The 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final, known as the Autoglass Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 9th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Third Division and Fourth Division. The final was played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 16 May 1992, and was contested by Stoke City and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

. Stoke won the match 1–0, with Mark Stein scoring the only goal of the game.

Background

The 1991–92 season saw both

and Stoke City involved in the race for promotion to the Second Division. The season ended with Stoke in 4th position and Stockport in 5th with just a point separating the two sides. They faced each other in the end of season

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. The first leg saw Stockport win 1–0 thanks to a Lee Todd free-kick and in the second leg at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

Stockport scored in the first few minutes and despite Mark Stein pulling one back Stockport went through 2–1 on aggregate.

Route to the final

Stoke began the competition in the southern section whilst Stockport where in the northern section. Stoke advanced past

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

2–0 and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

3–1 and Stockport recovered from a 4–0 defeat at Carlisle United to beat

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

3–0. In the first round Stoke beat Cardiff City 3–0 whilst County gained revenge on Carlisle beating them 3–1. The quarter finals saw Stoke beat Walsall 3–1 and Stockport record a 3–0 win over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

. Both sides where then involved in close semi-finals City beating

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

and County getting the better of

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

winning 2–1. In the area finals Stoke and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

shared three goals in an exciting 3–3 and a

Paul Ware Paul David Ware (7 November 1970 – 17 April 2013) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Macclesfield Town, Nuneaton Borough, Rochdale, Stockport County and Stoke City. Ware began his career with local ...

goal earned Stoke a 2nd leg victory. Stockport had an easier tie beating

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

3–1. ''Home teams listed first. ''

Match review

The two sides had met just three days prior the final in the

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leagu ...

with Stockport coming out on top. County began the first half the better of the two teams and Paul Wheeler had the ball in the back of the Stoke net after six minutes but was disallowed for a foul on Stoke 'keeper Peter Fox. The rest of the first half was end-to-end with

Wayne Biggins Wayne Biggins (born 20 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer born in Sheffield who made more than 450 appearances in the Football League and also played in the Scottish Football League. He was a striker and was nicknamed ...

and Lee Sandford going close for City whilst Fox had to pull off a fine save to deny Wheeler. In the second half, Stockport began to tire and Stoke took full advantage, Ian Cranson hit a long ball forward on 65 minutes only for Lee Todd to clear away but was returned by

Vince Overson Vincent David Overson (born 15 May 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League for Burnley, Birmingham City, Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town over a 20- ...

, leaving Lee Sandford free to flick the ball on to Mark Stein on the edge of the County area. Stein beat two Stockport defenders before smashing a powerful shot past Neil Edwards. Stoke had to withstand pressure from Stockport attacks but held firm to claim their first

Associate Members' Cup The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

victory.

Match details

References

{{Stoke City F.C. matches Associate Members' Cup Final 1992 EFL Trophy Finals Associate Members' Cup Final 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final