The 1982 Football League Cup final was a football match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur on 13 March 1982 at Wembley Stadium. It was the final match of the 1981–82 Football League Cup, the 22nd staging of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in The Football League. Liverpool were the reigning champions and appearing in their third final. This was Tottenham's third final, having won their previous two appearances in 1971 and 1973.
Both teams entered the competition in the second round. Liverpool's matches were generally comfortable victories. They beat Middlesbrough 4–1 in the third round, but two of their ties went to a replay. Tottenham's matches were close affairs, the only match they won by more than one goal was their 2–0 victory against Wrexham in the third round, although they did not concede a single goal en route to the final.
Watched by a crowd of 100,000, Tottenham opened the scoring in the 11th minute when striker Steve Archibald scored. Tottenham maintained their lead until the 87th minute, when midfielder Ronnie Whelan equalised for Liverpool. With the scores level after 90 minutes the match went to extra time. Whelan scored again in the 111th minute to give Liverpool the lead and striker Ian Rush scored in the 119th minute to secure a 3–1 victory for Liverpool. It was their second League Cup victory and second in succession. The year before, Ray Clemence played for Liverpool, only to be on the losing side against his former team in 1982.
Route to the final
LiverpoolRoundTottenham HotspurExeter City H5–0 Rush 15', 67', McDermott 27' Dalglish 37', Whelan 68'Second Round, First LegManchester United H1–0 ArchibaldExeter City A6–0 Rush 15', 78', Dalglish 23', Neal 34', Sheedy 53', Mather og 80' Second Round, Second LegManchester United A1–0 HazardMiddlesbrough H4–1 Sheedy 29', Rush 64', Johnson 74', 80' Third Round Wrexham H2–0 Hughton, HoddleArsenal A0–0 Fourth Round Fulham H1–0 HazardArsenal H3–0 (aet) Johnston 95', McDermott 101' (pen), Dalglish 108' Replay Barnsley H0–0 Fifth Round Nottingham Forest H1–0 ArdilesBarnsley H3–1 Souness 37', Johnson 81', Dalglish 89' Replay Ipswich Town A2–0 McDermott 47', Rush 49' Semi-finals, First Leg West Bromwich Albion A0–0 Ipswich Town H2–2 Rush 26', Dalglish 47' Semi-finals, Second Leg West Bromwich Albion H1–0 Hazard
Pre-match Both teams were playing in the First Division, English football's top division at the time. At the start of the day of the final, Liverpool were in 4th position and Spurs in 7th.
Match Details
GK 1 Bruce GrobbelaarRB 2 Phil Neal CB 3 Mark LawrensonLB 4 Alan KennedyLM 5 Ronnie WhelanCB 6 Phil Thompson CF 7 Kenny DalglishRM 8 Sammy LeeCF 9 Ian RushCM 10 Terry McDermott CM 11 Graeme Souness (c)Substitute: 12 David Johnson Manager: Bob Paisley GK 1 Ray ClemenceLB 2 Chris HughtonCB 3 Paul MillerCB 4 Paul Price RM 5 Micky Hazard RB 6 Steve Perryman (c) CM 7 Osvaldo ArdilesCF 8 Steve Archibald LM 9 Tony GalvinCM 10 Glenn HoddleCF 11 Garth CrooksSubstitute:MF 12 Ricardo Villa Manager: Keith Burkinshaw
Post-match After their victory in the League Cup, Liverpool went on to win the First Division title, finishing four points ahead of runners-up Ipswich Town. Tottenham finished the season in 4th place and beat Queens Park Rangers in a replay to win the 1982 FA Cup final.
References
External links LFC History Match Report