1988 FA Cup final (original) (raw)

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Association football championship match between Wimbledon and Liverpool, held in 1988

Football match

1988 FA Cup final
Event 1987–88 FA Cup
Liverpool Wimbledon 0 1
Date 14 May 1988 (1988-05-14)
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match Dave Beasant (Wimbledon)
Referee Brian Hill (Northamptonshire)
Attendance 98,203
Weather Sunny 23 °C (73 °F) [1]
← 1987 1989 →

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 Wimbledon their only FA Cup final in their history; they had just completed their second season in the First Division and had only been in the Football League for a total of 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]

[11]

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.

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 goalkeeper Bruce 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]

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_]

GK 1 Zimbabwe Bruce Grobbelaar RB 4 Scotland Steve Nicol CB 2 Scotland Gary Gillespie CB 6 Scotland Alan Hansen (c) LB 3 England Gary Ablett RM 9 Republic of Ireland Ray Houghton CM 5 England Nigel Spackman downward-facing red arrow 74' CM 11 England Steve McMahon LM 10 England John Barnes CF 7 England Peter Beardsley CF 8 Republic of Ireland John Aldridge downward-facing red arrow 64' Substitutes: MF 12 England Craig Johnston upward-facing green arrow 64' MF 14 Denmark Jan Mølby upward-facing green arrow 74' Manager: Scotland Kenny Dalglish GK 1 England Dave Beasant (c) RB 2 England Clive Goodyear CB 5 Wales Eric Young CB 6 England Andy Thorn LB 3 Republic of Ireland Terry Phelan CM 10 Northern Ireland Lawrie Sanchez CM 4 Wales Vinnie Jones CM 11 England Dennis Wise RF 8 England Alan Cork downward-facing red arrow 56' CF 9 England John Fashanu LF 7 England Terry Gibson downward-facing red arrow 63' Substitutes: DF 12 England John Scales upward-facing green arrow 63' MF 14 England Laurie Cunningham upward-facing green arrow 56' Manager: England Bobby Gould

Match rules

  1. ^ "May 14, 1988 Weather History in London". Weatherspark.com. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "English Division One 1987–1988 Final Table". statto.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  4. ^ Beasant, Dave (15 May 2010). "14 May 1988: The first FA Cup final penalty save". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  5. ^ "English FA Cup Finalists 1980 – 1989". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Liverpool 0 Wimbledon 1". LFC History.com. 14 May 1988. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Quirky Facts". Goalkeepersaredifferent.com. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  8. ^ 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.[_dead link_]
  9. ^ Reddy, Luke (4 January 2015). "Wimbledon v Liverpool: How the Crazy Gang made FA Cup history". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Laurie Cunningham Player Statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  11. ^ "FA Cup 1987–1988 : Results". statto.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  12. ^ "The girl in the Gang - being Wimbledon's physio". BBC Sport.
  13. ^ "Bobby Gould recalls Wimbledon's FA Cup win". Reuters. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2011.[_dead link_]
  14. ^ Johnston, Clay (2 May 2020). "My favourite game: Liverpool v Wimbledon, 1988 FA Cup final". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Dave and his wombles may have done us a favor". Glasgow Herald. 16 May 1988. p. 12. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  16. ^ "Quirky Facts". Goalkeepersaredifferent.com. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  17. ^ "When the Crazy Gang beat the Culture Club: Wimbledon v Liverpool FA Cup flashback". Liverpool Echo. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.