1972 FA Cup final

1972 FA Cup final
Event	1971–72 FA Cup
Date	6 May 1972
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	David Smith (Stonehouse)
Attendance	100,000
	← 1971 1973 →

Last updated February 18, 2025

The 1972 FA Cup final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the centenary final (although only the 91st final due to the world wars) and the 44th to be played at Wembley.

It was contested between cup holders Arsenal, who had won the Football League and the FA Cup the previous season, and Leeds United, who had won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and finished second in the league the previous season, but had never won the FA Cup. Arsenal and Leeds became the first clubs to have faced one another in both English domestic cup finals: the two had previously contested the 1968 Football League Cup Final, which Leeds had won, 1–0.^[1] Arsenal planned to make it the third successive decade for a club to return as Cup-holders and win for a second successive year, as Newcastle United had done in 1952 and Tottenham Hotspur in 1962.

This final is the origin of the song "Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!" (commonly known as "Marching On Together"), which was the B-side of Leeds's Cup Final record. The song is still played by United and other Leeds sports teams.

To date, this remains Leeds's last victory in a competitive final of any type (not counting the 1992 FA Charity Shield), with their subsequent appearances in the 1973 FA Cup final, 1975 European Cup final, 1996 Football League Cup final, and play-off final appearances in 1987, 2006, 2008, and 2024 all ending in defeat. Allan Clarke's winning goal likewise remains the last one scored by any Leeds player in a competitive final (not counting the 1988 play-off final, which took place across two legs and a replay).

Road to Wembley

Leeds United

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Leeds United 4–1 Bristol Rovers

Round 4: Liverpool 0–0 Leeds United

Replay: Leeds United 2–0 Liverpool

Round 5: Cardiff City 0–2 Leeds United

Round 6: Leeds United 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur

Semi-final: Leeds United 3–0 Birmingham City

(at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield)

Arsenal

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Swindon Town 0–2 Arsenal

Round 4: Reading 1 –2 Arsenal

Round 5: Derby County 2–2 Arsenal

Replay: Arsenal 0–0 Derby County

2nd Replay: Arsenal 1–0 Derby County (at Filbert Street)

Round 6: Leyton Orient 0–1 Arsenal

Semi-final: Stoke City 1–1 Arsenal

(at Villa Park, Birmingham)

Replay: Arsenal 2–1 Stoke City

(at Goodison Park, Everton)

Match summary

The Leeds duo Mick Jones and Allan 'Sniffer' Clarke combined to produce a goal in the fifty-third minute. Jones sent across a hard, shoulder-high centre and Clarke headed powerfully past Arsenal keeper Geoff Barnett's left hand from fifteen yards.

A match that often fell below the highest level began badly with a foul by Clarke on Alan Ball in the first five seconds and the first of four bookings – Bob McNab bringing down Peter Lorimer as early as the second minute. Neither side played consistently up to their capabilities, yet both had their moments.^{[ citation needed ]} Charlie George's fierce volley cannoned back off the bar for Arsenal, and both Clarke and Lorimer struck the woodwork for Leeds.

Leeds' jubilation at the end was tempered by a last-minute injury to Mick Jones, who dislocated his elbow and had to be helped up the steps by Norman Hunter to receive his winners' medal.

Match facts

6 May 1972
15:00 BST

Leeds United	1–0	Arsenal
Clarke 53'	(Report)

Wembley, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: David Smith

Leeds United

Arsenal



GK	1	David Harvey
RB	2	Paul Reaney
LB	3	Paul Madeley
MF	4	Billy Bremner (c)
CB	5	Jack Charlton
CB	6	Norman Hunter
RW	7	Peter Lorimer
FW	8	Allan Clarke
FW	9	Mick Jones
MF	10	Johnny Giles
LW	11	Eddie Gray
Substitute:
MF	12	Mick Bates
Manager:
Don Revie



GK	1	Geoff Barnett
RB	2	Pat Rice
LB	3	Bob McNab
MF	4	Peter Storey
CB	5	Frank McLintock (c)
CB	6	Peter Simpson
MF	7	George Armstrong
MF	8	Alan Ball
FW	9	Charlie George
FW	10	John Radford 73'
MF	11	George Graham
Substitute:
FW	12	Ray Kennedy 73'
Manager:
Bertie Mee

Match rules

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Replay if scores still level.
One named substitute.

References

↑ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2001). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2001–2002. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 584, 599–600. ISBN 978-0-7472-7260-1.

External links

Match Programme at fa-cupfinals.co.uk
Game facts at soccerbase.com
Full Results from the 1972 FA Cup competition at soccerbase.com
Match Report at Mighty Whites

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[1] Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2001). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2001–2002. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 584, 599–600. ISBN 978-0-7472-7260-1.

[1]

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 1919–20 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 Leeds United F.C. matches
FA Cup Finals	1965 1970 1972 1973
League Cup Finals	1968 1996
FA Charity Shields	1969 1974 1992
European Cup Final	1975
European Cup Winners' Cup Final	1973
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Finals	1967 1968 1971 Trophy play-off
Football League play-off Finals	1987 Second Division 2006 Championship 2008 League One 2024 Championship
Other matches	Cardiff City 2–1 Leeds United (2002)