaliser cancelling out Roger Kenyon’s own goal that had put Villa ahead.
By the time the second replay came round, both sides were without arguably their most charismatic players: Villa were missing Andy Gray, while Duncan McKenzie was out for Everton.
McKenzie was one of the flair players of the 70s who were seemingly more appreciated by their fans than some of their managers, for whatever reason. Famous for being able to jump over a mini, he was one of the most stylish operators of his time – Brian Clough was a fan and signed him twice; once for Leeds and later for Nottingham Forest. The manager who signed him for Everton was Billy Bingham, marking his arrival with a quip to the gathered press that the last two managers who had signed McKenzie had been sacked. As Frank McConville pointed out in a McKenzie tribute in The When Saturday Comes annual, Bingham was “unaware of the huge 3 over his head”. A run of 8 games without a win brought down the curtain on his tenure.
Bingham’s replacement was Gordon Lee. If you like connections, then this final is for you. First of all, Lee had spent 11 years as a player for Villa including a winning appearance in the League Cup Final of 1961 and defeat at the same stage in 1963. He had taken Newcastle to the 1976 League Cup Final, losing to Manchester City, who had been managed to the 1974 final by Ron Saunders (who had played 3 matches for Everton in the 1950s) – who was now in the Aston Villa dugout, having arrived at Villa Park from a stint at Norwich who had been defeated by Villa in the 1975 final.
For much of the second replay, which was characterised according to Ian Willar of the Birmingham Post as being full of “too much running and too little thought”, it looked as though Saunders was heading for a third final defeat in four years. Bob Latchford had put Everton ahead in the 38th minute and they were holding on doggedly, despite, or maybe because of, the fact that their defenders Neil Robinson and John Gidman were both wearing number 2 shirts. Ten minutes before the end of normal time came one of the iconic goals associated with this competition: Chris Nicholl, Villa’s centre-half, collected the ball around the halfway line, took a few paces forward and then launched an unstoppable shot from around 40 yards into the Everton net. A minute later, with Everton still shell-shocked by Nicholl’s missile, Brian Little squeezed in a second. Two minutes on from this, however, Mike Lyons grabbed an equaliser and extra time was needed yet again.
After 29 minutes of extra time it seemed probable that this would be the first English cup final to be decided on penalties. Then, with a minute left, Everton failed to deal with a cross and Little snatched the winner.
The winners had finally been decided. Ron Saunders, perhaps uncharacteristically, singled out Dennis Mortimer as the key player, adding that “the trouble is – or rather the fantastic thing is – that half the country doesn’t know how to spell his name”. Within a few years they would as Mortimer lifted the league title and then the European Cup in successive seasons, the first triumph coming under Saunders’ leadership. Sturdy at the back for Villa during these victories was Ken McNaught – Everton centre-half in the League Cup Final.
For Everton the future was not as bright, at least in the short term. Lee carried on as manager until May 1981 when he was sacked and replaced by Howard Kendall. Kendall struggled at first but then led the team to glory in the mid-80s, with ex-Villa hero Andy Gray as his spearhead alongside Gordon Lee signing Graeme Sharp. Also in that side were two more players handed their debuts by Lee: skipper Kevin Ratcliffe and midfielder Kevin Richardson. To complete the connections, Richardson would later sign for Villa and be part of a side that came perilously close to another league title.
Everton have still never won the League Cup. Even during Kendall’s glory years, they were beaten in the 1984 Final after a replay, having had a good shout for a penalty turned down in the first match. Their opponents? Liverpool.
SteveTLooksBack 