| Associate Members Cup | |
| Year: | 1987–88 |
| Other Titles: | Sherpa Van Trophy |
| Country: | |
| Prev Season: | 1986–87 |
| Next Season: | 1988–89 |
The 1987–88 Associate Members' Cup, known as the 1987–88 Sherpa Van Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the seventh staging of a secondary football league tournament, and the fifth staging of the Associate Members' Cup, a knockout competition for English football clubs in the Third and Fourth Divisions (now known as League One and Two).
The winners were Wolverhampton Wanderers, who defeated Burnley 2–0 in the final. This marked the first time two previous English champions have met in the final of this competition, and made Wolves the first former champions to have won the trophy, Portsmouth the only other having won the EFL trophy in 2019.
The competition began on 13 October 1987 and ended with the final on 29 May 1988.The tournament begins with clubs divided into a Northern and a Southern section, and teams entering a preliminary group stage. Each section then gradually eliminates the qualifying 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.
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January | Burnley | 1–0 | Chester City | |
| 19 January | Bury | 1–0 | Bolton Wanderers | |
| 19 January | Halifax Town | 2–1 | Chesterfield | |
| 19 January | Mansfield Town | 1–0 | Scunthorpe United | |
| 19 January | Preston North End | 3–1 | Rochdale | |
| 19 January | Sunderland | 1–0 | Crewe Alexandra | |
| 26 January | Darlington | 3–2 | Rotherham United | |
| 3 February | Carlisle United | 0–2 | Hartlepool United |
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January | Aldershot | 1–0 | Bristol City | |
| 19 January | Colchester United | 1–1 | Leyton Orient | |
| Colchester United won 4–3 on penalties | ||||
| 19 January | Newport County | 2–3 | Hereford United | |
| 19 January | Torquay United | 1–0 | Port Vale | |
| 19 January | Walsall | 1–2 | Peterborough United | |
| 19 January | Wolves | 4–0 | Brentford | |
| 20 January | Brighton | 4–2 | Southend United | |
| 20 January | Notts County | 2–0 | Cardiff City | |
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 February | Bury | 0–1 | Burnley | |
| 9 February | Sunderland | 0–1 | Hartlepool United | |
| 16 February | Preston North End | 2–1 | Mansfield Town | |
| 18 February | Darlington | 1–2 | Halifax Town |
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 February | Colchester United | 2–3 | Notts County | |
| 9 February | Wolves | 4–0 | Peterborough United | |
| 10 February | Hereford United | 0–1 | Brighton | |
| 16 February | Aldershot | 0–1 | Torquay United |
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 March | Burnley | 0–0 | Halifax Town | |
| Burnley won 5–3 on penalties | ||||
| 8 March | Hartlepool United | 0–2 | Preston North End | |
| Date | Home team | Score | Away team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 March | Wolves | 1–0 | Torquay United | |
| 9 March | Brighton | 1–5 | Notts County |
----Burnley won 3–1 on aggregate.
----Wolverhampton Wanderers won 4–1 on aggregate.
See main article: 1988 Associate Members' Cup Final.