1978 FA Cup Final

The 1978 FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium on 6 May 1978. It was the final match of the 1977–78 FA Cup, the 97th season of the world’s oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Four-time winners Arsenal were appearing in their ninth final, whereas Ipswich Town were making their debut at Wembley and in their first FA Cup final. The game was watched by a stadium crowd of around 100,000 and was broadcast live on television and radio.

About 1978 FA Cup Final in brief

Summary 1978 FA Cup FinalThe 1978 FA Cup Final was played at the old Wembley Stadium on 6 May 1978. It was the final match of the 1977–78 FA Cup, the 97th season of the world’s oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Four-time winners Arsenal were appearing in their ninth final, whereas Ipswich Town were making their debut at Wembley and in their first FA Cup final. The game was watched by a stadium crowd of around 100,000 and was broadcast live on television and radio. It remains Ipswich’s only FA Cup triumph to date and they have not appeared in the final since. Arsenal went into the final as clear favourites, having won all of their ties at the first time of asking. The FA Cup is English football’s primary cup competition. Clubs in the highest tier of English football enter theFA Cup in the third round and are selected randomly out of a hat with the remaining clubs. If a match is drawn, a replay comes into force, ordinarily at the ground of the team who were away for the first game. Arsenal won 4–1 with goals from Stapleton, Macdonald and Sunderland; Alan Buckley scored the consolation for Walsall. Wrexham were Arsenal’s sixth round opponents, the match taking place in front of 25,000 supporters at the Racecourse Ground. The semi-final, played at Stamford Bridge as a neutral venue, was against lower-league Orient who had knocked out First Division teams Norwich City and Middlesbrough.

The North London club won 3–0 with Graham Rix extending the North London side’s lead midway through the second half to see Arsenal through to the final. As Ipswich were in a poor run of form domestically and in European competition, Bobby Robson had declared the contest against Cardiff City as a contest against the Welsh club. The final was played on the same day as Chelsea’s First Division match against Cardiff. The match ended in a 3–2 victory for Chelsea. Arsenal were already out of the competition by the time the final took place, having already lost 2–0 to Chelsea in the quarter-final and 3–1 to Manchester United in the semi-finals. Arsenal’s last FA Cup win came in the 1977 FA Cup third round against Second Division team Sheffield United. The Gunners went on to win the competition 4–0 in the fourth round with a 5–0 victory at Bramall Lane. The fifth round saw Arsenal drawn at home against Wolverhampton Wanderers, against whom, in the 1932–33 FA Cup they had lost 2-0 in what is regarded as one of the greatest FA Cup upsets in the history of the competitions. The sixth round was at home to Welsh third-tier side Wrexam, with Dixie McNeil scoring a header for the visitors. The seventh round was away at Second Division club Cardiff City, with Arsenal winning 3-1.