A shot in time: When the Watney Cup was the pre-season excitement brewing up the goals and cash

  • The Watney Cup was the first major piece of sponsorship accepted by the Football League
  • The tournament, which was finished by 1973, also staged the first-ever penalty shootout in Britain
  • The eight invited clubs were the top two scorers in each of the four divisions 

Advertisement

Hands on hips, red of shirt and face, Bobby Charlton contemplates the post-match scene of the Watney Cup final of August 1970. It was held at the Baseball Ground, where Manchester United had just lost 4-1 to Derby County.

Neither Baseball Ground - uncharacteristically lush - nor Watney Cup are still with us. The Baseball Ground lasted until 1997 but the Watney Cup was over by 1973, a short-lived alternative in pre-season entertainment.

But if it sounds like a best-forgotten variety act, the Watney Cup can claim to be significant in two respects: it was the first major piece of sponsorship accepted by the Football League; and it staged the first-ever penalty shootout in Britain.

Bobby Charlton looks dejected and his United team-mates deflated as George Best shakes the hand of Willie Carlin of Derby

Bobby Charlton looks dejected and his United team-mates deflated as George Best shakes the hand of Willie Carlin of Derby

He's got his back turned but the long hair is a giveaway as Best stands between keeper Alex Stepney and Denis Law

He's got his back turned but the long hair is a giveaway as Best stands between keeper Alex Stepney and Denis Law

There is a third claim to fame, though whether Brian Clough really made it is another matter: this 1970 Watney Cup was Clough's first trophy as a manager.


Watney Mann was a London brewery which produced the popular bitter, Watney's Red Barrel. The brewery paid £82,000 for an eight-team, eight-day tournament, with the final on the same afternoon as the Charity Shield between Everton and Chelsea.

The concept was that goals would promote sales of pale ale. The eight invited clubs were the top two scorers in each of the four divisions the previous season - in the First Division this was after the clubs competing in Europe were removed and in the other three divisions after the promoted clubs were removed.

Hence Manchester United, who finished eighth in 1969-70 (scoring 66 goals) were invited ahead of Coventry City, who finished sixth (scoring 58 goals). Derby had come fourth with 64 goals.

From the Second Division were Sheffield United and Hull City. From the Third Division came Reading and Fulham and, from the Fourth, Peterborough and Aldershot.

Each club was given £4,000 from Watney's with the remaining £50,000 split between the Football League and FA. The shootout came after UEFA and FIFA had sanctioned the idea that summer.

United began on a summer's day at Elm Park, defeating Reading 3-2. The mini-tournament was prestigious enough to be on ITV, commentator Brian Moore mentioning the 'Test-match weather' as he introduced the teams at a packed ground.

When Charlton first received the ball, Moore reminded viewers that this was his first match since England's World Cup quarter-final defeat by West Germany in Mexico, when England led 2-0 and lost 3-2. It had been hotter in Leon.

It was the same scoreline at Reading, but Charlton was on the winning team this time and scored. United manager Wilf McGuinness fielded Charlton, George Best, Brian Kidd, Willie Morgan and Denis Law in attack against the Third Division side. Law, 30, was transfer-listed at the time, available for £60,000.

United's victory brought about a semi-final with Hull, who had won 4-0 at Peterborough - in all there were 23 goals in the first four matches.

At Boothferry Park four nights later, 34,000 turned up to see a 1-1 draw. There was extra-time. When it was goalless, England had its first-ever penalty shootout. The first penalty fell to United and was taken by Best. He scored, another small milestone. Best's Northern Ireland manager Terry Neill - player-manager of Hull - made it 1-1 and it was 3-3 when Law arrived to become the first player to miss in a shootout here.

But Hull keeper Ian McKechnie, who took penalties, also missed and Morgan scored to take United through to meet Derby.

The Daily Mail's Brian Taylor wrote: 'The penalty-taking session which settled this pulsating game was one of the most exciting and dramatic features I have ever seen on a soccer field.'

In the final, United did not make it to penalties. Derby raced to a 3-0 lead at half-time in front of 32,000 and Dave Mackay, lured to Derby from Tottenham by Clough, was presented with the massive Watney Cup by the president of FIFA, Stanley Rous.

Watneys kept the Cup going the next year when Fourth Division Colchester surprised West Brom winning 4-3 on penalties in the final. In 1972 another penalty shootout saw Third Division Bristol Rovers beat First Division Sheffield United.

Dave Mackay lifted the Watney Cup after Derby's comfortable win over Manchester United in 1970

Dave Mackay lifted the Watney Cup after Derby's comfortable win over Manchester United in 1970

But 1973's mini-tournament, won by Stoke, was the fourth and last Watney Cup. It joined the likes of the Texaco Cup - which became the Anglo-Scottish Cup - and the Anglo-Italian Cup as early 70s experiments in pre- season income generation that flourished briefly.

Clubs needed summer money but the game was rife with hooliganism - there was serious disorder in Derby after this game.

It was a different era. Today Manchester United fly around the world pre-season. Then they went to Reading and Derby and drank Watney's Red Barrel.

In his unsponsored kit, maybe Bobby Charlton is looking into the future. It cannot have been his favourite summer, 1970.

Scottish striker Law, who would have been 30 at the time, was on the Manchester United transfer list

Scottish striker Law, who would have been 30 at the time, was on the Manchester United transfer list

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.