The 1972 FA Cup final took place on 6 May 1972 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. It was the centenary final (although only the 91st final due to the world wars) and the 44th to be played at Wembley. It was contested between cup holders

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 ...

, who had won 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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

the previous season, and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, who had won the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

and finished second in the league the previous season, but had never won the FA Cup. Arsenal and Leeds became the first clubs to have faced one another in both English domestic cup finals: the two had previously contested the 1968 Football League Cup Final, which Leeds had won, 1–0. Arsenal planned to make it the third successive decade for a club to return as Cup-holders and win for a second successive year, as

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

had done in 1952 and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in 1962. This final is the origin of the song "Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!" (commonly known as "

Marching On Together "Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!" (commonly known as "Marching On Together") is the name of the anthem of Leeds United written by Les Reed and Barry Mason. The vocals on the original 1972 recording were sung by members of the Leeds United team and thei ...

"), which was the B-side of Leeds's Cup Final record. The song is still played by United and other Leeds sports teams. To date, this remains Leeds's last victory in a competitive final of any type (not counting the 1992 FA Charity Shield), with their subsequent appearances in the 1973 FA Cup final, 1973 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, 1975 European Cup final, 1996 Football League Cup final, and play-off final appearances in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

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all ending in defeat. Allan Clarke's winning goal likewise remains the last one scored by any Leeds player in a competitive final (not counting the 1987 play-off final, which took place across two legs and a replay).

Road to Wembley

Match summary

The Leeds duo Mick Jones and Allan 'Sniffer' Clarke combined to produce a goal in the fifty-third minute. Jones sent across a hard, shoulder-high centre and Clarke headed powerfully past Arsenal keeper Geoff Barnett's left hand from fifteen yards. A match that often fell below the highest level began badly with a foul by Clarke on Alan Ball in the first five seconds and the first of four bookings –

Bob McNab Robert McNab (born 20 July 1943) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. McNab featured for clubs Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers, San Antonio Thunder, Barnet, Vancouver Whitecaps and Tacoma Stars in his p ...

bringing down

Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer who mainly played for Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever player ...

as early as the second minute. Neither side played consistently up to their capabilities, yet both had their moments.

Charlie George Frederick Charles George (born 10 October 1950) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. George began his career as a youngster with Arsenal and was part of their 1970–71 League and FA Cup Double-winning team, ...

's fierce volley cannoned back off the bar for Arsenal, and both Clarke and Lorimer struck the woodwork for Leeds. Leeds' jubilation at the end was tempered by a last-minute injury to Mick Jones, who dislocated his elbow and had to be helped up the steps by Norman Hunter to receive his winners' medal.

Match facts

References

External links

Match Programme
at fa-cupfinals.co.uk
Game facts
at soccerbase.com
Full Results from the 1972 FA Cup competition
at soccerbase.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Fa Cup Final

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

FA Cup finals FA Cup Final 1972 FA Cup Final 1972

FA Cup Final The FA 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 events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...