1987–88 Liverpool F.C. season

Liverpool

1987–88 season

Manager

1st

Top goalscorer

League:
John Aldridge (26)
All:
John Aldridge (29)

Highest home attendance

44,798 (vs. Tottenham, League, 23 Apr)

Lowest home attendance

29,994 (vs. Blackburn Rovers, League Cup, 6 Oct)

Average home league attendance

42,267

Home colours

Away colours

← 1986–87

1988–89 →

The 1987–88 season was the 96th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, their 25th consecutive year in the top-flight, and covered the period from 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988.

The squad had altered significantly from the previous season, with star striker Ian Rush now at Juventus and player-manager Kenny Dalglish concentrating largely on the manager's job, though he was still registered as a player. In Rush's place was John Aldridge, signed halfway through the previous season from Oxford United, complemented up front by £1.9 million national record signing Peter Beardsley. Following Aldridge to Anfield from Oxford was winger Ray Houghton.

Liverpool enjoyed a record 29-match unbeaten start to the season and finished as champions with just two defeats from 40 league games and a nine-point gap between them and runners-up Manchester United, sealing the top division title for a record 17th time. They were widely expected to secure a unique second double, but surprisingly lost 1-0 to underdogs Wimbledon in the FA Cup final, in which their top scorer John Aldridge missed a penalty.

Regular season

Following the departure of Ian Rush to Juventus of Italy in the summer, and the decision of player-manager Kenny Dalglish to only occasionally select himself for the first team, Liverpool had a new look attack for the 1987–88 season. Filling Rush's boots was John Aldridge, who had actually joined the club halfway through the previous season when Rush was still at Anfield. Alongside him was Peter Beardsley, the England forward signed from Newcastle United over the summer for a national record fee of £1.9 million. Another new signing was fellow England international John Barnes, the Watford winger, for £900,000.

Liverpool began the season on a winning note, beating Arsenal – who had beaten them in the previous season's League Cup final and were also among the pre-season title favourites – 2–1 at Highbury. The next league action came two weeks later at the end of August, when Steve Nicol scored twice and John Aldridge and Peter Beardsley scored the other goals in a 4–1 win at FA Cup holders Coventry City.

By the end of September, any observers who doubted John Aldridge's suitability as successor to Ian Rush were silenced as he had now scored in all of the club's opening seven league games, capped by a hat-trick in the 4–0 home win over Derby County.^[1] Liverpool were second in the table, but had two games in hand over surprise leaders Queen's Park Rangers, who had a three-point lead.^[2]

Aldridge managed to score in nine successive games for Liverpool from the start of the season, bringing his league tally to 11 goals by the time of their 4–0 win over Queen's Park Rangers at Anfield on 17 October 1987, which put the Reds back on top of the First Division on goal difference, but still with a two-game advantage over the West Londoners.^[3]

November began with the Merseyside derby at Anfield, in which Liverpool ran out 2–0 winners with goals from Steve McMahon and Peter Beardsley. Three successive draws followed, which saw Arsenal edge ahead of the Reds to the top of the table.^[4]

Liverpool's League Cup challenge came to an end in the third round when they lost 1–0 to Everton at Anfield.

Back in the league, Liverpool had returned to their winning ways and back to the top of the First Division table by the end of November, as they were now five points ahead of their nearest rivals Arsenal and had a game in hand.^[5]

Aldridge reached the 10-goal point in the league on 6 December with a penalty in the 2–1 home win over Chelsea. After a 2–2 draw at Southampton in the next game, came a six-match winning run which put the Reds 17 points ahead of their nearest challengers Nottingham Forest by 23 January 1988.^[6]

The FA Cup quest started at the Victoria Ground in early January, with the Reds being held to a disappointing goalless draw by Second Division underdogs Stoke City. A Peter Beardsley goal won the replay 1–0 at Anfield, and the next round saw the Reds cruise to a 2–0 win at Aston Villa. The fifth round brought another Merseyside derby, and the Reds took revenge for the League Cup exit by winning 1–0 at Goodison Park with a Ray Houghton goal.

Liverpool's record unbeaten start to the league season finally ended on 20 March, when they lost 1–0 at Everton in their 30th game. They still had a 14-point lead and two games in hand over nearest rivals Manchester United, however.^[7]

The wait for the league title was prolonged by a dramatic clash with Manchester United at Anfield on 4 April. After a Steve McMahon goal had put them 3–1 up in the 46th minute, a late surge by United saw the game end 3–3, but Liverpool were still 11 points ahead of Alex Ferguson's men, and had seven games left to play whereas United only had five. Even if United won all of their remaining games, Liverpool (with a vastly superior goal difference) only needed four points from their final seven games to seal the title.^[8] A goalless draw at Norwich City on 20 April effectively confirmed Liverpool as champions; they only needed heavy defeats from their final four games and United four comprehensive victories from theirs for the title to slip out of Liverpool's grasp.^[9] Three days later, Liverpool confirmed their 17th title triumph with a Peter Beardsley goal giving them a 1–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.

With the exception of a 5–1 win at Sheffield Wednesday in the penultimate game of the season, in which Craig Johnston scored his final two goals for Liverpool, their remaining league games of the season all ended in 1–1 draws and they finished the season with just two league defeats from 40 games and a nine-point lead over runners-up Manchester United.

Liverpool were also on a run in the FA Cup. The quarter-final had seen them triumph 4–0 over Manchester City at Maine Road, and in the semi-finals two John Aldridge goals had given them a 2–1 win over Nottingham Forest to reach the final, where they would take on Wimbledon.

Their opponents, managed by Bobby Gould and containing the likes of bullish striker John Fashanu and hard tackling midfielder Vinnie Jones, were in only their second season as a First Division club and their 11th as Football League members. The Reds were overwhelming favourites to win the final and become the first team to the double twice. But after Peter Beardsley put the ball past goalkeeper Dave Beasant but had his goal disallowed by the referee who had already awarded a free kick to Liverpool, Wimbledon took a 37th-minute lead with a goal from midfielder Lawrie Sanchez. Liverpool were far from ready to admit defeat. On the hour, Liverpool were awarded a penalty and John Aldridge took it, only for his shot to be saved by Beasant – the first penalty miss in an FA Cup final at Wembley. Liverpool continued to put pressure on the Londoners but couldn't find a way past Beasant, and when the final whistle blew Wimbledon had won the trophy in one of the biggest FA Cup upsets of all time.

Squad

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Attackers

Transfers

In

Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
MF	John Barnes	Watford	£900,000	9 June 1987
FW	Peter Beardsley	Newcastle United	£1,900,000	14 July 1987
MF	Mike Marsh	Kirkby Town	Free	21 August 1987
MF	Ray Houghton	Oxford United	£825,000	19 October 1987

Out

Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
DF	John McGregor	Rangers	£70,000	June 1987
FW	Ian Rush	Juventus	£3,200,000	1 July 1987
FW	Alan Irvine	Dundee United	£100,000	28 August 1987
DF	Ken De Mange	Leeds United	£65,000	September 1987
MF	Mark Seagraves	Manchester City	£100,000	25 September 1987
DF	Brian Mooney	Preston North End	£82,000	9 October 1987
MF	John Wark	Ipswich Town	£100,000	4 January 1988
FW	Paul Walsh	Tottenham Hotspur	£500,000	16 February 1988
DF	Mark Lawrenson	n/a	retired	March 1988
MF	Craig Johnston	n/a	retired	May 1988

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	40	15	5	0	49	9	11	7	2	38	15	+63	90
2	Manchester United	40	14	5	1	41	17	9	7	4	30	21	+33	81
3	Nottingham Forest	40	11	7	2	40	17	9	6	5	27	22	+28	73
4	Everton	40	14	4	2	34	11	5	9	6	19	16	+26	70
5	Queens Park Rangers	40	12	4	4	30	14	7	6	7	18	24	+10	67
6	Arsenal	40	11	4	5	35	16	7	8	5	23	23	+19	66
7	Wimbledon	40	8	9	3	32	20	6	6	8	26	27	+11	57
8	Newcastle United	40	9	6	5	32	23	5	8	7	23	30	+2	56
9	Luton Town	40	11	6	3	40	21	3	5	12	17	37	–1	53
10	Coventry City	40	6	8	6	23	25	7	6	7	23	28	–7	53
11	Sheffield Wednesday	40	10	2	8	27	30	5	6	9	25	36	–14	53
12	Southampton	40	6	8	6	27	26	6	6	8	22	27	–4	50
13	Tottenham Hotspur	40	9	5	6	26	23	3	6	11	12	25	–10	47
14	Norwich City	40	7	5	8	26	26	5	4	11	14	26	–12	45
15	Derby County	40	6	7	7	18	17	4	6	10	17	28	–10	43
16	West Ham United	40	6	9	5	23	21	3	6	11	17	31	–12	42
17	Charlton Athletic	40	7	7	6	23	21	2	8	10	15	31	–14	42
18	Chelsea	40	7	11	2	24	17	2	4	14	26	51	–18	42
19	Portsmouth	40	4	8	8	21	27	3	6	11	15	39	–30	35
20	Watford	40	4	5	11	15	24	3	6	11	12	27	–24	32
21	Oxford United	40	5	7	8	24	34	1	6	13	20	46	–36	31

Results

First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Aug-87	Arsenal	A	2–1	Aldridge 9' Nicol 88'	54,703	Report	Report
29-Aug-87	Coventry City	A	4–1	Nicol 20', 49' Aldridge pen 52' Beardsley 83'	27,637	Report	Report
05-Sep-87	West Ham United	A	1–1	Aldridge pen 50'	29,865	Report	Report
12-Sep-87	Oxford United	H	2–0	Aldridge 13' Barnes 37'	42,266	Report	Report
15-Sep-87	Charlton Athletic	H	3–2	Aldridge pen 9' Hansen 71' McMahon 73'	36,637	Report	Report
20-Sep-87	Newcastle United	A	4–1	Nicol 20', 47', 70' Aldridge 37'	24,141	Report	Report
29-Sep-87	Derby County	H	4–0	Aldridge pen 41', Pen 68', 73' Beardsley 47'	43,405	Report	Report
03-Oct-87	Portsmouth	H	4–0	Beardsley 30' McMahon 50' Aldridge pen 52' Whelan 71'	44,366	Report	Report
17-Oct-87	Queens Park Rangers	H	4–0	Johnston 41' Aldridge pen 65' Barnes 79', 85'	43,735	Report	Report
24-Oct-87	Luton Town	A	1–0	Gillespie 71'	12,452	Report	Report
01-Nov-87	Everton	H	2–0	McMahon 35' Beardsley 70'	44,760	Report	Report
04-Nov-87	Wimbledon	A	1–1	Houghton 62'	13,544	Report	Report
15-Nov-87	Manchester United	A	1–1	Aldridge 21'	47,106	Report	Report
21-Nov-87	Norwich City	H	0–0		37,446	Report	Report
24-Nov-87	Watford	H	4–0	McMahon 54' Houghton 64' Aldridge 68' Barnes 71'	32,396	Report	Report
28-Nov-87	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–0	McMahon 63' Johnston 80'	47,362	Report	Report
06-Dec-87	Chelsea	H	2–1	Aldridge pen 67' McMahon 87'	31,211	Report	Report
12-Dec-87	Southampton	A	2–2	Barnes 11', 38'	19,507	Report	Report
19-Dec-87	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–0	Gillespie 76'	35,383	Report	Report
26-Dec-87	Oxford United	A	3–0	Aldridge 42' Barnes 54' McMahon 61'	13,680	Report	Report
28-Dec-87	Newcastle United	H	4–0	McMahon 4' Aldridge pen 48', 76' Houghton 88'	44,637	Report	Report
01-Jan-88	Coventry City	H	4–0	Beardsley 22', 83' Aldridge 53' Houghton 75'	38,790	Report	Report
16-Jan-88	Arsenal	H	2–0	Aldridge 44' Beardsley 61'	44,294	Report	Report
23-Jan-88	Charlton Athletic	A	2–0	Beardsley 30' Barnes 60'	28,095	Report	Report
06-Feb-88	West Ham United	H	0–0		42,049	Report	Report
13-Feb-88	Watford	A	4–1	Beardsley 29', 49' Aldridge 47' Barnes 60'	23,838	Report	Report
27-Feb-88	Portsmouth	A	2–0	Barnes 49', 85'	28,117	Report	Report
05-Mar-88	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	Barnes 34'	23,171	Report	Report
16-Mar-88	Derby County	A	1–1	Johnston 54'	26,356	Report	Report
20-Mar-88	Everton	A	0–1		44,162	Report	Report
26-Mar-88	Wimbledon	H	2–1	Aldridge 34' Barnes 78'	36,464	Report	Report
02-Apr-88	Nottingham Forest	A	1–2	Aldridge pen 70'	29,188	Report	Report
04-Apr-88	Manchester United	H	3–3	Beardsley 38' Gillespie 41' McMahon 46'	43,497	Report	Report
13-Apr-88	Nottingham Forest	H	5–0	Houghton 18' Aldridge 37', 88' Beardsley 79' Gillespie 58'	39,535	Report	Report
20-Apr-88	Norwich City	A	0–0		22,509	Report	Report
23-Apr-88	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–0	Beardsley 34'	44,798	Report	Report
30-May-88	Chelsea	A	1–1	Barnes 75'	35,625	Report	Report
02-May-88	Southampton	H	1–1	Aldridge 41'	37,610	Report	Report
07-May-88	Sheffield Wednesday	A	5–1	Johnston 31', 90' Barnes 36' Beardsley 87', 88'	35,893	Report	Report
09-May-88	Luton Town	H	1–1	Aldridge 17'	30,374	Report	Report

FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
09-Jan-88	Stoke City	A	0–0		31,979	Report	Report
12-Jan-88	Stoke City	H	1–0	Beardsley 9'	39,147	Report	Report
31-Jan-88	Aston Villa	A	2–0	Barnes 53' Beardsley 86'	46,324	Report	Report
21-Feb-88	Everton	A	1–0	Houghton 76'	48,270	Report	Report
13-Mar-88	Manchester City	A	4–0	Houghton 32' Beardsley pen 53' Johnston 77' Barnes 85'	44,047	Report	Report
16-Apr-88	Nottingham Forest	N	2–1	Aldridge pen 14', 51'	51,627	Report	Report

Final

Liverpool v Wimbledon

14 May 1988
15:00 BST

Liverpool	0–1	Wimbledon
	Report Report	Sanchez 37'

Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 98,203
Referee: Brian Hill

Liverpool

Wimbledon


GK	1	Bruce Grobbelaar
RB	4	Steve Nicol
CB	2	Gary Gillespie
CB	6	Alan Hansen (c)
LB	3	Gary Ablett
RM	9	Ray Houghton
CM	5	Nigel Spackman	74'
CM	11	Steve McMahon
LM	10	John Barnes
CF	7	Peter Beardsley
CF	8	John Aldridge	64'
Substitutes:
MF	12	Craig Johnston	64'
MF	14	Jan Mølby	74'
Manager:
Kenny Dalglish


GK	1	Dave Beasant (c)
RB	2	Clive Goodyear
CB	5	Eric Young
CB	6	Andy Thorn
LB	3	Terry Phelan
CM	10	Lawrie Sanchez
CM	4	Vinnie Jones
RW	8	Alan Cork	56'
LW	11	Dennis Wise
CF	7	Terry Gibson	63'
CF	9	John Fashanu
Substitutes:
DF	12	John Scales	63'
FW	14	Laurie Cunningham	56'
Manager:
Bobby Gould

Match rules

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

League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
23-Sep-87	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–1	Nicol 30'	13,924	Report	Report
06-Oct-87	Blackburn Rovers	A	1–0	Aldridge 89'	28,994	Report	Report
28-Oct-87	Everton	H	0–1		44,071	Report	Report

References

Liverpool F.C. seasons

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
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1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
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1930–31
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1967–68
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1988–89
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Liverpool Football Club

History

Home stadium

Anfield

Training ground

Players

Rivalries

Tragedies

Supporters

Media

Books	43 Years with the Same Bird Red or Dead
Films	Fifteen Minutes That Shook the World One Night in Istanbul Will
Songs	Anfield Rap The Fields of Anfield Road You'll Never Walk Alone

Book
Category
WikiProject

1987–88 in English football

« 1986–87

1988–89 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Bobby Robson
Rous Cup
UEFA Euro 1988 (qualification – Group 4)

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Charlton Athletic Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Liverpool Luton Town Manchester United Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oxford United Portsmouth Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Watford West Ham United Wimbledon
Second Division	Aston Villa Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bournemouth Bradford City Crystal Palace Huddersfield Town Hull City Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Manchester City Middlesbrough Millwall Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Reading Sheffield United Shrewsbury Town Swindon Town Stoke City West Bromwich Albion
Third Division	Aldershot Blackpool Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Bury Chester City Chesterfield Doncaster Rovers Fulham Gillingham Grimsby Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Port Vale Preston North End Notts County Rotherham United Southend United Sunderland Walsall Wigan Athletic York City
Fourth Division	Bolton Wanderers Burnley Cardiff City Cambridge United Carlisle United Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Exeter City Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Leyton Orient Newport County Peterborough United Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Southport Stockport County Swansea City Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Wolverhampton Wanderers Wrexham

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