1988 Football League Cup Final

The 1988 Football League Cup Final took place at Wembley Stadium on 24 April 1988, and was contested between Luton Town and Arsenal. Luton won the match, thanks to goals from Danny Wilson and Brian Stein (2). Goals from Alan Smith and Martin Hayes had seen Arsenal lead 2–1 before a late comeback from Luton. This was the first major trophy that Luton Town won in their history.

Match summary

Andy Dibble, Luton's goalkeeper for the match, seen in 2010

Luton had stunned defending champions and competition favourites Arsenal by taking an early lead thanks to a goal scored by Brian Stein. However, Arsenal overhauled them with goals by Alan Smith and Martin Hayes within three-second half minutes. The turning point of the match came with ten minutes left. After a period of fluent attacking football by the Arsenal forwards which saw Smith hit the woodwork and Hayes, Michael Thomas and David Rocastle all had shots saved by Luton goalkeeper Andy Dibble, Arsenal were awarded a penalty after Rocastle was fouled in the box. Andy Dibble saved Nigel Winterburn's spot-kick by turning the ball round the post. A newly inspired Luton equalised with seven minutes remaining when Arsenal defender Gus Caesar mis-kicked a clearance on the edge of his penalty area, enabling Luton's Danny Wilson to head the ball into the Arsenal goal from a Mark Stein cross. With less than a minute to go, Tony Adams fouled Mark Stein, and from the resulting free kick, Brian Stein scored his second goal of the match to put the game beyond the reach of the defending champions.

Match details

Luton Town v Arsenal

24 April 1988

Luton Town	3–2	Arsenal
Stein  13', 90' Wilson  82'		Hayes  71' Smith  74'

Wembley, London Attendance: 95,732 Referee: Joe Worrall (Cheshire)

Luton Town

Arsenal

GK 1 Andy Dibble RB 2 Tim Breacker LB 3 Rob Johnson CM 4 Ricky Hill CB 5 Steve Foster CB 6 Mal Donaghy RM 7 Danny Wilson CM 8 Brian Stein CF 9 Mick Harford CM 10 David Preece LM 11 Kingsley Black Substitutes: DF Ashley Grimes FW Mark Stein Manager: Ray Harford

GK 1 John Lukic RB 2 Nigel Winterburn LB 3 Kenny Sansom CM 4 Michael Thomas CB 5 Gus Caesar CB 6 Tony Adams RM 7 David Rocastle CM 8 Paul Davis CF 9 Alan Smith CF 10 Perry Groves LM 11 Kevin Richardson Substitutes: MF Martin Hayes CF Niall Quinn Manager: George Graham

Road to Wembley

Luton

Wigan 0–1 Luton 2nd Round 1st Leg.

Luton 4–2 Wigan 2nd Round 2nd Leg.

Luton 3–1 Coventry 3rd Round (played at Filbert Street, Leicester, due to ban on away fans).

Ipswich 0–1 Luton 4th Round.

Luton 2–0 Bradford 5th Round.

Oxford 1–1 Luton semi-final 1st Leg.

Luton 2–0 Oxford 2nd Leg.