Back when the FA Cup meant something. Semi-finals played at neutral grounds and a cracking atmosphere at the old Wembley. Miss those days.

The beautiful game, in the beautiful era. Back when football was a sport, not a business.

One of the best FA Cup finals in history. Total underdogs, laughed at by Jimmy Greaves in the weeks leading up to the game. However, seeing Coventry in the position they are in nowadays is heartbreaking.

I love how simple football was in this era. Players were down to earth and played for each other and the fans. Goals were usually a simple beat a man and cross it in for a header or controlled finish. Love how players even shook hands and got up quickly after late challenges. Would love football to be more like this today

R.IP John Sillett , from a Newcastle United supporter

A 13 year old Evertonian - watching this with the blues as champions & the best cup final I’d seen. Back then you’d spend the whole day in watching the cup final 12pm - 6pm. It was less commercialised more spontaneous, less overly coached & systemised.

One of the best cup finals Wembley has ever seen. As a Spurs fan I was gutted we lost as favourites. Mabbutt was just class on and off the pitch; shook hands with every Coventry player and congratulated John Sillet.

Brian Moore, absolutely the voice of English Football ❤️

RIP Brian Moore, you utter legend

Trevor peake carrying Clive Allen was absolutely brilliant. Would never see anything like that anymore 😢😢😢

i was born this day. 4:04pm. my mom said it was on in the hospital so probably one of the first noises i heard was the crowd on the tv. Could be a reason why i love football so much to this day and as a kid

As a Liverpool fan one of the best finals I've watched

Allegedly, the Coventry players went on a 2 week bender after this game in order to celebrate! And rightly so after all their hard work. Those were the days, I can't imagine a modern side doing that some how, though! 😎

Before money absolutely murdered the game.

Oggy is such a legend but man he had some howlers.

A great game of football played by men, not overpaid mercenaries. No diving. The Wembley steps. The Royal Marines band. Gentlemanly behaviour. A sense of pride. Everything, infact, that's lacking in today's me-me-me money obsessed world.

This was the best FA Cup final ever for me and I wanted Coventry to win. I miss the days when the FA Cup meant something and life was also a lot simpler back then. But football as a professional sport has moved on. Players are fitter and the game is faster. Personally I prefer that to watch but that doesn't mean I don't miss these days of football because I definitely do.

I was three years old when Coventry city won the FA Cup back in 1987 , if I were old enough I would loved been there. Football now is business unlike the passion your able clearly see it's a sport to enjoy

I was there...10 yrs old...what an incredible season and day..m

Brings back memories from childhood.

I was an 18 year old in the RAF and went home to watch it (Coventry). The City Center that night was magical. All the pubs and clubs were buzzing. No fights. Everyone happy.

Back when winning the cup meant somthing

I was there as a steward, at 0.28 you can see stewards sitting on the edge with an allocated police officer. Brilliant game - being an Arsenal fan I really wanted Spurs to lose - have always had a soft spot for Coventry City ever since. RIP big Cyrille.

This is the first FA Cup final I remember. Back then it seemed they were always blazing hot days and goals galore. The TV build up coverage started from the morning, and we always chose the beeb over ITV. Happier, simpler times.

If the Sky blues should last for a thousand years, men will still say "This was their finest hour"

Houchen was outstanding in this final that's without the best goal ever seen in a final, he was all over Spurs.

In 1987 the FA Cup final was between Tottenham Hotspurs (odds on favourites) and my team Coventry City. During the week leading up to the final I was on holiday in Spain and was booked to return to the UK on Friday. On arriving at Malaga airport on Friday we were told the flight had been cancelled and we were re-booked on a flight to return to the UK the next day, Saturday!!! By coincidence the flight coincided with the Cup final time wise and so I, tongue in cheek, asked the flight attendant whether the pilot could tune in to the BBC, who would have a commentary on the game, and perhaps let me know the scores. A few minutes later the Pilot came down to see me and having established I was a City fan and he was an Arsenal fan (with a mutual dislike for Spurs) he agreed he would let me know what was happening during the match. He achieved this by using the intercom so not only I but the rest of the passengers also knew what was happening in the match. At the final whistle he said condolences to any Spurs supporters (I am sure he was smiling) but there is a very happy Coventry supporter amongst us. Michael congrats to your team. I am sure my face turned a bright red. A few minutes later the flight attendant appeared with a bottle of Champagne, unopened. Some flights are special

What an absolutely top bloke Gary Mabbutt was. Glad he finally got a winners medal 4 years later

I wasn't even born then , i love watching these old finals , thanks for the upload

One of the greatest cup finals and like most neutrals I wanted Coventry to win,but both teams contributed a lot.

I started to follow English league in 1980. The first team I supported was Coventry. Thanks to a 1979 team photo sticked inside me locker by my senior. I was at a boarding school that time. Other students rooted for either MU or Liverpool back then. But I can proudly claimed that Coventry was one of the longest survivors in English top league.

The good old days when Wembley was a national monument, bathed in sunshine. Then the FA decided to bulldoze it, and replace it with a soulless giant concrete bowl. Genius.

Coventry had a defender who should have played for England, one of the most underrated centre backs ever...Trevor Peake.

Neil Midgeley is the ref here. Two years later he reffed our primary school cup final in Bolton in a superb show of support for kids final. Top man, RIP

Best FA Cup Final ever.

I remember watching this game in Loughborough Married Quarters. The feeling of exultation at the end of the game is something I've not been able to replicate.

This and Wimbledon beating Liverpool the following year are the best upsets in my cup history. This shades it for the play and the goals.

Dave Bennett got his own back as he was in the Man City team that Tottenham beat in the 81 cup final

THE best professional footballer I've ever watched .. Gary Mabbutt .. Take a bow .. Not only a great defender .. But a nice bloke

As soon as the final whistle went i had everyone of my mates ringing the house(no mobiles then!)and ripping into me not just then but for about 20 years after as i was a spurs fan living in Coventry . Spurs were outstanding that season and to this day if it had been anyone else but cov we would have won i think there name was on the cup as they say........and what id give now to spurs in a fa cup final..29 years since the last one ....you listening levy !!!

It is sad that these days we do not see too many acts of sportsmanship as Gary Mabbut did, shaking the hands of his opponents after the final whistle, despite his own goal and disappointment at not winning. As a comment said, those were the days when football was really a sport and not all about money, as the recent, thankfully rejected, European Super League showed. Rest In Peace to the Coventry City Manager, who has just died. Winning the FA Cup was an achievement that he was rightly proud of.

What a final, probably the best FA cup final ever!

I wonder how many clubs have the greatest goal in their history as an own goal!

The first FA Cup Final I ever saw, Tottenham with their team of superstars against an unfashionable team of journeymen. Houchen's goal remains one of the best ever final goals, magnificent and it knocked the stuffing out of Spurs a little.

As a neutral, I would have paid the extra cash to be there. What a fantastic final.

The old Wembley 70s 80s 90s fa cup finals were the best games.

A brilliant day well done boys from Coventry band the eyes of Isabel

RIP John Sillett!

Why do these cup finals from the 80s and 90s seem to have that 'something' special about them? The whole day was with both BBC and ITV having coverage made it unique back then.

I remember perfectly that fantastic final,great players on the pitch,starting from Glenn Hoddle,I wonder why Clive Allen never played for England National team🎉🎉🎉

I was there as a 15 year old ,what a great day,when football was played by men ! Go for it Go for it City,Sky Blues,shooting to win ! Cyrille,Houchen,Bennet,Peake,Oggy,Gynn,the boys did us proud. PUSB.

As a Gunner I naturally wanted Spurs to lose but what a Cup Final! I remember being sat on the edge of my seat (armchair) for the whole 120 minutes. This was proper end to end stuff. If only all Cup Finals had been like this one maybe the FA Cup would never had lost its sheen. Congratulations to Coventry but I'll humbly add hats off to Spurs too - especially Gary Mabbutt, a player who I've always had a great deal of respect for

1987 but video's quality so good

Anyone else miss the old Wembley nets?

Never to be forgotten

A very entertaining fa Cup final. Glad Coventry won as they beat us in the semis

my grandad went to this in the coventry city stands when they won it

Easily the best Cup final for me.I was 8 years old and remember it like yesterday. Kilcline would've been sent off for the foul on Van den Hauw.Amazing how he then goes and gives kilcline (the perpetrator) a lift up.You'd never see that today.Truly great Cup final and this from an LFC fan.Hope Cov win again tomorrow.

It may never happen but to get back to a decent level is what this club deserves. Fans and life long members etc would be more than happy just having a club that is run properly and is in whichever division... The malicious ignorance of the current owners is a genuine tragedy... Long live CCFC...

Loved this final cheerd the sky blues on loved it !!!

Cyril regis was a beast, scored against in almost every time against us especially in he's w'brom days great player non the less, gutted we lost but kudos to coventry for making it an exiting final,coys.

great final,though my face must of been a picture when Regis put Covenrty 2v1 up haha id totaly forgotten that offside goal and thought a massive sports reality shift had happened phew

Never noticed how some of the Spurs players had Holstein on their shirts while others had no sponsor. Wonder how that came about???

I grew up watching all the cup finals at Wembley in the 70’s and early 80’s and went to the stadium to watch England beat Scotland 3-1 in 1978. Seems like all the atmosphere has gone now the new stadium is in place. An expat watching in S Florida.

Shame to see my town so low today still made many great players callum Wilson Daniel sturridge James maddison

Ha ha good old Coventry. I'm a Liverpool fan but I was made up when they won it!

Some fantastic headed goals in this final.

the first fa cup final I remember watching (on tv). spent the whole day buzzing. nothing is more important. videoed the match on my dad's swanky VCR which had touch-sensitive buttons (rare back then) and spent every day for about the next 3 months watching it back. memorised most of the commentary. (and I'm a man u fan?).

1987 was the year when North London was red! Arsenal won the league cup, Tottenham bottled the Fa Cup final to Coventry.

I was 8 at the time and can still remember it like it was yesterday. By faaar the best cup final and that from a Liverpool fan.They dont do cup finals like that anymore.Btw why was Cyril Regis's goal disallowed?

first time I could bring myself to watch it since the long walk home up wembley way 25 years ago fuck still hurts

CMON CITY

Came here today to watch this finest moment in CCFC's history. We won the Checkatrade tin pot cup yesterday, our club is heading to the old div 4, no stadium and nowhere to play as SISU have fallen out with the owners Wasps, training ground up for sale for housing, academy soon to be homeless and our loss of cat 2 status, no investment in the team and the farming out of any academy talent at undisclosed fees and the money going into a void....I could go on but it is too depressing. Nearly 10 years of a football club being dismantled while SISU fight in the courts with anyone they can to get their hands on their original goal. The Ricoh and the surrounding ground to flip for a profit and not only did they withhold rent, try to put a charity into administration and threaten to take the statue of Jimmy Hill outside the Ricoh (paid for by fans) but also the memorial garden where fan's ashes are spread with them when they had a tantrum and stormed off to Sixfields. The catalog of mistreatment of fans, the club and the city of Coventry by this hedge fund is astounding but the thing that gets me the most is the lack of any action from the FL. SISU are not fit to own a football club and the FL are absolutely complicit in letting this nightmare occur. Today it's us and tomorrow it could be you. Football needs to change!

One of the all time great finals!the sky blues will be back in the big time soon!

There is still only one Gary Mabbut!

Gary Mabbutt - a Coventry City legend!

I love watching this , scottish sky blue ! I was at the semi final against leeds , my uncle was from coventry , ive never been to ricoh atena yet but was at highfield road a few times when i was ypunger 43 now , first game was cov v birmingham when i was 6 or thereabouts .

Did anyone else notice that Gary Mabbut and a few other Spurs players' shirts were missing a sponsor??

Good luck city in the Checkatrade final on April 1 @ Wembley!

RIP Snoz. 😞

That tackle on Gary Mabbutt by Brian Kilcline would’ve been a straight red nowadays. It was actually even worse than Kevin Moran’s tackle for which he got a straight red in the 1985 FA Cup Final.

Houchen must have got Motm in this final he was everywhere. What a player.

Coventry will be playing Spurs again in the not to distant future. They always seemed to be great matches when they did play in the past.

Magical just magical.. PUSB.

it still hurts!!!

Best wishes to Coventry that is almost there again, 37 years after!

3:33 Houchens celebration ! :)

Had been a Sky Blues fan since 1973, but in 1987 had already booked a holiday in Scotland beginning on Cup Final day, and did not know the result until the evening! Still, I can always say that I was amongst a handful of fans who saw them beat Bolton in the 3rd round that year. I lived in Stockport, by the way!

Clem and oggy were all over the place in goal

What a true Sportsman and Gentleman...Gary Mabbutt

Amazing how some Spurs players have Holsten on their jersey and others don't. Like Schoolboy park football now.

Best day ever!

Houchen’s goal was real Roy of the Rovers stuff.

I don't know what was wrong with the Regis disallowed goal.

Nothing wrong with the Regis goal.

Have supported Coventry City for over 50 years. Best day ever for the club, in my opinion. Have seen lean times before and afterwards. What a management team - simpler times, less analysis, scrutiny, etc. played with heart, commitment, and part of a simple process.

RIP John Sillett.

Houchen wat a player was one outstanding player 4 hartlepool

May 16th 1987 my 12th birthday - remember it well

One of the best ever FA Cup finals. I only discovered now that 6 of the Spurs players' shirts were missing the Holsten sponsor due to some mix-up. Funny how Holsten didn't seemed to mind that much at the time.