To celebrate the Football League’s 100th anniversary, a special 16-team tournament was staged at Wembley over the weekend of 16–17 April 1988. Sponsored by Mercantile Credit, it brought together clubs from all four divisions, with Tranmere Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers representing Division Four. Tranmere had earned their place after an excellent run of form during the tournament’s qualifying period.
Just twelve months earlier, the idea of Tranmere playing at Wembley would have seemed almost impossible. Rovers had gone into the final game of the 1986–87 season fighting to preserve their Football League status, eventually surviving thanks to a 1–0 victory over Exeter City at Prenton Park. Johnny King had returned as manager only weeks earlier, and the following season was his first full campaign back in charge.
The Centenary Tournament therefore provided an early glimpse of what was beginning to happen at Tranmere under King.
The opening rounds were unusual affairs, with matches lasting only 40 minutes and drawn games going immediately to sudden-death penalties. Rovers began against First Division Wimbledon and caused the first upset of the weekend, winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from Dave Martindale. The scale of the victory became even more impressive just a few weeks later when Wimbledon returned to Wembley and famously defeated Liverpool to win the FA Cup.
Next came Newcastle United, another top-flight side and a team containing the likes of Paul Gascoigne and Brazilian international Mirandinha. Tranmere were anything but overawed. John Morrissey put Rovers ahead before Ian Muir converted a penalty to complete a remarkable 2–0 victory and send the Fourth Division outsiders into the semi-finals.
Waiting for them on the Sunday were Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. This time the game lasted an hour, but Tranmere again matched their illustrious opponents. Muir scored twice as Rovers led Forest on two occasions before the First Division side fought back to make it 2–2. The tie went to penalties, where Tranmere’s extraordinary run finally came to an end. Forest went on to win the tournament, also on penalties, against Sheffield Wednesday in the final.
For many clubs the Centenary Tournament was little more than an unusual weekend in the football calendar. For Tranmere, it meant much more.
It was the club’s first-ever appearance at Wembley, the first time Rovers had walked out beneath the famous Twin Towers, and an early sign that Johnny King was building something special at Prenton Park. From a club that had been fighting for its Football League life only a year earlier, Tranmere had suddenly gone toe-to-toe with some of the biggest names in the country.
It was also the beginning of a remarkable relationship with Wembley. Rovers would return to the national stadium repeatedly during the years that followed as one of the most successful periods in the club’s history began to unfold.
The journey to Wembley had started — and this would be far from Tranmere’s last visit beneath the Twin Towers.
