1988 Associate Members' Cup Final
# 1988 Associate Members' Cup Final

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

| Burnley | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| - | - |

Chris Pearce :

| RB | 2 | Peter Daniel |
| - | - | - |
| LB | 3 | Ray Deakin (c) |
| CM | 4 | Ian Britton |
| CB | 5 | Steve Davis |
| CB | 6 | Steve Gardner |
| RM | 7 | Andy Farrell |
| CF | 8 | George Oghani |
| CF | 9 | Steve Taylor |
| CM | 10 | Paul Comstive |
| LM | 11 | Shaun McGrory | 61' |
| Substitutes: ||||
| DF | 12 | Ashley Hoskin |
| MF | 14 | Leighton James | 61' |
| Manager: ||||
| Brian Miller ||||

Mark Kendall :

| RB | 2 | Gary Bellamy |
| - | - | - |
| LB | 3 | Andy Thompson |
| CB | 4 | Floyd Streete |
| CB | 5 | Ally Robertson (c) | 47' |
| CM | 6 | Phil Robinson |
| RM | 7 | Robbie Dennison |
| CM | 8 | Keith Downing |
| CF | 9 | Steve Bull |
| CF | 10 | Andy Mutch |
| LM | 11 | Micky Holmes | 45' |
| Substitutes: ||||
| MF | 12 | Nigel Vaughan | 45' |
| FW | 14 | Jackie Gallagher | 47' |
| Manager: ||||
| 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 | Burnley won 5–3 on Penalties | 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 |
