The 1977 Football League Cup Final was played between

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

and Everton and required three games to decide the winner, the only time this has happened in the League Cup. The first match took place at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 12 March and the game ended in a goalless draw. The replay on 16 March was only marginally better as the teams again played out a draw, this time at

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the home of

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

. The game ended 1–1 with both goals scored by Everton players with Bob Latchford's last-minute equaliser nullifying Roger Kenyon's earlier own-goal. The second replay took place at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

on 13 April. The game is probably best remembered for a 40-yard goal from Villa centre-half

Chris Nicholl Christopher John Nicholl (born 12 October 1946) is an English-born former Northern Ireland international footballer who later worked as a coach and manager. Playing career Nicholl was born in Macclesfield. He played for Burnley (1963–1966) ...

, and in a 2010 poll this was voted in the Top 25 of all-time League Cup moments.

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

scored his second of the match in dramatic fashion during the dying seconds of the game to give Villa a 3–2 victory. Mick Lyons and Bob Latchford scored for Everton.

Road to Wembley

Aston Villa

Villa defeated top-level teams

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and Norwich City in their first two games, before a 4th round victory over

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

moved them into the last eight. Here they defeated second level

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

2–0. In the first leg of the semi-final they drew 0–0 at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

, with the second leg also drawn (2–2), thus setting up a replay. Villa won this game 3–0 on 22 February (at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

) courtesy of a Brian Little hat-trick.

Everton

Conversely Everton's first two victories came against fourth level teams

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

before a 3–0 fourth round victory over First Division

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

. In the quarter-finals they enjoyed a 3–0 win at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, resulting in a semi-final clash with second level

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

. After drawing the home leg, Everton won 1–0 at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footb ...

on 15 February to book their place at Wembley.

Final

Match details

Replay

Match details

For the first replay Villa replaced Cropley with Gordon Cowans, whilst Everton replaced Jones with Mike Bernard and Dobson with Roger Kenyon. Additionally

Jim Pearson Jim Pearson (born 24 March 1953 in Falkirk) is a Scottish former footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American ...

came on as a substitute for Hamilton.League Cup Finals – results and line-ups at rsssf
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Second Replay

Match details

For the second replay the line-ups were as the original game except for Villa Ray Graydon and Gordon Cowans played instead of Gray and Carrodus, and Gordon Smith came on as a substitute for Gidman. Everton were as the original match except Neil Robinson replaced Jones and Jim Pearson replaced McKenzie, whilst

Steve Seargeant Steve Seargeant (born 2 January 1951) is an English retired professional footballer who played in England and the United States as a left back. Career Born in Liverpool, Seargeant began his career with the youth teams of Everton. Seargeant tur ...

came on as a sub for Pearson.

References

{{Everton F.C. matches

League Cup Final The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

EFL Cup Finals League Cup Final 1977 League Cup Final 1977

Football League Cup Final The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

Sports competitions in Sheffield 1970s in Sheffield