1965 FA Cup Final Liverpool v Leeds United

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Liverpool 2 Leeds United 1 (after extra time)

The 1965 FA Cup Final took place on 1 May 1965 at Wembley Stadium. It was the 93rd year, 84th final (due to World Wars) and the 37th to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Liverpool, who had won the First Division the previous season and had lost their two previous attempts at the cup (1914 and 1950), and Leeds United, who had won the Second Division Championship and been promoted the previous season.

The twentieth post-war Final was a hard one to pick. On the previous season's performance (1963–64), Liverpool would have been the favourites after winning the First Division and Leeds winning the Second Division. However, Leeds finished 2nd in the league in 1964–65 and Liverpool finished 7th. Three seasons earlier, Leeds had been only one match away from relegation from the Second Division, so their position in the league and reaching their first FA Cup Final was a remarkable achievement, which was pointed out in the final programme.[1]

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The game ran to extra time — the first Final to do so since 1947, and the additional period was played out in an atmosphere of great tension and drama before Liverpool were victorious.

Defensively, Leeds were excellent, but there was a lack of invention in their attack. The Collins-Bremner midfield machine for once failed to function, their passes down the middle invariably mastered by Yeats and Smith. Liverpool, on the other hand, were always forcing their way forward, with St. John and Hunt showing tremendous bursts of energy in particular. Every raid looked full of danger, but Leeds survived.

Three minutes into extra time the deadlock was finally broken when Liverpool scored. Left-back Byrne, who had played most of the match with a broken collar bone, took the ball to the by-line and crossed for Hunt, stooping low, to nod home. But they quickly lost the advantage when Leeds equalised. Charlton headed the ball down and Bremner lashed a half-volley into the top corner. Then Liverpool contrived to score again, St. John diving to head in Callaghan's low centre from the right.

LIVERPOOL:

GK 1 Tommy Lawrence
DF 2 Chris Lawler
DF 3 Gerry Byrne
DF 4 Geoff Strong
DF 5 Ron Yeats (c)
MF 6 Willie Stevenson
MF 7 Ian Callaghan
FW 8 Roger Hunt
FW 9 Ian St. John
MF 10 Tommy Smith
MF 11 Peter Thompson
Manager:
Bill Shankly


LEEDS UNITED:

GK 1 Gary Sprake
DF 2 Paul Reaney
DF 3 Willie Bell
MF 4 Billy Bremner
DF 5 Jack Charlton
DF 6 Norman Hunter
MF 7 Johnny Giles
FW 8 Jim Storrie
FW 9 Alan Peacock
MF 10 Bobby Collins (c)
MF 11 Albert Johanneson
Manager:
Don Revie

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