Date:
Venue:
Competition: First Division.
Score:
Scorers:
Attendance: 57,221
Teams:
Referee: William J. Gow (Swansea).
Requested
by David Stanforth, who said:
“1969-70
season: Chelsea 2 Leeds United 5. 2-1 down at half-time, Clarke injured and the
The BBC
chose the match as the “Match of the Day” and it became their “Match of the
Season”.
The FA Cup
Final Replay between Chelsea and Leeds United at Old Trafford later in that
season attracted an audience of 32 million people. It was at that time the
highest ever TV audience in
Things were not looking good
for Leeds, when Allan Clarke, who had opened the scoring in the sixteenth minute, had to go off,
in the thirty-sixth minute, with Mick Bates slotting seamlessly into the team. However, in the
interim twenty minutes Chelsea had taken the lead as John Hollins, had equalised just before
Clarke's departure, with a fine goal. It had looked that Leeds had gone 2-0 up, but, after
Tommy Hughes had lost a Johnny Giles' cross, Mick Jones had the ball in the net, but for some
obscure reason it was disallowed, and Allan Clarke, who had been injured in the melee leading up
to the goal, had to go off with a badly bruised shin. Worse was to follow as Peter Osgood, scored
another fine goal for the Pensioners, just five minutes later and both ian Hutchinson and Dave Webb
had gone close before the half-time whistle.
From 2-1 down United piled on four goals past the Chelsea reserve keeper Tommy Hughes
and drew rave reviews that put them in the frame for the treble of League, FA Cup and European Cup.
After the break Terry Cooper equalised with a curling shot, Johnny Giles
stroked home a penalty, after a needless handball by John Dempsey, Peter Lorimer
bundled in thefourth and Mick Jones completed a miserable afternoon for the Chelsea faithful.
Chelsea would have their revenge in the FA Cup Final, by which time Leeds had lost their Championship to
Everton and been waylaid in the European Cup by Celtic. They finished the season empty handed.
It was a funny old season for results with Chelsea. In September, a Johnny Giles
penalty and a Peter Lorimer special saw United triumph in front of 33,130 at Elland Road as United’s
season started to gather momentum after a draw-riddled start to the campaign.
Four days later Chelsea returned to Elland Road for a Third Round League Cup
encounter and, to the surprise of the United faithful in the 21,933 attendance,
were held to a 1-1 draw, with Paul Madeley scoring for Leeds. In the replay a fortnight later
the Leeds flag was lowered in defeat as Chelsea pleased their fans in a 38,485
crowd by prevailing 2-0. The 2-2 Wembley Final draw and 1-2 defeat in the Old Trafford Replay
were still to be played.
But at the final whistle at Stamford Bridge they were justifiably proud of their brilliant display.
Match Action:
Allan Clarke evades the challenge of David Webb
(Photo courtesy of
Mark Ledgard)
Teams:
Back Row: John Dempsey, Alan Birchenall, Marvin Hinton, Peter Osgood, Ron Harris,
Peter Bonetti, Tommy
Hughes, Ian Hutchinson, Stewart Houston, Alan Hudson, Eddie McCreadie.
Front Row: John Hollins,
Bobby Tambling, Peter Houseman, Tommy Baldwin, Charlie Cook,
Joe Fascione, John
Boyle.
Back Row: Paul Reaney,
Norman Hunter, Alan Clarke, Mike O’Grady, David Harvey,
Gary Sprake, Paul Madeley, Eddie Gray, Jack Charlton.
Front Row: Mick Jones, Terry Cooper, Terry Hibbitt, Billy Bremner, Johnny
Giles, Mick Bates,
Peter Lorimer.
Players:
Allan Clarke gave United the lead John Hollins and Peter Osgood put
Terry Cooper, Johnny Giles (Penalty), Peter Lorimer and Mick Jones got the second half goals to give
United a deserved victory.