Football League Centenary Tournament
The Football League Centenary Tournament was a friendly tournament held from 16 to 17 April 1988 at Wembley Stadium to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Football League. The tournament was won by First Division Nottingham Forest, who beat Sheffield Wednesday in the final on penalties. Their success was achieved despite manager Brian Clough not attending the Saturday. Arguably the biggest success story was Division Four side Tranmere Rovers, who a year earlier had almost been relegated out of the Football League. They defeated top-flight sides Wimbledon and Newcastle United, before taking Forest to a penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals. Despite the hopes of the Football League, the tournament was poorly attended, with attendance figures of 41,500 on the first day and 17,000 for the second in a stadium capable of holding 100,000. The attendance situation was not helped by leading London clubs such as Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Chelsea not qualifying for the tournament.
Background
The centenary of the Football League was marked by a number of events between mid-1987 and 1988, including a match at Wembley between a Football League XI and a Rest of the World XI in August 1987, Football League champions Everton facing Bayern Munich in a mid-season challenge match with Everton winning 3–1, and the Football League Centenary Trophy between leading teams held at the start of the 1988–89 season. Other announced events, however, including a nationwide series of fun runs, a gala classical music concert at the Royal Albert Hall, and a pop music event at Wembley Arena, never took place. The celebrations, which were sponsored by Mercantile Credit, were criticised for being overly drawn-out and uninspiring.The competition
The Football League Centenary Tournament was originally announced as a six-a-side tournament involving all 92 League teams, affording many the opportunity to play at the national stadium for the first time. It was subsequently changed to an 11-a-side competition featuring only 16 teams, who qualified based on points accrued from League games during a specified time window.Qualifiers
The following teams participated in the tournament:| Division | Teams |
| First | Everton |
| First | Liverpool |
| First | Luton Town |
| First | Manchester United |
| First | Newcastle United |
| First | Nottingham Forest |
| First | Sheffield Wednesday |
| First | Wimbledon |
| Second | Aston Villa |
| Second | Blackburn Rovers |
| Second | Crystal Palace |
| Second | Leeds United |
| Third | Sunderland |
| Third | Wigan Athletic |
| Fourth | Tranmere Rovers |
| Fourth | Wolverhampton Wanderers |