1987 FA Cup Final

1987 FA Cup Final

Event	FA Cup 1986–87
Coventry City Tottenham Hotspur 3 2
Date	16 May 1987
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
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The 1987 FA Cup Final took place on 16 May 1987 at Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs were appearing in their third final in seven seasons, having won the trophy in 1981 and 1982 and were strong favourites, while unfancied Coventry were appearing in their first ever final after 104 years of trying. Spurs were going for a record eighth victory and had never lost a final. In an exciting match, Coventry eventually triumphed 3–2 after extra time.

BBC commentator John Motson stated it was "the finest Cup Final I've had the pleasure of commentating on". It was a clean, good-willed yet well-contested final, with no bookings and high-quality football being produced by both sides. Both teams exercised quick, neat passing ability interspersed with exciting wing play and it was generally considered a good advertisement for English football.

Tottenham had also been knocked out of the Football League Cup in the semi-finals, and had finished third in the league, and so having spent most of the season challenging for a unique domestic treble, they ended it with no major trophies at all.

One downside to Coventry's remarkable triumph was that they would not be able to make a challenge for the European Cup Winners' Cup; UEFA had voted for the ban on English clubs in European competitions, imposed in 1985 following the Heysel disaster, to continue for a third season. In an attempt to show some reward for their achievement, Coventry arranged 'the Anglo-Scottish Challenge Cup', a two-legged match against the Scottish Cup winners St Mirren. After a 1-1 draw at Highfield Road, attended by less than 5,000 spectators, the second leg at Love Street was postponed and eventually forgotten.

Steve Ogrizovic, who remained with Coventry until retiring as a player in 2000, remained with the winning side for longer than any of the other 12 players who featured. Gary Mabbutt, who remained with Tottenham until 1998, was the last player to leave runners-up Tottenham. London Rockers Chas & Dave Released a song called Hot Shot Tottenham!. It reached No. 18 in the charts.

Match summary

After only two minutes, Clive Allen scored his 49th goal of the season, heading past keeper Steve Ogrizovic at the near-post from a perfect Chris Waddle cross. Within seven minutes though, the Sky Blues were level through Dave Bennett, a Cup Final loser in 1981 for Manchester City, coincidentally at the hands of Spurs.

The London club were back in front five minutes before the break though through defender Gary Mabbutt. Midway through the second half the Midlanders were level again - Bennett's pinpoint cross from the right was met by striker Keith Houchen with a diving header for a memorable goal, which was voted in the top 10 goals ever scored at Wembley. Houchen was also awarded the BBC's Goal of the Season.

The scores stayed level until full-time and the game went into extra-time. Six minutes in, the unfortunate Mabbutt scored an own goal after Lloyd McGrath centred the ball and it took a deflection off of the Spurs defender's knee and over keeper Ray Clemence. In the late-1980s and early-1990s, one of Coventry's fanzines was mischievously entitled 'Gary Mabbutt's Knee'.

Match details

16 May 1987	Coventry City	3 – 2 (aet)	Tottenham Hotspur	Wembley, London Attendance: 98,000 Referee: Neil Midgley (Manchester)
	Bennett  9' Houchen  63' Mabbutt (o.g.)  96'	(Report)	C. Allen  2' Mabbutt  40'

Coventry

Tottenham

COVENTRY: GK 1 Steve Ogrizovic RB 2 David Phillips LB 3 Greg Downs MF 4 Lloyd McGrath CB 5 Brian Kilcline (c) 89' CB 6 Trevor Peake MF 7 Dave Bennett MF 8 Micky Gynn CF 9 Cyrille Regis CF 10 Keith Houchen MF 11 Nick Pickering Substitutes: DF 14 Graham Rodger 89' MF 12 Steve Sedgley Manager: John Sillett

TOTTENHAM: GK 1 Ray Clemence RB 2 Chris Hughton 97' LB 3 Mitchell Thomas MF 4 Steve Hodge CB 5 Richard Gough (c) CB 6 Gary Mabbutt CF 7 Clive Allen MF 8 Paul Allen MF 9 Chris Waddle MF 10 Glenn Hoddle MF 11 Ossie Ardiles 91' Substitutes: FW 12 Nico Claesen 97' DF 14 Gary Stevens 91' Manager: David Pleat

MATCH RULES 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Replay if scores still level. Two named substitutes Maximum of 2 substitutions.

Road to Wembley

Home teams listed first.

Coventry City Round 3: Coventry City 3–0 Bolton Wanderers Round 4: Manchester United 0–1 Coventry City Round 5: Stoke City 0–1 Coventry City Round 6: Sheffield Wednesday 1–3 Coventry City Semi-final: Coventry City 3–2 Leeds United

Tottenham Hotspur Round 3: Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 Scunthorpe United Round 4: Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 Crystal Palace Round 5: Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 Newcastle United Round 6: Wimbledon 0–2 Tottenham Hotspur Semi-final: Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 Watford

References

• Game facts at soccerbase.com