1974 FA Charity Shield

Background and pre-match

The FA Charity Shield, founded in 1908, was originally a contest between the Football League and Southern League champions, later between an Amateurs XI and a Professionals XI in 1913. From 1921 it was played by the Football League First Division champions and the FA Cup winners. The 1974 match was the first Charity Shield held at Wembley Stadium, as the Football Association sought to revive the fixture's status by moving it to the national venue.

The FA also insisted that both the league champions and FA Cup winners participate for the first time since 1970. Leeds United and Liverpool had been among England's strongest teams for a decade, with intense rivalry. Liverpool had been managed by Bill Shankly since 1959 and Leeds by Don Revie since 1961; both had lifted their clubs from the Second Division. Since Liverpool's promotion in 1962, they had won three league titles, two FA Cups and one UEFA Cup. The clubs had previously met at Wembley in the 1965 FA Cup Final, won by Liverpool 2–1 after extra time.

Match

Bob Paisley selected ten of the players from Liverpool's FA Cup Final side; John Toshack was injured and replaced by Phil Boersma. Leeds fielded their entire championship-winning squad, with new signing Duncan McKenzie as substitute. Bill Shankly led Liverpool onto the pitch for the last time; Brian Clough wanted Don Revie to do the same for Leeds, but Revie declined and watched from the stand. Liverpool had no number 10 shirt and Leeds no number 11; Phil Boersma and Eddie Gray both wore number 12.

The 1975–76 Rothmans Football Yearbook described the game as a 'shabby Charity Shield' with 'continuous brawling', culminating in the joint dismissal of Kevin Keegan and Billy Bremner for swapping punches. Bill Shankly later wrote that the match was developing into an interesting game but was spoiled by the sending-off. In the first minute, Allan Clarke's tackle felled Phil Thompson; Clarke was then fouled twice, by Tommy Smith and Alec Lindsay, and was carried off, replaced by McKenzie.

Smith and Johnny Giles were booked. Phil Boersma scored for Liverpool in the 20th minute from a loose ball after David Harvey blocked Keegan's shot. Emlyn Hughes hit the Leeds crossbar later in the first half. The fight between Bremner and Keegan led to their dismissal in the 60th minute; Keegan threw his shirt away as he left, and Bremner copied him. Trevor Cherry headed the equaliser for Leeds in the 70th minute, making the final score 1–1.

Post-match

The actions of Bremner and Keegan were officially condemned. Croker, concerned about hooliganism, said players must learn they cannot throw punches. On 28 August, the FA Disciplinary Committee charged Bremner and Keegan with bringing the game into disrepute, fining them £500 each and banning them until the end of September, in addition to their automatic three-match suspensions, meaning they missed eleven matches each. The punishments drew criticism from figures in football; Bob Paisley remarked that people who do not know how to run the country are trying to run football. Disciplinary committee chairman Vernon Stokes acknowledged that the punishments might not have been so severe had the match not been at Wembley and televised.