The 1986 Football League Cup Final (known for sponsorship reasons as the Milk Cup) was a football match held on 20 April 1986 between

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. Oxford won the match 3–0 to capture the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

– their first and only major honour.

Trevor Hebberd Trevor Neal Hebberd (born 19 June 1958) is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Southampton Born in Winchester, Hampshire, he signed for Southampton on leaving school in 1974 and made his first team debut two years later ...

opened the scoring in the first half, and

Ray Houghton Raymond James Houghton (born 9 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current sports analyst and commentator with RTÉ Sport. As a player, he was a midfielder, notably playing for Liverpool where he won two First Division titles ...

added a second.

Jeremy Charles Jeremy Melvyn Charles (born 26 September 1959 in Swansea) is a Welsh former professional footballer and Wales international. Normally a centre-forward, he was equally adept as a centre-half. He played for Oxford United, Swansea City and Queen ...

scored the third following up when

John Aldridge John William Aldridge (born 18 September 1958) is a former football player and manager. He was a prolific, record-breaking striker best known for his time with English club Liverpool in the late 1980s. His tally of 330 Football League goals is ...

had a shot saved by QPR goalkeeper Paul Barron. The match 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 ...

in front of 90,396 spectators. Because

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

voted that the ban on English clubs in European competitions (beginning after the

Heysel disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( it, Strage dell'Heysel ; german: link=no, Katastrophe von Heysel ; french: Drame du Heysel ; nl, Heizeldrama ) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by L ...

in May 1985) would continue for a second season, Oxford United were denied a place in the

1986–87 UEFA Cup The 1986–87 UEFA Cup was the 16th season of the UEFA Cup, a football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for clubs affiliated to its member associations. The competition was won by IFK Göteborg of Sweden ...

Route to the final

Oxford United and Queens Park Rangers were both playing in the First Division and both entered the competition at the second round stage, under the tournament format in place at the time. Oxford had never previously progressed past the quarter finals, which they reached in the 1969–70 and 1983–84 seasons. Queens Park Rangers, on the other hand, were victorious in the 1967 final where they defeated

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. In the second round, Oxford defeated

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

of the Fourth Division 4–1 on aggregate after two legs. The 2–1 away victory at County Cricket Ground was Oxford's first and only away win at Northampton in cup competitions. After a third-round home win against Newcastle United, Oxford United faced Second Division side and cup holders

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

in the fourth round, winning 3–1. In the fifth round Oxford defeated

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

3–1, making it the third consecutive round where a 3–1 home victory was recorded. Despite the fifth-round tie, the attendance for the game was around 400 lower than the league average, after a boycott was organised due to increased ticket prices. The semi-final against First Division Aston Villa was contested over two legs. The first at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

finished 2–2, with the return leg ending in a 2–1 victory for Oxford after goals from

and Les Phillips. The London-based club began the competition against Second Division team

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

, winning 8–1 on aggregate, including a 5–1 away victory at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a football stadium in Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the KC Stadium. In later years, financial constraints forced Hull City to allow Kwik Save and Iceland superma ...

. In the third round they beat

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

of the First Division 1–0 at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...

. The "Hoops" defeated another First Division team,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, in the fourth round, but found the fifth round tougher against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. After the first match ended in a 1–1 draw at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

, the reply held at Stamford Bridge ended in a 2–0 win with goals from Alan McDonald and Michael Robinson. In the semi-finals, Queens Park Rangers took on

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. QPR went through 3–2 on aggregate after a 1–0 home win was followed by a 2–2 draw at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

. Apart from the second-round tie against Hull City, all the teams that Queens Park Rangers defeated on their way to Wembley played in the First Division, including champions Liverpool. In contrast, Oxford United only faced two, Newcastle United and Aston Villa.

Match details

References

External links

Full League cup results history

{{Queens Park Rangers F.C. matches EFL Cup Finals League Cup Final 1986 League Cup Final 1986 1985–86 Football League April 1986 sports events in the United Kingdom Football League Cup Final