1993 Football League Trophy Final
Encyclopedia
The 1993 Football League Trophy Final (known as the Autoglass Trophy for sponsorship reasons) was the 10th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Football League Second
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 and Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

, the Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

. The final was played at the Wembley Stadium in London on 22 May 1993. The match was contested by Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 and Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

. Port Vale won the match 2–1 with Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven
Bernie Slaven
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Slaven is a Scottish-born former Republic of Ireland international footballer. A striker, with 162 goals in 423 league games, in a 12 year career, he also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland....

 the scorers. The attendance was 35,885, all but 8,000 of which were Vale supporters.

Background

The final was the third time these clubs had met in seven days. Vale had edged out Stockport 2–1 on aggregate in the Second Division play-off semi-finals
1993 Football League Second Division play-off Final
The 1993 Football League Second Division play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 30 May 1993, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Third Division to the Second Division of The Football League in the 1992–93 season...

. They had drawn 1–1 at Stockport's Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park is an association football and rugby union stadium in Stockport, England. The stadium was initially built for the rugby league club Stockport in 1901, but by 1902, the rugby club was defunct and in the same year, Stockport County Football Club, who were looking for a bigger ground,...

, Glover
Dean Glover
Dean Victor Glover is an English former footballer and football manager. A cultured and stylish defender, he had the ball control skills of a midfielder. He played 457 league games in a seventeen year career in the Football League.He started his career at Aston Villa in 1980, before he moved on to...

 the scorer for the Valiants, before the return leg at Vale Park
Vale Park
Vale Park is a football stadium in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the home ground of Port Vale F.C., who have played at the ground since 1950....

 with Martin Foyle
Martin Foyle
Martin John Foyle is an English former footballer, turned football manager. In his 20 year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals...

 the only scorer. This meant that seven days later Vale would return to Wembley to take on West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

 in the final.

However, earlier in the season Stockport had won their home league game with Vale 2–0, whereas the Vale Park fixture had finished goalless in the third game of the season.

The match was to be the second League Trophy final in two years to see Stockport line up against a Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

 team, having lost the previous year
1992 Football League Trophy Final
-External links:*...

's final 1–0 to Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

.

Route to the final

At the time the tournament was split into two sections: North
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

 and South
Southern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...

, County coming through the north section and Vale through the south.

In the first round – group stage, Vale received a bye. County had to battle through group six of the northern section. They recorded a 3–0 victory at Third Division Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

 and a 2–0 win at home to Second Division whipping boys Chester City
Chester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

.

In the second round Port Vale went through 4–3 winners over Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

 in a match taken to extra time at Vale Park
Vale Park
Vale Park is a football stadium in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the home ground of Port Vale F.C., who have played at the ground since 1950....

. Stockport County recorded a 1–0 victory over Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...

.

In the area quarter-finals both clubs hit four goals, County beating Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

 4–3 at Valley Parade
Valley Parade
Valley Parade, also known as the Coral Windows Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they changed code from rugby football to association...

, whereas Vale won a 4–2 home victory over basement division strugglers Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

.

The area semi-finals County faced Chesterfield again, this time they won 2–1. Port Vale faced rivals
Potteries derby
The Potteries derby is the football local derby in Stoke-on-Trent between Port Vale and Stoke City. The fans of each club both consider the other to be their main rivals; this has led to a heated atmosphere at these matches, especially with the rise of football hooliganism and the 'Naughty Forty'...

 Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

 and won 1–0 at the Victoria Ground
Victoria Ground
Victoria Ground may refer to:*Victoria Ground, the former name of Hartlepool United’s ground Victoria Park.*Victoria Ground, Stoke City’s ground from 1878 to 1997.*Victoria Ground, current home of Bromsgrove Rovers...

.

The area finals were two legged affairs; County lost their first leg with Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

 2–1 at Springfield Park
Springfield Park (Wigan)
Springfield Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Wigan, England. It was the home ground of Wigan Athletic F.C. until the club moved to the new JJB Stadium after the 1999 season. At its largest, the stadium held 40,000...

, before turning the tie around at Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park is an association football and rugby union stadium in Stockport, England. The stadium was initially built for the rugby league club Stockport in 1901, but by 1902, the rugby club was defunct and in the same year, Stockport County Football Club, who were looking for a bigger ground,...

 with a 2–0 win. Port Vale faced Exeter City
Exeter City F.C.
Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...

, winning 2–1 at home, before a 1–1 draw at St James Park.

First half

Stockport had the first chance, only to have Beaumont denied by a well timed tackle from Swan
Peter Swan (footballer born 1966)
Peter Harold Swan is an English former footballer who played as a defender and centre forward. In a sixteen year professional career in the Football League he scored 62 goals in 445 games....

. Kerr then struck the opening goal of the game in the 4th minute. Slaven
Bernie Slaven
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Slaven is a Scottish-born former Republic of Ireland international footballer. A striker, with 162 goals in 423 league games, in a 12 year career, he also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland....

 started the movement as he collected a loose ball in the centre of the park and hit a through ball past Miller and Todd
Lee Todd (footballer)
Lee Todd is an English professional footballer. He played defence.-Playing career:A very experienced defender, Todd started his career in 1989 as a junior with Hartlepool United with whom he stayed until 1990....

 for Kerr to sprint on and slot home his fourteenth of the season. Van der Laan continued the Valiants spell of pressure, hitting a shot just wide of the goal not long after.

In the 37th minute Vale doubled their lead when Glover
Dean Glover
Dean Victor Glover is an English former footballer and football manager. A cultured and stylish defender, he had the ball control skills of a midfielder. He played 457 league games in a seventeen year career in the Football League.He started his career at Aston Villa in 1980, before he moved on to...

 put in a cross, which Foyle
Martin Foyle
Martin John Foyle is an English former footballer, turned football manager. In his 20 year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals...

 turned into the path of Slaven
Bernie Slaven
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Slaven is a Scottish-born former Republic of Ireland international footballer. A striker, with 162 goals in 423 league games, in a 12 year career, he also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland....

, who busrt past three defenders before he directed it to the left of the helpless Neil Edwards. Before the half-time whistle came, Jim Gannon
Jim Gannon
James Paul "Jim" Gannon is a former footballer and football manager, who is now Director of football and manager of Conference National team Stockport County...

 earned the first yellow card of the game.

Second half

Vale nearly had the game wrapped up before Stockport got back into the game. Four minutes after the restart Kerr set Porter
Andy Porter (footballer)
Andrew Michael "Andy" Porter is an English former footballer, turned coach and manager, who is now a youth team coach at Stockport County...

 free, Porter beat Edwards but Wallace saved the day at the expense of a corner
Corner kick
A corner kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football. It was first devised in Sheffield under the Sheffield Rules 1867...

.

Substitute Andy Preece
Andy Preece
Andrew Preece is a part-time English footballer and manager. He is currently the player-manager at Northwich Victoria.-Career:...

 was effective right from his introduction, allowing Francis more room up front. Francis forced the ball from Vale keeper Musselwhite
Paul Musselwhite
Paul Stephen Musselwhite is an English footballer who plays for York City as a goalkeeper, where he is also the club's Goalkeeping Coach....

's hands and forced him into two good saves.

The mounting pressure from County paid dividends in the 66th minute. On loan player Peter Duffield guided a ball into the box, which Francis directed it over Musselwhite's head.

Sensing a chance of an equalizer, Stockport stepped up the pace, frustrating their opposition. Kerr was booked for a trip on Ward and in injury time Swan and Francis went into the book for pushing, after Francis fouled Musselwhite.

Post-match

The following week Vale were defeated 3–0 at Wembley and so both clubs remained in the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, though 1993–94 saw Vale promoted
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

 as runners-up. Stockport finished 4th in the league, up from their 6th place finish in 1992–93, they beat York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

 by the odd goal in the play-off semi-finals, but tasted defeat at Wembley once again as Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...

 won the final 2–1. County finally joined Vale in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 with automatic promotion in the 1996–97 season. In 2001
2001 Football League Trophy Final
The 2001 Football League Trophy Final was the 18th final of the Football League Trophy, the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Football League Second and Third Divisions...

 Vale lifted the Football League Trophy for a second time.

For John Rudge
John Rudge
John Robert Rudge is an English former football player and football manager. He is currently working as the director of football at Stoke City....

 it was to be his first and last major trophy in his sixteen years in charge at Vale, though he continued to bring the club success in the league, taking them to 28th in the football pyramid
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...

 in 1996–97, their highest post-war position. Rudge was dismissed in controversial fashion in 1999. Danny Bergara stepped down as County manager after one more season at the helm, he held a number of management positions before his death in 2007.

Vale's Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven
Bernie Slaven
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Slaven is a Scottish-born former Republic of Ireland international footballer. A striker, with 162 goals in 423 league games, in a 12 year career, he also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland....

 were nearing the end of their careers. Kerr had brief spells with Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 and Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

 and Slaven joined Darlington
Darlington F.C.
Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003...

 before both men left the professional game in 1995. Stockport's slightly more youthful Kevin Francis enjoyed a longer carer in the game, leaving the club in 1995 he spent time with numerous clubs as well as earning two caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 for his country
Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team
The Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team is the national team of Saint Kitts and Nevis and is controlled by the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association...

 in 1998. County's Jim Gannon
Jim Gannon
James Paul "Jim" Gannon is a former footballer and football manager, who is now Director of football and manager of Conference National team Stockport County...

 would find great success as Stockport manager, before taking the reins at Port Vale in 2011 for a controversial stint as manager which ended in his sacking after just 74 days, the shortest appointment in the club's history.

Match details

style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> PORT VALE:
GK 1   Paul Musselwhite
Paul Musselwhite
Paul Stephen Musselwhite is an English footballer who plays for York City as a goalkeeper, where he is also the club's Goalkeeping Coach....

DF 2   Neil Aspin
Neil Aspin
Neil Aspin is an English former professional footballer turned football manager, who is now managing Conference North club F.C. Halifax Town....

MF 3   Kevin Kent
Kevin Kent
Kevin Joseph Kent is a retired English professional football winger, now working as a football coach.Starting his career at West Bromwich Albion in 1983, he began playing regular football with Newport County the following year. He then made his name playing for Mansfield Town over a six year...

MF 4   Andy Porter
Andy Porter (footballer)
Andrew Michael "Andy" Porter is an English former footballer, turned coach and manager, who is now a youth team coach at Stockport County...

DF 5   Peter Swan
Peter Swan (footballer born 1966)
Peter Harold Swan is an English former footballer who played as a defender and centre forward. In a sixteen year professional career in the Football League he scored 62 goals in 445 games....

 
DF 6   Dean Glover
Dean Glover
Dean Victor Glover is an English former footballer and football manager. A cultured and stylish defender, he had the ball control skills of a midfielder. He played 457 league games in a seventeen year career in the Football League.He started his career at Aston Villa in 1980, before he moved on to...

MF 7   Bernie Slaven
Bernie Slaven
Bernard Joseph "Bernie" Slaven is a Scottish-born former Republic of Ireland international footballer. A striker, with 162 goals in 423 league games, in a 12 year career, he also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland....

MF 8   Robin van der Laan
Robin van der Laan
Robin van der Laan is a Dutch former footballer who spent most of his senior career in English football...

FW 9   Martin Foyle
Martin Foyle
Martin John Foyle is an English former footballer, turned football manager. In his 20 year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals...

FW 10   Paul Kerr 
MF 11   Ian Taylor
Ian Taylor (footballer)
Ian Kenneth Taylor is an English former footballer, best known for his time at Aston Villa. A midfielder, he had a fifteen year career in the Football League and Premier League, making 478 league appearances....

Substitutes:
DF 14   Peter Billing
Peter Billing
Peter Graham Billing is an English former footballer.-Playing career:Billing started his career with local non-league South Liverpool before being signed up by Everton in January 1986. He only played one game for the Toffees before being sold to Crewe Alexandra for £12,000 in December that year...

FW   Nicky Cross
Nicky Cross
Nicholas Jeremy Rowland Cross is a former English footballer.-Playing career:Cross played for West Bromwich Albion before signing for Walsall where he was the clubs 1985–86 top scorer with 21 goals. He later signed for Leicester City before joining Port Vale for a £125,000 fee in June 1989...

Manager:
  John Rudge
John Rudge
John Robert Rudge is an English former football player and football manager. He is currently working as the director of football at Stoke City....

style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=left> STOCKPORT COUNTY: | GK   Neil Edwards DF   Lee Todd
Lee Todd (footballer)
Lee Todd is an English professional footballer. He played defence.-Playing career:A very experienced defender, Todd started his career in 1989 as a junior with Hartlepool United with whom he stayed until 1990....

DF   Michael Wallace DF   Alan Finley DF   Dave Miller
Dave Miller (footballer)
David Brian Miller is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for seven different clubs in the Football League,including Wigan Athletic as well as having two spells in non-league football....

MF   Bill Williams MF   Jim Gannon
Jim Gannon
James Paul "Jim" Gannon is a former footballer and football manager, who is now Director of football and manager of Conference National team Stockport County...

MF   Peter Ward MF   Chris Beaumont
Chris Beaumont
Christopher Paul Beaumont in Sheffield, England, is a retired English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for several teams in the Football League.-References:...

FW   Kevin Francis FW   Peter Duffield Substitutes: FW   Andy Preece
Andy Preece
Andrew Preece is a part-time English footballer and manager. He is currently the player-manager at Northwich Victoria.-Career:...

MF   David Frain
David Frain
David Frain is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, making over 250 career appearances.-Career:...

Manager:   Danny Bergara

MATCH RULES
  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions.

External links

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