The 1972 FA Charity Shield was contested between Manchester City and Aston Villa.

Normally, the Charity Shield would have been contested by the First Division champions and FA Cup holders, who were Derby County and Leeds United respectively, but both declined the chance to play in the Charity Shield. Instead, Manchester City, who had finished in fourth place in the First Division; and Aston Villa, who finished as Third Division champions accepted the invitation to play.

The match was played at Villa Park and Manchester City won 1–0,^[1] following a penalty from striker Francis Lee.

5 August 1972

15:00

Aston Villa	0–1	Manchester City
	Report	Lee (pen)

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 34,859

Referee: Norman Burtenshaw

Aston Villa

Manchester City

GK 1 Jim Cumbes RB 2 Mick Wright LB 3 Charlie Aitken CM 4 Bruce Rioch CB 5 Chris Nicholl CB 6 Ian Ross (c) RW 7 Ray Graydon CM 8 Pat McMahon CF 9 Andy Lochhead CF 10 Geoff Vowden LW 11 Willie Anderson Substitute: CB 12 Alun Evans Manager: Vic Crowe

GK 1 Joe Corrigan RB 2 Tony Book (c) LB 3 Willie Donachie CB 4 Mike Doyle CB 5 Tommy Booth CM 6 Colin Bell CM 7 Mike Summerbee CM 8 Francis Lee CF 9 Wyn Davies LW 10 Rodney Marsh RW 11 Tony Towers Substitute: CB 12 Derek Jeffries CF Ian Mellor Manager: Malcolm Allison