CITY’S FIRST MAJOR TROPHY 1964 LEAGUE CUP
WHEN Leicester City won the League Cup in 1964, it was the first time that the club had won a major national cup competition, writes Leicester City FC historian John Hutchinson.
They were only the fourth team to win this trophy, which had been inaugurated just three seasons earlier.
For the first six years of its existence the League Cup final was contested over two legs before it was moved to Wembley in 1967.
To reach the 1964 final, Leicester City defeated Aldershot, Tranmere Rovers, Gillingham and Norwich City before beating a strong West Ham United side which contained future World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst .
The first leg of the semi-final at Filbert Street was a thrilling game which saw Leicester emerge as 4-3 winners.
This was followed by a 2-0 victory in the second leg at Upton Park with goals from Frank McLintock and Bobby Roberts.
The first leg of the final, on April 15, 1964, was against Stoke City at their waterlogged Victoria Ground.
The home side dominated the play and Leicester were lucky to escape with a 1-1 draw.
The visitors’ defence, with Gordon Banks “making a dozen world-class saves”, held firm until the 62nd minute when Keith Bebbington scored.
Davie Gibson equalised twelve minutes from time.
The second leg of the final was at Filbert Street a week later. Mike Stringfellow opened the scoring after six minutes.
Dennis Viollet equalised soon after half-time but second half goals from Davie Gibson (who scored with rare header) and from Howard Riley gave the home side a 3-1 lead before George Kinnell scored for Stoke City in injury time, making the aggregate score 4-3 to Leicester City.
After the game, the 25,000strong Filbert Street crowd saw skipper Colin Appleton receive the League Cup.
The victorious players each received a tankard rather than the traditional medal. The tankards presented to Howard Riley and Graham Cross are on display at the King Power Stadium.