Anglo-Scottish Cup

Anglo-Scottish Cup

Organising body	FA   SFA
Founded	1975
Abolished	1981;42 years ago (1981)
Region	England   Scotland
Number of teams	24 (1980–81)
Related competitions	Anglo-Italian Cup
Last champions	Chesterfield (1980–81)

The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format to its predecessor, but involving clubs from England and Scotland only.

The competition made every attempt to maintain the status of a top-level tournament. Newcastle United were expelled from the 1976–77 competition for playing a weakened team in the first leg of their quarter-final against Ayr United. ^[1] Over the years, however, English entrants were increasingly drawn from the lower divisions, and in 1981 the Scottish clubs withdrew as the public showed little interest in the competition. As the final winners, Chesterfield still hold the trophy and it is displayed in their Board Room. The competition continued, with English clubs only, as the Football League Group Cup.^{[ citation needed ]}

In the 1987–88 season, an attempt was made to revive the competition as the Anglo-Scottish Challenge, pitting the holders of the FA Cup and Scottish Cup against each other, but after a poor attendance for the first leg between Coventry City and St Mirren the competition was shelved, with the second leg never played. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Nottingham Forest’s victory in the 1976-77 final over Orient was their first trophy under the management of Brian Clough, who later stated that he took the tournament seriously (when many other clubs did not) and considered it the springboard for Forest's future success, as they would go on to win a First Division title and two European Cups over the following three seasons. Clough had taken a similar stance on the competition's predecessor, the Texaco Cup, and won it with Derby County in 1972, the same year he guided them to their first league title.

Format

The format of the competition remained constant throughout the six years of its existence, and indeed the format was the same as the last edition of its forerunner, the Texaco Cup. ^[5]

Sixteen English clubs competed in four groups of four, with the winners of each group qualifying for the quarter-finals. Clubs played each of the other teams in their group once, with two points awarded for a win, one for a draw, and a bonus point for each side that scored three or more goals in a single match. ^[5]

Eight Scottish League clubs played a two-legged knock-out round, with the aggregate winners of each tie qualifying to the overall quarter-finals. For the overall quarter-finals, each club was paired against a club from the other country and the tournament then progressed in a knock-out format, with each tie (including the final) being played over two legs. ^[5]

In the early years, around half of the English clubs were drawn from that season's First Division (excepting clubs playing in Europe), although by the latter years of the tournament only two or three top-level English sides were playing, with participation stretching down to Third and Fourth Division sides.^{[ citation needed ]}

List of finals

Ed.	Season	Winners	Aggr.	Runners-up
1	1975–76	Middlesbrough	1–0	Fulham
2	1976–77	Nottingham Forest	5–1	Orient
3	1977–78	Bristol City	3–2	St Mirren
4	1978–79	Burnley	4–2	Oldham Athletic
5	1979–80	St Mirren	5–1	Bristol City
6	1980–81	Chesterfield	2–1	Notts County

NB Finals played over two legs, aggregate score given.

(Source: ^[6] )

St Mirren became the only Scottish winner of the event following their success in 1979–80, defeating Bristol City 2–0 at Ashton Gate Stadium in the first leg, before a 3–1 home 2nd leg victory on 16 April 1980. ^[7]

Chesterfield's victory in the 1980–81 event was secured with an extra-time goal from Alan Crawford.^{[ citation needed ]}

Participants

1975–76

Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bristol City, Carlisle United, Chelsea, Fulham, Hull City, Leicester City, Manchester City, Mansfield Town, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Sheffield United, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion
Aberdeen, Ayr United, Dundee, Falkirk, Heart of Midlothian, Motherwell, Queen of the South, St Johnstone

1976–77

Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Burnley, Chelsea, Fulham, Hull City, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Orient, Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion
Aberdeen, Ayr United, Clydebank, Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers

1977–78

Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Burnley, Chelsea, Fulham, Hull City, Leyton Orient, Norwich City, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield United
Alloa Athletic, Ayr United, Clydebank, Hibernian, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Stirling Albion, St Mirren

1978–79

Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Burnley, Cardiff City, Fulham, Leyton Orient, Mansfield Town, Norwich City, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Sunderland
Celtic, Clyde, Hearts, Morton, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, St Mirren

1979–80

Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Burnley, Bury, Cambridge United, Fulham, Mansfield Town, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Plymouth Argyle, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Sunderland
Berwick Rangers, Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Morton, Partick Thistle, St Mirren

1980–81

Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Burnley, Bury, Carlisle United, Chesterfield, Fulham, Grimsby Town, Hull City, Leyton Orient, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Shrewsbury
Airdrieonians, East Stirlingshire, Falkirk, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Morton, Partick Thistle, Rangers

References

1. F.A. Yearbook 1977–78, p.73
2. Final Curtain: Last Anglo-Scottish cup match: Coventry City 1 St Mirren 1, 22 December 1987 Archived 12 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine , The Scotsman , 31 January 2009, accessed 23 April 2010]
3. Missing a leg Archived 12 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine , When Saturday Comes , 1 August 2007
4. Anglo-Scottish Cup Winners Challenge Archived 26 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine , StMirren.info
5. Tom Lewis (20 December 2007). "Anglo-Scottish Cup & Texaco Cup – Full Results". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
6. "Anglo-Scottish Cup : Honours". England. Statto.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
7. "When Saints were kings: How St Mirren made history in the Anglo-Scottish Cup 40 years ago". The Scotsman. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

External links

• Chesterfield-related TV footage from the 1980/81 event, including a focus on the visit of Rangers