The 1976 Football League Cup Final took place between

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The t ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

on 28 February 1976 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 ...

. It was the sixteenth final and the tenth

Football League Cup 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 ...

final to be played at Wembley. Manchester City won the match 2–1 to win the competition for the second time. The match is best known for its winning goal, an

overhead kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

Dennis Tueart Dennis Tueart (born 27 November 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Sunderland, Manchester City, Stoke City and Burnley at club level. On the international scene, he won six full caps for England. Career Tueart was born in Ne ...

Road to Wembley

Manchester City

The 1976 final was the third time Manchester City had reached Wembley in the competition after winning the competition in 1970 by defeating

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, and finishing runners-up to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

in 1974. Manchester City made a slow start to their cup run, the second round tie against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

went to two replays, Manchester City winning the second replay 6–1 at Stamford Bridge. A 2–1 home win against Nottingham Forest in the third round set up a Manchester derby against local rivals

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 Salford to the west. The ...

. City beat their neighbours 4–0 to reach the quarter-finals. A 4–2 win against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ye ...

secured a two-legged semi-final against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

. City lost the away leg 1–0, but a comfortable 4–0 win at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

took them through to the final.

Newcastle United

1976 was Newcastle's first League Cup final appearance. Their previous best in the competition was reaching the quarter finals, achieved the preceding season. Their 1975–76 League Cup campaign started with a 6–0 demolition of Fourth Division

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

in the second round. Newcastle required a replay to overcome

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

in the third round, and then beat

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 Ro ...

3–1 at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

to reach the quarter-finals. A 1–0 win at home to fellow ''Magpies''

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

secured a semi-final against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. The first leg of the semi-final resulted in a 1–0 defeat, but Newcastle overcame the deficit in the home leg by winning 3–1.

Match summary

Manchester City fielded a line-up unchanged from their previous match, a 3–0 home win against Everton in the league. Colin Bell was absent through injury, having suffered what later transpired to be a career-ending injury in the fourth round derby.

Dave Watson David Watson (born 20 November 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender from 1980 to 2001. He played his entire career for Norwich City and Everton. With the Toffees he played in ...

was an injury doubt due to a slipped disc, but was selected despite his inability to train in the preceding week. The opening goal was scored early in the match. Newcastle's Glenn Keeley fouled

Joe Royle Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...

in the middle of the Newcastle half. The resulting free-kick was hoisted into the penalty area by

Asa Hartford Richard Asa Hartford (born 24 October 1950) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He started his professional career with West Bromwich Albion. His early progress led to a proposed transfer to Leeds United in November 1971, but this co ...

, where it was headed across goal by

Mike Doyle Michael, Mick or Mike Doyle may refer to: Politics * Michael Doyle (Irish politician), Irish Farmers' Party politician from Wexford, TD from 1922 to 1927 *Michael Doyle, alleged member of the Molly Maguires * Mike Doyle (American politician) (born ...

. Teenage winger Peter Barnes then scored to give Manchester City the lead. Newcastle equalised in the 35th minute,

Alan Gowling Alan Edwin Gowling (born 16 March 1949) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for several clubs in the north of England. Playing career Club Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Gowling went to Manchester United by way of county scho ...

finishing from a

Malcolm Macdonald Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...

cross. At the start of the second half a Manchester City attack led to the winning goal, scored by

, who had supported Newcastle as a boy. A ball by

Willie Donachie William Donachie (born 5 October 1951) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Donachie had a long playing career, the majority of which was with Manchester City. He also played for Norwich City, Burnley, Oldham Athletic and Portland Timber ...

to the far post was headed across by

Tommy Booth Tommy Booth (born 9 November 1949) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester City and Preston North End, and was capped four times for England at under-23 level. Booth was born in Middleton, Lancashire. ...

. Tueart, with his back to goal, performed an overhead kick that bounced beyond Mike Mahoney into the bottom left corner of the net. After the match Tueart described the goal as "the greatest of my career".Manchester City – The Complete Record, p136 No more goals were scored in the match, though Royle had an effort disallowed. City captain Doyle lifted the trophy, and

Tony Book Anthony Keith Book (born 4 September 1934) is an English retired footballer and manager. Book spent a large part of his career in Non-League football with his home town club Bath City, before entering league football with Plymouth Argyle. At the ...

became the first man to win the competition as both a player and a manager.

Match details

References

{{Newcastle United F.C. matches League Cup Final 1976 League Cup Final 1976 EFL Cup Finals 1975–76 Football League Football League Cup Final Football League Cup Final