After the Heysel Stadium
disaster English clubs were banned from competing in European competitions
indefinitely from season 1985-86. The
financial implications for the six clubs who had earned qualification from the
previous season were potentially disastrous.
English football was going through a difficult time with reduced
attendances and more coverage on the front pages than the authorities would
prefer.
The end of the 1985-86
season had not been a happy one. 56 fans
died in a fire at Bradford City’s Valley Parade stadium and then at the
European Cup Final in Brussels, 39 Juventus fans lost their lives when a wall
collapsed after a charge by Liverpool supporters. This was the final straw for UEFA and they
took immediate action. English clubs
were banned from European competition until such time as it was considered they
had rid themselves of “the English disease” or violence at football
matches. Yet even after that Liverpool
would suffer a further three year ban as punishment.
The Football League was
keen to come up with a substitute competition for the clubs concerned and so
they conceived the idea of a Super Cup.
The six clubs were split into two groups with each side playing the
other two clubs in their group twice.
The top two in each group would then meet in a Semi-Final and Final
stage played over two legs. The winners
would have to negotiate eight matches to be successful.
The intention was to hold
the competition annually for the duration of the ban (which ultimately existed
for five years) but the games were poorly attended and the competition just
didn’t quite do it when compared to the glamour of European tournaments. To make things worse some of the clubs
themselves hardly managed to drum up interest in it and so it would remain a one-off
cup.
Perhaps the fact a
sponsor was yet to be found right up to kick-off didn’t help. In the end a cable TV channel, ScreenSport,
came to the rescue. It had been launched
in 1984 and was bought by WH Smith in 1987 and then later by Eurosport before
its demise in 1993.
Another hurdle to get
over was the clubs were in dispute with BBC and ITV over money and so there was
no football on telly until the New Year.
At the time there was real concern television would reduce gates, with
many in power believing people would just stay at home and watch rather than
make their way to the grounds. This
meant the brand new competition got off to the worst possible start as people
couldn’t watch it on TV.
For the rest of the First
and Second Division clubs, the Football League devised their own competition
and called it The Full Members Cup.
As if all this turmoil
wasn’t enough, behind the scenes there was talk of a breakaway league and by
December 1985 plans were in place to reduce the First Division in size and
introduce play-offs. Fortunately, a new
TV deal was agreed. It seems madness
today to think back to a TV deal which included nine First Division and League
Cup games from January with a separate deal for the FA Cup and two further live
matches, England v Scotland and the European Cup Final. For many supporters now they are used to
seeing at least three live games every weekend, but back then football just
didn’t trust or understand television and so we had the situation of no football
to watch at all for the first six months of the season.
The six clubs to
participate in the competition were, Everton
(League Champions), Manchester United
(FA Cup winners), Norwich City
(League Cup winners), and then the three clubs who had qualified for the UEFA
Cup, Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton. The two groups were drawn and consisted of Liverpool,
Tottenham and Southampton in Group One, and Everton, Norwich City and
Manchester United in Group Two. There
were rumours the two biggest clubs in the country at the time, Liverpool and
Everton, were kept apart in the draw in a bid to give the competition some
credence and try to keep the interest through to the final.
The competition kicked
off on 17th September at Anfield where Liverpool took on
Southampton. Their League form couldn’t
have been more different. Southampton
were yet to win away and Liverpool had won every home match. All the goals came in the first half as Jan
Molby gave the home side an early lead, with Danny Wallace equalising mid-way
through, only for Kenny Dalglish to put Liverpool back in front almost
immediately. A good win for Liverpool
but concern for the organisers as fewer than 17,000 turned out to watch.
The next night Manchester
United took on Everton at Old Trafford.
United had started the season off with a bang, having won every one of
their eight League matches and were eight points ahead of Everton in 2nd. Everton lead at the break after Kevin Sheedy
and Gary Lineker scored to cancel out Bryan Robson’s penalty. Sheedy scored again in the second period with
Graeme Sharp adding a fourth. Frank
Stapleton’s goal was merely a consolation and United had lost their 100% record
in all competitions, although if you include their Charity Shield defeat to
Everton then it was their second defeat.
Just under 34,000 turned up for the game and although that was more than
at Anfield, it was still down on the regular 50,000+ who had been watching the
League games at Old Trafford. In his
programme notes, United Chairman, Martin Edwards, said he hoped the Super Cup would
only last for one season as he hoped the ban on English clubs would only last
that long. He got his wish in the end,
but only the bit about the shelf-life of the competition rather than the ban.
17th September
1985, Anfield, 16,189
GROUP ONE
LIVERPOOL (2) 2 (Molby,
Dalglish)
SOUTHAMPTON (1) 1 (Wallace)
Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Nicol, Lawrenson, Hansen, Beglin; Johnston,
Lee, Molby, McMahon; Walsh, Dalglish
Southampton: Shilton; Golac, Bond, Wright, Dennis; Curtis
(Lawrence), Townsend, Whitlock, Armstrong; Wallace, Jordan
18th September
1985, Old Trafford, 33,859
GROUP TWO
MANCHESTER UNITED (1) 2 (Robson
pen, Stapleton)
EVERTON (2) 4 (Sheedy
2, Lineker, Sharp)
Man Utd:Bailey; Duxbury, McGrath, Moran, Albiston; Strachan,
Robson, Whiteside, Barnes; Hughes, Stapleton
Everton: Southall; Stevens, Ratcliffe, Marshall, Van den Hauwe;
Steven, Harper, Bracewell, Sheedy; Lineker (Heath), Sharp
At the beginning of
October barely 10,000 could be bothered to get to Goodison Park to see Gary
Lineker score the only goal of the game as Everton beat Second Division Norwich
City to virtually confirm their passage to the next stage. The vibe around Goodison was so poor that
Everton manager, Howard Kendall, later admitted his team talk consisted of the
following phrase “what a waste of time this is – out you go”.
At White Hart Lane two
first half goals from Mark Falco were enough to see off Southampton despite
Steve Moran’s reply in the second period.
Southampton were lying in the relegation zone in the League and their
participation in this competition was now in doubt with a second defeat.
2nd October
1985, White Hart Lane, 11,549
GROUP ONE
TOTTENHAM (2) 2 (Falco 2)
SOUTHAMPTON (0) 1 (Moran)
Tottenham: Clemence; Thomas, Perryman, Roberts, Hughton; P Allen,
Hoddle, Ardiles (Mabbutt), Waddle; Falco, C Allen (Chiedozie)
Southampton: Shilton; Baker, Wright, Bond, Armstrong; Case,
Townsend, Curtis; Wallace (Lawrence), Jordan, Moran
Goodison Park, 10,329
GROUP TWO
EVERTON (0) 1 (Lineker)
NORWICH CITY (0) 0
Everton: Southall; Stevens, Ratcliffe, Marshall, Van den Hauwe;
Steven, Harper, Bracewell, Sheedy; Lineker, Sharp
Norwich: Woods; Haylock, Bruce, Spearing, Phelan; Barham (Brooke),
Mendham, Williams, van Wyk; Drinkell, Rosario
By the time Liverpool
visited Southampton for their return fixture they had moved into second place
in the League, still ten points behind the leaders Manchester United. Southampton had moved up a couple of places themselves
and put up a better fight than at Anfield as David Armstrong’s goal was
cancelled out by a late Paul Walsh goal and the points were shared. The next night at Carrow Road, Norwich City
pulled off a shock as Peter Mendham’s goal beat the League Champions,
Everton. The attendance for this game
was only slightly down on their League matches and the win opened up the
group. Norwich City had been looking
forward to, what would have been, their first ever foray into European
Competition after they lifted the League Cup back in April beating Sunderland
who then joined Norwich in being relegated from the First Division.
22nd October
1986, The Dell, 10,503
GROUP ONE
SOUTHAMPTON (0) 1 (Armstrong
pen)
LIVERPOOL (0) 1 (Walsh)
Southampton: Shilton; Baker, Whitlock (Townsend), Wright, Holmes;
Case, Cockerill, Puckett, Armstrong; Wallace, Moran
Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, Beglin; Nicol,
Johnston, McMahon, Molby (MacDonald), Whelan; Walsh
23rd October
1986, Carrow Road, 12,196
GROUP TWO
NORWICH CITY (0) 1 (Mendham)
EVERTON (0) 0
Norwich: Woods; Culverhouse, Bruce, Watson, Phelan; Barham, Mendham
(Brooke), Williams, van Wyk; Drinkell, Biggins
Everton: Southall; Stevens, Ratcliffe, Harper, Van den Hauwe;
Steven, Heath, Bracewell, Sheedy; Lineker (Richardson), Sharp (Wilkinson)
Manchester United’s 100%
record in the League had gone but by this stage they were still unbeaten and
nine points clear of Liverpool in second.
Norwich had begun to get some sort of momentum going in Division Two
after a poor start and after playing in front of crowds of around 10,000 they
seem galvanised despite Old Trafford being less than half full. Wayne Biggins had scored his first goal of
the season at Brighton the previous weekend, and he opened the scoring here as
well. Norwich lead at the break but a
Norman Whiteside penalty
6th November 1985,
Old Trafford, 20,130
GROUP TWO
MANCHESTER UNITED (0) 1 (Whiteside
pen)
NORWICH CITY (1) 1 (Biggins)
Man Utd: Turner; Gidman, McGrath, Hogg, Albiston; Blackmore,
Whiteside, Olsen, Barnes (Strachan); Hughes, Brazil
Norwich: Woods; Culverhouse, Bruce, Watson, Phelan; Barham,
Mendham, Williams, van Wyk; Drinkell, Biggins
By the time December came
along, Liverpool had hunted down United’s lead at the top of the League to
reduce the deficit to just two points.
In the Super Cup they made it two wins out of two as Kevin MacDonald and
Paul Walsh scored first half goals which ultimately saw off any challenge Spurs
might have been able to muster.
In the other group,
Manchester United’s poor overall form continued. Since their last game against Norwich they
had yet to win a match of any sort, and there was a kind of irony in Everton’s
winning goal coming from one of their own players, Frank Stapleton, who put
through his own net. The defeat for
United meant they could only qualify for the Semi-Finals if they beat Norwich
by two goals in the last group game.
3rd December
1985, Anfield, 14,855
GROUP ONE
LIVERPOOL (2) 2 (MacDonald,
Walsh)
TOTTENHAM (0) 0
Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Nicol, Lawrenson, Hansen, Beglin; Johnston,
Lee, Molby (Wark), MacDonald; Walsh, Rush
Tottenham: Clemence; Stevens, Perryman (Thomas), Mabbutt, Hughton;
P Allen (Ardiles), Roberts, Hoddle, Waddle; Falco, C Allen
4th December
1985, Goodison Park, 20,542
GROUP TWO
EVERTON (0) 1 (Stapleton
og)
MANCHESTER UNITED (0) 0
Everton: Southall, Harper (Pointon), Ratcliffe, Stevens, Van den
Hauwe; Steven, Bracewell, Richardson; Heath, Lineker, Wilkinson
Man Utd: Turner; Gidman, McGrath, Blackmore, Gibson; Strachan,
Whiteside (Dempsey), Olsen; Stapleton, Hughes, Brazil
When Norwich and United
met at Carrow Road to decide the other qualifier from this group, their
respective League form was poles apart.
Norwich were unbeaten in their last nine, having won three in a row. United had just beaten Ipswich, to end a run
of four without a win. The biggest crowd
of the season at Carrow Road saw David Williams give the home side a half-time
lead, but Colin Gibson equalised in the second half for the visitors. Norwich then just saw out the game to earn a
draw and a place, alongside Everton, in the Semi-Finals.
11th December
1985, Carrow Road, 15,449
GROUP TWO
NORWICH CITY (1) 1 (Williams)
MANCHESTER UNITED (0) 1 (Gibson)
Norwich: Woods; Culverhouse, Bruce, Watson, Phelan; Barham,
Mendham, Williams, van Wyk; Drinkell, Biggins
Man Utd: Bailey; Gidman, McGrath, Garton, Gibson; Strachan,
Dempsey, Blackmore,Whiteside; Stapleton, Brazil
With Liverpool already
having confirmed their progression to the Semis, these two were fighting to
join them. It was Southampton’s final
group game and anything other than a win would see the end of their
participation. Southampton had already
beaten Spurs when the two met at The Dell in the League a month earlier, but
this time Spurs would get their revenge.
Mark Falco and Clive Allen put the visitors in front in the first
half. Despite Danny Wallace getting a
goal back for the home side, David Leworthy made certain of the points for
Spurs and Southampton were out.
17th December 1985, The
Dell, 4,680
GROUP ONE
SOUTHAMPTON (0) 1 (Wallace)
TOTTENHAM (2) 3 (Falco,
C Allen, Leworthy)
Southampton: Kite; Forrest, Wright, Bond, Dennis; Case (Townsend),
Cockerill, Holmes, Armstrong (Puckett); Moran, Wallace
Tottenham: Clemence; Thomas, Perryman, Mabbutt, Hughton; Stevens,
Roberts, Ardiles (Leworthy), P Allen; Falco, C Allen (Cooke)
Group One was already
decided when Liverpool visited White Hart Lane.
For Tottenham this came in the middle of a six game run without a win,
and a measure of how they rated this particular competition could be evidenced
in calling up forty one year old former legend, Pat Jennings to give Ray
Clemence a rest. During a goalless first
half, Kevin MacDonald broke his arm in a collision with Steve Perryman and had
to be replaced. Ian Rush scored early in
the second half, and then again just after Mark Lawrenson had made it 2-0. Three goals in twelve minutes finished off
the hosts and Liverpool marched on having dropped just two points.
14th January
1986, White Hart Lane, 10,078
GROUP ONE
TOTTENHAM (0) 0
LIVERPOOL (0) 3 (Rush 2,
Lawrenson)
Tottenham: Jennings; Perryman, Stevens, Miller, Hughton; Chiedozie,
Roberts, Mabbutt, P Allen, Galvin (Cooke); C Allen
Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Nicol, Lawrenson, Hansen, MacDonald
(Gillespie); Lee, McMahon (Wark), Molby, Whelan; Walsh, Rush
Semi-Finals
There were already noises
being made about fixture pile-up by the time the Semis arrived. Liverpool had already made it into the
Semi-Finals of the League Cup and were still in the FA Cup, which had reached
the Fifth Round stage. Everton and
Tottenham were due to meet in the FA Cup so they had other matters to
concentrate on. Everton were sitting top
of the League with Liverpool in fourth and so this competition was viewed as
little more than an inconvenience.
At a snowy White Hart
Lane just 7,548 bothered to turn up for the game where Everton fielded only
three first team regulars. The game
ended goalless and was largely a forgettable affair.
At Carrow Road Norwich
took on Liverpool. Norwich were unbeaten
in their last seventeen in the League and had just come off a run of ten wins
on the spin. Liverpool were fourth in
the League, three points behind leaders, Everton. They’d already faced Norwich this season when
they thumped them 5-0 in the FA Cup Third Round at Anfield. Norwich’s top scorer, Kevin Drinkell broke
the deadlock in the second half but player-manager, Kenny Dalglish, equalised
for the visitors ten minutes from time and the game ended level.
5th February
1986, White Hart Lane, 7,548
TOTTENHAM (0) 0
EVERTON (0) 0
Tottenham: Clemence; Perryman, Mabbutt, Miller, Stevens; Chiedozie,
Roberts (Hughton), Crook, Waddle; Falco (P Allen), C Allen
Everton: Southall; Stevens, Van den Hauwe, Marshall, Pointon;
Steven, Reid, Billinge, Richardson; Coyle, Wilkinson
Carrow Road, 15,313
NORWICH CITY (0) 1 (Drinkell)
LIVERPOOL (0) 1 (Dalglish)
Norwich: Woods; Culverhouse, Bruce, Watson, Phelan; Barham, Mendham,
Williams; Drinkell, Deeham, Biggins
Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Nicol, Lawrenson, Gillespie, Beglin;
Johnston, Lee, Molby, Whelan; Walsh, Dalglish
The fixture schedule only
allowed one of the Semi-Finals to be played before the end of the season. At Goodison Park, if Howard Kendall thought
the whole competition a waste of time, he found his players were keener on it
as they swept Tottenham aside. Everton
were three points ahead of Liverpool at the top of the First Division, unbeaten
in eleven and just had a six-game winning run ended when they were held at
Chelsea. Tottenham were mid-table,
having lost six of their last ten.
Adrian Heath put Everton in front but Mark Falco equalised and with both
sides still level after ninety minutes, the game went into extra time. Goals from Derek Mountfield and Graeme Sharp
won it for Everton and they were through to the Final.
19th March
1986, Goodison Park, 12,008
EVERTON (0) 3 (Heath,
Mountfield, Sharp)
TOTTENHAM (0) 1 (Falco)
Everton: Southall; Billinge (van den Hauwe), Marshall, Mountfield,
Pointon; Harper, Heath, Richardson, Sheedy; Wilkinson (Sharp), Coyle
Tottenham: Clemence; Thomas (Bowen), Stevens, Miller, Hughton; Chiedozie,
P Allen, Mabbutt, Galvin; Falco, Waddle
But the identity of their
opponents was not known for almost three weeks as Liverpool were chasing
trophies on three fronts. They’d just fallen
at the final hurdle in a bid to get to yet another League Cup Final when a late
goal against QPR knocked them out in the Semis.
Two days before the other Semi-Final in this competition, they overcame
Watford in a replay of their Sixth Round FA Cup encounter. By the time they found space in the calendar
for this tie they’d booked their place in the FA Cup Final and three days
before this game Kenny Dalglish had scored the winner against Chelsea to claim
another League title, and his first in his first year in charge of the team.
Four days before the FA
Cup Final Liverpool lined up at Anfield for the visit of Norwich City, and
began by parading the League Championship trophy. With the tie level, former Tottenham
midfielder, Gary Brooke, gave Norwich an early lead. They had already won the Second Division
title, having lead since mid-December and were in buoyant mood. Liverpool didn’t come back into it until ten
minutes into the second half when Kevin On seventy two minutes, Jan Molby converted a
penalty and then soon after Craig Johnston completed the scoring and Liverpool’s
3-1 win matched that of Everton’s in the other Semi-Final.
6th May 1986,
Anfield, 26,696
LIVERPOOL (0) 3 (MacDonald,
Molby pen, Johnston)
NORWICH CITY (1) 1 (Brooke)
Liverpool:Grobbelaar; Nicol, Gillespie, Lawrenson, Beglin;
Johnston, Lee, MacDonald, McMahon, Whelan (Molby); Walsh
Norwich: Woods; Culverhouse, Bruce, Watson, Phelan (Haylock);
Clayton, Brooke, Williams, van Wyk; Drinkell, Deehan
Liverpool and Everton,
due to meet in the FA Cup Final, were paired again in another Final but when it
would be played was highly doubtful.
With the World Cup looming and England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
all booked to appear, the authorities were keen to allow players as much time
off beforehand. As it was there was no
time to play the Final before the start of the following season, so we had the
unusual aspect of a Final of a competition being played four months after the
finalists were known. For Everton the
gap for them was six months between their Semi-Final win and the Final.
Final
This was the third
successive trophy on offer to English clubs which had been contested by
Liverpool and Everton. Liverpool won the
FA Cup in May, the two shared the Charity Shield in August and here they were
contesting the, seemingly unwanted, Super Cup.
By the time of the first leg the two clubs were again in the top three
in the League, with Everton unbeaten.
Ian Rush put Liverpool in front after just six minutes and they held the
lead until former Liverpool player, Kevin Sheedy, equalised five minutes before
the break.
After the turnaround,
Steve McMahon restored Liverpool’s lead ten minutes into the second period and
then midway through the half, Ian Rush scored his second and Liverpool had a
useful lead to take to the second leg.
16th September
1986, Anfield, 20,660
LIVERPOOL (1) 3 (Rush 2,
McMahon)
EVERTON (1) 1 (Sheedy)
Liverpool: Hooper; Venison, Lawrenson, Gillespie, Beglin; Nicol,
MacDonald, McMahon, Whelan (Molby); Rush, Dalglish
Everton: Mimms; Billing, Ratcliffe, Marshall, Power; Steven, Adams,
Langley, Sheedy (Aspinall); Wilkinson, Sharp
Just 26,068 turned up at
Goodison Park for the second leg as Liverpool took their two goal advantage
there. Two soon became three when Ian
Rush was again on target after ten minutes.
He scored again just before the half-hour to give the visitors a lead at
the break. Just after the hour Trevor
Steven missed a penalty for Everton when he hit the post and then Stevie Nicol
scored almost immediately and the game was all over as a contest. There was still time for Rush to complete his
hat-trick with Graeme Sharp getting no more than a consolation goal as
Liverpool ran out comfortable winners, 4-1 on the night and 7-2 overall.
Liverpool lifted the new
trophy for the one and only time and there were also tankards for the players,
which seemed odd as there was a lot of fuss about choosing a brewery as a
sponsor for the competition. As the
tournament was only taking place due to the European ban on English clubs after
the Heysel tragedy, it was thought that as heavy drinking had clearly played a
part in the events of that evening, a brewery would not be a suitable sponsor.
30th September
1986, Goodison Park, 26,068
EVERTON (1) 1 (Sharp)
LIVERPOOL (2) 4 (Rush 3,
Nicol)
Everton: Mimms; Billinge, Ratcliffe, Mountfield, Power; Steven,
Adams, Heath, Sheedy (Aspinall)(Pointon); Wilkinson, Sharp
Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Gillespie, Hansen, Lawrenson, Beglin; Nicol
(Venison), Molby, McMahon (Walsh), Whelan; Wark, Rush
"[T]he two biggest clubs in the country at the time, Liverpool and Everton..."
ReplyDeleteThose two clubs combined aren't -and weren't- as big as United.
You know that a competition is a joke when it drags on over two seasons!
ReplyDelete