1978 FA Cup final

1978 FA Cup Final
Event	FA Cup 1977–78
Date	6 May 1978
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Derek Nippard (Dorset)
Attendance	100,000
	← 1977 1979 →

The 1978 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1978 at Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Arsenal and Ipswich Town. While Ipswich were considered underdogs,^[1] having been beaten 6–1 by Aston Villa in the league the previous Saturday^[2] and facing Arsenal's England striker Malcolm Macdonald, Ipswich won the match 1–0.

Ipswich dominated the game, hitting the woodwork three times (including twice from John Wark) before Clive Woods and David Geddis combined to produce a chance for Roger Osborne, who scored with a left-foot shot. Osborne promptly fainted at the emotion of the moment and was brought round by smelling salts before being substituted.^[3]

It remains Ipswich Town's only FA Cup triumph to date and they have not appeared in the final since, although they did appear in the semi-final three years later. Their only major trophy since then was the UEFA Cup in 1981.^[4]

Road to Wembley

Arsenal

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Sheffield United 0–5 Arsenal

Round 4: Arsenal 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Round 5: Arsenal 4–1 Walsall

Round 6: Wrexham 2–3 Arsenal

Semi-final: Leyton Orient 0–3 Arsenal (at Stamford Bridge, London)

Ipswich Town

Home teams listed first.

Round 3: Cardiff City 0–2 Ipswich Town

Round 4: Ipswich Town 4–1 Hartlepool United

Round 5: Bristol Rovers 2–2 Ipswich Town

Replay: Ipswich Town 3–0 Bristol Rovers

Round 6: Millwall 1–6 Ipswich Town

Semi-final: Ipswich 3–1 West Bromwich Albion (at Highbury, London)

Coverage

The Final was televised by both the BBC and ITV as part of their respective Grandstand and World of Sport shows. David Coleman and Lawrie McMenemy were the commentary team for the BBC with Brian Moore and Jack Charlton for ITV. BBC Radio coverage was anchored by Des Lynam with commentary from Alan Parry and Peter Jones alongside Ray Clemence

Match details

6 May 1978
15:00 BST

Arsenal	0–1	Ipswich Town
	(Report)	Osborne 77'

Wembley, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: Derek Nippard

Arsenal

Ipswich



GK	1	Pat Jennings
DF	2	Pat Rice (c)
DF	3	Sammy Nelson
MF	4	David Price
DF	5	David O'Leary
DF	6	Willie Young
MF	7	Liam Brady	66'
MF	8	Alan Sunderland
FW	9	Malcolm Macdonald
FW	10	Frank Stapleton
MF	11	Alan Hudson
Substitute:
MF	12	Graham Rix	66'
Manager:
Terry Neill



GK	1	Paul Cooper
DF	2	George Burley
DF	3	Mick Mills (c)
MF	4	Brian Talbot
DF	5	Allan Hunter
DF	6	Kevin Beattie
MF	7	Roger Osborne	78'
MF	8	John Wark
FW	9	Paul Mariner
FW	10	David Geddis
FW	11	Clive Woods
Substitute:
MF	12	Mick Lambert	78'
Manager:
Bobby Robson

Match rules

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

References

^ "1978 – Osbourne's year". BBC Sport. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
^ Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 140. ISBN 1859832148.
^ "1978 FA Cup winners". BBC Sport. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
^ "Ipswich's '78 FA Cup-winning team". BBC Sport. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2014.

External links

Match report at fa-cupfinals.co.uk
Game facts at soccerbase.com
Photo gallery on BBC Suffolk

[1] "1978 – Osbourne's year". BBC Sport. 10 May 2001. Retrieved 8 January 2007.

[2] Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 140. ISBN 1859832148.

[3] "1978 FA Cup winners". BBC Sport. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2014.

[4] "Ipswich's '78 FA Cup-winning team". BBC Sport. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2014.

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v t e FA Cup
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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 Ipswich Town F.C. matches
FA Cup Final	1978
FA Charity Shields	1962 1978
UEFA Cup Final	1981
Football League play-offs Final	2000 First Division
Other matches	Manchester United 9–0 Ipswich Town (1995)