sherpa van 88 final

[Scunnyclaret74]

Looking at various footballing forums on FB Wolves are quite regularly stating they took 50k plus to final at wembley, so got batting a bit back about figures been wrong but they are not having it.

Approx 81k there i thought we took 37-38K leaving approx 43K.

From what i can remember they had a block high up near burnley fans behind the goal possibly 2-3 K so makes sense.

50K ?? they're even saying loads in Burnley end and came on turf to buy tickets but i cant remember any bother or fans in our end.

Anyboby have any thoughts ot accurate figures.

cheers

[AGENT_CLARET]

It was 100% around a 38k to 43k to Wolves split

[frankinwales]

I thought that the attendance was 90,000 and it was a 50 / 40 thousand split..

Great seeing so many people there following their 4th division teams although Wolves were about to be promoted as champions if I recall it correctly.

Up the Clarets.

[Quickenthetempo]

I wasn't there but most Clarets i have seen mention it, reckon about 25k Clarets.

Wolves got a section of our end officially.

Stockport we took 35k
Sheff Utd 38k

[HahaYeah]

As Scunnyclaret74 said it was about 81000 attendance

38K Burnley fans rings a bell.

Don't remember any Wolves in Burnley end.

[ClaretTony]

I thought that the attendance was 90,000 and it was a 50 / 40 thousand split..

Great seeing so many people there following their 4th division teams although Wolves were about to be promoted as champions if I recall it correctly.

Up the Clarets.

Attendance 80,841
https://www.uptheclarets.com/fixtures-r ... 88-results


Wolves had been promoted

[Scunnyclaret74]

never 56k wolves fans, i know that much. Pretty sure Agent claret is nearer the mark.

[TheFamilyCat]

Does it matter?

[Goody1975]

never 56k wolves fans, i know that much. Pretty sure Agent claret is nearer the mark.

You've obviously got neutrals to consider in the 80,000 crowd but we took about 32,000. Wolves about 46,000.

I remember figures quoted in the Burnley Express before the game that we'd sold about 32,000.

Part of our terracing behind the goals was given to Wolves fans on the day.

About 34,000 against Stockport and just over 37,000 against Sheffield United.

[Goody1975]

Does it matter?

If you compare it to world poverty then obviously no but it was a question on a football messageboard.

[dsr]

I remember a block of yellow in the top deck in the corner behind the goals. Wolves definitely had more than us, that's not in question, but not by 2:1 or anywhere near.

[Rowls]

If you compare it to world poverty then obviously no but it was a question on a football messageboard.

If you vote for me I pledge my government will do the following:

1. Eradicate world poverty
2. Deliver a cast iron guarantee on immigration
3. Protect the NHS
4. A gold-plated lock on inflation
5. Discover the exact true split of Burnley/Wolves fans in the 1988 Sherpa Van Trophy final.

[Jamesy]

It was 45,000 Wolves, 36,000 Burnley as far as I can remember.

[Jamesy]

And as a footnote, I travelled down to Wembley with a load of them in the back of a Transit van and was showered with beer for most of the return journey home.
This match even though we lost was a turning point and started our return to the big time again, along with Wolves.

[Big Vinny K]

Great day.
Travelled down in an actual Sherpa Van !!

We definitely brought a fair number less than Wolves but fantastic turnout from both clubs and Wolverhampton is a bigger place than Burnley.

Don’t think any of our fans expected us to win. Wolves had an excellent side and we were just making our way back. 2-0 was not a bad result and our fans just had a great day.

[J_Grimshaw]

I’ve still got me scarf. Bought after the match at a discount

[Pearcey]

Me and my Dad were in the Wolves end with my Uncle and 2 cousins who are Wolves fans so you can add 2 to the Clarets total.

[ElectroClaret]

Not Wembley i know, but the Northern Area Final 2nd leg at Deepdale was far more enjoyable, not just because we won, but the whole occasion and atmosphere were amazing.

Some great support that night.

[Jamesy]

And as a footnote, I travelled down to Wembley with a load of them in the back of a Transit van and was showered with beer for most of the return journey home.
This match even though we lost was a turning point and started our return to the big time again, along with Wolves.

With a load of Wolves yam yams I meant to say.

[wilks_bfc]

As Scunnyclaret74 said it was about 81000 attendance

38K Burnley fans rings a bell.

Don't remember any Wolves in Burnley end.

I was too young to know know if any were “officially” in our end, but there were 2 Wolves fans sat in front of us.

End up swapping scarfs with them at the end

[Boss Hogg]

From memory it was 30K Burnley and 40k Wolves with 10k neutral /other tickets. By comparison the Euro 1988 Final between Netherlands and Soviet Union at Munich was 62,770. Great attendance for 2 sleeping giants.

[elwaclaret]

My memory was Wolves had a few K more but not significantly more. I know we were more or less facing the team Benches (centre) and the next block over was Wolves, suggesting my memory was right.

Division etc had nothing to do with it: there were more there than went to the FA Cup Final that year.
As for no agro… certainly not that I saw, it was the first time I’d ever seen fans mixing and chatting after the game… I still have a Wolves cap off a bloke I was chatting to… he looked at mine and said “I like Burnley, just wish it was not Villa’s colours!”

Great day and a million miles away from the Stockport fans who had little man syndrome before and after the game.

[dsr]

Great day and a million miles away from the Stockport fans who had little man syndrome before and after the game.

To be fair, they were "little men" (apart from Kevin Francis of course!)

[ClaretTony]

My memory was Wolves had a few K more but not significantly more. I know we were more or less facing the team Benches (centre) and the next block over was Wolves, suggesting my memory was right.

Division etc had nothing to do with it: there were more there than went to the FA Cup Final that year.
As for no agro… certainly not that I saw, it was the first time I’d ever seen fans mixing and chatting after the game… I still have a Wolves cap off a bloke I was chatting to… he looked at mine and said “I like Burnley, just wish it was not Villa’s colours!”

Let’s not exaggerate.

The Sherpa Van attendance was 80,841 but the FA Cup final attendance fifteen days earlier was 98,203.

Great day and a million miles away from the Stockport fans who had little man syndrome before and after the game.

It did beat the England v Scotland attendance played eight days earlier played in front of 70,480.

[Anonymous Claret]

To be fair, they were "little men" (apart from Kevin Francis of course!)

From memory Wolves appeared to have the most of the ground. I would probably say 50,000 to 30,000.

I know that's not what most Burnley fans want to hear but that was my recollection.

I also think that I am erring on the side of generosity towards our percentage.

Not that it matters, it was great just to be there. Preston away is still up there with my favourite ever games watching the Clarets

[Quicknick]

It was 35K Burnley and 45K Wolves. They didn't have many in our end at all, and there were a few gaps in theirs.

[Vegas Claret]

good job we weren't playing Leeds

[Buxtonclaret]

Mentioned it recently on another thread, there was a sectioned off bit of our end given to Wolves, a few hundred. Less than a thousand.
I was right next to them. Had a good laugh with them.
I stayed in London well into the following week & seem to remember a senior MET officer in the Evening Standard congratulating both sets of fan for their behaviour. Don't think there was a single arrest.
From what I remember it was pretty much a carnival atmosphere of two famous old clubs filling Wembley.

[Spijed]

It was 35K Burnley and 45K Wolves. They didn't have many in our end at all, and there were a few gaps in theirs.

That doesn't make sense. Why sell tickets in our end to Wolves supporters if there was still space in their section?

[Sproggy]

80,841 was also the highest attendance at Wembley that season, beating the FA Cup final.

[Rowls]

It was the last football match in England to have an official attendance of over 80,000 for many years until the new Wembley opened.

[Tim Burr]

I especially enjoyed the pre-game played by older players from each side. I too thought the 81k was the highest that season, but seeing the comment from ClaretTony appears I was wrong. Great day though.

[Claretforever]

I believe the figures were closer to 30-33,000 Burnley and 45-48,000 Wolves, depending which figure you believe as both have been reported. I’ve no reason to doubt the higher 48,000 figure as there were definitely far more of them, but 50,000 just feels like rounding because it sounds better?

They had around 3,000 or more (perhaps the difference between the 45K and 48K?) in our end behind the goal separated by stewards, which we didn’t sell and which can be seen in post match videos as the Wolves players paraded the trophy.

You have to remember we were averaging around 6,000 that season so it was a heck of an effort, and Wolves is 2 hours closer to Wembley as well as being a city 3 and half times larger than Burnley by population, whilst also averaging around 10,000 at the time having romped to the title.

The Wolves figures was reported in their local newspaper, as you can see below, and sounds about right.

[Sausage]

It was the last football match in England to have an official attendance of over 80,000 for many years until the new Wembley opened.

Apart from the 1989 FA Cup Final: 82,800

[Rowls]

Apart from the 1989 FA Cup Final: 82,800

Hmmmm.

It was in my head that the capacity of Wembley was reduced to 80,000 following the Hillsborough tragedy.

If you look at the records, some of the cup final attendances are clearly estimates and some are more accurate representations of the people who are actually there. Looking at the gaps in the terracing that were visible at the Sherpa Van Trophy final and knowing that it was an 80,000+ attendance, and then looking at the crowd for the 1989 FA Cup final, I'd say you could add at least 10,000 to that 'official' figure of 82,800. An extra 20,000 is probably more closer to the truth.

[Rowls]

Hmmmm.

It was in my head that the capacity of Wembley was reduced to 80,000 following the Hillsborough tragedy.

If you look at the records, some of the cup final attendances are clearly estimates and some are more accurate representations of the people who are actually there. Looking at the gaps in the terracing that were visible at the Sherpa Van Trophy final and knowing that it was an 80,000+ attendance, and then looking at the crowd for the 1989 FA Cup final, I'd say you could add at least 10,000 to that 'official' figure of 82,800. An extra 20,000 is probably more closer to the truth.

This was all off the top of my head. I've just had a quick look at the footage from the Sherpa Van. I reckon there's space for an extra 10,000-20,000 in the terraces. Not in a particularly safe fashion but that was football back then and it's what happened in every cup final at the time.

[Sausage]

You're right, Rowls. The capacity was immediately reduced (officially, at least) for the 1989 final because of the Hillsborough disaster a few weeks earlier but it still had the terraces at each end. After that, Wembley became all-seated.

[ClaretPete001]

I believe the figures were closer to 30-33,000 Burnley and 45-48,000 Wolves, depending which figure you believe as both have been reported. I’ve no reason to doubt the higher 48,000 figure as there were definitely far more of them, but 50,000 just feels like rounding because it sounds better?

They had around 3,000 or more (perhaps the difference between the 45K and 48K?) in our end behind the goal separated by stewards, which we didn’t sell and which can be seen in post match videos as the Wolves players paraded the trophy.

You have to remember we were averaging around 6,000 that season so it was a heck of an effort, and Wolves is 2 hours closer to Wembley as well as being a city 3 and half times larger than Burnley by population, whilst also averaging around 10,000 at the time having romped to the title.

The Wolves figures was reported in their local newspaper, as you can see below, and sounds about right.

It felt like a lot more of them than us on the day tbh...! Disappointed they had a section in our end but do remember very loud chants of b*llshit at the end when Steve Bull paraded by...!

I think there was more of us against Stockport and certainly more against Sheff Utd.

We'd had many years in the doldrums at that point we played Wolves....!

[2510]

It was 45,000 Wolves, 36,000 Burnley as far as I can remember.

I was there right up the back. Took two mates a Watford and an Arsenal fan. They couldn’t believe that two 4th Division teams could muster such support. Was it really 1988?!

[elwaclaret]

Let’s not exaggerate.

The Sherpa Van attendance was 80,841 but the FA Cup final attendance fifteen days earlier was 98,203.

Great day and a million miles away from the Stockport fans who had little man syndrome before and after the game.

It did beat the England v Scotland attendance played eight days earlier played in front of 70,480.

Must have been the international I was thinking about. I know it was commented on at the time… it was a while (and a lot of facts) ago.

[Quicknick]

That doesn't make sense. Why sell tickets in our end to Wolves supporters if there was still space in their section?

I don't know, but there was a small section of them in our end to the side. I understand we sold 35,000 tickets.

[NL Claret]

I don't know, but there was a small section of them in our end to the side. I understand we sold 35,000 tickets.

My recollection is (sat in stand opposite the Royal Box but towards Burnley end terrace) there was section of terracing or seating on the other side of the ground with maybe a couple of thousand of Wolves, maybe less. I thought this was allocated to them as they had sold their allocation but we hadn’t and would not have. Not sure that they all bought the tickets from TM. As mentioned it was called the friendly final without any trouble, that couldn’t be said when we played them a month earlier at home, saw a Wolves lad take a bad kicking under the Culvert, thankfully Wembley was a good trouble free day out apart from the result.

Enjoyed that cup run, winning at Bury in gale force winds, Pearce giving it the jelly legs v Halifax in the pen shoot out and what a night at Deepdale when we didn’t really have much hope of winning. Weathering the PNE onslaught at the far end in the 2nd half. We’re going to Wembley Oghani!

[roperclaret]

Brilliant day, I was 14 and it was the last time I went to a match with my dad. After that I was old enough to go to games with my mates.

[Quicknick]

My recollection is (sat in stand opposite the Royal Box but towards Burnley end terrace) there was section of terracing or seating on the other side of the ground with maybe a couple of thousand of Wolves, maybe less. I thought this was allocated to them as they had sold their allocation but we hadn’t and would not have. Not sure that they all bought the tickets from TM. As mentioned it was called the friendly final without any trouble, that couldn’t be said when we played them a month earlier at home, saw a Wolves lad take a bad kicking under the Culvert, thankfully Wembley was a good trouble free day out apart from the result.

Enjoyed that cup run, winning at Bury in gale force winds, Pearce giving it the jelly legs v Halifax in the pen shoot out and what a night at Deepdale when we didn’t really have much hope of winning. Weathering the PNE onslaught at the far end in the 2nd half. We’re going to Wembley Oghani!

The friendly final? I lived in London and was in Soho/Chinatown the night before. Quite a lot of trouble between both sets of fans who had got there early.

[NL Claret]

The friendly final? I lived in London and was in Soho/Chinatown the night before. Quite a lot of trouble between both sets of fans who had got there early.

I was 15 at the time, my dad drove down on the day and we met up with some southern based Clarets in Edgware. Saw no trouble around the ground and a good atmosphere. Perhaps the friendly final / comments by the met etc were based on the day of the game policing 80k + without arrests?

[Quicknick]

I was 15 at the time, my dad drove down on the day and we met up with some southern based Clarets in Edgware. Saw no trouble around the ground and a good atmosphere. Perhaps the friendly final / comments by the met etc were based on the day of the game policing 80k + without arrests?

Yes, probably the case.

[IanMcL]

80,841 was also the highest attendance at Wembley that season, beating the FA Cup final.

And the highest attendance for 2 4th division sides.

[IanMcL]

Burnley were in the 30's for sure. 32k maybe but unsure.

Wolves more as one would imagine. Burnley 70k pop. Wolverhampton 260k


Still got a very battered ticket in my wallet.

[HitchinClaret]

Main memory from the day (aside from footy) is a girl from Accy (Alex??) getting her jugs out a lot in the pub near the ground. Nice.

[IanMcL]

Main memory from the day (aside from footy) is a girl from Accy (Alex??) getting her jugs out a lot in the pub near the ground. Nice.

Slack Accy Alice?