The pitch had been criticised by Joe Mercer as a "pig of a pitch" due to recent snowfall and the fact the Horse of the Year Show had been held at Wembley a few days earlier.[1] In muddy pitch conditions, Jeff Astle opened the scoring for Albion with a header after five minutes, becoming the first player to score in the final of both the League Cup and FA Cup at Wembley. He had already scored in the first leg of the 1966 League Cup Final four years previously, however that was at West Ham's Boleyn Ground. City equalised from a low shot to the left corner by Mike Doyle to send the game into extra time, and eventually won 2–1, with Glyn Pardoe scoring the winner when he volleyed the ball into the net from close range.
Honours were shared in the league matches between the two sides during the 1969–70 league season, with Manchester City gaining a 2–1 victory at Maine Road and West Bromwich Albion winning 3–0 at The Hawthorns. City went on to achieve a 10th-place finish in the First Division, while Albion finished 16th.[2] The only previous meeting between the two sides in the League Cup had taken place at the third round stage of the 1966–67 competition; on that occasion, Albion progressed by a 4–2 scoreline and went on to reach that season's final.[3]
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