IT WAS a competition that lasted for just seven seasons, but one which brought joy to the hearts of the 28,000 Blackburn Rovers fans who made the trip to Wembley 30 years ago today.

The 1987 Full Members Cup success came in what was the club’s first trip to the national stadium in 27 years, as Rovers emerged from the doldrums to claim an unlikely success.

Only five clubs claimed the title during the cup’s seven year tenure, with Rovers a struggling second division outfit when they upset first division side Charlton Athletic on March 29 1987.

The match-winner on that day was a 21-year-old Colin Hendry, in the infancy of his Rovers career having spent much of the season in Dundee’s reserve side before moving to Ewood.

At the time, Rovers were going through a transition period, with Don Mackay in charge for their Wembley date having succeeded Bobby Saxton who was sacked in December, while Tony Parkes had filled in as caretaker for three months.

The club were languishing in the lower reaches of the Division Two table when they made the trip to Wembley, but were to return winners courtesy of Hendry’s 85th minute strike.

Simon Garner was among the starting line-up, and remembers the special emotions of the day.

“It was a great day out, and to play at Wembley, never mind win there, was a great feeling,” he said.

“It was particularly great for the fans because at that time there wasn’t much money in the club, and the club wasn’t enjoying much success.

“I think it’s the same as any cup competition – the further you get in it the more you want to do well.

“The chance to play at Wembley made it special, and we fortunate enough to do so.”

The competition had been devised for teams in the top two divisions during the years British clubs were banned from European competition.

Rovers saw off Huddersfield, Sheffield United, Oxford, holders Chelsea and Ipswich to reach the Wembley final.

The game was locked at 0-0 when, with five minutes to go, Ian Miller went on a marauding run down the right and his cross was parried in to the path of Hendy who lashed the ball in to the roof of the net on the half volley.

Recalling the goal, Garner added: “I think it was Ian Miller who had crossed it and I remember shouting at him because I had made a run towards the near post and he crossed it to the back post.

“Luckily Colin Hendry was there to finish it off.

“It was a real fairytale for him because I think he had been playing in Dundee’s reserves up until a few weeks before.

“It really helped kick-start his Rovers career and made him a real fans’ favourite.”

Rovers, whose chose not to enter the competition in its inaugural year, were one of just two second division sides to win the cup along with 1988 winners Reading.

Glenn Keeley was Rovers skipper on that day, and was to lift the trophy, only to then subsequently drop it.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph in 2015 about the victory, he said: “I’ll always treasure winning the Full Members Cup.

“But we got lucky as I don’t think we played well throughout the whole competition, certainly not in the final.

“I can’t remember coming out of a game thinking we deserved to win, but by the time of the quarter-finals I began to think our name was on it, because we’d never really once performed, and never once played a team off the park, yet we kept winning.

“But Bobby Saxton needs to take a lot of credit for that win.

“He was a dour man but a good man and in many respects a good manager because you have to remember he didn’t work with a lot of money, whereas the new manager got a lot of financial support from Jack Walker.

“And before Bobby got sacked I’d never known a manager to have a run like he had.

“For about 18 months, every little situation that could go wrong for him went wrong for him, and you literally saw him in those last six months going grey before your eyes.

“It was such a shame but, as much as Don, he deserved credit for what happened next.”