1992 FA Cup final

1992 FA Cup final
Event	1991–92 FA Cup
Date	9 May 1992
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match	Steve McManaman
Referee	Philip Don (Middlesex)
Attendance	79,544
	← 1991 1993 →

The 1992 FA Cup final was contested by Liverpool and Sunderland at Wembley. Liverpool won 2–0, with goals from Michael Thomas and Ian Rush.

Summary

This was the first FA Cup Final to feature a Second Division team since Queens Park Rangers reached the final in 1982, and the last until Millwall played at Cardiff in 2004.

Liverpool had won the competition four times previously, and still had some players remaining from their FA Cup triumphs of 1986 and 1989, and had been England's leading club side for nearly twenty years leading up to 1990, winning a host of major trophies, including eleven league titles over a period of eighteen seasons. On the other hand, Sunderland's only silverware since World War II was winning the FA Cup in 1973, and the team had just finished 17th in the Second Division.

Despite being underdogs, Sunderland had the better of the first half. The team was full of running and kept Liverpool's strike force of Ian Rush and Dean Saunders at bay. Sunderland's best chance fell to John Byrne who miskicked when presented with a volley six yards out. Liverpool's best chance saw Michael Thomas lift his shot over the bar when pressured by the Sunderland goalkeeper Tony Norman.

Thomas redeemed himself after 47 minutes, when he scored the first goal of the game, following excellent work down the right wing by Steve McManaman, the youngest player on the pitch. Norman could only get fingertips to Thomas' superbly angled half-volley. Following this goal, the Reds had more confidence and started playing better football. After 67 minutes Saunders released Thomas, who sped into the penalty area. His progress was halted but the ball fell to Rush, who slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. It was Rush's fifth goal in FA Cup finals at Wembley – a record. Liverpool continued to dominate for the rest of the game and Ray Houghton came close to scoring when he almost lobbed Norman from forty yards.

Liverpool captain Mark Wright lifted the FA Cup for Liverpool. During the presentation, the winning team was mistakenly given the loser's medals and Sunderland found themselves with winning medals. This was later rectified by the players themselves, on the pitch.

It was Liverpool's fifth triumph in the competition, and their only major trophy under the management of Graeme Souness, who was appointed a year earlier; while Souness picked the starting line-up, his assistant Ronnie Moran took charge of the match as Souness was still recovering from heart surgery. Souness resigned within two years of the FA Cup success, and Liverpool did not win the FA Cup again until 2001.

It was Sunderland's first FA Cup final since their triumph in 1973 and they have not reached the final since, although they reached the semi-finals in 2004.

Notable absences from the Liverpool side were John Barnes and Ronnie Whelan, who were ruled out with injury. Whelan, who left Liverpool two years later, never won another major trophy with Liverpool, although Barnes added the League Cup to his personal honours list during his five remaining seasons at Anfield.

Rob Jones was Liverpool's last remaining player from the game, finally leaving them in 1999 just before he retired. This was the same year that Kevin Ball became the last player from the Sunderland team in this game to leave the club.

The Sunderland squad was notable for being the most recent time that a side featured only players born in the British Isles in the FA Cup final.

Match details

9 May 1992

15:00 BST

Liverpool	2–0	Sunderland
Thomas 47' Rush 68'	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 79,544

Referee: Philip Don (Middlesex)

Liverpool

Sunderland


GK	1	Bruce Grobbelaar
RB	2	Rob Jones
LB	3	David Burrows
CB	4	Steve Nicol
CM	5	Jan Mølby
CB	6	Mark Wright (c)
CF	7	Dean Saunders
RM	8	Ray Houghton
CF	9	Ian Rush
LM	10	Steve McManaman
CM	11	Michael Thomas
Substitutes:
MF	12	Mike Marsh
MF	14	Mark Walters
Manager:
Graeme Souness Ronnie Moran (interim manager)


GK	1	Tony Norman
RB	2	Gary Owers
CB	3	Kevin Ball
CB	4	Gary Bennett
LB	5	Anton Rogan
LM	6	David Rush	69'
CM	7	Paul Bracewell (c)
CF	8	Peter Davenport
CM	9	Gordon Armstrong	77'
CF	10	John Byrne
RM	11	Brian Atkinson
Substitutes:
DF	12	Paul Hardyman	69'
FW	14	Warren Hawke	77'
Manager:
Malcolm Crosby

Man of the match

Steve McManaman (Liverpool)

Match officials

Linesmen:
- R.J. Harris (Oxfordshire)
- J. Hilditch (Staffordshire)
Reserve official: K. Morton (Suffolk)

Match rules

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

Sources

Liverpool's run

External links

v t e FA Cup
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v t e Sunderland A.F.C. matches
FA Cup Finals	1913 1937 1973 1992
Football League Cup Finals	1985 2014
Football League Trophy Finals	2019 2021
Football League War Cup Finals	1942
FA Charity Shields	1936 1937
Football League play-off Finals	1990 Second Division 1998 First Division 2019 League One 2022 League One
Other matches	Game of three halves (1894) 1895 World Championship Yeovil Town 2–1 Sunderland (1949) Football League 100th Championship Challenge (1999)