Full Members' Cup

Lore & Background

The competition was created after the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster, when English clubs were banned from European competition, as an additional competition for clubs in the top two English League divisions. The competition's name refers to the clubs that were Full Members of the Football League, with full voting rights; teams from the lower two divisions were Associate Members and already competed for the Associate Members' Cup (now known as the EFL Trophy). The initial Full Members' Cup did not include the six teams that had qualified for 1985–86 European competitions, as these played in the Super Cup instead. While the European ban of English clubs was partially lifted for 1990–91, and fully lifted for 1991–92, the Full Members' Cup survived through the end of 1991–92, its seventh season. The competition was then cancelled the following season when the Football League First Division was superseded by the Premier League as the top division, with clubs in the second tier entering a revived Anglo-Italian Cup.

In Their Own Story

The rain battered the Wembley turf in April 1987, turning the pitch into a slick battlefield. The Kop was sparse compared to the European nights, yet the roar that erupted when John Barnes converted a penalty and Ian Rush scored the decisive second goal against Arsenal echoed with familiar intensity. It wasn't a Champions' Cup final, and the world outside didn't care much for this strange new cup born of a ban, but inside the stadium, the players knew what it meant. As Dalglish lifted the silverware, he looked less like a conqueror of Europe and more like a manager ensuring his team never forgot how to win, no matter the name on the trophy.

Reader's Guide

Seven finals took place between 1986 and 1992. Blackburn Rovers and Reading were the only Second Division teams to win the cup. Chelsea and Nottingham Forest were the most successful teams in the competition, with both of them winning it twice. The competition was open to all teams from the top two levels of the English Leagues, namely the First and Second Divisions. The six First Division teams that qualified for 1985–86 European play were invited to the English Super Cup tournament rather than the Full Members' Cup. Some eligible teams chose not to compete in the tournament in a particular year, while four teams in the First Division throughout the seven seasons of the tournament never entered the competition – Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Did You Know?

• Chelsea and Nottingham Forest were the most successful teams in the competition, with both winning it twice.
• Blackburn Rovers and Reading were the only Second Division teams to win the cup.
• Four First Division teams never entered the competition: Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.