The LDV - what is it good for?

By Albatross
October 21 2002

Hands up everyone who expects a full strength team at Tranmere then? The LDV Trophy has been around in one form or another for some time, as I discovered; but now more than ever it seems a waste of time and effort.

The LDV Trophy. What use is it? It has a long and undistinguished history....

Some time back in the early 70s, some bright spark had the idea of introducing a British Cup competition for the teams who hadn't qualified for Europe to compete in. The Texaco Cup was born, and in 1970-1 teams from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland played each other, with Wolves winning as they beat Hearts in the final. By 1975-6, Texaco had had enough and it became the Anglo-Scottish Cup. The Irish and Northen Irish teams had withdrawn after the second competition anyway.

Most teams didn't take the competition very seriously, to the extent that Newcastle were thrown out in 1977 for fielding a drastically weakened team in the competition; and so, like some early version of the Intertoto, the top teams gradually decided that it wasn't worth it and the standard of teams - in England at least - dropped down the divisions. Chesterfield won the last one in 1981, and the Scottish Teams withdrew.

The following season, it was renamed again; as the Football League Group Cup.... making its debut in 1982, the first winners were Grimsby; it was then renamed the Football League Trophy the following year, before becoming the Associate Members Cup in 1984.

The following season saw yet another name change, as sponsorship arrived for the first time; the Freight Rover Trophy. Since then, it has been the Sherpa Van Trophy, Leyland DAF Cup, Autoglass Trophy, Auto Windscreens Shield and now the LDV Vans Trophy. So in about 30 years, the British Cup is now a competition involving just English and Welsh sides from Divisions 2,3 and the Conference, and has had no less than ten different names....

It was a long time before Pools make much of an impression on things. In fact, it was 1987/8.... we were beaten by Mansfield, but then beat Doncaster to finish second in our group of three and qualify for the First Round proper. There we overcame Carlisle, and all of a sudden it was a Northern Area Quarter Final; the opponents Sunderland. What happened that night is history: Jackie scored from a corner, and Denis Smith earned the nickname from every Poolie of "Stigma" as he struggled to come to terms with the memorable result. Pools were beaten in the next round by Preston, and that pretty much marked the limit of Pools achievements in the competition until we made the Area quarter final in 1991/2, losing to Stockport, and then again three seasons running from 1998/9 to 2000/01. In 1995/6, with Pools close to their worst, they did manage to make a few people sit up and notice; however it was only thanks to being eclipsed by a rampant Crewe side that won 8-0. Last season saw a first round exit at the hands of Bury.

Attendances at these games tend to be low, at least in the early rounds. To be brutally honest, even a lot of the hardcore fans only start getting interested once Area Semis get reached, and although the final gets a large attendance by the standards of clubs at our level - just over 20,000 saw Blackpool beat Cambridge last season - it's not even as many as attended last season's Third Division Playoff Final.

It seems incredible that when the League Cup is apparently dying on its feet, the LDV seems to carry on from year to year without more than a bit of muttering about "Mickey Mouse Competitions". Can it carry on much longer? I don't think so; as soon as the current sponsorship deal expires I think this somewhat pointless competition will go the way of all flesh.

In the meantime, Pools will travel to Tranmere. With an important game on Friday Night at Southend, it has to be said the prospect of a full strength side lining up at Prenton Park looks remote. A full preview will be posted tomorrow, but I think it's an ideal opportunity to give some of the fringe players - the likes of Provett, Sharp, Simms, Bass, Henderson and maybe even Stephenson (remember him?) - a chance to shine.