Norwich v Man City (League Cup 29/9/75) replay at Chelsea

[mark01]

This is a bit of a long shot but does any Norwich or Man city fan know why this replayed game was played at Stamford Bridge (neutral venue). It seems such a long way from both clubs geographically, especially on a Monday night.

regards, Mark

[sellsell39]

ok looking through an old Norwich programme from 1975/76, it shows these results :-

League Cup - Norwich 1-1 Manchester City

League Cup Replay - Manchester City 2-2 Norwich

I guess the teams could not be seperated with the initial game and subsequent replay game, so a neutral venue was required for a third game.

Stamford Bridge must have been a poor choice though as only 6,000 bothered to turn up.

Villa Park or somewhere in the midlands may have been a good geographical alternative.

Back in the day (before penalty shoot-outs I guess) these Cup matches & Replays sometimes went on and on and on for weeks.

[mark01]

Yes, this was Man City's 8th league and cup game in September, but at least they won the League cup that season. 53 games in league and cup is heavy going, they must have been shattered with another 7 game schedule over 2 weeks on a far east tour in May.

Cheers, Mark