1988 Full Members' Cup final

1988 Simod Cup final

Event	1987–88 Full Members' Cup
Luton Town Reading 1 4
Date	27 March 1988
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance	61,740
← 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.

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

Everton (1) v Luton Town (1)

10 February 1988Third round [5]

Everton (1)

1–2

Luton Town (1)

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Luton Town (1) v Stoke City (2)

1 March 1988Quarter-final [5]	Luton Town (1)	4–1	Stoke City (2)	Kenilworth Road, Luton
			Shaw	Attendance: 4,480

Luton Town (1) v Swindon Town (2)

8 March 1988Semi-final [5]

Luton Town (1)

2–1 (a.e.t.)

Swindon Town (2)

Kenilworth Road, Luton

Reading

Queens Park Rangers (1) v Reading (2)

21 December 1987First round [5] [4]	Queens Park Rangers (1)	1–3	Reading (2)	Loftus Road, London
			Jones Tait

Reading (2) v Oxford United (1)

13 January 1988Second round [6] [4]	Reading (2)	1–0	Oxford United (1)	Elm Park, Reading
	Horrix

Reading (2) v Nottingham Forest (1)

3 February 1988Third round [6] [4]	Reading (2)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Nottingham Forest (1)	Elm Park, Reading
	Horrix Beavon

Reading (2) v Bradford City (2)

10 February 1988Quarter-final [6] [4]	Reading (2)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Bradford City (2)	Elm Park, Reading
	Bailie Horrix

Reading (2) v Coventry City (1)

2 March 1988Semi-final [6] [4] [7]	Reading (2)	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Coventry City (1)	Elm Park, Reading
	Smillie 57'		Speedie 79'	Attendance: ~15,000
	Penalties
	Curle Beavon Horrix Williams Gilkes		Kilcline Downs Sedgley Smith Bennett

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

27 March 1988 (1988-03-27)

15:00 BST

Luton Town	1–4	Reading
Harford 13'		Gilkes 20' Beavon 25' (pen.) Tait 57' Smillie 66'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 61,740

Luton Town

Reading

GK 1 Les Sealey RB 2 Tim Breacker CB 5 Steve Foster CB 6 Mal Donaghy LB 3 Ashley Grimes RM 7 Danny Wilson CM 4 Darron McDonough CM 8 Brian Stein LM 11 Ian Allinson CF 9 Mick Harford CF 10 Mark Stein Substitutes: GK Andy Dibble DF Rob Johnson MF Kingsley Black MF David Oldfield FW Emeka Nwajiobi Manager: Ray Harford

GK 1 Steve Francis RB 2 Colin Bailie CB 5 Martin Hicks CB 6 Keith Curle LB 3 Steve Richardson RM 7 Linden Jones CM 4 Stuart Beavon CM 8 Les Taylor LM 11 Neil Smillie CF 9 Mick Tait CF 10 Michael Gilkes Substitutes: GK Gary Westwood DF Paul Franklin MF Gary Peters MF Jerry Williams FW Francis Joseph Manager: 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

References

1. "Full Members Cup: the anti-European Cup that nobody wanted". fourfourtwo.com. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
2. "1987-88 Football League Full Members Cup". fchd.info. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
3. "Giant Killing". Royals Record. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
4. "Reading 1987–88". Royalsrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
5. 1st rnd results at Statto, with links to other rounds ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
6. 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. "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.

External links

• Photos at Mirrorfootball