The 1978 FA Charity Shield was the 56th

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

, an annual

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match played between the winners of the previous season's

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

competitions. The match took place on 12 August 1978 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 ...

and was played between

1977–78 Football League The 1977–78 season was the 79th completed season of The Football League. Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest side took the First Division by storm, first winning the League Cup on 22 March and then confirming themselves as league champions the f ...

champions

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and

winners

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Watched by a crowd of 68,000, the match ended in a 5–0 victory for Nottingham Forest. This was both Ipswich and Nottingham Forest's second appearance in the Charity Shield. Ipswich were unable to field four of the previous season's FA Cup-winning team through injury with Tommy Parkin making his debut. Nottingham Forest took the lead in the tenth minute through

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

and doubled their advantage with a

Peter Withe Peter Withe (born 30 August 1951) is an English former football manager and striker who played between 1971 and 1990. At Nottingham Forest he won the Anglo-Scottish Cup and Second Division promotion in 1976–77, First Division and the Footb ...

goal. Forest's lead was further extended through second-half goals from

Larry Lloyd Laurence Valentine Lloyd (born 6 October 1948) is an English retired association football central defender and manager. He won domestic and European honours for both Bill Shankly's Liverpool and Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in the 1970s. ...

, O'Neill and

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians * J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...

Background and pre-match

The

was founded in 1908 as a successor to the

Sheriff of London Charity Shield The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queens Park also took part in 1899. The ...

. It was a contest between the respective champions of the

and Southern League, and then by 1913 teams of amateur and professional players. In 1921, it was played by the Football League champions and

winners for the first time. This was the fourth year that

played host to the Shield. Nottingham Forest had won the league in the previous season, seven points clear of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and having been undefeated at home at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

. Despite finishing 18th in the league the previous season, Ipswich Town had beaten

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at Wembley in the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

three months earlier, the only goal coming from

Roger Osborne Roger Charles Osborne (born 9 March 1950) is a former professional association football, footballer who is best known for scoring the winning goal in the 1978 FA Cup Final. Biography Born in Otley, Suffolk, Otley, East Suffolk (county), East S ...

midway through the second half of the match. Forest had lost in their only previous Charity Shield final in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, beaten 3–1 by

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's ...

; Ipswich had played in the

1962 FA Charity Shield The 1962 FA Charity Shield was the 40th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Football League and FA Cup competitions. The match took place on 11 August 1962 at Portman Road in Ipswich, a ...

, a game in which they also conceded five goals, that time against

1962 FA Cup final The 1962 FA Cup Final took place on 5 May 1962 at Wembley Stadium and was won by Tottenham Hotspur over Burnley, by a 3–1 scoreline. Due to the lack of passion and excitement, replaced by patience and cautious play, the final was dubbed "The Che ...

winners

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 ...

. , neither Ipswich Town nor Nottingham Forest have played in a Charity Shield match since 1978.

Match

Summary

Ipswich were playing without FA Cup winners and international central defenders

Kevin Beattie Thomas Kevin Beattie (18 December 1953 – 16 September 2018) was an English footballer. Born into poverty, he played at both professional and international levels, mostly as a centre-half. He spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich ...

and Allan Hunter, who were replaced by

John Wark John Wark (born 4 August 1957) is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. W ...

and

Russell Osman Russell Charles Osman (born 14 February 1959) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre back in the Football League for Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town, Leicester City F.C., Leicester City, Southamp ...

and

David Geddis David Geddis (born 12 March 1958) is a football coach and scout, a former professional football player and England youth international. As a player, he scored 77 goals from 264 appearances in the Football League. Biography Playing career Whe ...

were also absent from the side, and Tommy Parkin was called upon to make his full professional debut at Wembley. With eight minutes gone, a volley from Parkin was turned behind by Forest goalkeeper

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

for a

corner Corner may refer to: People *Corner (surname) *House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect) Places *Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States *Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia *Corner River, a tributary of ...

. Two minutes later however,

scored in the tenth minute after a number of Ipswich defenders failed to clear a Robertson

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

. According to Ronald Atkin of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', Shilton made another "stunning" save to deny

Brian Talbot Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team. Talbot played in midfield for Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, ...

before

doubled Forest's lead on 27 minutes. Robertson cut in from the left and turned the ball back to Colin Barrett whose cross Withe headed past Paul Cooper in the Ipswich goal, sending Forest into half-time with a 2–0 lead. The second half saw Forest increase their lead, with Lloyd scoring from a Robertson

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

after Wark had fouled Withe. Ipswich's

Trevor Whymark Trevor Whymark (born 4 May 1950) is a former England international footballer who played in the Football League in the 1970s and 1980s, notably with Ipswich Town. He is currently (2016) the team's sixth highest goal scorer. Ipswich Town Why ...

was substituted off for

Robin Turner Robin David Turner (born 10 September 1955) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. An England youth international, he began his career at Ipswich Town. After being part of the FA Youth Cup winning squad of 1973, ...

on 66 minutes, but Forest scored a fourth from an O'Neill strike following a Robertson cross. O'Neill was then immediately substituted by Forest manager

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

for

David Needham David Needham (born 21 May 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Notts County, Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest, and in the North American Soccer League for the Toronto Blizzard, in th ...

before he could complete his

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. Just three minutes before full-time, Robertson scored Forest's fifth and final goal. Ipswich's

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

waited too long for a pass from Osman to reach him and let Robertson steal in to take the ball and strike it past Cooper from the edge of the area. Ipswich had no reply, and the game ended 5–0, a winning margin that, as of 2019, remains unbeaten. It was also the largest winning margin in the Charity Shield since the 1968 match where

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 tw ...

had beaten

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 pla ...

6–1.

Details

Post-match

The shield was presented to the Nottingham Forest captain by former

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

and

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

-winning captain

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...

, and Clough transgressed protocol by following his team up the steps to receive the trophy. Nottingham Forest went on to finish as First Division runners-up in the 1978–79 season, once again undefeated at home, finishing eight points behind Liverpool. Ipswich finished sixth in the division.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 FA Charity Shield FA Community Shield Charity Shield 1978 Charity Shield 1978

Comm The command in the Unix family of computer operating systems is a utility that is used to compare two files for common and distinct lines. is specified in the POSIX standard. It has been widely available on Unix-like operating systems since ...