| 1985 Football League Cup Final | |
| Event: | 1984–85 Football League Cup |
| Team1: | Norwich City |
| Team1score: | 1 |
| Team2: | Sunderland |
| Team2score: | 0 |
| Date: | 24 March 1985 |
| Stadium: | Wembley Stadium |
| City: | London |
| Referee: | Neil Midgley (Manchester) |
| Attendance: | 100,000 |
| Previous: | 1984 |
| Next: | 1986 |
The 1985 Football League Cup Final was won by Norwich City. The Canaries defeated Sunderland 1–0 at Wembley Stadium on 24 March 1985 with an own goal scored by Gordon Chisholm, who deflected Asa Hartford's shot past goalkeeper Chris Turner.[1] Later in the second half, Clive Walker missed a penalty awarded for a handball by Norwich defender Dennis van Wijk.[2]
Looking back on the final, Norwich striker Mick Channon described the final as a "lovely day", and praised his teammates' skill, saying, "we had some tremendous players like Steve Bruce and Dave Watson in the middle of the defence, Asa Hartford in midfield and John Deehan up front with me." In the lead-up to Norwich's goal Sunderland defender David Corner was attempting to usher the ball out of play for a Sunderland goal kick.However, Norwich kept the ball in play and promptly scored. In November 2011 Corner looked back on the incident stating "I should have kicked the ball out" and that he doesn't "think there's a day goes by where that game isn't mentioned". He then went on to say "It was a great honour for me to be playing for my hometown club in a national final, but I have to hold my hands up and say the goal was my fault."[3] Norwich's victory was celebrated with an open-top bus parade.
Despite Norwich and Sunderland appearing in the final, they were both relegated to the Second Division at the end of the 1984–85 season.[4]
As a result of the good faith shared between Norwich and Sunderland supporters during the final, the Friendship Trophy is contested every time the two clubs meet.[5]
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See also: 1984–85 Football League Cup.
| 2nd[6] | Preston North End (a) | 3–3 |
| Preston North End (h) | 6–1 | |
| Aggregate score 9–4 | ||
| 3rd | Aldershot (h) | 0–0 |
| replay | Aldershot (a) | 4–0 |
| 4th | Notts County (h) | 3–0 |
| 5th | Grimsby Town (a) | 1–0 |
| Semi-final | Ipswich Town (a) | 0–1 |
| Ipswich Town (h) | 2–0 | |
| Aggregate score 2–1 | ||
| 2nd | Crystal Palace (h) | 2–1 |
| Crystal Palace (a) | 0–0 | |
| Aggregate score 2–1 | ||
| 3rd | Nottingham Forest (a) | 1–1 |
| replay | Nottingham Forest (h) | 1–0[7] |
| 4th | Tottenham Hotspur (h) | 0–0 |
| replay | Tottenham Hotspur (a) | 2–1 |
| 5th | Watford (a) | 1–0 |
| Semi-final | Chelsea (h) | 2–0 |
| Chelsea (a) | 3–2 | |
| Aggregate score 5–2 | ||
North East Sunderland began the tournament against Crystal Palace, winning it 2–1 on aggregate, which was the same score as the first leg.[18] Next Sunderland beat Nottingham Forest 1–0 in the third round replay,[13] having drawn 1–1 in the original match.[19] The fourth round went similarly the third, Sunderland played out a 0–0 draw at Roker Park forcing the game into a replay.[20] Goals from Gordon Chisholm and Clive Walker in the replay ensured that Sunderland would progress in the fifth round.[21] Sunderland beat Watford in the fifth round to seal a tie against Chelsea in the semi-finals.[22] Sunderland beat Chelsea 5–2 on aggregate and secured their first ever League Cup final spot.[23] [24]