The 1963 Football League Cup final, the third to be staged since the competition's inception, was contested between local rivals Birmingham City and Aston Villa over two legs. Aston Villa had won the inaugural competition in 1960âÂÂ61, and had beaten Birmingham 4âÂÂ0 in their most recent League meeting, while Birmingham were seeking to win their first major trophy. Birmingham won 3âÂÂ1 on aggregate, with all the goals coming in the first leg.
The first leg took place on 23 May 1963 at Birmingham's home ground, St Andrew's. Birmingham took the lead when Harris fed Auld who crossed for Ken Leek's powerful shot, but Aston Villa equalised via Bobby Thomson. Seven minutes into the second half, the same combination of players made it 2âÂÂ1, and after 66 minutes Jimmy Bloomfield met a Harris cross to score off the post to give Birmingham a 3âÂÂ1 lead. The second leg four days later at Villa Park was goalless. With former England centre half Trevor Smith marking Thomson out of the game and Birmingham's defensive tactics including regularly kicking the ball out for throw-ins, Aston Villa were unable to break their opponents down.