1989 FA Cup Final

1989 FA Cup Final

Event	1988–89 FA Cup
Liverpool Everton 3 2
Date	20 May 1989
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
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The 1989 FA Cup Final was the final of the 1988–89 FA Cup, the top football knockout competition in England. The match was a Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 20 May 1989. Liverpool won 3–2 after extra time, with goals from John Aldridge and two from Ian Rush. Stuart McCall scored both Everton goals. The final was played only five weeks after the Hillsborough Disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush, and just before kick-off there was a minute's silence and the teams wore black armbands as a sign of respect. Gerry Marsden, lead singer of Gerry & the Pacemakers, led the crowd in a rendition of his hit You'll Never Walk Alone, which had become synomynous with Liverpool Football Club.

The match itself was one of Wembley's most dramatic. Liverpool took the lead after four minutes through John Aldridge (atoning for his penalty miss in the Final the year before), and held onto that lead until one minute from full time. In the 90th minute, Everton substitute Stuart McCall poked the ball home, and a pitch invasion by Everton fans ensued. McCall had scored just once for Everton before the FA Cup final, having joined them from Bradford City at the start of the season.

McCall's goal was the last kick of the 90 minutes and the match went into extra time. On 95 minutes, Liverpool substitute Ian Rush scored with a half-volley on the turn to give Liverpool a 2–1 lead. They were pegged back again just five minutes later when McCall scored his second, chesting and volleying a spectacular goal past Bruce Grobelaar and into the corner of the net. However, Rush had not finished and – just as in 1986, when he scored twice to help the Reds beat the Toffees 3–1 in the first Merseyside derby Final – he got his second in the 104th minute, with a header from a floated John Barnes cross.

Since the previous all-Merseyside final three years earlier, Liverpool had continued their domination of the English game (they were league champions in 1988 and runners-up in 1987), but Everton had declined since their 1987 title triumph and finished sixth in the league in 1989.

UEFA voted for the ban on English clubs in European competitions to continue for a fifth season, ruling out Liverpool's hopes of competing in the Cup Winners' Cup – although they were still in contention for the league title at this stage, and ultimately were only deprived of the title (and a unique second double) by a last-gasp goal in their final game of the season. Had the ban on English clubs in European competitions been lifted and Liverpool had won the league, Everton would have been able to compete in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Liverpool striker Ian Rush had now scored four goals in FA Cup finals (both two-goal hauls against Everton) and was one of ten players (five for each side) to have featured in both of the all-Merseyside FA Cup finals.

Match details

20 May 1989 15:00 BST	Liverpool	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Everton	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 82,800 Referee: Joe Worrall (Cheshire)
	Aldridge  4' Rush  95', 104'	Report	McCall  89', 102'

Liverpool

Everton

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar CB 2 Gary Ablett LB 3 Steve Staunton 90' RB 4 Steve Nicol CM 5 Ronnie Whelan (c) CB 6 Alan Hansen CF 7 Peter Beardsley CF 8 John Aldridge 73' RM 9 Ray Houghton LM 10 John Barnes CM 11 Steve McMahon Substitutes: DF 12 Barry Venison 90' FW 14 Ian Rush 73' Manager: Kenny Dalglish

GK 1 Neville Southall RB 2 Neil McDonald LB 3 Pat Van Den Hauwe CB 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c) CB 5 Dave Watson CM 6 Paul Bracewell 59' RM 7 Pat Nevin CM 8 Trevor Steven CF 9 Graeme Sharp CF 10 Tony Cottee LM 11 Kevin Sheedy 78' Substitutes: MF 12 Ian Wilson 78' MF 14 Stuart McCall 59' Manager: Colin Harvey

Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary Replay if scores still level Two named substitutes Maximum of two substitutions

External links

• Match Report at lfchistory.net