1988 Associate Members' Cup final

Template:Use British English Template:Short description The 1988 Associate Members' Cup Final, known as the Sherpa Van Trophy Final for sponsorship reasons, was the 5th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Third and Fourth Divisions.

The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 29 May 1988, The game was contested by Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers before a crowd of 80,841, a then record for the trophy, which was not bettered until the 2019 final between Sunderland and Portsmouth. Wolves won the match 2–0 thanks to goals in either half by Andy Mutch and Robbie Dennison.

Background

The match took place three weeks after the end of the domestic league programme. Wolves had already won the Fourth Division title in their second ever season at that level, and boasted the division's top goalscorer in Steve Bull (34 league goals; 52 in total). Burnley had finished tenth in the division and would take four further seasons before being promoted. Wolves had won both league games between the two clubs that season 3–0.

It was the first time in the cup's history that two previous English champions met in the final, and Wolves were the first of the former champions to have won the trophy.

In a further twist of irony, Burnley and Wolves had contested the English league title between the two of them only twenty-eight years previously, Burnley emerging as champions on the final day of the 1959–60 season by a point (denying Wolves, FA Cup winners that season, the first English League and Cup 'double' of the 20th Century.)

Match details

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File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Wolverhampton Wanderers Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

GK 1 Template:Flagicon Chris Pearce RB 2 Template:Flagicon Peter Daniel LB 3 Template:Flagicon Ray Deakin (c) CM 4 Template:Flagicon Ian Britton CB 5 Template:Flagicon Steve Davis Template:Yel CB 6 Template:Flagicon Steve Gardner RM 7 Template:Flagicon Andy Farrell CF 8 Template:Flagicon George Oghani CF 9 Template:Flagicon Steve Taylor CM 10 Template:Flagicon Paul Comstive LM 11 Template:Flagicon Shaun McGrory downward-facing red arrow 61' Substitutes: DF 12 Template:Flagicon Ashley Hoskin MF 14 Template:Flagicon Leighton James upward-facing green arrow 61' Manager: Template:Flagicon Brian Miller

GK 1 Template:Flagicon Mark Kendall RB 2 Template:Flagicon Gary Bellamy LB 3 Template:Flagicon Andy Thompson CB 4 Template:Flagicon Floyd Streete CB 5 Template:Flagicon Ally Robertson (c) downward-facing red arrow 47' CM 6 Template:Flagicon Phil Robinson RM 7 Template:Flagicon Robbie Dennison CM 8 Template:Flagicon Keith Downing Template:Yel CF 9 Template:Flagicon Steve Bull CF 10 Template:Flagicon Andy Mutch LM 11 Template:Flagicon Micky Holmes downward-facing red arrow 45' Substitutes: MF 12 Template:Flagicon Nigel Vaughan upward-facing green arrow 45' FW 14 Template:Flagicon Jackie Gallagher upward-facing green arrow 47' Manager: Template:Flagicon Graham Turner

MATCH OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Dennis Palmer (Avon) Graham Butland (Chelmsford) Reserve referee: Michael Peck (Kendal)

MATCH RULES 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Two named substitutes Maximum of two substitutions.

Road to Wembley

Burnley

Northern Section Group 1 Tranmere Rovers 1–2 Burnley Northern Section Group 1 Burnley 3–2 Rochdale Northern Section First Round Burnley 1–0 Chester City Northern Section Quarter-finals Bury 0–1 Burnley Northern Section Semi-final Burnley 0–0 Halifax Town   Burnley won 5–3 on Penalties Northern Section Final 1st Leg Burnley 0–0 Preston North End Northern Section Final 2nd Leg Preston North End 1–3 Burnley

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Southern Section Group 1 Swansea City 1–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Southern Section Group 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–1 Bristol City Southern Section First Round Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–0 Brentford Southern Section Quarter-finals Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–0 Peterborough United Southern Section Semi-final Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Torquay United Southern Section Final 1st Leg Notts County 1–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Southern Section Final 2nd Leg Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–0 Notts County

External links

• Official website