What was the full members cup
No one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily why that should be the case. From WSC May What was happening this month. Full time score. To kick-off a new series about trophies that are no longer with us Peter Collins recalls the distinctly lukewarm appeal of the Full Members Cup Football chairmen abhor a vacuum. Email address. Love Share Tweet Share Email. Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool are among the clubs able to list trophies which no longer exist among their honours.
Football managers these days often complain about the problems of fixture congestion, with clubs having to juggle the Premier League and European competitions with the FA Cup and League Cup. But just imagine how much worse it could have been if some of these competitions still existed…. The cup was an additional piece of silverware for English clubs to fight over after the post-Heysel European competition ban was put in place.
It grew in popularity, with 41 teams out of a possible 45 contesting its final season, before it was killed off by the advent of the Premier League.
The Football League Super Cup was a consolation prize for those who had qualified for European competitions from the season but were deprived of the chance to take on their continental rivals by the ban imposed after the Heysel disaster. After those four games, only two of the six teams would be shed, with United and Saints failing to win a game between them. The four remaining teams went into two-legged semis, which saw Liverpool and Everton go forward into the final which, again, was a two-legged affair.
At least the Full Members Cup promised a day out at Wembley…. Indeed, continuing the farcical nature of the competition, neither Everton nor Liverpool could find time in their already-congested diaries in to schedule the final. Show more. Add item to your Scrapbook. Close this module. First Name First Name. Last Name Surname. Your email Email address.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. That first season though saw Bates — as ever — having the last laugh, with Chelsea winning a thrilling final against Manchester City.
The absurdness of the competition was embodied by the fact that both teams played Division One fixtures just 24 hours earlier. I remember walking out at Wembley and deciding I was just going to have fun. How could I get them all going? Bates could boast of a fine final, then — which was more than the other new tournament held that season could muster.
The Screensport Super Cup Screensport being a minor TV Channel that would one day become Eurosport , played between the six qualifiers for Europe Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham, Manchester United, Southampton and Norwich divided into two groups of three, before a two-legged semi-final and final had also struggled to grasp public imagination, falling foul to — other than sheer apathy — fixture pile-ups.
Oh, the tension. Everton as league champions and boasting arguably their finest-ever team had been hit hard by the European ban and for Kendall, trying to motivate his men in the competition was not going to be easy.
They were having new stands built and so we were getting changed in a portacabin. They should be running out in front of 70, on a balmy continental night and instead, here they are in Norfolk in a portacabin playing for some cup no one even cares about.
I felt sorry for them and so my team talk reflected that. The final was eventually won on aggregate by Liverpool, Ian Rush bagging his compulsory cluster of goals against the old enemy, and the striker recalls that the silverware on offer was far from cherished. The home fans had gone but we went over to our lot and a few of the fans had got onto the pitch. I handed one of them the cup I had. That went straight inside his coat and was never seen again.
No one ever noticed or asked, though. Like the trophy that came with it, that was the end of the Super Cup. Not that everyone involved was all abuzz.
I was lucky.