1970 FA Cup Final

Before the game

The final at Wembley was scheduled for 11 April, around a month earlier than was typical for FA Cup finals, due to the FA's wish for the England national team, who were world champions and were defending their trophy in Mexico, to have time to acquaint themselves to the Mexican climate.^[6] The Wembley stadium's pitch was in very poor condition with the Horse of the Year Show having taken place there a week previously.

Wembley final

In a game where Leeds were generally seen to have had the best of the play — with winger Eddie Gray in particular giving David Webb a torrid time — the Yorkshiremen took the lead after 20 minutes when Jack Charlton's downward header from a corner did not bounce in the muddy pitch, defending Chelsea player Eddie McCreadie mis-timed his attempted clearance and the ball rolled over the line. Towards the end of the first half, Chelsea's Peter Houseman drove a low shot from 20 yards (18 m), which rolled under goalkeeper Gary Sprake's body for the equaliser. Leeds appeared to have secured the game six minutes from full-time when an Allan Clarke header hit the post and Mick Jones reacted first to put the ball into the net, but two minutes later Ian Hutchinson headed in the equaliser from John Hollins' cross. There were no more goals scored during the 30-minute extra time and the two squads took a joint lap of honour.

The Wembley pitch, after the game, was in such dire condition that the Football Association decided to stage the replay at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium.

Replay at Old Trafford

The replay at Old Trafford, watched by a television audience of 28 million,^[7] a record for an FA Cup final, became one of the most notorious clashes in English football for the harshness of play, which exceeded the previous game at Wembley. The referee in charge of both games, 47-year-old Eric Jennings from Stourbridge, in his last season as a Football League referee, allowed rough play by both sides throughout, playing the advantage to its full extent. He booked only one player, Ian Hutchinson of Chelsea, during the game.

Modern-day referee David Elleray reviewed the match in 1997, and concluded that the sides would have received six red cards and twenty yellow cards between them, in the modern era of football.^[8] Tommy Baldwin and Terry Cooper, admittedly two of the quieter men in the two sides, were kicking lumps out of one another, as the battle began. Not long into the game, Chelsea's Ron Harris caught winger Eddie Gray with a kick to the back of the knee, an action which neutralised the Scottish winger for the rest of the game. Norman Hunter and Ian Hutchinson traded punches while Eddie McCreadie, in his own penalty area, made a flying kick to Bremner's head and Johnny Giles also lunged at a Chelsea opponent. Charlton kneed and headbutted Peter Osgood while Chelsea's goalkeeper Peter Bonetti was injured after being bundled into the net by Leeds' Jones, who, minutes later, shot past the limping Bonetti for the opening goal.

Chelsea equalised twelve minutes before the end, after a flowing move, from which Osgood scored with a diving header from a Charlie Cooke cross. Jackie Charlton should have been marking Osgood but had 'lost' him while chasing Hutchinson to exact retribution for a deadleg administered in the Chelsea penalty area a minute or so earlier. In scoring, Osgood became the last player to date to have scored in every round of the FA Cup. With the game ending 1–1, the final once again went into extra time. One minute before the first period of extra time was to end, Chelsea's Hutchinson sent in a long throw-in that missed almost every player in the penalty area but came off Charlton's head towards the far post, before being put into the unguarded net by Webb to give Chelsea the lead for the first time in the two games. They kept the lead until the end, securing their first FA Cup win.

Wembley

11 April 1970
15:00 BST

Chelsea	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Leeds United
Houseman  41' Hutchinson  86'	(Report)	Charlton  20' Jones  84'

Wembley, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: Eric Jennings

Chelsea

Leeds United

GK 1 Peter Bonetti RB 2 David Webb LB 3 Eddie McCreadie CM 4 John Hollins CB 5 John Dempsey CB 6 Ron Harris (c)  90' RM 7 Tommy Baldwin CM 8 Peter Houseman CF 9 Peter Osgood CF 10 Ian Hutchinson LM 11 Charlie Cooke Substitutes: DF 12 Marvin Hinton  90' Manager: Dave Sexton

GK 1 Gary Sprake RB 2 Paul Madeley LB 3 Terry Cooper CM 4 Billy Bremner (c) CB 5 Jack Charlton CB 6 Norman Hunter RM 7 Peter Lorimer CF 8 Allan Clarke CF 9 Mick Jones CM 10 Johnny Giles LM 11 Eddie Gray Substitutes: MF 12 Mick Bates Manager: Don Revie

Match rules

• 90 minutes.
• 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
• Replay if scores still level.
• One named substitute

Old Trafford

29 April 1970

Chelsea	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Leeds United
Osgood  78' Webb  104'	(Report)	Jones  35'

Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 62,078

Referee: Eric Jennings

GK 1 Peter Bonetti RB 2 Ron Harris (c) LB 3 Eddie McCreadie CM 4 John Hollins CB 5 John Dempsey CB 6 David Webb RM 7 Tommy Baldwin CM 8 Charlie Cooke CF 9 Peter Osgood  112' CF 10 Ian Hutchinson LM 11 Peter Houseman Substitutes: DF 12 Marvin Hinton  112' Manager: Dave Sexton

GK 1 David Harvey RB 2 Paul Madeley LB 3 Terry Cooper CM 4 Billy Bremner (c) CB 5 Jack Charlton CB 6 Norman Hunter RM 7 Peter Lorimer CF 8 Allan Clarke CF 9 Mick Jones CM 10 Johnny Giles LM 11 Eddie Gray Substitutes: MF 12 Mick Bates Manager: Don Revie

Match rules

• 90 minutes.
• 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
• Replay if scores still level.
• One named substitute