On This Day (24th March 1985): Sunderland come out second best at Wembley

03/24/2025 02:00 AM

We might have beaten top sides on the route to Wembley, but Norwich City were a step to far for Len Ashurst's side on the day.

The League Cup is not a competition that we have a particularly great record in since it kicked off in the early 1960s.

I decided to do a little bit of quick background on the competition and to get some early information. Wikipedia was, rightly or wrongly, the starting point, and the status section was interesting reading.

Some clubs have repeatedly fielded a weaker side in the competition, making the opportunity for giant-killing of the larger clubs more likely. Many teams in the Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester United in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience. Consequently, it began to be described sarcastically by many fans as the "Mickey Mouse cup".

Clicking on the link for "Mickey Mouse Cup" I was able to expand on that starting point...

"Mickey Mouse cup" is a pejorative term used particularly in British football to describe some knockout competitions regarded as having lesser prestige than others, for example the English Football League Cup, compared with the FA Cup.

Food for thought.

It was originally devised as a way for clubs to make a bit of money after being knocked out of the FA Cup, which usually brought in the cash. There was also the introduction of floodlights to grounds around the country and after the specific Southern Professional Floodlit Cup was a midweek success, the League Cup subsequently replaced it.

In its third year we got to the semi-final where the first-leg at Roker against Aston Villa in January 1963, which came just a few weeks after Brian Clough sustained his career ending injury. After the Lads pulled the deficit back to 1-2 with half an hour to go, we had a cruel blow ten minutes later when Jimmy Montgomery had to go off injured.

In the days before substitutes, outfield player Colin Nelson went in goal and we played the game out with ten men and subsequently conceded another with a couple of minutes to go. The second leg didn't come until April because of the harsh winter and we drew 0-0 and missed out on the final, which in these early days was over two-legs rather than at Wembley.

We then struggled for over twenty years until 1984-85, where after taking over following Alan Durban's departure the previous season, was Len Ashurst's first full season in charge.

We didn't start the season badly and were sitting in mid-table when we opened up the League Cup campaign against Steve Coppell's Crystal Palace from Division Two where a 2-1 win at Roker put us through due to a goalless draw in the second-leg at Selhurst Park.

Then it got tricky. Our next four opponents on our route to the final all finished in the top eleven in Division One at the end of the season.

First up was Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest where after a 1-1 draw at the City Ground it went to extra-time at Roker after the regulation ninety minutes had passed without any further goals. But, in the 111th minute, Howard Gayle popped up with the winner to send us through to face Peter Shreeves' Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs included the likes of Ray Clemence in goal, Gary Stevens, Gary Mabbutt, Clive Allen, Glenn Hoddle as well as Sunderland-born Micky Hazard and after a goalless draw at Roker it looked like an uphill task when Graham Roberts scored a penalty after only six minutes at White Hart Lane.

But once again the Lads dug in and goals by Clive Walker and Gordon Chisholm, as well as a penalty save by Chris Turner with around ten minutes left was enough to put us through to the quarter-final to face Graham Taylor's Watford in a one-off knockout tie at Vicarage Road.

Watford's starting XI included Tony Coton in goal and Luther Blissett and John Barnes at the other end doing the business, but a Clive Walker goal early in the second half put Sunderland into the last four of the competition where they faced John Neal's Chelsea.

By this point, a second appearance in a League Cup semi-final for the club was masking some awful league form that meant we were in for a scrap to preserve out top flight status. But once again, in a a pretty explosive encounter over tow-legs, Sunderland won 5-2 on aggregate, where a lot has been written of those games previously.

After beating those sides en route to the final, it looked on paper that taking on Ken Brown's Norwich City, who were in the scrap to avoid the drop with ourselves, was the easiest tie since taking on Palace in the first round. But it wasn't to be.

After a pretty even first half where both sides had half chances, it all kicked off early in the second half.

First off, Norwich took the lead in the opening minute after the break after David Corner had failed to shield the ball out of play before John Deehan had nicked possession from him, which led to a shot that deflected off Gordon Chisholm and past Chris Turner.

Two minutes later, Barry Venison, who had become the youngest-ever captain at a Wembley final by leading the Lads out, had been sent away on the right, and after cutting back inside the box, Dennis Van Wijk pushed the ball with his arm, and Neil Midgley the referee theatrically pointed to the spot.

Celebrations followed in the Sunderland end before Clive Walker stepped up, and with his left foot, hit the outside of the post to Chris Woods' left. 1-0 it finished and Norwich City lifted the trophy for the first time.

Oh, and both sides were relegated.

Sunday 24th March, 1985

League Cup Final

Wembley Stadium

Norwich City 1-0 Sunderland

[Chisholm (OG) 46' - (Walker missed penalty 48')]

Norwich City: Woods, Hayloc, Van Wijk, Bruce, Mendham, Watson, Barham, Channon, Deehan, Hartford, Donowa Substitute not used: Devine

Sunderland: Turner, Venison, Bennett, Chisholm, Pickering, Corner (Gayle), Daniel, Wallace, Hodgson, Berry, Walker

Attendance: 100,000