The 1967 Football League Cup Final was an association football match between Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and West Bromwich Albion on 4 March 1967 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1966–67 Football League Cup, the seventh season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the teams in The Football League. This was the first final to be decided over a single game; the six previous finals were contested over two legs. QPR were appearing in their first final, while Albion were appearing in their second after winning the previous final in 1966.
As QPR were in the Third Division they played one more round than Albion who received a bye in the first round. Therefore, QPR progressed through six rounds to reach the final, whereas Albion progressed through five. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis with the exception of the semi-finals which were contested over two-legs, with a match at each team's home ground. QPR's matches were generally close affairs, they only won by a three two goal margin or more in three of their matches. Albion's matches were almost all comfortable victories. Their biggest margin of victory was five goals when they beat Aston Villa 6–1. While the only match did not win was the second leg of the semi-final against West Ham United, which was drawn 2–2.
Watched by a crowd of 97,952, Albion took the lead in the first half when Clive Clark scored in the 7th minute. He scored again later in the half to give Albion a 2–0 lead at half-time. QPR reduced the deficit in the 63rd minute when Roger Morgan scored and then levelled the match 12 minutes later courtesy of a goal by Rodney Marsh. Mark Lazarus scored a third goal for QPR in the 81st minute, as QPR won the match 3–2 to win the League Cup for the first time.
QPR's victory caused a problem for the Football Association as typically the League Cup winner would qualify for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but one of the criteria for that competition was that the team must come from the highest tier of that country's league system. QPR was replaced in the following season's European competition by a First Division side.
Road to Wembley
Queens Park Rangers
On the first day of the 1966–67 Football League Cup on 23 August 1966, QPR played Colchester United at their home ground of Loftus Road, winning 5–0. In the third round, they defeated Welsh team Swansea City on 2–1. They were drawn against Leicester City in the following round. Three goals in the second half saw QPR come back from being 2–1 down to win the match by 4–2. The first of these goals was a rebound off Leicester goalkeeper Gordon Banks after a shot by Rodney Marsh, then a shot by Les Allen went through a Leicester goalmouth packed with defenders, and the final goal came from Mark Lazarus in similar circumstances to the Allen goal. QPR were put under pressure in their match against Carlisle United, but Marsh scored twice more for Rangers to give them the 2–1 victory.
Until the first leg of the semi-final against Birmingham City, QPR had not won an away match during their League Cup campaign. They were one goal down at half time, and again were forced to recover the deficit during the second half. In the 55th minute, Marsh scored his 34th goal of the season, he headed the ball into the goal after a corner kick from Allen. Marsh was involved again in QPR's second and third goal as he set up Roger Morgan for the second, and then back heeled the ball through to Lazarus for the third. QPR's fourth and final goal saw Marsh hit a header direct from a free kick to Allen who scored. The second leg secured QPR's first trip to Wembley, and marked the first time that a team from the Third Division had reached any Wembley final. They won the game 3–1, but they did not score until the last twelve minutes of the match.
West Bromwich Albion
Bobby Hope led Albion to a victory at the start of their League Cup campaign, having received a bye past the first round, scoring a hat-trick as the team went on to defeat Aston Villa 6–0. Albion played Manchester City on 5 October 1966 in the third round, and although they won the game 4–2, they were pressed hard for the victory. Albion went a goal down after nine minutes against Northampton Town, but came back to win 3–1.