THE WATNEY MANN CUP

Hull City used to be a seriously prominant club in England football and indeed played in a higher division  to now. In 1970, on this day (5th August), Hull played the successful Manchester United in what was then a pre-season competition, called the Watney Mann Cup. Watney was a "Global" brewer and that's another story. The competition led the two clubs to the Cup's semi-final which ended 1-1 after extra-time and so for the first time it was penalties to decide the tie. George Best became the first player to score in a penalty shoot out and Denis Law the first to miss! United won 4-3. Law's attempt was saved by Hull goalkeeper Ian. McKechnie, who  became the first player to miss a deciding kick, when he shot wide after taking the fifth kick for Hull in the shoot-out.

The cup was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored the most goals in each of the four divisions of the Football League, the previous season who had not been promoted or admitted to one of the European competitions. Two teams from each division took part, making eight participants in total.

The competition was a straight knockout format, each match was a one-off with no replays. The final took place at the home ground of one of the finalists, rather than a neutral venue. Quite a warm up! good idea for a pre-season

The competition was so named thanks to a sponsorship deal with the brewery; the first tournament for EFL clubs to sell its naming rights. The tournament ran four times, from 1970 to 1973, before being discontinued.

From the second season of the competition, the off-side law was applied from the edge of the penalty areas only (instead of the half-way line). This measure was designed to reduce midfield congestion and promote more goals, at a time when defences were becoming much better organised.

Hull City also became the first team in the world to go out of a cup competition on penalties, beaten by Manchester United in the semi-final of the Watney Cup on 1 August 1970. The first footballer to take a penalty kick was George Best and the first to miss a kick from the penslty spot was Denis Law.

Following the dissolution of the competition in 1975, the trophy itself was put up for sale and purchased by Derby Museum, who presented it back to Derby County FC.

It was put on display in the club's trophy cabinet, where, in 2018, it was spotted by the chairperson of Stoke City's fan's council, who helped arrange a share deal between Derby and Stoke City, who had been the last winners, prior to the competition finishing.

RESULTS

1970     Derby County 4–1 Manchester United at The Baseball Ground

1971     Colchester Utd 4–4 (4–3 p) West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns

1972     Bristol Rovers 0–0 (7–6 p.) Sheffield Utd at The Eastville Stadium

1973     Stoke City 2–0 Hull City at The Victoria Ground

If you want to read about the "draught" beer in the 1960-70s then have a look at this!

https://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_britain/keg_bitter/watneys_red_barrel.html

The PARTY SEVEN! Luxury for celebrants in the 1970s with 7 pints (yes 7) inside.