The draw for the semi finals has kept the two remaining Liverpool teams apart and with both Paddock and Oyster Martyrs considered as favourites to reach the final, the anticipation of an all Merseyside final is starting to build.
Despite dominating the competition for many years in terms of the number of entrants and providing more champion teams than any other region (11 of the 46 former winners are from Liverpool) there has never been an all Liverpool final!
I think the chances of this happening this year are very good, as the two strong Liverpool & District leagues sides are definitely the teams to beat. However, I will preview the semi finals nearer the time, so I thought this a good opportunity to look back through the history books and explore Liverpool’s obsession with the Sunday Cup.
As mentioned above, there are more teams in the Sunday Cup from Liverpool than from any other area – 26 of this season’s 131 entrants are affiliated to the Liverpool FA (this increases to 31, when adding the 5 teams representing the Cheshire FA, all of whom play in Birkenhead or Wallasey based leagues)
So, one in five of all teams in this season’s competition hail from Liverpool and this is consistent when comparing the list of entrants from previous years. In fact, for pretty much every one of the last twenty seasons, 20% of all teams entered in the Sunday Cup are from Liverpool, which is an amazing record and a testament to the strength in depth of Sunday football in that part of the country.
It would appear that the catalyst for the huge levels of interest the Sunday Cup commands on Merseyside was a staggering period of success, in the five seasons between 1979 and 1983, when Lobster, Fantail, Dingle Rail and Eagle were all crowned the best Sunday team in England.
However, it wasn’t always like this, as up until 1979, the achievements of Liverpudlian teams were distinctly average, with Canada in 1970 being the area’s sole semi finalists in the in the Sunday Cup’s 15 year history.
This golden period of Merseyside success began when Lobster defeated Sunday Cup legends Carlton United, in the 1978/9 final at Southport. Carlton were making their third appearance in the final and fielded an experienced team that included ex pro’s and players who had appeared in the finals of the FA Vase and FA Amateur Cup. Undeterred, Lobster won 3-2 and brought the Cup back to Croxteth, the Liverpool suburb that would produce runners up Croxteth & Gilmoss RBL and Oyster Martyrs in later years.
No doubt inspired by the breakthrough success of Lobster, Liverpool sides made the Sunday Cup their own in the 1980’s, as nine of the decade’s ten finals, featured a Merseyside team!
This amazing run set a number of records:
· Fantail were the first team to retain the trophy
· Eagle and Lee Chapel North were the first back-to-back finalists
· Avenue were the first team to reach three successive finals
It was future winners, Sunderland Humbledon Plains Farm, who halted Avenue’s quest to reach their fourth consecutive final in 1988, when they triumphed 2-1 at Spennymoor. This was the year that a Liverpool side failed to reach the final.
The 1990’s proved to be a classic case of ‘After the Lord Mayor’s show’ as only three Liverpool teams reached the final in that decade. Instead, it was Sunday Cup legends Marston Sports from Wolverhampton and St Joseph’s (Luton) who dominated in the 1990’s, as between them, they appeared in seven finals.
Liverpool looked to have reclaimed it’s crown as the home of the nation’s best Sunday teams when Britannia, Allerton and Nicosia reached successive finals from 2002 to 2004, however, there has only been one finalist since, as the new Century has been dominated by the North East, with five victories.
I’ve seen countless Liverpool teams over the years, including some of the greats, such as Avenue, Nicosia, Almithak and A3 (who never made the final but consistently reached the latter stages). From what I have seen, all Liverpool teams are competitive and their very best sides are amongst the finest in the Country.
Paddock and Oyster Martyrs have battled their way to within just one game of the final. Are they the teams to end the 30 year wait for an all Liverpool final? We’ll soon find out!
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