Event | 1987–88 FA Cup | ||||||
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Date | 14 May 1988 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Man of the Match | Dave Beasant (Wimbledon) | ||||||
Referee | Brian Hill (Northamptonshire) | ||||||
Attendance | 98,203 | ||||||
Weather | Sunny 23 °C (73 °F) [1] | ||||||
The 1988 FA Cup final was the 107th final of the FA Cup. It took place on Saturday 14 May 1988 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Wimbledon and Liverpool, the dominant English club side of the 1980s and newly crowned league champions.[2][3]
In one of the biggest shocks in the entire history of the competition, Lawrie Sanchez' solitary goal of the game ensured Wimbledon's 1-0 victory over Liverpool, and won Wimbledon their only FA Cup final in their history; they had just completed their second season in the First Division and had only been in the Football League for a total of 11 years.[4][5] The final also featured the first ever penalty save in an FA Cup final, by Dave Beasant from John Aldridge.[6] Beasant is often mistakenly believed to have been the first goalkeeper to captain a winning side in an FA Cup Final but this honour falls to Major William Merriman of the Royal Engineers who captained his side to victory in 1875.[7]
It was the last FA Cup final to be broadcast live simultaneously by both the BBC and ITV until 2022 - this happened at every final since 1958. Wimbledon's victory ended Liverpool's bid to become the first team to win the Double twice,[8][9] a feat that was eventually achieved by rivals Manchester United in 1996. The game was the last that former England international Laurie Cunningham would play in England, before his death in Spain in 1989.[10]