The 1968 FA Cup final represents one of the great disappointments in the club’s so-called ‘golden era’. Two months before Everton and West Brom met at Wembley, Everton had visited the Hawthorns and played Albion off the park in a 6-2 annihilation.
IN REACHING WEMBLEY, Everton had faced and beaten the mighty Leeds United in the semi-final, while the majestic Kendall-Harvey-Ball ‘holy trinity’ was showing its first stirrings of greatness. But in an underwhelming final, Everton struggled to make a breakthrough. The best chance came four minutes from the end of normal time, when Jimmy Husband missed from close range – but that was as close as Everton came. The game seemed to be drifting towards a replay when – four minutes from the end of extra time – Jeff Astle struck the game’s only goal from the edge of the Everton area.
‘It just didn’t work for the team. We weren’t firing,’ Joe Royle recalled in his autobiography. ‘West Brom were a physical side and they did set about us. I’m afraid we didn’t respond to that challenge as well as we might have and we could have no complaints.’
