The 1980 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the

1979–80 Football League Cup The 1979–80 Football League Cup was the 20th season of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The winners qualified for the 1980–81 UEFA Cup, if not already qualified for European competition. Wolv ...

, the 20th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. The match was played 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 original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

on 15 March 1980, and was contested by

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

holders and European 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

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 ...

. Wolves won the match 1–0 thanks to an Andy Gray goal in the 67th minute. As both

and European Cup holders, Nottingham Forest had entered the match as clear favourites, although in the league table, Wolves were level on points with them with a game in hand. Victory here would have given the club a hat trick of League Cup wins, and they retained the European Cup at the end of the season. By contrast, Wolves' last silverware had been their

win six years earlier and they had finished a lowly 18th in the First Division in the previous campaign, whilst Forest had ended runners-up.

Match summary

Living up to their tag of favourites, Nottingham Forest took the game to Wolves and created several opportunities, all denied by Bradshaw in the Wolves goal, as Francis shot across him and Gray's mazy run through was just halted. Birtles' driven attempt at a scrambled corner was also parried away by the keeper, while Wolves' attacks largely came to nothing. The second half started more evenly and Wolves were the first to get the ball into the net, as Richards and Carr bundled it in after Shilton had flapped at a cross, only for a foul to be awarded against Wolves. In the 67th minute, a long ball upfield by Daniel created confusion in the Forest defence, as Needham and Shilton collided with one another, leaving Gray with the simplest of chances to prod the ball into the empty net. Forest now pressed hard for the equaliser but were thwarted by the resilient mass of Wolves' defence, as they cleared the ball after several goalmouth scrambles. In a break from the Forest onslaught, Wolves almost extended their lead further when Berry hit the woodwork. Nonetheless, the Molineux men held on to upset the odds and claim their second League Cup triumph. The cup was then presented by then- FA Chairman Sir Harold Thompson to Wolves captain

Emlyn Hughes Emlyn Walter Hughes (28 August 1947 – 9 November 2004) was an English footballer. He started his career at Blackpool in 1964 before moving to Liverpool in 1967. He made 665 appearances for Liverpool and captained the side to three league ti ...

. This completed Hughes' personal achievement of having won every major domestic honour during his career.

Match details

Road to Wembley

Nottingham Forest

Wolverhampton Wanderers

References

{{Reflist EFL Cup Finals League Cup Final 1980 League Cup Final 1980 1979–80 Football League Football League Cup Football League Cup Final