1988 Full Members' Cup Final

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.

1988 Simod Cup Final
Event1987–88 Full Members' Cup
Luton Town Reading
1 4
Date27 March 1988
VenueWembley Stadium, London
Attendance61,740

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]

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

Reading
21 December 1987 First round[5][4]Queens Park Rangers (1)1–3 Reading (2) Loftus Road, London
Jones
Tait
13 January 1988 Second round[6][4] Reading (2) 1–0Oxford United (1)Elm Park, Reading
Horrix
3 February 1988 Third round[6][4] Reading (2) 2–1 (a.e.t.)Nottingham Forest (1)Elm Park, Reading
Horrix
Beavon
10 February 1988 Quarter-final[6][4] Reading (2) 2–1 (a.e.t.)Bradford City (2)Elm Park, Reading
Bailie
Horrix
2 March 1988 Semi-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

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 Town1–4Reading
Harford  13' Gilkes  20'
Beavon  25' (p)
Tait  57'
Smillie  66'
Attendance: 61,740
Luton Town
Reading
GK1 Les Sealey
RB2 Tim Breacker
CB5 Steve Foster
CB6 Mal Donaghy
LB3 Ashley Grimes
RM7 Danny Wilson
CM4 Darron McDonough
CM8 Brian Stein
LM11 Ian Allinson
CF9 Mick Harford
CF10 Mark Stein
Substitutes:
GK Andy Dibble
DF Rob Johnson
MF Kingsley Black
MF David Oldfield
FW Emeka Nwajiobi
Manager:
Ray Harford
GK1 Steve Francis
RB2 Colin Bailie
CB5 Martin Hicks
CB6 Keith Curle
LB3 Steve Richardson
RM7 Linden Jones
CM4 Stuart Beavon
CM8 Les Taylor
LM11 Neil Smillie
CF9 Mick Tait
CF10 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
  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.
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