Forgotten Football Competitions : The Watney Cup

[Ericsladkilnhurst]

Looking at football & its football competitions, in the past, I came upon the Watney Cup.

The Watney Cup competition ran for only four years, starting in 1970.
The cup was contested by 8 teams, 2 from each division, that had scored the most goals in
each of the the four divisions, of the football league the previous season, & who had not
been promoted, or had qualified for one of the European competitions.
Each club received a equal share of the gate receipts, & TV revenue, as well as £4,000 for
entering the competition
The first eight teams to compete in the competition in 1970 were -
Division one --- Derby County & Manchester United
Division two --- Hull City & Sheffield United
Division three - Fulham & Reading
Division four --- Aldershot & Peterborough United

The 1970 final between Derby County & Manchester United was played at the Baseball Ground.
In front of a 32,049 crowd, the score - Derby County 4 - 1 Manchester United

Derby County manager Brian Clough, & his assistant Peter Taylor each received £250 bonus for
winning the competition, plus £250 given to charity, out of gate proceeds.
Derby County made a profit of £13,910 before deductions of players bonuses

The first penalty shoot out in England, took place in the 1970 competition semi-final between,
Hull City & Manchester United [Winner]

The 1971 competition being the second season , the off-side law rule was changed, where as
the edge of the penalty area was used as off-side instead of the half-way line, this was designed
to reduce midfield congestion, & promote more goals.

Other winners of the short lived competition.

1971 - Colchester United 4 - 4 West Brom [Colchester Utd win on penalties 4-3]

1972 - Bristol Rovers 0 - 0 Sheffield United [Bristol Rovers win on penalties 7-6]

1973 - Stoke City 2 - 0 Hull City

With 1973 being the end of the competition, its one trophy Stoke City should still have.

[CAMiller]

Vaguely remember the competition but I vividly remember these and the injuries suffered trying to get them open

[sawmiller]

Yes, I do recall the Watney Cup - did they shelve it because the smaller clubs were beginning to win it/do well?


Remember the Home International games at the end of each season

[avondalemiller]

Vaguely remember the competition but I vividly remember these and the injuries suffered trying to get them open

..bloody hell Cam, they did more damage than a barrel bomb if you dropped one of them.....

[frogmiller]

We came runner's up one year in the One2One trophy to Everton

I was there which is the only match out of spoken in this thread.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

We came runner's up one year in the One2One trophy to Everton

I was there which is the only match out of spoken in this thread.

That would have been the rebadged Community Shield, 2000 to 2002

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

“The 1970 final between Derby County & Manchester United was played at the Baseball Ground.
In front of a 32,049 crowd, the score - Derby County 4 - 1 Manchester United”

I was at that game, can’t remember much about it now. Alan Hinton scored I think, but memory plays tricks

[sawmiller]

“The 1970 final between Derby County & Manchester United was played at the Baseball Ground.
In front of a 32,049 crowd, the score - Derby County 4 - 1 Manchester United”

I was at that game, can’t remember much about it now. Alan Hinton scored I think, but memory plays tricks

Was Hinton one of the first players to wear white football boots?

[CAMiller]

Was Hinton one of the first players to wear white football boots?

Indeed he was the white boots pioneer. Built a life in 'soccer' over here on the West Coast of the US/Canada and had a 40 year relationship with Seattle Sounders F.C. including manager, broadcaster (alongside Arlo White before Arlo was snapped up by NBC/Ted Lasso) and ambassador.

[Removed - breaking my own rule about no politics on football threads ]

[redhouse]

“The 1970 final between Derby County & Manchester United was played at the Baseball Ground.
In front of a 32,049 crowd, the score - Derby County 4 - 1 Manchester United”

I was at that game, can’t remember much about it now. Alan Hinton scored I think, but memory plays tricks

I always suspected you was a Derby fan the number of times you mention sheep on here