SOME OF THE STORIES FROM THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL.. . . .
THE
WATNEY CUP
.... or to give it it's full moniker
The Watney Mann Invitation Cup, joined the
fixture list at the start of the 1970/71 season. It was the first
sponsored competition played for by Football League clubs - Watney's being
a major brewer back then with Watney's Red Barrel providing the bulk of my
liquid intake at the time. The competition was made up of 8 clubs - two
from each of the four divisions who in the previous season had been the
top scorers in their division and who had not been either promoted or won a
place in a European competition.
It initially proved to be a popular
competition adding a bit of competitive spice to the normally pedestrian
pre-season friendly fixture list. It also proved to be innovative by
introducing to the British game the penalty shoot-out to settle drawn
matches. In the second season of the competition there was an experiment
with the rules with offside being restricted only to the penalty area. It
proved to be a success with fewer stoppages and less defensive football.
 It
also opened the eyes of the football world to a new and eventually
lucrative source of money from sponsorship. Competing clubs not only had a
share of gate receipts and TV income but each participating side received
£4,000 for entering. Another £500 went to each first round winners, £500
more for a victory in the semis and £1000 for the winners. In addition The
Football League and Football Association shared £50,000 from the sponsors.
So perhaps not surprisingly only one club ever declined an invitation to
enter.
With proven goalscorers
making up the competing clubs the first season saw each match averaging
over 4 goals and 21,012 spectators a game going through the turnstiles.
That second statistic was helped by Manchester United's participation and
the fact that - for the only time in the four years of the competition -
both finalists were from the First Division.
Manchester United competed in the
second season and their 2-1 first round defeat at Halifax saw the top
attendance in the competition - 19,765 (gate receipts £7,782) - but overall the average dropped
to 12,196. Manchester United qualified for the third Watney Cup in 1972
but declined the invitation. Presumably following their early defeat at
Halifax in 1971 they wanted a more secure pre-season fixture list and
arranged friendlies in Torquay, Bournemouth, Copenhagen and Berlin when
the Watney Cup was being decided. Bristol Rovers won the 1972 tournament
with average attendances slipping again, to 11,648.
The giant-killing of 1971 and 1972
came to an end in 1973 when First Division Stoke won the competition and
that helped increase the average crowd to 13,196 but despite that
improvement the 1973 tournament proved to be the fourth and final staging of the
competition.
Full results -
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1970/71 |
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Competing clubs -
First Division - Derby County & Manchester United
Second Division - Hull City and Sheffield United
Third Division - Fulham & Reading
Fourth Division - Aldershot and Peterborough United
First Round
(Saturday August 1st 1970) |
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Aldershot |
0 |
- |
6 |
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Sheffield United |
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Fulham |
3 |
- |
5 |
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Derby County |
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Peterborough United |
0 |
- |
4 |
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Hull City |
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Reading |
2 |
- |
3 |
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Manchester United |
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Semi Final
(Wednesday August 5th 1970) |
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Derby County |
1 |
- |
0 |
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Sheffield United |
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Hull City |
1 |
- |
1 |
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Manchester United |
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Manchester United
won on 4-3 penalties |
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Final
Saturday 8th August 1970Derby
County 4
(McFarland, Hinton, Durban, Mackay)
Manchester United 1
(Best)
Attendance: 32,049
Derby County
Green; Webster, Robson, Durban, McFarland, Mackay, McGovern,
Carlin, O'Hare, Hector, Hinton.
Manchester United
Stepney; Edwards, Dunne, Crerand, Ure, Sadler, Morgan (sub:
Stiles), Law (sub: Fitzpatrick), Charlton, Kidd, Best. |
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*********
1971/72 |
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Competing clubs -
First Division - Manchester United & West Bromwich Albion
Second Division - Carlisle United & Luton Town
Third Division - Halifax Town & Wrexham
Fourth Division - Colchester United & Crewe Alexandra |
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First Round
(Saturday July 31st 1971) |
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Colchester United |
1 |
- |
0 |
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Luton Town |
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Crewe Alexandra |
1 |
- |
3 |
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Carlisle United |
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Halifax Town |
2 |
- |
1 |
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Manchester United |
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Wrexham |
1 |
- |
2 |
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West Bromwich Albion |
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Semi Final
(Wednesday August 4th 1971) |
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Colchester United |
2 |
- |
0 |
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Carlisle United |
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Halifax Town |
0 |
- |
2 |
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West Bromwich Albion |
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Final
Saturday 7th August 1971
West Bromwich Albion
4
(Cantello, Astle 2, Suggett)
Colchester United 4
(Mahon 2, Simmons, Lewis)
Colchester won 4-3 on penalties
Attendance:
19,009
West Bromwich Albion
Cumbes; Hughes, Wilson, Cantello, Wile, Kaye, Suggett, Brown,
Astle, Hope, Hartford.
Colchester United
Smith; Cram, Gilchrist, Bloss, Garvey, Burgess, Owen, Lewis,
Simmons, Gibbs, Mahon.
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*********
1972/73 |
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Competing clubs -
First Division - Sheffield United & Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division - Blackpool & Burnley
Third Division - Bristol Rovers & Notts County
Fourth Division - Lincoln City & Peterborough United |
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First Round
(Saturday July 29th 1972) |
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Bristol Rovers |
2 |
- |
0 |
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Wolverhampton
Wanderers |
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Lincoln City |
0 |
- |
1 |
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Burnley |
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Notts County |
0 |
- |
3 |
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Sheffield United |
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Peterborough United |
0 |
- |
0 |
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Blackpool |
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Peterborough won 7-6
on penalties |
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Semi Final
(Wednesday August 2nd 1972) |
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Burnley |
0 |
- |
2 |
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Bristol Rovers |
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Peterborough United |
0 |
- |
4 |
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Sheffield United |
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Final
Saturday August 5th 1972
Bristol Rovers 0
Sheffield United 0
Bristol Rovers won 7-6 on penalties
Attendance:
19,768
Bristol Rovers
Sheppard; Roberts, Parsons, Green, Taylor, Price (sub: B
Jones), Stephens, W Jones, Allan, Bannister, Godfrey.
Sheffield United
McAlister; Goulding, Hemsley, Mackenzie, Colquhoun, Hockey,
Woodward, Salmons, Dreaden, Currie, Scullion.
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1973/74 |
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Competing clubs -
First Division - Stoke City & West Ham United
Second Division - Bristol City & Hull City
Third Division - Bristol Rovers & Plymouth Argyle
Fourth Division - Mansfield Town & Peterborough United |
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First Round
(Saturday August 11th 1973) |
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Bristol Rovers |
1 |
- |
1 |
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West Ham United |
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Bristol Rovers won
6-5 on penalties |
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Mansfield Town |
0 |
- |
3 |
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Hull City |
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Peterborough United |
1 |
- |
2 |
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Bristol City |
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Plymouth Argyle |
0 |
- |
1 |
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Stoke City |
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Semi Final
(Tuesday August 14th 1973) |
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Bristol Rovers |
0 |
- |
1 |
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Hull City |
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Semi Final
(Wednesday August 15th 1973) |
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Stoke City |
4 |
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1 |
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Bristol City |
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Final
Saturday August 18th 1973
Stoke City 2
(Greenhoff 2)
Hull City 0
Attendance:
18,159
Stoke City
Farmer; Marsh, Pejic, Mahoney, Smith, Bloor, Robertson, Greenhoff,
Hurst, Conroy, Haslegrave.
Hull City
Wealands; Banks, Devries, Galvin, Deere, Kaye, Lord, McGill,
Pearson, Wagstaff (sub: Hemmerman), Greenwood.
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