The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the

Zenith Data Systems Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. T ...

from 1989 to 1992.Full Members Cup overview and finals at FCHD
/ref> The competition was created after the 1985

Heysel Stadium disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( ; ; ) was a crowd disaster on 29 May 1985, when Juventus fans were escaping from an attack by Liverpool fans while they were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of ...

, when English clubs were banned from European competition, as an additional competition for clubs in the top two English League divisions. The competition's name refers to the clubs that were Full Members of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, with full voting rights; teams from the lower two divisions were Associate Members and were only eligible for the Associate Members' Cup (now known as the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

). The initial Full Members' Cup did not include the six teams that had qualified for 1985–86 European competitions, as these played in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

instead. While the European ban of English clubs was partially lifted for 1990–91, and fully lifted for 1991–92, the Full Members' Cup survived through the end of 1991–92, its seventh season. The competition was then cancelled the following season when the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

was superseded by the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

as the top division. Seven finals took place between 1986 and 1992. Blackburn Rovers and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

were the only Second Division teams to win the cup. Chelsea and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

were the most successful teams in the competition, with both of them winning it twice.

Participants

The competition was open to all teams from the top two levels of the English Leagues, namely the First and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

Divisions. The six First Division teams that qualified for 1985–86 European play were invited to the English

tournament rather than the Full Members' Cup. Some eligible teams chose not to compete in the tournament in a particular year, while four teams in the First Division throughout the seven seasons of the tournament never entered the competition –

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Details of numbers of teams competing in each of the seasons:Old Cup Competitions/Full Members Cup at Statto.com
* 1985–86: 21 teams – 5 (of 16, with 6 in Super Cup) from Division 1 and 16 (of 22) from Division 2 * 1986–87: 36 teams – 14 (of 22) from Division 1 and all 22 from Division 2 * 1987–88: 40 teams – 17 (of 21) from Division 1 and all 23 from Division 2 * 1988–89: 40 teams – 16 (of 20) from Division 1 and all 24 from Division 2 * 1989–90: 37 teams – 13 (of 20) from Division 1 and all 24 from Division 2 * 1990–91: 39 teams – 15 (of 20) from Division 1 and all 24 from Division 2 * 1991–92: 41 teams – 18 (of 22) from Division 1 and 23 (all but

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

) from Division 2

Finals

Second Division members are in ''italics''.

Notes

References

External links

''When Saturday Comes''
– article on the Full Members' Cup (archived 12 March 2012) {{Full Members' Cup Defunct English Football League competitions Defunct football cup competitions in England 1985 establishments in England 1992 disestablishments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1985 Recurring events disestablished in 1992 Zenith Data Systems