| Event | 1980–81 Football League Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 14 March 1981 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Clive Thomas[1] (Treorchy) | ||||||
| Attendance | 100,000 | ||||||
| Replay | |||||||
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| Date | 1 April 1981 | ||||||
| Venue | Villa Park,Birmingham | ||||||
| Referee | Clive Thomas (Treorchy) | ||||||
| Attendance | 36,693 | ||||||
←1980 1982 → | |||||||
The1981 Football League Cup Final was afootball match betweenLiverpool andWest Ham United on 14 March 1981 atWembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the1980–81 Football League Cup, the 21st staging of theFootball League Cup, a competition for the 92 teams inThe Football League. Both teams were appearing in their second final, and had both lost their first finals in1966 and1978 respectively.
Both teams entered the competition in the second round. Liverpool's matches were generally comfortable victories, with the exception of the semi-final againstManchester City, which they won 2–1 over two-legs. West Ham's matches were generally close affairs, they only won by more two goals once, when they beatBurnley 6–0 over two-legs in the second round.
Watched by a crowd of 100,000, the first 90 minutes was goalless and the final went toextra time. Liverpool opened the scoring in the 118th minute, when defenderAlan Kennedy scored. The goal was hotly contested as the shot passed over Sammy Lee of Liverpool in an offside position, obstructing the view of the West Ham goalkeeper, Phil Parkes. Referee Clive Thomas controversially allowed the goal to stand, his opinion being that Lee was not interfering with play. After the game, the usually placid West Ham manager, John Lyall, uncharacteristically expressed his anger to Thomas and said he "felt cheated". This was later misrepresented by Thomas as Lyall saying that "Thomas had cheated". The Liverpool lead lasted two minutes, as West Ham equalised courtesy of aRay Stewart penalty, after a Liverpool handball on the line blocked a goal bound header from Alvin Martin. With the final score 1–1, the match was replayed on 1 April, atVilla Park, Birmingham. West Ham went ahead in the opening minutes, whenPaul Goddard scored. However, their lead was short-lived as goals fromKenny Dalglish andAlan Hansen gave Liverpool the lead. No further goals were scored in the second half and Liverpool won the final 2–1 to win the competition for the first time.[2]
Liverpool started slowly and lost the first leg of their 2nd-round game withBradford City, before scoring four goals in the return leg atAnfield.[3] They then scored a total of 12 goals in home ties againstSwindon Town,Portsmouth andBirmingham City.[4] In the semi-final they won their first leg atManchester City, before a home draw allowed them to reachtheir second League Cup Final.[4]
West Ham United played threeThird Division sides inBurnley,[3]Charlton Athletic andBarnsley to reach the quarter-final. Here, they beatFirst DivisionTottenham Hotspur 1–0. In the semi-final; they recovered from losing the first leg toCoventry City to win the tie 4–3 on aggregate.
        Liverpool |    West Ham United |
| Liverpool | 2–1 | West Ham United |
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Dalglish 25'Hansen 28' | Goddard 10' |
   Liverpool |  West Ham United |
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