1987–88 John Player Cup

The 1987–88 John Player Special Cup was the 17th edition of England's premier rugby union cup competition. Harlequins won the competition, for the first time, defeating Bristol in the final at Twickenham Stadium. The competition was sponsored by John Player cigarettes.

1987–88 John Player Special Cup
Countries	England
Champions	Harlequins
Runners-up	Bristol
Highest attendance	37,000 Harlequins v Bristol at Twickenham

First round

Home	Away	Score
Askeans	London Irish	10-12
Bedford	Barkers Butts	35-4
Berry Hill	Salisbury	12-0
Devonport Services	Maidenhead	11-12
Dixonians	Droitwich	21-6
Ealing	Southend	10-9
Gordon League	Chiltern	44-7
Fylde	Hartlepool Rovers	30-9
Leighton Buzzard	Derby	10-7
Letchworth	Blackheath	0-26
Lewes	Havant	15-13
Lichfield	Vipers	31-3
London Scottish	Sudbury	9-3
Nuneaton	Aspatria	4-43
Old Alleynians	Maidstone	12-0
Oxford	Camborne	14-0
Redruth	Old Culverhaysians	26-9
Tynedale	Vale of Lune	16-15
Wakefield	Morley	22-0
Widnes	Birkenhead Park	4-3

Second round

Home	Away	Score
Berry Hill	Lewe	35-9
Dixonians	Asptatria	3-53
Gordon League	Oxford	18-16
Leighton Buzzard	Bedford	6-24
Lichfield	Widnes	31-3
London Irish	Ealing	13-10
Maidenhead	Old Alleynians	13-3
Redruth	Blackheath	9-13
Tynedale	London Scottish	11-9
Wakefield	Fylde	24-21

Third round

Home	Away	Score
Aspatria	Wasps	6-13
Bedford	Bristol	4-21
Coventry	Tynedale	7-6
Gloucester	Orrell	19-9
Gordon League	Headingley	10-0
Harlequins	Maidenhead	40-0
Lichfield	Bath	3-43
London Irish	Sale	3-16
London Welsh	Berry Hill	10-13
Plymouth Albion	Northampton	14-7
Richmond	Liverpool St Helens	10-6
Rosslyn Park	Leicester	0-15
Ruislip	Gosforth	10-13
Saracens	Blackheath	15-3
Waterloo	Nottingham	19-6
Wakefield	Moseley	4-14

Fourth round

Home	Away	Score
Berry Hill	Harlequins	4-17
Bristol	Richmond	34-0
Coventry	Sale	0-13
Gloucester	Wasps	13-24
Gordon League	Waterloo	9-11
Leicester	Bath	6-13
Moseley	Gosforth	33-9
Plymouth Albion	Saracens	14-6

Quarter-finals

Home	Away	Score
Plymouth Albion	Wasps	4-26
Harlequins	Waterloo	37-4
Moseley	Bath	4-3
Sale	Bristol	15-19

Semi-finals

Moseley	6–34	Bristol

The Reddings

Wasps	16–20 (a.e.t.)	Harlequins

Sudbury

Notes

Final

30 April 1988

Harlequins	28–22	Bristol
Try: Carling 2 Harriman Con: Thresher Salmon Pen: Thresher Salmon 3		Try: Duggan Penalty try Con: Webb Pen: Webb 3 Drop: Knibbs

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 37,000 (record for competition) Referee: Fred Howard (Liverpool)

Harlequins

Bristol

15 Stuart Thresher 14 Andrew Harriman 13 Jamie Salmon 12 Will Carling 11 Everton Davis 10 Adrian Thompson 9 Richard Moon 8 Richard Langhorn 7 Tim Bell 6 Mick Skinner 5 Neil Edwards 4 Paul Ackford 3 Andy Mullins 2 John Olver (c) 1 Paul Curtis Replacements: 16 Simon Hunter 17 Richard Cramb 18 Alan Woodhouse 19 David Butcher 20 S Conway 21 Chris Sheasby Coach:

A Jonathan Webb B Huw Duggan C David Thomas D Ralph Knibbs E John Carr F Simon Hogg G Richard Harding O Paul Collings N Wayne Hone M Andy Dun L Nigel Pomphrey (c) K Andy Blackmore J John Doubleday I Dave Palmer H Crayton Phillips Replacements: P Kevin Morgan Q Paul Jeffrey R Kevin Bogira S Darryll Hickey T Geoff Crane U Pete Polledri Coach: Bob Hesford

Notes

Records

• The attendance for the final of 37,000 was highest in the competition's history
• Bath's unbeaten sequence of 22 matches ended when Moseley beat them in a quarter-final at The Reddings

Sponsorship

The competition was sponsored, for the last time, by John Player and the prize money was £125,000 (an increase of £15,000). Both finalists received £3,750 each and in thirteen years of sponsorship over £1 million has been provided.