View source for Football League Super Cup

{{about|the one-off [[Football in England|English football]] club tournament held in 1985–86|England's equivalent of the [[super cup]] in the traditional sense|FA Community Shield}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox football tournament season
| title           = Football League Super Cup
| image           = [[File:Sssc.png]]
| country         = England
| dates           = 17&nbsp;September&nbsp;1985 – 30&nbsp;September&nbsp;1986
| num_teams       = 6
| winners       = [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
| second       = [[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
| matches         = 18
| goals           = 49
| scoring_leader = [[Ian Rush]] (7&nbsp;goals)
}}
The '''Football League Super Cup''' (known for sponsorship reasons as the '''Screen Sport Super Cup''') was a one-off [[association football|football]] club competition held in England in the 1985–86 season. It was organised by [[English Football League|the Football League]] and was intended as a form of financial and sporting compensation for the English clubs which had qualified for European competition in the previous season but had been banned from entering European tournaments by [[UEFA]] following the [[Heysel Stadium disaster]]. With the ban set to last into the foreseeable future, England's clubs stood to lose a great deal of revenue, and would also have fewer opportunities to win silverware, so the Super Cup was established in the hope of offsetting at least some of this lost income, as well as offering additional competition for them.

The Football League's original intention was to hold the Super Cup annually for the duration of the UEFA ban on English clubs (which ultimately turned out to be five years) but the competition was largely seen as a poor substitute for the glamour of European tournaments and offered nothing different from the two domestic knockout competitions that already existed, the [[FA Cup]] and [[EFL Cup|League Cup]]. Consequently, it generated minimal interest from the clubs involved. With the competition's final postponed until the beginning of the following season due to fixture congestion, the Super Cup was ultimately abolished after only one tournament had been held.

Interest in the competition was so low that the Football League initially failed to attract any form of sponsorship for it. [[Cable TV]] sports channel [[Screensport]] agreed to sponsor the tournament's final in September 1986.

==Format==
The six clubs invited to participate, and the European competitions they would have qualified for, were:
* [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] ([[English Football League|Football League]] champions, [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]])
* [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] ([[FA Cup]] winners, [[European Cup Winners' Cup]])
* [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] ([[EFL Cup|League Cup]] winners, [[UEFA Cup]])
* [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] (UEFA Cup)
* [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] (UEFA Cup)
* [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]] (UEFA Cup)

To create a sufficient number of games, the teams played each other home and away in two groups of three teams, with three points awarded for a win and one point for a draw, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the semi-finals. Both the semi-finals and the final were held over two legs, home and away, which was perhaps another factor which may have contributed to the competition's failure to attract much interest from the clubs participating, as the tournament did not offer the prospect of a day out at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] for the finalists.

==Competition history==
[[Merseyside]] rivals Liverpool and Everton won through to the final, but with both these clubs being involved in a battle for the league championship and both of them also reaching the [[FA Cup]] final (as well as Liverpool being involved in the semi-finals of the [[Football League Cup]]), fixture congestion became a problem, with Liverpool's semi-final second leg having to be delayed until the final week of the season, two days before the FA Cup final. The English football season had to come to an end immediately following the FA Cup final due to the preparations for the imminent [[1986 FIFA World Cup|FIFA World Cup]] in [[Mexico]] (which many Everton and Liverpool players were to be involved in), which meant that there was no opportunity for the delayed Super Cup final to be played after the FA Cup final and that the Super Cup tournament could not be concluded before the 1985–86 season ended.

The absence of any conclusion of the Super Cup before the season's end may have put paid to any possibility of a second Super Cup tournament being organised in the 1986–87 season, although the perceived failure of the inaugural competition and its unpopularity with the clubs made such an eventuality unlikely in any case.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} (If the 1986–87 Super Cup had been staged, it would have been contested by Liverpool, Everton, [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]], Manchester United, [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] and [[Oxford United F.C.|Oxford United]]).

Ultimately the 1985–86 Super Cup final had to be held over until the following season and was finally played in September 1986, by which point the competition had finally attracted some sponsorship. Everton, however, fielded a virtual reserve team in the two-legged final (although they were in the middle of a genuine injury crisis) and Liverpool won the trophy 7–2 on aggregate. The games are remembered for [[Ian Rush]]'s impressive haul of five goals for Liverpool over the two games (although these goals are sometimes excluded from his official record-breaking [[Merseyside derby]] tally) and for Kevin Sheedy's spectacular goal for Everton at [[Anfield]], scored from a long-range free-kick at the Kop end. Having lost the [[Double (association football)|League and Cup double]] to Liverpool the previous May, Everton later that season managed to pip Liverpool to the League Championship.

The Super Cup was not a success as it was unable to substitute for games against the best sides in Europe in prestigious [[UEFA]] competitions. Attendances were generally poor and the clubs involved apparently regarded the tournament as a pointless addition to the existing three national tournaments and a source of fixture congestion. Consequently, the Super Cup was abolished after only one season and it has not been held since. The competition is now largely forgotten.

==Similar competitions==
The [[Full Members' Cup]], another Football League cup competition also launched in 1985 for similar reasons (to create additional competition, revenue and opportunity for silverware for English clubs, as well as a final at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]]), fared marginally better and ran until 1992, often better remembered as the "ZDS Cup" due to that competition being sponsored by Zenith Data Systems. 
A similar competition to the Super Cup, the [[Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy]] was played in the early weeks of [[1988–89 in English football|1988–89]] to celebrate the league's 100th birthday between the top eight [[Football League]] teams from the previous season. The competition, played over three rounds on a knock-out basis, was won by [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]].

==Group stage ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Key to colours in group tables
|- bgcolor=#ccffcc
|Top two places advance to the semi-finals
|}

===Group 1===
{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL
|res_col_header=Q
|show_positions=n
|sortable_table=y

|team1=EVE|name_EVE=[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|team2=NOR|name_NOR=[[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]]
|team3=MU |name_MU =[[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]
|win_EVE=3|draw_EVE=0|loss_EVE=1|gf_EVE=6|ga_EVE=3
|win_NOR=1|draw_NOR=2|loss_NOR=1|gf_NOR=3|ga_NOR=3
|win_MU =0|draw_MU =2|loss_MU =2|gf_MU =4|ga_MU =7

|col_Q=#ccffcc|text_Q=
|result1=Q|result2=Q
|update=complete|source=
}}

{| width=100% cellspacing=1
!width=20%| !!width=12%| !!width=20%|
!
|-
|18 September 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Manchester United'''
|align=center|'''2–4'''
|'''Everton'''
|-
|2 October 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Everton'''
|align=center|'''1–0'''
|'''Norwich City'''
|-
|23 October 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Norwich City'''
|align=center|'''1–0'''
|'''Everton'''
|-
|6 November 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Manchester United'''
|align=center|'''1–1'''
|'''Norwich City'''
|-
|4 December 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Everton'''
|align=center|'''1–0'''
|'''Manchester United'''
|-
|11 December 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Norwich City'''
|align=center|'''1–1'''
|'''Manchester United'''
|}

===Group 2===
{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL
|res_col_header=Q
|show_positions=n
|sortable_table=y

|team1=LIV|name_LIV=[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|team2=TOT|name_TOT=[[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
|team3=SOU|name_SOU=[[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]
|win_LIV=3|draw_LIV=1|loss_LIV=0|gf_LIV=8|ga_LIV=2
|win_TOT=2|draw_TOT=0|loss_TOT=2|gf_TOT=5|ga_TOT=7
|win_SOU=0|draw_SOU=1|loss_SOU=3|gf_SOU=4|ga_SOU=8

|col_Q=#ccffcc|text_Q=
|result1=Q|result2=Q
|update=complete|source=
}}

{| width=100% cellspacing=1
!width=20%| !!width=12%| !!width=20%|
!
|-
|17 September 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Liverpool'''
|align=center|'''2–1'''
|'''Southampton'''
|-
|2 October 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Tottenham Hotspur'''
|align=center|'''2–1'''
|'''Southampton'''
|-
|22 October 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Southampton'''
|align=center|'''1–1'''
|'''Liverpool'''
|-
|3 December 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Liverpool'''
|align=center|'''2–0'''
|'''Tottenham Hotspur'''
|-
|17 December 1985
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Southampton'''
|align=center|'''1–3'''
|'''Tottenham Hotspur'''
|-
|14 January 1986
|- style=font-size:90%
|align=right|'''Tottenham Hotspur'''
|align=center|'''0–3'''
|'''Liverpool'''
|}

==Knockout stage ==

===Semi-finals===

====First leg====
{{football box
|date=5 February 1986
|team1=[[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]]
|score=1–1
|team2=[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|report = [https://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/1509 Report]
|goals1=[[Kevin Drinkell|Drinkell]] {{goal|49}}
|goals2=[[Kenny Dalglish|Dalglish]] {{goal|79}}
|stadium=[[Carrow Road]], [[Norwich]]
|attendance=15,313
|referee=
}}

{{football box
|date=5 February 1986
|team1=[[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
|score=0–0
|team2=[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|goals1=
|goals2=
|stadium=[[White Hart Lane]], [[London]]
|attendance=7,548
|referee=
}}
----

====Second leg====
{{football box
|date=19 March 1986
|team1=[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|score=3–1
|aet=yes
|team2=[[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
|goals1=[[Adrian Heath|Heath]] {{goal|77}}<br />[[Derek Mountfield|Mountfield]] {{goal|91}}<br />[[Graeme Sharp|Sharp]] {{goal|112}}
|goals2=[[Mark Falco|Falco]] {{goal|48}}
|stadium=[[Goodison Park]], [[Liverpool]]
|attendance=12,008
|referee=
}}
''Everton won 3–1 on aggregate''

{{football box
|date=6 May 1986
|team1=[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|score=3–1
|team2=[[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]]
|report = [https://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/1531 Report]
|goals1=[[Kevin MacDonald (footballer)|MacDonald]] {{goal|56}}<br />[[Jan Mølby|Mølby]] {{goal|72|pen.}}<br />[[Craig Johnston|Johnston]] {{goal|79}}
|goals2=[[Garry Brooke|Brooke]] {{goal|2}}
|stadium=[[Anfield]], [[Liverpool]]
|attendance=26,690
|referee=
}}
''Liverpool won 4–2 on aggregate''
----

===Final===

====First leg====
{{football box
|date=16 September 1986
|team1=[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|score=3–1
|team2=[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|report=[http://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/1540 Report]<br />[https://archive.today/20141207085854/http://www.liverweb.org.uk/report.asp?rec_id=4668 Report]
|goals1=[[Ian Rush|Rush]] {{goal|6||65}}<br />[[Steve McMahon|McMahon]] {{goal|56}}
|goals2=[[Kevin Sheedy (Irish footballer)|Sheedy]] {{goal|40}}
|stadium=[[Anfield]], [[Liverpool]]
|attendance=20,660
|referee=
}}

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{{Football kit
 | pattern_la = _liverpool85
 | pattern_b  = _liverpool85
 | pattern_ra = _liverpool85
 | pattern_sh = _adidaswhite
 | pattern_so = _3_stripes_white
 | leftarm = DD0000
 | body    = DD0000
 | rightarm = DD0000
 | shorts   = DD0000
 | socks = DD0000
 | title = Liverpool
}}
{{col-2}}
{{Football kit
 | pattern_la = _whiteborder
 | pattern_b  = 
 | pattern_ra = _whiteborder
 | pattern_sh = 
 | pattern_so = _whitetop
 | leftarm = 003399
 | body    = 003399
 | rightarm = 003399
 | shorts   = FFFFFF
 | socks = 003399
 | title = Everton
}}
{{col-end}}

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| style="font-size:90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
|-
!width="25"| !!width="25"|
|-
|GK ||'''1''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Mike Hooper (footballer)|Mike Hooper]]
|-
|RB ||'''2''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Barry Venison]]
|-
|LB ||'''3''' ||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Jim Beglin]]
|-
|CB ||'''4''' ||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Mark Lawrenson]]
|-
|LM ||'''5''' ||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Ronnie Whelan]] || || {{suboff}}
|-
|CB ||'''6''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Gary Gillespie]]
|-
|SS ||'''7''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Kenny Dalglish]] 
|-
|RM ||'''8''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Steve Nicol]]
|-
|CF ||'''9''' ||{{fbaicon|WAL}} [[Ian Rush]]
|-
|CM ||'''10'''||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Kevin MacDonald (footballer)|Kevin MacDonald]]
|-
|CM ||'''11'''||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Steve McMahon]]
|-
|colspan=4|'''Substitutes:'''
|-
|MF ||'''12'''||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[John Wark]]
|-
|MF ||'''14'''||{{fbaicon|DEN}} [[Jan Mølby]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Player/Manager:'''
|-
|colspan="4"|{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Kenny Dalglish]]
|}
{{col-2}}
{| style="font-size:90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"
|-
!width="25"| !!width="25"|
|-
|GK ||'''1''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Bobby Mimms]]
|-
|RB ||'''2''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Peter Billing]]
|-
|LB ||'''3''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Paul Power]] 
|-
|CB ||'''4''' ||{{fbaicon|WAL}} [[Kevin Ratcliffe]] ([[Captain (association football)|c]])
|-
|CB ||'''5''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Ian Marshall (English footballer)|Ian Marshall]] 
|-
|CM ||'''6''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Kevin Langley]]
|-
|RM ||'''7''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Neil Adams (footballer)|Neil Adams]]
|-
|ST ||'''8''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Paul Wilkinson (footballer)|Paul Wilkinson]]
|-
|ST ||'''9''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Graeme Sharp]]
|-
|CM ||'''10'''||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Trevor Steven]]
|-
|LM ||'''11'''||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Kevin Sheedy (Irish footballer)|Kevin Sheedy]] || || {{suboff}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Substitutes:'''
|-
|MF || ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Warren Aspinall]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Manager:'''
|-
|colspan="4"|{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Howard Kendall]]
|}
{{col-end}}

====Second leg====
{{football box
|date=30 September 1986
|team1=[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|score=1–4
|team2=[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|report=[http://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/1544 Report]<br />[https://archive.today/20141207085909/http://www.liverweb.org.uk/report.asp?rec_id=4669 Report]
|goals1=[[Graeme Sharp|Sharp]]  {{goal|88|pen.}}
|goals2=[[Ian Rush|Rush]] {{goal|10||27||84}}<br />[[Steve Nicol|Nicol]] {{goal|62}}
|stadium=[[Goodison Park]], [[Liverpool]]
|attendance=26,068
|referee=
}}

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{{Football kit
 | pattern_la = _whiteborder
 | pattern_b  = 
 | pattern_ra = _whiteborder
 | pattern_sh = 
 | pattern_so = _whitetop
 | leftarm = 003399
 | body    = 003399
 | rightarm = 003399
 | shorts   = FFFFFF
 | socks = 003399
 | title = Everton
}}
{{col-2}}
{{Football kit
 | pattern_la = _liverpool85
 | pattern_b  = _liverpool85
 | pattern_ra = _liverpool85
 | pattern_sh = _adidaswhite
 | pattern_so = _3_stripes_white
 | leftarm = DD0000
 | body    = DD0000
 | rightarm = DD0000
 | shorts   = DD0000
 | socks = DD0000
 | title = Liverpool
}}
{{col-end}}

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| style="font-size:90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
|-
!width="25"| !!width="25"|
|-
|GK ||'''1''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Bobby Mimms]]
|-
|RB ||'''2''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Peter Billing]]
|-
|LB ||'''3''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Paul Power]] 
|-
|CB ||'''4''' ||{{fbaicon|WAL}} [[Kevin Ratcliffe]] ([[Captain (association football)|c]])
|-
|CB ||'''5''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Derek Mountfield]] 
|-
|CM ||'''6''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Trevor Steven]]
|-
|RM ||'''7''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Neil Adams (footballer)|Neil Adams]]
|-
|CM ||'''8''' ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Adrian Heath]]
|-
|ST ||'''9''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Graeme Sharp]]
|-
|ST ||'''10'''||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Paul Wilkinson (footballer)|Paul Wilkinson]]
|-
|LM ||'''11'''||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Kevin Sheedy (Irish footballer)|Kevin Sheedy]] || || {{suboff}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Substitute:'''
|-
|MF || ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Warren Aspinall]] || || {{subon}} || {{suboff}}
|-
|DF || ||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Neil Pointon]] || || || {{subon}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Manager:'''
|-
|colspan="4"|{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Howard Kendall]]
|}
{{col-2}}
{| style="font-size:90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"
|-
!width="25"| !!width="25"|
|-
|GK ||'''1''' ||{{fbaicon|ZIM}} [[Bruce Grobbelaar]]
|-
|RB ||'''2''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Gary Gillespie]]
|-
|LB ||'''3''' ||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Jim Beglin]]
|-
|CB ||'''4''' ||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Mark Lawrenson]]
|-
|LM ||'''5''' ||{{fbaicon|IRL}} [[Ronnie Whelan]]
|-
|CB ||'''6''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Alan Hansen]] ([[Captain (association football)|c]])
|-
|SS ||'''7''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[John Wark]] 
|-
|RM ||'''8''' ||{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Steve Nicol]] || || {{suboff}}
|-
|CF ||'''9''' ||{{fbaicon|WAL}} [[Ian Rush]]
|-
|CM ||'''10'''||{{fbaicon|DEN}} [[Jan Mølby]]
|-
|CM ||'''11'''||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Steve McMahon]] || || {{suboff}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Substitute:'''
|-
|DF ||'''12'''||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Barry Venison]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|FW ||'''14'''||{{fbaicon|ENG}} [[Paul Walsh]] || || {{subon}}
|-
|colspan=4|'''Player/Manager:'''
|-
|colspan="4"|{{fbaicon|SCO}} [[Kenny Dalglish]]
|}
{{col-end}}
''Liverpool won 7–2 on aggregate''

==Top goalscorers==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Player
!Club
!Goals
|-
|[[Ian Rush]]
|[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|7
|-
|[[Mark Falco]]
|[[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
|4
|-
|[[Graeme Sharp]]
|[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|3
|-
|[[Kevin Sheedy (Irish footballer)|Kevin Sheedy]]
|[[Everton F.C.|Everton]]
|3
|}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/oct/26/forgotten-story-english-super-cup The story of the Super Cup]

{{1985–86 in English football}}
{{Everton F.C. matches}}
{{Liverpool F.C. matches}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Super Cup (English Football)}}
[[Category:Defunct English Football League competitions]]
[[Category:Defunct football cup competitions in England]]
[[Category:1985–86 in English football]]
[[Category:1985 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1986 disestablishments in England]]