1986–87 Associate Members' Cup Explained

Associate Members Cup
Year:	1986–87
Other Titles:	Freight Rover Trophy
Country:	England Wales
Prev Season:	1985–86
Next Season:	1987–88

The 1986–87 Associate Members' Cup, known as the 1986–87 Freight Rover Trophy, was the sixth staging of a secondary football league tournament, and the fourth staging of the Associate Members' Cup, a knock-out competition for English football clubs in the Third Division and the Fourth Division. The winners were Mansfield Town and the runners-up were Bristol City.

The competition began on 24 November 1986 and ended with the final on 24 May 1987 at Wembley Stadium.^[1]

In the first round, there were two sections split into eight groups: North and South. In the following rounds each section gradually eliminates teams in knock-out fashion until each has a winning finalist. At this point, the two winning finalists faced each other in the combined final for the honour of the trophy.

Preliminary round

Northern Section

Southern Section

First round

Northern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
20 January	Carlisle United	1–2	Preston North End
20 January	Chester City	1–1	Lincoln City
Chester City won on 5-4 penalties^[2]
20 January	Halifax Town	1–2	Middlesbrough
27 January	Bolton Wanderers	2–1	Burnley
27 January	Rochdale	3–0	Chesterfield
27 January	Scunthorpe United	1–2	Wrexham
27 January	York City	0–1	Mansfield Town
10 February	Bury	1–1	Wigan Athletic
Bury won on 5-4 penalties

Southern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
20 January	Exeter City	0–1	Port Vale
26 January	Aldershot	2–0	Swansea City
26 January	Brentford	4–2	Walsall
26 January	Fulham	3–2	Northampton Town
26 January	Gillingham	2–0	Colchester United
26 January	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–1	Hereford United
27 January	Bristol City	1–0	Southend United
29 January	Swindon Town	2–2	Bournemouth
Swindon Town won 4–2 on penalties

Quarter-finals

Northern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
10 February	Bolton Wanderers	1–2	Chester City
17 February	Rochdale	0–0	Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough won 4–3 on penalties^[3]
17 February	Wrexham	2–1	Preston North End
24 February	Bury	1–2	Mansfield Town

Southern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
10 February	Aldershot	1–1	Fulham
Aldershot won 11–10 on penalties^[4]
10 February	Bristol City	3–0	Brentford
10 February	Port Vale	3–3	Gillingham
Gillingham won 5–4 on penalties^[5]
10 February	Swindon Town	4–2	Hereford United

Area semi-finals

Northern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
10 March	Middlesbrough	0–1	Mansfield Town
23 March	Wrexham	1 – 3^[6]	Chester City

Southern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
10 March	Bristol City	2–0	Gillingham
10 March	Swindon Town	2–3	Aldershot

Area finals

Southern Area final

Notes and References

1. Book: Dunk, Peter . Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 . 461–65 . Queen Anne Press . 20 August 1987 . registration . 978-0-3561435-4-5 . 29 April 2020.
2. After extra-time.
3. After extra-time.
4. After extra-time.
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6. After extra-time.