1988 FA Cup Final

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.[1][2]

1988 FA Cup Final
Event1987–88 FA Cup
Date14 May 1988 (1988-05-14)
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeBrian Hill (Northamptonshire)
Attendance98,203
WeatherSunny

In one of the biggest shocks in the entire history of the competition, Lawrie Sanchez' solitary goal of the game won Wimbledon their only FA Cup final win in their history; they had just completed their second season in the Football League First Division and had only been in the Football League for a total of 11 years.[3][4] The final also featured the first ever penalty save in an FA Cup final, by Dave Beasant from John Aldridge. 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.[5] It was the last FA Cup final to be broadcast live simultaneously by both the BBC and ITV, which had happened at every final since 1958. Wimbledon's victory ended Liverpool's bid to become the first team to win the Double twice,[6][7] a feat that was eventually achieved by rivals Manchester United in 1996 and Arsenal in 1998. The game was the last that former England international Laurie Cunningham would play in England, before his death in Spain in 1989.[8]

Road to Wembley

[9]

Liverpool

Round Opposition Score
3rd

Replay

Stoke City (A)

Stoke City (H)

0–0

1–0

4th Aston Villa (A) 0–2
5th Everton (A) 0–1
QF Manchester City (A) 0–4
SF Nottingham Forest (N) 2–1
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

Wimbledon

Round Opposition Score
3rd West Bromwich Albion (H) 4–1
4th Mansfield Town (A) 1–2
5th Newcastle United (A) 1–3
QF Watford (H) 2–1
SF Luton Town (N) 2–1
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

The build up

Liverpool had just been crowned once again as champions of Division One and were the all-conquering giants of English football throughout the 1980s. Wimbledon had just finished a creditable seventh in the Division One table that season, only their second year in the top tier, but had surprised everyone as they were expected to finish much lower than that. 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 shortly before half-time, when Lawrie Sanchez's looping header, from a Dennis Wise free kick on the left, went across goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar and into the net.[10] Liverpool created a host of chances, including a chipped goal over the goalkeeper by Peter Beardsley 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.[11] 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.[12] The Londoners survived more pressure from Liverpool to secure their first major trophy and a notable upset in FA Cup Final history. Captain Dave 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).[13] After the final whistle John Motson who was commentating for the BBC delivered his famous line: "The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club."[14]

Europe

Although they had won the Cup, Wimbledon were prevented from competing in the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup the following season due to the ongoing ban on all English teams from European competitions, following the actions of a group of Liverpool supporters in the 1985 European Cup Final Heysel disaster. 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.

Match details

Liverpool0–1Wimbledon
Report Sanchez  37'
Attendance: 98,203
Referee: Brian Hill
Liverpool
Wimbledon
GK1 Bruce Grobbelaar
RB4 Steve Nicol
CB2 Gary Gillespie
CB6 Alan Hansen (c)
LB3 Gary Ablett
RM9 Ray Houghton
CM5 Nigel Spackman 74'
CM11 Steve McMahon
LM10 John Barnes
CF7 Peter Beardsley
CF8 John Aldridge 64'
Substitutes:
MF12 Craig Johnston 64'
MF14 Jan Mølby 74'
Manager:
Kenny Dalglish
GK1 Dave Beasant (c)
RB2 Clive Goodyear
CB5 Eric Young
CB6 Andy Thorn
LB3 Terry Phelan
CM10 Lawrie Sanchez
CM4 Vinnie Jones
RW8 Alan Cork 56'
LW11 Dennis Wise
CF7 Terry Gibson 63'
CF9 John Fashanu
Substitutes:
DF12 John Scales 63'
MF14 Laurie Cunningham 56'
Manager:
Bobby Gould

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
  • Replay if scores still level
  • Two named substitutes
  • Maximum of two substitutions

See also

References

  1. Phillips-Knight, Rob (12 May 2010). "Beasant and the 'Crazy Gang' stun Liverpool". ESPN.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  2. "English Division One 1987–1988 Final Table". statto.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  3. Beasant, Dave (15 May 2010). "14 May 1988: The first FA Cup final penalty save". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  4. "English FA Cup Finalists 1980 – 1989". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  5. "Quirky Facts". Goalkeepersaredifferent.com. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  6. Hosking, Patrick; Wighton, David (14 March 2004). "Caught in Time: Wimbledon's Crazy Gang chase FA Cup glory in 1988". The Times. London. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  7. Reddy, Luke (4 January 2015). "Wimbledon v Liverpool: How the Crazy Gang made FA Cup history". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  8. "Laurie Cunningham Player Statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  9. "FA Cup 1987–1988 : Results". statto.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  10. "Bobby Gould recalls Wimbledon's FA Cup win". Reuters. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  11. Johnston, Clay (2 May 2020). "My favourite game: Liverpool v Wimbledon, 1988 FA Cup final". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  12. "Dave and his wombles may have done us a favor". Glasgow Herald. 16 May 1988. p. 12. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  13. "Quirky Facts". Goalkeepersaredifferent.com. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  14. "When the Crazy Gang beat the Culture Club: Wimbledon v Liverpool FA Cup flashback". Liverpool Echo. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
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