The 1988 FA Cup final was the 107th final of the FA Cup. It took place on Saturday 14 May 1988 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Wimbledon and Liverpool, the dominant English club side of the 1980s and newly crowned league champions.[2][3]
In one of the biggest shocks in the entire history of the competition, Lawrie Sanchez' solitary goal of the game ensured Wimbledon's 1-0 victory over Liverpool, and won them their only FA Cup in their history; they had just completed their second season in the First Division and had only been in the Football League for 11 years.[4][5] The final also featured the first ever penalty save in an FA Cup final, by Dave Beasant from John Aldridge.[6] Beasant is often mistakenly believed to have been the first goalkeeper to captain a winning side in an FA Cup Final but this honour falls to Major William Merriman of the Royal Engineers who captained his side to victory in 1875.[7]
It was the last FA Cup final to be broadcast live simultaneously by both the BBC and ITV until 2022 - this happened at every final since 1958. Wimbledon's victory ended Liverpool's bid to become the first team to win the Double twice,[8][9] a feat that was eventually achieved by rivals Manchester United in 1996. The game was the last that former England international Laurie Cunningham would play in England, before his death in Spain in 1989.[10]
Liverpool had just been crowned once again as champions of the First Division and were the all-conquering giants of English football throughout the 1980s.[12] Wimbledon had just finished seventh in the First Division that season, only their second year in the top tier. Liverpool, with a team full of international star players, were strongly expected and favoured to win the FA Cup by all the experts, as they had secured their 17th league title by playing in an exciting and flamboyant style, whereas Wimbledon, who had been playing in the semi-professional Southern Football League just eleven years earlier, were derided by many pundits as being technically limited and dismissed as relying only on their strength, and were expected to have almost no chance of beating their illustrious opponents.
Match summary
Wimbledon took the lead in the 37th minute, when Lawrie Sanchez's looping header from six yards out, from a Dennis Wise free kick on the left, went across goalkeeperBruce Grobbelaar and into the right of the net.[13] Liverpool created a host of chances, including a chipped goal over the goalkeeper by Peter Beardsley in the first half which was disallowed as the referee had already awarded a free kick to Liverpool, but were unable to find a way past Wimbledon goalkeeper Dave Beasant. The Merseysiders were awarded a penalty on the hour mark following a foul by Clive Goodyear on John Aldridge.[14] However, Aldridge's penalty was saved by Beasant's diving save to his left, thus Beasant became the first keeper to save a penalty in a Wembley FA Cup final.[15] The Londoners survived more pressure from Liverpool to secure their first major trophy and a notable upset in FA Cup Final history. Captain Beasant became the second goalkeeper to lift the FA Cup as a result (Royal Engineers goalkeeper and captain Major William Merriman lifted the Cup in 1875).[16] After the final whistle John Motson, who was commentating for the BBC, delivered his famous line: "The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club."[17]
Europe
Although they had won the Cup, Wimbledon were prevented from competing in the European Cup Winners' Cup the following season due to the ongoing ban on all English teams from European competitions following the Heysel disaster in 1985. At the time of the final, it was hoped that the ban would be rescinded, but after a number of violent incidents involving English fans during the 1988 European Championships, the FA withdrew their application for readmission.[citation needed]
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