There are occasions where two forces seem so dramatically opposed that it’d be rude if they weren’t rivals.
Tom and Jerry. Batman and the Joker. Stormzy and Wiley. When objects of equal strength come into direct competition with each other, it is no surprise that sparks begin to fly.
While the surface-level differences may seem the instigator for rivalry, another school of thought is that deeper similarities between warring factions are the real reason for the simmering hatred. Put simply, rivals have more in common than they’d ever dare to admit.
Which leads us nicely to Chelsea and Leeds United. Just over 50 years ago, the two clubs were the clearest representation of England’s North-South divide.
Chelsea, emblematic of swaggering London, where the players sip champagne on the King’s Road, and Leeds, from the grim north, where the locals frequented working men’s clubs and played carpet bowls.
Glamour versus dour, caviar versus gravy and a whole other host of stereotypes enriched the feelings between the two.
However, both clubs had plenty in common back in 1970. Chelsea and Leeds were two of the country’s ascendant clubs, challenging the quickly establishing elite of Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham. Fittingly for two upstarts, both clubs had players well versed with brutality and beauty.
In his autobiography, Leeds legend Johnny Giles admitted that a “special kind of animosity” existed between the sides. Chelsea’s Ian Hutchinson was more succinct: “We hated them and they hated us.”
Chelsea and Leeds faced each other six times during the 1969-70 season, so when the two sides reached the 1970 FA Cup Final it was an unsurprisingly merciless encounter.
Played on a Wembley pitch that was more Weston beach than the snooker surfaces of today, the showpiece occasion was a mix of fantasy and farce.
Jack Charlton opened the scoring for Leeds, just slightly aided by the ball failing to bounce in the mud and trickling over the line. Having battled each other to a boggy stalemate, not unlike the Battle of the Somme, the match ended 2-2.
On This Day 1970 #lufc
On a terrible playing surface, Big Jack and Mick Jones with the Leeds United goals in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Wembley.
History is made, as its first FA Cup Final to go to a replay.#lufc100 #facup pic.twitter.com/trR83GMnoZ— LEEDS UNITED MEMORIES (@LUFCHistory) April 11, 2020
In the days before penalties, a replay was required. Having been alarmed by the dire…
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