It's A Cup Final Knockout 1976
British Domestic Series

Presenters:
Stuart Hall
Eddie Waring

Referee:
Arthur Ellis

Scoregirls:
Hazel Lyons
Dinah May
Leena Skoog
Marie Worth

Production Credits:

Production Team: Alan Walsh, Alan Wright; Senior Stage Manager: Bryan Chapman; Engineering Manager: Geoff Lomas; Sound: John Drake; Designers and Games Devisers: Paul Montague, Paul Trerise; Producer: Cecil Korer; Director: Geoff Wilson

A BBC Manchester Production

Key: Domestic Special ● = Winner of Special   ▲ = Promoted to Position / ▼ = Demoted to Position

GB

It's A Cup Final Knockout 1976

FA Cup Final Special

Event Staged: Sunday 25th April 1976
Venue: Outdoor Sports Centre, Bassett, Southampton, Hampshire, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Saturday 1st May 1976, 12.20-1.05pm (as part of Cup Final Grandstand)

Celebrity Supporters (non-participating):
Manchester United F.C.- Noel Cantwell and Nobby Stiles (former Manchester United players), Peter Purves (actor and Blue Peter presenter) and Dave Lee Travis (BBC Radio 1 DJ);
Southampton F.C. - Paul Bennett, Pat Earle and Hugh Fisher (Southampton players), Lesley Judd (dancer and Blue Peter presenter), Marilyn Ward (Miss United Kingdom 1971 and former It's A Knockout scoregirl) and Tony Blackburn (BBC Radio 1 DJ).

Weather Conditions: Sunny and Warm

Teams: Manchester United F.C. v. Southampton F.C.

Team Members included:
Manchester United F.C. - Anne Smith (Team Captain), Paul Boston, Dave Bradbury, Phil Burslem, Cliff Butler, Trevor Butler, Yvonne Butler, Claire George, Joyce Goldstone, Paul Harvey, Gordon Hill, Paul Wilcox, Jane Williams, Terry Williams;
Southampton F.C. - Roger Butcher, Anne Butt, Lyn Davidge, Carolyn Jeffrey, Kevin Hart, Peter Harvey, Trevor Hebbard, Gill Long, Sue Lopes, Britt Newman, Ken Pound, Lyn Savage, Tony Seely.

Games: The Water Carriers, Throwing Back to Back, Balls Across the Dirigible, Throw the Drunken Sailor, On Yer Head!, Skip and Splash, The Lovers' Balloon Burst, Heading Up the Ramp.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Manchester United F.C. ●
 Southampton F.C.

14
12

The Host Town

Southampton, Hampshire

Southampton is a city and port with a population of around 255,000 inhabitants in the county of Hampshire. It is located 11 miles (17km) north of Cowes on the Isle of Wight, 15 miles (24km) north-west of Portsmouth, 25 miles (40km) north-east of Bournemouth and 34 miles (55km) south of Newbury. It lies at the northern-most point of Southampton Water - a drowned river valley (ria) formed at the end of the last Ice Age - at the confluence of the River Test and River Itchen, with the River Hamble joining to the south of the urban area. The city's name is sometimes abbreviated in writing to ‘Soton’, and a resident of Southampton is called a Sotonian.

Archaeological finds suggest that the area around Southampton has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Following the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 AD and the conquering of the local Britons in 70 AD, the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established. The site is believed to be located in Bitterne, which is now a suburb of Southampton. The Anglo-Saxons formed a new larger settlement across the River Itchen and centred on what is now the St. Mary’s area of the city. The settlement was known as Hamwic, which evolved into Hamtun and then Hampton. It is from this town that the county of Hampshire gets its name. Viking raids from 840 AD onwards contributed to the decline of Hamwic in the 9th century, and by the 10th century, a fortified settlement which became medieval Southampton, had been established.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Southampton became the major port of transit between Winchester, the then capital of England, and Normandy. Southampton Castle was built in the 12th century and by the 13th century, Southampton had become a leading port, particularly involved in the import of French wine in exchange for English cloth and wool. In 1348, the Black Death reached England via merchant vessels calling at Southampton. The town was sacked in 1338 by French, Genoese and Monegasque ships under Charles Grimaldi, who used the plunder to help found the principality of Monaco.

On visiting Southampton in 1339, Edward III (1312-1377) ordered that walls be built to 'close the town'. The extensive rebuilding culminated in the completion of the western walls in 1380. Roughly half of the walls, 13 of the original towers, and six gates survive. In 1740, Southampton became a spa town and, despite the lack of a good quality beach, it had also become a popular site for sea bathing. Innovative buildings, specifically for this purpose, were built at West Quay, with baths that were filled and emptied by the flow of the tide.

Shipbuilding had been an important industry for the town since the Middle Ages and in 1835, the Southampton Docks company was formed. In October 1838, the foundation stone of the docks was laid and the first docks - Eastern Docks - opened in 1842. On 10th April 1912, the RMS Titanic sailed from Southampton on her maiden and final voyage. After colliding with an iceberg in the North Atlantic, she sank on the morning of the 15th April. Four in five of the crew were Sotonians, with about a third of those who perished in the tragedy hailing from the city. The Western Docks date from the 1930s, when the Southern Railway Company commissioned a major land reclamation programme. Most of the material used came from the dredging of Southampton Water, ensuring that the port could continue to handle large ships and due to the benefit of a double high tide (two high tide peaks), the movement of the ships is made easier. However, this tidal anomaly is not caused as popularly supposed by the presence of the Isle of Wight, but is a function of the shape and depth of the English Channel.

Southampton subsequently became the home port for the transatlantic passenger services operated by Cunard with their Blue Riband liner RMS Queen Mary and her running mate RMS Queen Elizabeth. On 11th November 2008, the Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 departed the city for the final time amid a spectacular fireworks display after a full day of celebrations. Cunard ships are regularly launched in the city: H.R.H. The Duchess of Cornwall named Queen Victoria in December 2007, H.M. Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) named Queen Elizabeth in the city during October 2011, and The Duchess of Cambridge performed the naming ceremony of Royal Princess on 13th June 2013. At certain times of the year, The Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria may all visit Southampton at the same time, in an event commonly called 'Arrival of the Three Queens'.

A ferry port was built during the 1960s and beside luxury cruisers, Southampton was once the home to numerous ferry services to the continent, with destinations such as San Sebastian (Spain), Lisboa (Portugal) and Casablanca (Morocco). However, a number relocated to Portsmouth and by 1996, there were no longer any car ferries operating from Southampton with the exception of services to the Isle of Wight, which continues to this day.

Returning Teams and Competitors

Eleven members of this Manchester United Supporters team - Dave Bradbury, Phil Burslem, Cliff Butler, Trevor Butler, Yvonne Butler, Clare George, Joyce Goldstone, Anne Smith, Paul Wilcox, Jane Williams and Terry Williams - participated again in the It’s A Cup Final Knockout programme in 1977. On that occasion Manchester United were once again victorious, beating Liverpool 12-11.

Additional Information

Manchester United F.C.'s win in It's A Cup Final Knockout was not repeated in the 1976 F.A. Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. The match, which kicked off at 3.00pm on Saturday 1st May, was won 1-0 by Southampton, with Bobby Stokes scoring the winner in the 83rd minute and securing his team's first major trophy.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

JSFnetGB Series Guide pages researched by
Alan Hayes, David Hamilton, Neil Storer, Christos Moustakas, Philippe Minet,
Sébastien Dias, Ischa Bijl, Paul Leaver and JSFnet Websites