Liverpool won their fifth FA Cup on May 9 1992 at Wembley. Their opponents that day were Sunderland, the first second division team to appear in an FA Cup final since West Ham did so in 1980, something that didn’t happen again until Millwall made it to the showpiece event in 2004. Cardiff City became just the third side in 28 years to reach the final from outside English football’s top flight in 2008.
The game itself saw the Black Cats have the better of the opening period but Graeme Souness’s men avoided an upset when Michael Thomas put them in front with a half volley in the 47th minute, after good work down the right flank from Steve McManaman. And 20 minutes later the result was sealed when Ian Rush completed the scoring.
So the trophy went back to Merseyside, but not before the Sunderland players were accidentally given the winners’ medals in the presentation. The mistake was soon rectified on the pitch after the players realised what had occurred.
But whatever happened to that Liverpool side?
Bruce Grobbelaar
Age: 52
The eccentric shot-stopper made over 600 appearances during his 14-year stay with The Reds and also had 32 run-outs for Zimbabwe - his national side - in a glittering career. In 1994 he was famously accused of match fixing along with Hans Segers and John Fashanu and after many court cases, legal battles and appeals he was declared bankrupt.
In recent years he has coached many sides in South Africa and Zimbabwe and has also played in Sky One’s ‘The Match’ in 2004 and ‘The Match 3’ in 2006. 2009 saw Grobbelaar appear in a Paddy Power television commercial in which he returns a losing stake to a punter.
Rob Jones
Age: 38
After an injury-stricken career in which the Wrexham-born defender collected eight England caps he was forced to retire at the age of just 27 due to knee problems.
Jones now runs a children’s nursery in Warrington.
David Burrows
Age: 41
Liverpool bought the Dudley-born Burrows from West Bromwich Albion for £550,000 in 1988. He retired in 2003 after two years with Sheffield Wednesday and emigrated to South-West France with his wife and three children.
Steve Nicol
Age: 48
The Scottish international emigrated to America in 1999 and, after a spell with the Boston Bulldogs, is now head coach of the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.
Jan Molby
Age: 46
The Danish midfielder retired in 1998 and went on to mange Swansea, Kidderminster (two spells) and Hull City. Since then he has worked as a commentator in Denmark and also acted as a summariser for BBC Radio 5 live.
Mark Wright
Age: 46
The 45-capped England star retired in 1998 and went on to a management career in the lower leagues, spending time with Southport, Oxford and Peterborough along with having three stints at Chester City.
Dean Saunders
Age: 45
The Swansea-born striker made 75 appearances for Wales during his playing career and is now the assistant manager of his national side, working alongside John Toshack. He also occasionally works as a pundit for the BBC.
Ray Houghton
Age: 48
A career which saw the Republic of Ireland man play 73 times for his country ended with a short spell in the non-league with Stevenage Borough. He has since worked as a pundit for Talksport and Sky Sports and in 2005 was awarded with an honorary degree by the University of Huddersfield, for services to sport.
Ian Rush
Age: 48
Another Liverpool legend - he scored a record 346 goals for the Anfield club. He also made an impressive 73 outings for Wales. In 2004/05 Rush took the managerial reins at his former club Chester, but this lasted just one season. He has done plenty of media work with Sky Sports and ESPN and brought out his autobiography in 2008. A year earlier he was appointed as Elite Performance Director for the Welsh Football Trust, which helps develop the next generation of Welsh footballers.
Steve McManaman
Age: 38
Macca’s dream of playing abroad brought an end to his Anfield career in 1999, when he signed for the Spanish giants, Real Madrid. He had appeared 364 times and scored 66 goals for The Reds. With Real he became the first Englishman to win the Champions League with a non-English club and had a number of successful years at the Bernabeu, before returning to England with Manchester City.
He worked as a pundit for Setanta Sports before they went out of business in 2009.
Michael Thomas
Age: 42
The midfielder scored the winning goal for Arsenal against Liverpool to clinch the league title for the Gunners in 1989, but within two years he was at Anfield and his goal at Wembley helped Liverpool triumph in England’s most prestigious Cup competition for the fifth occasion.
Since retiring in 2001 after spells with Benfica and Wimbledon Thomas has set up his own security service and still represents the Liverpool legends’ side as he resides in the city.
Subs:
Mike Marsh
Age: 40
The versatile Marsh was forced to retire from league football at the age of 28 after suffering a bad knee injury while playing for Southend United. He managed to play the game semi-professionally and had stints with five different non-league clubs in total. He then went on to hold various coaching roles at clubs such as Southport and Northwich Victoria.
He is currently the head academy coach at Accrington and Rossendale College in East Lancashire. He combines this job with a coaching role at Liverpool for the academy’s under 16s side.
Mark Walters
Age: 45
Since ending his playing days, where he entertained with his exciting wing play, Walters has held various coaching jobs but is now head of languages at Aston Villa’s academy after gaining his teaching qualifications. He is also heavily involved with groups looking to eradicate racism from football.