1986–87 FA Cup

1986–87 FA Cup^[1]
Tournament details
Country	England; Wales
Defending champions	Liverpool
Final positions
Champions	Coventry City; (1st title)
Runner-up	Tottenham Hotspur
	← 1985–86 1987–88 →

The 1986–87 FA Cup was the 106th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Coventry City, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–2, after extra-time, in the final at Wembley Stadium. It was Tottenham's only defeat in eight finals up to that point. The tournament started in August 1986, with non-league teams competing in the qualifying rounds.

First round proper

Teams from the Football League Third and Fourth Division entered in this round plus Altrincham, Runcorn, Frickley Athletic and Telford United, were given byes. The first round of games were played over the weekend 15–16 November 1986, with the exception of the Bristol Rovers – Brentford game. Replays were played either in the midweek fixtures on 17th-18th or on 24th.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Chester City	1–1	Rotherham United	15 November 1986
Replay	Rotherham United	1–1	Chester City	18 November 1986
Replay	Chester City	1–0	Rotherham United	24 November 1986
2	Darlington	2–1	Mansfield Town	16 November 1986
3	Dartford	1–1	Enfield	15 November 1986
Replay	Enfield	3–0	Dartford	18 November 1986
4	Bournemouth	7–2	Fareham Town	15 November 1986
5	Bath City	3–2	Aylesbury United	15 November 1986
6	Bristol City	3–1	VS Rugby	15 November 1986
7	Preston North End	5–1	Bury	15 November 1986
8	Walsall	2–0	Chesterfield	15 November 1986
9	Woking	1–1	Chelmsford City	15 November 1986
Replay	Chelmsford City	2–1	Woking	17 November 1986
10	Notts County	1–1	Carlisle United	15 November 1986
Replay	Carlisle United	0–3	Notts County	18 November 1986
11	Middlesbrough	3–0	Blackpool	15 November 1986
12	Swindon Town	4–0	Farnborough Town	15 November 1986
13	Wrexham	2–1	Hartlepool United	15 November 1986
14	Chorley	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	15 November 1986
Replay	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Chorley	18 November 1986
Replay	Chorley	3–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers	24 November 1986
15	Bristol Rovers	0–0	Brentford	3 December 1986
Replay	Brentford	2–0	Bristol Rovers	6 December 1986
16	Northampton Town	3–0	Peterborough United	16 November 1986
17	Spennymoor United	2–3	Tranmere Rovers	15 November 1986
18	Southend United	4–1	Halesowen Town	15 November 1986
19	Exeter City	1–1	Cambridge United	15 November 1986
Replay	Cambridge United	2–0	Exeter City	19 November 1986
20	Scunthorpe United	2–0	Southport	15 November 1986
21	Ton Pentre	1–4	Cardiff City	15 November 1986
22	Bromsgrove Rovers	0–1	Newport County	15 November 1986
23	Port Vale	1–0	Stafford Rangers	15 November 1986
24	Halifax Town	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	15 November 1986
Replay	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Halifax Town	18 November 1986
Replay	Halifax Town	1–3	Bolton Wanderers	24 November 1986
25	Wealdstone	1–1	Swansea City	15 November 1986
Replay	Swansea City	4–1	Wealdstone	24 November 1986
26	Runcorn	1–1	Boston United	15 November 1986
Replay	Boston United	1–2	Runcorn	19 November 1986
27	York City	3–1	Crewe Alexandra	15 November 1986
28	Hereford United	3–3	Fulham	15 November 1986
Replay	Fulham	4–0	Hereford United	24 November 1986
29	Bishop's Stortford	1–1	Colchester United	15 November 1986
Replay	Colchester United	2–0	Bishop's Stortford	18 November 1986
30	Kettering Town	0–3	Gillingham	15 November 1986
31	Aldershot	1–0	Torquay United	15 November 1986
32	Wigan Athletic	3–1	Lincoln City	15 November 1986
33	Nuneaton Borough	0–3	Rochdale	15 November 1986
34	Woodford Town	0–1	Orient	15 November 1986
35	Slough Town	1–1	Bognor Regis Town	15 November 1986
Replay	Bognor Regis Town	0–1	Slough Town	18 November 1986
36	Whitby Town	2–2	Doncaster Rovers	15 November 1986
Replay	Doncaster Rovers	3–2	Whitby Town	18 November 1986
37	Telford United	3–0	Burnley	15 November 1986
38	Frickley Athletic	0–0	Altrincham	15 November 1986
Replay	Altrincham	4–0	Frickley Athletic	18 November 1986
39	Welling United	1–1	Maidstone United	15 November 1986
Replay	Maidstone United	4–1	Welling United	24 November 1986
40	Caernarfon Town	1–0	Stockport County	15 November 1986

Second round proper

The second round of games were played over 6–7 December 1986, with replays being played on 9th–10th.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Chester City	3–1	Doncaster Rovers	6 December 1986
2	Darlington	0–5	Wigan Athletic	6 December 1986
3	Bournemouth	0–1	Orient	6 December 1986
4	Bristol City	1–1	Bath City	6 December 1986
Replay	Bristol City	3–0	Bath City	9 December 1986
5	Rochdale	1–4	Wrexham	6 December 1986
6	Walsall	5–0	Port Vale	6 December 1986
7	Gillingham	2–0	Chelmsford City	6 December 1986
8	Notts County	0–1	Middlesbrough	7 December 1986
9	Bolton Wanderers	2–0	Tranmere Rovers	6 December 1986
10	Swindon Town	3–0	Enfield	6 December 1986
11	Chorley	0–0	Preston North End	6 December 1986
Replay	Preston North End	5–0	Chorley	9 December 1986
12	Fulham	2–0	Newport County	6 December 1986
13	Maidstone United	1–0	Cambridge United	7 December 1986
14	Southend United	4–4	Northampton Town	5 December 1986
Replay	Northampton Town	3–2	Southend United	10 December 1986
15	Scunthorpe United	1–0	Runcorn	6 December 1986
16	Cardiff City	2–0	Brentford	9 December 1986
17	Aldershot	3–2	Colchester United	6 December 1986
18	Telford United	1–0	Altrincham	6 December 1986
19	Swansea City	3–0	Slough Town	6 December 1986
20	Caernarfon Town	0–0	York City	6 December 1986
Replay	York City	1–2	Caernarfon Town	9 December 1986

Third round proper

Teams from the Football League First and Second Division entered in this round. Most of the third round of games in the FA Cup were played over the weekend 10–11 January 1987. Various matches and replays were played as late as 31 January, however. Holders Liverpool were eliminated by Luton Town.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Bristol City	1–1	Plymouth Argyle	10 January 1987
Replay	Plymouth Argyle	3–1	Bristol City	19 January 1987
2	Watford	3–1	Maidstone United	10 January 1987
3	Reading	1–3	Arsenal	10 January 1987
4	Aston Villa	2–2	Chelsea	10 January 1987
Replay	Chelsea	2–1	Aston Villa	21 January 1987
5	Sheffield Wednesday	1–0	Derby County	26 January 1987
6	Grimsby Town	1–1	Stoke City	10 January 1987
Replay	Stoke City	1–1	Grimsby Town	26 January 1987
Replay	Stoke City	6–0	Grimsby Town	28 January 1987
7	Middlesbrough	0–1	Preston North End	10 January 1987
8	Luton Town	0–0	Liverpool	11 January 1987
Replay	Liverpool	0–0	Luton Town	26 January 1987
Replay	Luton Town	3–0	Liverpool	28 January 1987
9	Everton	2–1	Southampton	10 January 1987
10	Shrewsbury Town	1–2	Hull City	31 January 1987
11	Wrexham	1–2	Chester City	10 January 1987
12	Sheffield United	0–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	10 January 1987
Replay	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–2	Sheffield United	21 January 1987
13	Ipswich Town	0–1	Birmingham City	10 January 1987
14	Newcastle United	2–1	Northampton Town	21 January 1987
15	Tottenham Hotspur	3–2	Scunthorpe United	10 January 1987
16	Queens Park Rangers	5–2	Leicester City	10 January 1987
17	Fulham	0–1	Swindon Town	10 January 1987
18	Coventry City	3–0	Bolton Wanderers	10 January 1987
19	Portsmouth	2–0	Blackburn Rovers	10 January 1987
20	Manchester United	1–0	Manchester City	10 January 1987
21	Norwich City	1–1	Huddersfield Town	10 January 1987
Replay	Huddersfield Town	2–4	Norwich City	21 January 1987
22	Millwall	0–0	Cardiff City	10 January 1987
Replay	Cardiff City	2–2	Millwall	20 January 1987
Replay	Cardiff City	1–0	Millwall	26 January 1987
23	Oldham Athletic	1–1	Bradford City	10 January 1987
Replay	Bradford City	5–1	Oldham Athletic	19 January 1987
24	Crystal Palace	1–0	Nottingham Forest	11 January 1987
25	Wimbledon	2–1	Sunderland	10 January 1987
26	Charlton Athletic	1–2	Walsall	10 January 1987
27	Aldershot	3–0	Oxford United	10 January 1987
28	Wigan Athletic	2–1	Gillingham	19 January 1987
29	Orient	1–1	West Ham United	10 January 1987
Replay	West Ham United	4–1	Orient	31 January 1987
30	Telford United	1–2	Leeds United	11 January 1987
31	Swansea City	3–2	West Bromwich Albion	10 January 1987
32	Caernarfon Town	0–0	Barnsley	10 January 1987
Replay	Barnsley	1–0	Caernarfon Town	26 January 1987

Fourth round proper

The fourth round of games were played mainly over the weekend 31 January – 1 February 1987. All other ties took place on 3–4 February.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Chester City	1–1	Sheffield Wednesday	31 January 1987
Replay	Sheffield Wednesday	3–1	Chester City	4 February 1987
2	Watford	1–0	Chelsea	1 February 1987
3	Walsall	1–0	Birmingham City	31 January 1987
4	Luton Town	1–1	Queens Park Rangers	31 January 1987
Replay	Queens Park Rangers	2–1	Luton Town	4 February 1987
5	Swindon Town	1–2	Leeds United	3 February 1987
6	Newcastle United	2–0	Preston North End	31 January 1987
7	Tottenham Hotspur	4–0	Crystal Palace	31 January 1987
8	West Ham United	4–0	Sheffield United	9 February 1987
9	Manchester United	0–1	Coventry City	31 January 1987
10	Bradford City	0–1	Everton	31 January 1987
11	Wimbledon	4–0	Portsmouth	31 January 1987
12	Arsenal	6–1	Plymouth Argyle	31 January 1987
13	Stoke City	2–1	Cardiff City	31 January 1987
14	Aldershot	1–1	Barnsley	31 January 1987
Replay	Barnsley	3–0	Aldershot	3 February 1987
15	Wigan Athletic	1–0	Norwich City	31 January 1987
16	Swansea City	0–1	Hull City	3 February 1987

Fifth round proper

The fifth set of games were played over the weekend 21–22 February 1987, with the first set of replays on 24th-25th.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Walsall	1–1	Watford	21 February 1987
Replay	Watford	4–4	Walsall	24 February 1987
Replay	Walsall	0–1	Watford	2 March 1987
2	Sheffield Wednesday	1–1	West Ham United	21 February 1987
Replay	West Ham United	0–2	Sheffield Wednesday	25 February 1987
3	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Newcastle United	21 February 1987
4	Wimbledon	3–1	Everton	22 February 1987
5	Arsenal	2–0	Barnsley	21 February 1987
6	Leeds United	2–1	Queens Park Rangers	21 February 1987
7	Stoke City	0–1	Coventry City	21 February 1987
8	Wigan Athletic	3–0	Hull City	21 February 1987

Sixth round proper

The sixth round of FA Cup games were played over the weekend 14–15 March 1987. There were no replays.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Sheffield Wednesday	1–3	Coventry City	14 March 1987
2	Wimbledon	0–2	Tottenham Hotspur	15 March 1987
3	Arsenal	1–3	Watford	14 March 1987
4	Wigan Athletic	0–2	Leeds United	15 March 1987

Semi-finals

Seven time winners Tottenham Hotspur were drawn with 1984 finalists Watford for the Villa Park semi-final, which saw the North Londoners win 4-1 and reach their eighth final, having won all of their previous FA Cup finals.

Hillsborough was the venue for the other semi-final. Leeds United, managed by their former captain Billy Bremner, were pushing for promotion in the Second Division and making their first serious challenge for a major trophy in over 10 years. Their opponents were Coventry City, who had never reached an FA Cup semi-final before. In a closely fought game, Coventry won 3–2.

11 April 1987

Tottenham Hotspur	4–1	Watford
Hodge 11', 73' C. Allen 13' P. Allen 35'		M. Allen 75'

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 46,151

Referee: Ray Lewis

12 April 1987

Coventry City	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Leeds United
Gynn 68' Houchen 78' Bennett 99'	Report	Rennie 14' Edwards 83'

Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield

Attendance: 51,372

Referee: Roger Milford

Final

16 May 1987

Coventry City	3–2 (aet)	Tottenham Hotspur
Bennett 9' Houchen 64' Mabbutt (o.g.) 96'		C. Allen 2' Mabbutt 40'

Wembley, London

Attendance: 98,000

Referee: Neil Midgley (Manchester)

Coventry

Tottenham

After two minutes, Clive Allen scored his 49th goal of the season, heading past keeper Steve Ogrizovic at the near-post from a Chris Waddle cross. Within seven minutes though, Coventry were level through Dave Bennett, a Cup Final loser in 1981 for Manchester City at the hands of Spurs. Tottenham were back in front five minutes before the break through past defender Gary Mabbutt.

Midway through the second half Coventry were level again – Bennett's cross from the right was met by striker Keith Houchen with a diving header. The scores stayed level until full-time and the game went into extra time. Six minutes in, 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.

References

^ Dunk, Peter (20 August 1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press. pp. 479–89. ISBN 978-0-3561435-4-5. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

External links

The FA Cup at TheFA.com
FA Cup at BBC.co.uk
FA Cup news at Reuters.co.uk

[8788Rothmans-1] Dunk, Peter (20 August 1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press. pp. 479–89. ISBN 978-0-3561435-4-5. Retrieved 29 April 2020.

[1]

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

v t e 1986–87 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '86 '87 England Faroe Islands '86 '87 Finland '86 '87 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '86 '87 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '86 '87 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union '86 '87 Spain Sweden '86 '87 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '86 '87 Finland '86 '87 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '86 '87 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '86 '87 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Israel Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland Soviet Union '86 '87
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Super Cup
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '86 '87–'88