The FA decided to give the losing FA cup semi finalists a further game as consolation for losing the semi finals in 1970 with a weekend of football.
The 3rd /4th play playoff was played on the Friday night before the FA Cup Final.
1970
The first year saw Manchester Utd who had lost to Leeds Utd 1-0 in a replay at Bolton’s Burden Park after a 0-0 draw at Hillsborough, play Watford who had lost their semi final 5-1 to Chelsea at White Hart Lane.
This led to the infamous FA Cup final between Chelsea and Leeds which ended 2-2 after extra time at Wembley before another period of extra time was required in the Old Trafford replay before Chelsea won 2-1.
Watford were in the Second Division and had knocked Liverpool out in the Quarter Final 1-0 at Vicarage Road.
The 3rd / 4th play play off was played on Friday 10th April 1970 saw Manchester Utd defeat Watford 2-0 at Highbury in front of 15, 105 fans. Brian Kidd was the scorer of both Manchester Utd goals.
1971
The semi final at Old Trafford saw Liverpool beat Everton 2-1 while at Hillsborough, Arsenal and Stoke City drew 2-2. Arsenal won the replay 2-0 at Villa Park.
Arsenal would win the FA Cup beating Liverpool 2-1 after extra time.
The 3rd/4th playoff took place on Friday 7th May at Selhurst Park in front of only 5.031 fans. In an entertaining game Stoke won 3-2 including a double by Stoke’s John Ritchie.
1972
The 1972 version was changed from an eve of Cup Final match to a pre season fixture , with one of the participants being at home.
The semi finals saw Arsenal play Stoke once more and again after a draw this time 1-1 at Villa Park , Arsenal prevailed 2-1 in the Goodison Park replay.
The other semi final saw Leeds Utd who would go on to lift the FA Cup beat Birmingham City 3-0.
Leeds beat Arsenal 1-0 in the final.
The 3rd/4th place game was played on 5th August at Birmingham City’s St Andrews ground. A crowd of 25.841 witnessed a 0-0 draw before the home side defeat Stoke City 4-3 on penalties.
1973
Arsenal were thwarted in their efforts to reach a third successive FA Cup Final when they lost 2-1 to Sunderland in the semi final at Hillsborough.
Leeds would make their way to Wembley and lose 1-0 to Sunderland in a massive FA Cup Final shock after defeating Wolves 1-0 in their semi-final at Maine Road , Manchester with a goal from their captain Billy Bremner.
This led to the 3rd/4th place playoff at Highbury on 18th August where 21,038 saw Arsenal lose 3-1 to Wolves.
1974
Newcastle Utd beat Burnley in the FA Cup semi final at Hillsborough with two goals by Malcolm McDonald.
The other semi final saw Leicester City and Liverpool fight out a goalless draw at Old Trafford before a replay at Villa Park saw Liverpool win 3-1.
In what would be Bill Shanley’s final game in charge of Liverpool , they beat Newcastle 3-0 in the final on 4 May 1974.
After pressure from the FA the 3rd/ 4th place play off took place at Filbert Street , Leicester , 5 days later where Burnley won 1-0. Ray Hankin scored the only goal of the game in front of only 4,432 fans.
The FA they dispensed with the FA Cup 3rd/4th place playoff after 5 years , but it left it’s own little piece of football history.
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