Fa Cup 1973 1974 Liverpool Newcastle

Final

4 May 1974
Wembley Stadium London
Referee: G Kew
Attendance: 100,000

  Liverpool's Wembley opponents, Newcastle United were making a record eleventh appearance in an FA Cup final and were one short of a record number of wins. The north-easterners turned up at Wembley not only with a Cup-fighting pedigree finer than Liverpool's but with the backing of supporters every bit as fanatical. They also had a few players quite capable of destroying the Anfield dreams. Striker Malcolm Macdonald was an England regular and one of the most dangerous finishers in the game while Ian McFaul, David Craig, Bobby Moncur, Tommy Cassidy and Jim Smith were all internationals. They also fielded two youngsters called Terry McDermott and Alan Kennedy who in time would both find their way to Anfield. 

 The Geordies would be no pushover and Malcolm Macdonald had been boasting since the semi-final about what he was going to do to Liverpool's supposed invincible defence. Larry Lloyd, at the heart of that defence had taken a bad knock earlier in the year and into his boots had stepped a twenty-year-old local lad, Phil Thompson, A tall, gangling, youth with match-stick legs who weighed not much over 10 stones, he hardly looked an adequate replacement for the broad-shouldered, strong-limbed Lloyd. But Thompson was skilful, determined and above all a battler who in later years would captain not only his club but his country as well. The versatile Tommy Smith had also slotted into the right back position with the unlucky Chris Lawler pushed into the reserves and now close to ending his footballing career at Anfield. Up front Phil Boersma was the unfortunate player left out with Toshack pulling on the striker's jersey. Emlyn Hughes led Liverpool onto the pitch and into a cacophony of noise from the Geordie and Scouse fans that rang around the arena. The first half promised much but never quite delivered. Newcastle looked impressive early on but could never find the well-marked Macdonald who was gradually being blotted out of the game by the novice, Phil Thompson. Shortly before the interval Terry Hibbitt tore a knee and never really recovered and when the half-time whistle went Liverpool were just about ahead on points.

In the second half Liverpool's slow domination turned to superiority when first Lindsay scored only to be ruled offside in the fifty-first minute and then Keegan stabbed home a Tommy Smith cross in the fifty-eighth minute to make it 1-0. A quarter of an hour later and Liverpool took a firmer grip on the cup when Steve Heighway scored from a Toshack backheader. Liverpool now gave an appreciative Wembley crowd a display of footballing skills as they knocked the ball from wing to wing and frequently strung together a dozen passes or more. Newcastle were simply outplayed as Liverpool oozed confidence. The final goal was scored fittingly by Keegan with just a couple of minutes remaining after Tommy Smith had swapped the neatest of exchanges before crossing for Keegan to tuck away. Some thirteen passes between the red-shirted Liverpool players had created the third goal that deservedly took the FA Cup back to Anfield for the second time in their history.

As Emlyn Hughes strode up the thirty-nine steps to the Royal Box to receive the trophy a security guard, not recognising Phil Thompson stopped him from joining in the party, while down on the pitch with fans kneeling at Shankly's feet another security man tried to usher Liverpool's trainer, Bob Paisley away. But neither of them needed to worry as their faces would soon become familiar enough to the stadium's security staff. The Sunday People described the game as 'the most one sided final since I960' while the Liverpool manager told their reporter that Liverpool 'were the best team m England and probably in the world'. After the adulation on the pitch Shankly returned to the dressing-room and sat quietly in the corner while around him players cracked open the champagne. Sitting there buried in his own thoughts he made a decision that was to rock the football world. Liverpool travelled back to Merseyside the following day to the traditional reception. A quarter of a million lined the streets of the city to cheer them home. Shankly was their god but none of them knew that his days at Anfield were quickly drawing to an end.

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Liverpool   Clemence,   Smith,   Thompson, Hughes, Lindsay, Hall, Callaghan, Cormack, Keegan, Toshack, Heighway.
Newcastle United McFaul, Clark, Howard, Moncur, Kennedy,  smith  (Gibb),     McDermott,     Cassidy, Macdonald, Tudor, Hibbitt.