We talk to Man City's 1976 League Cup final hero, Dennis Tueart, about wonder goals and Pele.
Dennis Tueart made his name as a cup hero. His spectacular overhead kick which defeated Newcastle United and won Manchester City the 1976 League Cup has gone down as one of the greatest in the competition's history.
That 2-1 win, with Newcastle's Alan Gowling having previously equalised Peter Barnes' opener for City, was the last time City won the tournament. It is a statistic Manuel Pellegrini's side will be looking to address this weekend at Wembley in the Capital One Cup final when they take on Sunderland.
But there was also an added connection for former England international Tueart in that final 38 years ago. The now-64-year-old defeated Newcastle, his boyhood club, having joined City from Sunderland in 1974 shortly after previously winning the 1973 FA Cup with the Black Cats.
Tueart will therefore have split loyalties this weekend when both his former clubs, City and Sunderland, face-off at Wembley and, here, he looks ahead to the game while also reminiscing on an illustrious career which included succeeding Pele at New York Cosmos.
You are the last man to win the League Cup for Manchester City. Talk us through what you remember of that final victory over Newcastle in 1976?
"It was a fascinating game. First of all, because it was against my hometown club but also because it was the League Cup. In the League Cup, the two participating clubs get a bigger share of the ticket allocation and therefore there were more genuine supporters at the game. That final was nicknamed 'The People's Final'. We also do not get enough credit for our first goal, which was a fantastically worked set-piece before Peter Barnes scored. It does not get enough credit, because my goal overshadowed it."
You cannot understate your goal. How did you manage to score that spectacular overhead kick?
"It was in the 46th minute and Wembley was not the grand stadium that it is now. The facilities were crap. That meant a lot of people were still coming back from the toilets or buying a cup of Bovril at half-time and so they missed the goal! Newcastle had been the better team going into half-time so we had to come out all guns blazing and we got the goal. Alan Oakes played the ball wide to the left to Willie Donachie. Tommy Booth was playing instead of Colin Bell, who had got injured against Manchester United in the earlier rounds. Tommy was normally a centre-back but got to the far post to meet Willie's cross and he was always a terrific header of the ball. I ducked inside to look for the knockdown. Unfortunately I had gone in too far and the ball went behind me. I had always been good at volleying, adjusted very quickly and got a good touch. I did not even see the ball go in the back of the net. But as soon as I knew I had scored a fantastic goal, I was off celebrating. If Asa Hartford had not caught me, I would probably still be running around the stadium celebrating now!"
Was that final a tough game? Were there any Newcastle players who were not afraid to leave you with a bruise or two?
"Newcastle were an attacking team. They had Mickey Burns, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Gowling, who got their equaliser. Alan Kennedy was also an attacking full-back. They had a very strong team. Newcastle's captain, Tommy Craig, gave me a bruise when we were on the halfway line but that was not a problem."
Is it true you changed shirt with Alan Kennedy after
