1988 Full Members' Cup final

Last updated

1988 Simod Cup final
Event 1987–88 Full Members' Cup
Luton Town Reading
14
Date27 March 1988
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance61,740
← 1987
1989 →

The 1988 Full Members' Cup final was the third Full Members' Cup final, contested by First Division side Luton Town and Second Division team Reading at Wembley Stadium on 27 March 1988. It was the first, and only, Full Members' Cup final for both teams. Reading were making their first appearance at the national stadium, while Luton had not played at the ground since 1959.

Contents

Background

English teams had been banned from Europe following the Heysel Stadium disaster at the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. The Football League started a new tournament for sides in the top two leagues to increase revenues, particularly for sides who had lost revenue through the lack of European football. [1] The 1987–88 Full Members' Cup saw Reading start in the first round of the competition, while Luton were given a bye to the third round following their high league position in the previous season. [2] Reading defeated a top division side in all rounds, excluding the quarter-finals. [3]

Reading's semi-final victory against Coventry City became the latest finish to a football match in Britain at the time, finishing at 22:38. The record stood until 2002. [4]

Route to the final

Luton Town

10 February 1988Third round [5] Everton (1)1–2 Luton Town (1) Goodison Park, Liverpool
1 March 1988Quarter-final [5] Luton Town (1) 4–1 Stoke City (2) Kenilworth Road, Luton
Shaw Attendance: 4,480
8 March 1988Semi-final [5] Luton Town (1) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Swindon Town (2) Kenilworth Road, Luton

Reading

21 December 1987First round [5] [4] Queens Park Rangers (1)1–3 Reading (2) Loftus Road, London
Jones Soccerball shade.svgSoccerball shade.svg
Tait Soccerball shade.svg
13 January 1988Second round [6] [4] Reading (2) 1–0 Oxford United (1) Elm Park, Reading
Horrix Soccerball shade.svg
3 February 1988Third round [6] [4] Reading (2) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Nottingham Forest (1) Elm Park, Reading
Horrix Soccerball shade.svg
Beavon Soccerball shade.svg
10 February 1988Quarter-final [6] [4] Reading (2) 2–1 (a.e.t.) Bradford City (2) Elm Park, Reading
Bailie Soccerball shade.svg
Horrix Soccerball shade.svg
2 March 1988Semi-final [6] [4] [7] Reading (2) 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)		 Coventry City (1) Elm Park, Reading
Smillie Soccerball shade.svg57' Speedie Soccerball shade.svg79'Attendance: ~15,000
Penalties

Match summary

England international Mick Harford put Luton 1–0 up after fourteen minutes, although he admitted after the game that he handled the ball into the net. [8] On twenty minutes, Michael Gilkes levelled the game for Reading. Gilkes was fouled five minutes later and Reading were awarded a penalty. Stuart Beavon dispatched it, despite Les Sealey, in the Luton goal, guessing the right direction. Mick Tait doubled Reading's lead on 55 minutes, while Neil Smillie finished the game off with the Royals' fourth. [8]

Aftermath

Reading became the second non-top flight side in a row to win the competition, after Blackburn Rovers, but were unable to defend the trophy due to relegation to the Third Division later on in the season. [2] The club never played a Full Members' Cup match again, before the competition was abolished at the end of the 1991–92 season. [9] The victory remains the only major trophy that the club has won, with two semi-final appearances in the FA Cup being the next best cup results for Reading.

Victory for Luton would've been their first major trophy, as well, but they only had to wait a month after the Full Members' Cup final before they defeated Arsenal in the League Cup final to do so. They subsequently finished their First Division season in ninth position. [10] Luton didn't appear in another Full Members' Cup final; a southern semi-final appearance in the 1990–91 season being their best performance following their defeat.

Match details

Luton Town 1–4 Reading
Harford Soccerball shade.svg13' Gilkes Soccerball shade.svg20'
Beavon Soccerball shade.svg25' (p)
Tait Soccerball shade.svg57'
Smillie Soccerball shade.svg66'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 61,740
Kit left arm shoulder stripes white shirt alt.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body vneckonwhite.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm shoulder stripes white shirt alt.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts white stripes.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks orange top.png
Kit socks long.svg
Luton Town
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body Reading F.C. Away 1988.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks 2 navy stripes.png
Kit socks long.svg
Reading
GK1 Flag of England.svg Les Sealey
RB2 Flag of England.svg Tim Breacker
CB5 Flag of England.svg Steve Foster
CB6 Ulster Banner.svg Mal Donaghy
LB3 Flag of Ireland.svg Ashley Grimes
RM7 Ulster Banner.svg Danny Wilson
CM4 Flag of England.svg Darron McDonough
CM8 Flag of England.svg Brian Stein
LM11 Flag of England.svg Ian Allinson
CF9 Flag of England.svg Mick Harford
CF10 Flag of England.svg Mark Stein
Substitutes:
GK Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Andy Dibble
DF Flag of England.svg Rob Johnson
MF Ulster Banner.svg Kingsley Black
MF Flag of England.svg David Oldfield
FW Flag of Nigeria.svg Emeka Nwajiobi
Manager:
Flag of England.svg Ray Harford
GK1 Flag of England.svg Steve Francis
RB2 Ulster Banner.svg Colin Bailie
CB5 Flag of England.svg Martin Hicks
CB6 Flag of England.svg Keith Curle
LB3 Flag of England.svg Steve Richardson
RM7 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Linden Jones
CM4 Ulster Banner.svg Stuart Beavon
CM8 Flag of England.svg Les Taylor
LM11 Flag of England.svg Neil Smillie
CF9 Flag of England.svg Mick Tait
CF10 Flag of England.svg Michael Gilkes
Substitutes:
GK Flag of England.svg Gary Westwood
DF Flag of England.svg Paul Franklin
MF Flag of England.svg Gary Peters
MF Flag of England.svg Jerry Williams
FW Flag of England.svg Francis Joseph
Manager:
Flag of England.svg Ian Branfoot

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level
  • Five named substitutes
  • Maximum of two substitutions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EFL Trophy</span> Association football tournament in England

The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in levels three and four of the English football pyramid, with the addition of 16 under-21 teams from Premier League and EFL Championship clubs since the 2016–17 season. It is the third most prestigious knockout competition in English football after the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Reading Football Club is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.

The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992.

Neil John Webb is an English football manager, former footballer and television pundit.

Earl Mark Sean Stein is a South African former professional footballer and physiotherapist.

Michael Earl Glenis McDonald Gilkes is an English professional football coach and former player who was recently interim manager of Championship club Reading, where he is also the manager of the club's academy. Gilkes played as a left winger from 1984 until 2003, most notably for Reading, and was also a Barbados international.

Kingsley Terence Black is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder from 1987 until 2002,

Lee Martin Nogan is a Welsh former professional footballer and manager. He is the elder brother of Kurt Nogan.

The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. As of 2022, the play-offs comprise two semi-finals, where the team finishing third plays the team finishing sixth, and the team finishing fourth plays the team finishing fifth, each conducted as a two-legged tie. The winners of the semi-finals progress to the final which is contested at Wembley Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1988 Football League Cup final</span> Association football match

The 1988 Football League Cup Final was an association football match between Luton Town and Arsenal on 24 April 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1987–88 staging of the Football League Cup. Luton were making their first League Cup Final appearance, while the competition holders Arsenal were appearing in their fourth final.

The 1987–88 FA Cup was the 107th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. The competition was won by Wimbledon F.C.'s Crazy Gang who defeated league champions Liverpool through a headed goal by Lawrie Sanchez, thus denying Liverpool the double. They would be one of three clubs other than Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to win the trophy in the following 20 years before Portsmouth's victory in the 2008 final. This was Wimbledon's only FA Cup title during its lifetime.

The 1986–87 FA Cup was the 106th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Coventry City, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–2, after extra-time, in the final at Wembley Stadium. It was Tottenham's only defeat in eight finals up to that point. The tournament started in August 1986, with non-league teams competing in the qualifying rounds.

The 1922–23 FA Cup was the 48th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. Bolton Wanderers won the competition, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first final to be held at Wembley Stadium, London.

The 1987–88 season was the 103rd season in the history of Luton Town Football Club. It was Luton Town's 68th consecutive season in the Football League, and their 71st overall. It was also their sixth successive season in the First Division, and their 12th overall. The season is one of the club's most successful of all time, as Luton Town achieved a ninth-place finish in the league, won the Football League Cup, and reached the FA Cup semi-final and Full Members' Cup final. As League Cup winners, they would normally have qualified for the UEFA Cup, but were denied a first foray into European competition due to the ban on English clubs as a result of the 1985 Heysel disaster continuing for a fourth season.

The 1987–88 Football League Cup was the 28th season of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Full Members' Cup final</span> Football match

The 1989 Full Members' Cup final was the fourth Full Members' Cup final, contested by Everton and Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium on 30 April 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 FA Vase Final</span> Football match

The 2018 FA Vase Final was the 44th final of the Football Association's cup competition for teams at levels 9–11 of the English football league system. The match was contested between Stockton Town, of the Northern League Division One, and Thatcham Town, of the Hellenic League Premier Division. This was the first time both teams had reached the final and the first visit to Wembley Stadium for both sides. The final of the FA Trophy was played on the same day at the same venue for the third year running, as part of the FA's Non-League Finals Day. Both matches were televised in the UK on BT Sport.

References

  1. ↑ "Full Members Cup: the anti-European Cup that nobody wanted". fourfourtwo.com. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 "1987-88 Football League Full Members Cup". fchd.info. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "Giant Killing". Royals Record. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Reading 1987–88". Royalsrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 1st rnd results at Statto, with links to other rounds [ permanent dead link ]
  6. 1 2 3 4 1987/88 Reading season results at Royals Mad - note 1st round match against QPR is missing from list
  7. ↑ "Penalty Shoot-outs". Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Memories of the Wembley Simod Cup win". Get Reading. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Full Members' Cup Records". Royals Record. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "1987-88 Football League". fchd.info. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.