| Founded | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 1992 |
| Teams | 41 (1991–92) |
| Last champions | Nottingham Forest (2nd title) |
| Most championships | Chelsea Nottingham Forest (2 titles) |
TheFull Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held inEnglish football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of theSimod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and theZenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992.[1]
The competition was created after the 1985Heysel Stadium disaster, when English clubs were banned fromEuropean competition, as an additional competition for clubs in the top two English League divisions.[2] The competition's name refers to the clubs that were Full Members ofthe Football League, 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 theEFL Trophy). The initial Full Members' Cup did not include the six teams that had qualified for 1985–86 European competitions, as these played in theSuper Cup instead.[3]
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 The competition was then cancelled the following season when theFootball League First Division was superseded by thePremier League as the top division, with clubs in the second tier entering a revivedAnglo-Italian Cup.
Seven finals took place between 1986 and 1992.Blackburn Rovers andReading were the onlySecond Division teams to win the cup.
Chelsea andNottingham Forest were the most successful teams in the competition, with both of them winning it twice.
The competition was open to all teams from the top two levels of theEnglish Leagues, namely theFirst andSecond Divisions. The six First Division teams that qualified for 1985–86 European play were invited to the EnglishSuper Cup tournament rather than the Full Members' Cup.[3]
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,Liverpool,Manchester United andTottenham Hotspur.
Details of numbers of teams competing in each of the seasons:[4]
Second Division members are initalics.[1]