‘I can remember Dennis Wise following me up – when I lifted the trophy, I heard him behind cheering and shouting, “You bastards!” I thought, “You can’t say that in front of Princess Diana!”’ Dave Beasant on Wimbledon’s 1988 FA Cup upset win over Liverpool

Wimbledon's Eric Young, Lawrie Sanchez, Dave Beasant and Terry Phelan celebrate with the FA Cup after beating Liverpool in the 1988 final.

Wimbledon’s 1988 FA Cup final victory against Liverpool remains one of the competition’s greatest-ever upsets.

Soundtracked by John Motson’s iconic line of “the Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club”, the Wembley victory - ranked at no.20 in FourFourTwo’s list of the biggest FA Cup shocks of all-time - was the south London side’s zenith, with their former England goalkeeper Dave Beasant at the thick of it

Dons skipper Beasant became the first keeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup final that day, when he denied John Aldridge from the spot, meaning the stopper got the chance to lead his side up the famous Wembley steps and lift the trophy.

Beasant recalls Wimbledon’s 1988 FA Cup final trophy lift

Beasant celebrates alongside goalscorer Lawrie Sanches (Image credit: Alamy)

“Brilliant,” the former Edgware Town man told FourFourTwo. “I can remember the day so well, we went up to get the trophy and Princess Diana was the royal there on the day.

“I can remember Wisey [Dennis Wise] following me up – when I lifted the trophy, I heard him behind cheering and shouting, “You bastards!” I thought, “You can’t say that in front of Princess Diana!” But that was just us.”

The 1-0 win was one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history (Image credit: Getty Images)

Beasant also believes the penalty save was huge for his career, which saw him go on to play for England and make more than 900 senior appearances for club and country.

“We were 1-0 up and if I hadn’t had a shot to save, I’d have been more than happy,” he continues. “I’d done my homework, I’d seen John Aldridge take a couple of penalties, that he did the stutter, and when he stopped the keeper tended to move one way.

“I felt that if I went through that stutter, he’d go to my left. He did, and I saved it. I’ve spoken to John since, we’re good friends now and it affected him, the fact he missed a penalty at Wembley. My career went on from it.

The penalty quickly went down in club folklore and was even later recreated by Baddiel and Skinner on Fantasy Football League, with Beasant dressing as an astronaut.

The Crazy Gang celebrate back in south London (Image credit: Getty)

“Yes!,” Beasant recalls. “David Baddiel and Frank Skinner were sat on the sofa, the doorbell rang, they said, “I wonder who that could be at the door?” And it was me, coming in as an astronaut!

“They were like, “Oh, didn’t you save a penalty in the FA Cup final? Can we do a remake of it?” They had a ball, and I had to dive across this sofa and save it in a full astronaut outfit. That was an experience.”