As the climax of this season’s competition approaches and as Prenton Park has been chosen as the final venue, I’ve decided to look back at previous games played there and at some of the other key grounds in the competition’s history.
Tranmere Rovers
Prenton Park became the first football league ground to stage the final back in 1981, when local side and reigning champions Fantail, beat Mackintosh of the Norwich and District league, by a goal to nil, to become the first team to successfully retain the Sunday Cup.
Four years later, there was another Merseyside and Norfolk final, as Avenue from the Birkenhead league met Hobbies United in a replay, following a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road. A 2-2 draw at Tranmere, took the final to an unprecedented third game at Nuneaton Borough, where Hobbies triumphed by 2 goals to 1.
Avenue were in action again at Tranmere the following season, when they beat Fantail Autex 3-1 in a semi final replay. This set up a final against Glenn Sports, with the Watford-based members of the South West Hertfordshire league travelling up to the Wirral for another Prenton Park final!
A crowd of 2,552 watched as a 47th minute Dave Thompson penalty was enough for the ‘home’ side to lift the trophy for their first and only victory.
After being selected to host four key games in six seasons, Tranmere had quickly become one of the most popular (and at the time, high profile) venues in the Sunday Cup’s history, so it’s somewhat surprising that they have had a 25 year wait to stage another important game. Lets hope this year’s final has been worth the wait!
Spennymoor United
First used as a final venue in 1973, when local side Wear Valley played 1967 champions Carlton United in front of a crowd estimated at 4,000, Spennymoor’s Brewery Field ground hosted 3 finals in just 5 seasons.
Whilst Wear Valley lost in extra time, both Brandon United in 1976 and Langley Park Rams Head in 1977 fared better, in what was County Durham’s finest hour in the competition, until recently.
Over 10 years had passed by the time Spennymoor was chosen as the venue for the semi final between Humbledon Plains Farm and Avenue in 1988.
Liverpool
Arguably the best and most high profile ground to stage the final (with apologies to Newcastle United and Aston Villa) Anfield certainly holds the record for the most final games, with 8 consecutive finals between 2003 to 2010.
You may think holding the final at Anfield would have inspired the local teams to have built on there already highly impressive Sunday Cup achievements but in that 8 year period, only 3 Liverpool sides reached the final and only one of them (Nicosia in 2004) was victorious.
In fact, this period in the competition’s history was dominated by teams from County Durham, who even had an all Durham final in 2008, when Hetton Lyons gained revenge over Coundon Cons for ending their chances of retaining the Sunday Cup the season before.
Whilst it was great for the Sunday Cup to have been played at such a ground for so many years, I feel it’s a shame that the 2008 final could not have been played at Sunderland or Newcastle, as it would have been great for that area to have had two local sides in the final (which is hopefully what will happen at Tranmere this season!).
Marine
Given that Anfield and Prenton Park are the two grounds to have staged the most finals and that Liverpool clubs have an unparalleled record in the Sunday Cup, it comes as no surprise to learn that the record for hosting the most semi final games is held by Marine.
Nine semi finals have been played at the Crosby based Northern Premier League team’s ground, the first being in 1984, when Eagle beat Lodge Cottrell 2-1.
In 1991, it held the local affair between Nicosia and Eagle Knowsley, with Nicosia winning 1-0.
Nicosia were back again in 2004 for another Merseyside match up, this time against A3 (Canada). The Nics obviously enjoyed playing at Marine, as they won by 3 goals to 2 and as in 1991, went on to win the final.
