1968 FA Cup final

1968 FA Cup final
Event	1967–68 FA Cup
	After extra time
Date	18 May 1968
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Leo Callaghan (Merthyr Tydfil)
Attendance	100,000
	← 1967 1969 →

Last updated January 15, 2025

The 1968 FA Cup final was the 87th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 18 May 1968 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between West Bromwich Albion and Everton.

This was the first FA Cup Final to be televised live on BBC2 in colour. Both teams wore their away strips, West Brom wearing white shirts and shorts with red socks, and Everton wearing gold shirts and blue shorts. This was also the first FA Cup Final in which a substitute was used, when West Brom's Dennis Clarke came on for an injured John Kaye.

The referee was Leo Callaghan from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales.

Background

Both clubs were members of the First Division, Everton having finished fifth during the 1967–68 league season and West Bromwich Albion eighth. Everton were victorious in both league matches between the two sides, winning 2–1 at Goodison Park and 6–2 at The Hawthorns.^[1] The teams had met on four previous occasions in the FA Cup. Everton had won three of those ties, including the 1906–07 semi-final, while Albion's sole victory was in the semi-final of 1930–31.^[2] Both teams were renowned for their attacking styles at the time so an exciting match was expected. Instead a tense rather drab affair ensued before Astle struck in extra time. Despite taking part in what was then a record 10th final Albion have failed since to win the competition or indeed reach the final.

Albion's journey to the final began at lower league Colchester United in Round 3. Albion took the game to a replay thanks to an equalising Tony Brown penalty, though they were second best for large periods. They had no problem in the replay however, winning 4–0 in front of near 40,000 at home. Round 4 saw Albion draw at home against Southampton before prevailing in a replay 3–2 at the Dell. Next came second Division Portsmouth in Round 5 at a packed Fratton Park. Albion triumphed thanks to goals from Astle and Clark though a Portsmouth goal made for a tense finish. Albion were then drawn at home against Bill Shankly's Liverpool side in the quarter-final. Demand for the game was huge with eager fans queuing for hours on end. However, despite being roared on by a crowd of 53,052, Albion's largest for six years, the Baggies could only manage a goalless draw, meaning a replay at Anfield, where Albion had been beaten 4–1 earlier in the league season. Albion went behind, but an Astle header took the game to yet another replay, this time at Maine Road. Despite it being a wet midweek night, a crowd of 56,000 watched the game, 20,000 of them Albion fans who had made the journey north. Despite being underdogs Albion won 2–1 with goals from Clark and Astle.

The semi-final saw Albion drawn against local rivals Birmingham City, who were chasing promotion from the second division at the time. The clubs had met in a final back in 1931, which Albion had won, and the match was staged at the neutral venue of Villa Park. In front of a crowd of over 60,000 goals from Brown and Astle saw Albion through to a record tenth final.

Route to the final

West Bromwich Albion

R3 = Colchester United (A) 1-1 (16,981) R = Colchester United (H) 4-0 (40,448)

R4 = Southampton (H) 1-1 (30,987) R = Southampton (A) 3-2* (26,036)

R5 = Portsmouth (A) 2-1 (43,642)

R6 = Liverpool (H) 0-0 (53,062) R = Liverpool (A) 1-1* (54,273) R = Liverpool (Maine Road) 2-1 (56,189)

SF = Birmingham City (Villa Park) 2-0 (60,831)

Everton

R3 = Southport (A) 1-0 (18,795)

R4 = Carlisle United (A) 2-0 (25,000)

R5 = Tranmere Rovers (H) 2-0 (62,634)

R6 = Leicester City (A) 3-1 (43,519)

SF = Leeds United (Old Trafford) 1-0 (63,000)

Match details

18 May 1968

15:00 BST

West Bromwich Albion	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Everton
Astle 93'	Report

Wembley, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: Leo Callaghan

West Bromwich Albion

Everton



GK	1	John Osborne
RB	2	Doug Fraser
LB	3	Graham Williams (c)
IF	4	Tony Brown
CB	5	John Talbut
CB	6	John Kaye
MF	7	Graham Lovett
OR	8	Ian Collard
CF	9	Jeff Astle
IF	10	Bobby Hope
OL	11	Clive Clark
Substitute:
DF	12	Dennis Clarke
Manager:
Alan Ashman



GK	1	Gordon West
RB	2	Tommy Wright
LB	3	Ray Wilson
CM	4	Howard Kendall
CB	5	Brian Labone (c)
CM	6	Colin Harvey
RM	7	Jimmy Husband
CM	8	Alan Ball
CF	9	Joe Royle
CB	10	John Hurst
LM	11	Johnny Morrissey
Substitute:
DF	12	Roger Kenyon
Manager:
Harry Catterick

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References

↑ McOwan, Gavin (2002). The Essential History of West Bromwich Albion. Headline. p. 259. ISBN 0-7553-1146-9.
↑ Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. pp. 157–167. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.

External links

Line-ups

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[1] McOwan, Gavin (2002). The Essential History of West Bromwich Albion. Headline. p. 259. ISBN 0-7553-1146-9.

[2] Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books. pp. 157–167. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.

[1]

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v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

v t e West Bromwich Albion F.C. matches
FA Cup Finals	1886 1887 1888 1892 1895 1912 1931 1935 1954 1968
League Cup Finals	1966 1967 1970
FA Charity Shields	1920 1931 1954 1968
Football League play-off Finals	1993 Second Division 2007 Championship
Other matches	1888 World Championship 5–3 v Manchester United (1978) Len Cantello Testimonial Match (1979) Battle of Bramall Lane (2002)

v t e Everton F.C. matches
FA Cup Finals	1893 1897 1906 1907 1933 1966 1968 1984 1985 1986 1989 1995 2009
League Cup Finals	1977 1984
FA Charity Shields	1928 1932 1933 1963 1966 1970 1984 1985 1986 1987 1995
European Cup Winners' Cup Final	1985
European Super Cup	~~1985~~
Full Members' Cup Finals	1989 1991
Other matches	1938 Empire Exhibition Trophy Final 1986 English Super Cup Final 1987 Dubai Champions Cup 2009 MLS All-Star Game