The 1977 Football League Cup final was played between Aston Villa and Everton over three games. It was the first League Cup final to go to a replay,[1] and the only one that required a second replay to decide the winner.[2] The first match took place at Wembley Stadium on 12 March and the game ended in a goalless draw.[2] The replay on 16 March was only marginally better as the teams again played out a draw, this time at Hillsborough the home of Sheffield Wednesday. The game ended 1–1 with both goals scored by Everton players with Bob Latchford's last-minute equaliser[2] nullifying Roger Kenyon's earlier own-goal.
The second replay took place at Old Trafford on 13 April. The game is probably best remembered for a 40-yard goal from Villa centre-half Chris Nicholl, and in a 2010 poll this was voted in the Top 25 of all-time League Cup moments.[3] Brian Little scored his second of the match in dramatic fashion during the dying seconds of the game to give Villa a 3–2 victory, making them the first team to win the competition three times. Mick Lyons and Bob Latchford scored for Everton.
Road to Wembley
Aston Villa
Villa defeated top-level teams Manchester City and Norwich City in their first two games, before a 4th round victory over Wrexham moved them into the last eight. Here they defeated second level Millwall 2–0. In the first leg of the semi-final they drew 0–0 at Queens Park Rangers, with the second leg also drawn (2–2), thus setting up a replay. Villa won this game 3–0 on 22 February (at Highbury) courtesy of a Brian Little hat-trick.
Second Replay
Match details
For the second replay the line-ups were as the original game except for Villa Ray Graydon and Gordon Cowans played instead of Gray and Carrodus, and Gordon Smith came on as a substitute for Gidman. Everton were as the original match except Neil Robinson replaced Jones and Jim Pearson replaced McKenzie, whilst Steve Seargeant came on as a sub for Pearson.
