<p>Manchester City and Chelsea head into Saturday's Champions League final as English football superpowers, but 35 years ago both clubs had endured such hard times that reaching the much-maligned Full Members' Cup final was cause for celebration.</p>.<p>While City's showdown with Chelsea in Porto is a high-stakes clash, their first-ever meeting in a final came in a competition that was shunned by the elite and no longer exists.</p>.<p>At the start of the 1985/86 season, the beautiful game was an ugly mess in England as rampaging hooligans clashed in decaying stadiums and attendances fell.</p>.<p>Just months earlier, 39 people died during riots sparked by Liverpool fans before the European Cup final against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.</p>.<p>The Full Members' Cup was born out of the ashes of that tragedy, an ill-conceived creation aimed at filling the fixture void left by the post-Heysel ban on English clubs from European competitions.</p>.<p>Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton all opted out of the competition, leaving City and Chelsea among only five top-flight clubs taking part.</p>.<p>Fans initially treated it with derision and just over 4,000 witnessed City's 6-1 win against Leeds in the group stage, a record-low home attendance at that point in the club's history.</p>.<p>Yet by the time City beat Hull and Chelsea dispatched Oxford to reach the 1986 final, the tournament had become a beacon of hope after decades of distress in east Manchester and west London.</p>.<p>For Chelsea, it was their first final since winning the European Cup Winners' Cup 15 years earlier.</p>.<p>They were in only their second season back in the top-flight after coming within a whisker of crashing down to the third tier in 1983.</p>.<p>Chelsea were among the clubs most affected by the hooligan disease and Blues chairman Ken Bates briefly resorted to erecting an electric fence at Stamford Bridge in a bid to contain the violence.</p>.<p>City were in equally straitened circumstances as they prepared for their first Wembley appearance since the 1981 FA Cup final.</p>.<p>In their first season back in the top-flight after two years in second-tier purgatory, cash-strapped City were light years away from the current dynasty bankrolled by their Abu Dhabi-based owners.</p>.<p>In a sign of the chaotic thinking that bedevilled English football at the time, the final was played just 24 hours after both clubs were in First Division action.</p>.<p>City were weary after a draw with bitter rivals Manchester United, while Chelsea beat Southampton, with 10 players from each side featuring in both the league game and the final.</p>.<p>The fans did not care as around 67,000 watched one of the most entertaining, if long-forgotten, finals ever staged at the old Wembley.</p>.<p>"It was important. We all had aches and pains after the derby but we jumped straight on the bus to Wembley," said City's Mark Lillis.</p>.<p>Chelsea raced into a 5-1 lead fuelled by David Speedie's hat-trick -- the first Wembley treble since Geoff Hurst's for England in the 1966 World Cup final.</p>.<p>Thanks partly to two goals from Lillis, City closed the gap to 5-4 but Chelsea held on to win their first trophy for 15 years.</p>.<p>"In the early rounds it wasn't taken seriously but Chelsea hadn't been to Wembley for a long time," said former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin, who played in the match.</p>.<p>"It was a really memorable game. Any Chelsea fan that was there will never forget it. Boy did they make some noise."</p>.<p>The Full Members' Cup went extinct after 1992 and it would be a surprise if City manager Pep Guardiola or Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel had even heard of it.</p>.<p>But for one sun-splashed spring afternoon at Wembley, the competition provided a welcome glimpse into the future for two downtrodden clubs who can now bask in their status as European heavyweights.</p>
<p>Manchester City and Chelsea head into Saturday's Champions League final as English football superpowers, but 35 years ago both clubs had endured such hard times that reaching the much-maligned Full Members' Cup final was cause for celebration.</p>.<p>While City's showdown with Chelsea in Porto is a high-stakes clash, their first-ever meeting in a final came in a competition that was shunned by the elite and no longer exists.</p>.<p>At the start of the 1985/86 season, the beautiful game was an ugly mess in England as rampaging hooligans clashed in decaying stadiums and attendances fell.</p>.<p>Just months earlier, 39 people died during riots sparked by Liverpool fans before the European Cup final against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.</p>.<p>The Full Members' Cup was born out of the ashes of that tragedy, an ill-conceived creation aimed at filling the fixture void left by the post-Heysel ban on English clubs from European competitions.</p>.<p>Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton all opted out of the competition, leaving City and Chelsea among only five top-flight clubs taking part.</p>.<p>Fans initially treated it with derision and just over 4,000 witnessed City's 6-1 win against Leeds in the group stage, a record-low home attendance at that point in the club's history.</p>.<p>Yet by the time City beat Hull and Chelsea dispatched Oxford to reach the 1986 final, the tournament had become a beacon of hope after decades of distress in east Manchester and west London.</p>.<p>For Chelsea, it was their first final since winning the European Cup Winners' Cup 15 years earlier.</p>.<p>They were in only their second season back in the top-flight after coming within a whisker of crashing down to the third tier in 1983.</p>.<p>Chelsea were among the clubs most affected by the hooligan disease and Blues chairman Ken Bates briefly resorted to erecting an electric fence at Stamford Bridge in a bid to contain the violence.</p>.<p>City were in equally straitened circumstances as they prepared for their first Wembley appearance since the 1981 FA Cup final.</p>.<p>In their first season back in the top-flight after two years in second-tier purgatory, cash-strapped City were light years away from the current dynasty bankrolled by their Abu Dhabi-based owners.</p>.<p>In a sign of the chaotic thinking that bedevilled English football at the time, the final was played just 24 hours after both clubs were in First Division action.</p>.<p>City were weary after a draw with bitter rivals Manchester United, while Chelsea beat Southampton, with 10 players from each side featuring in both the league game and the final.</p>.<p>The fans did not care as around 67,000 watched one of the most entertaining, if long-forgotten, finals ever staged at the old Wembley.</p>.<p>"It was important. We all had aches and pains after the derby but we jumped straight on the bus to Wembley," said City's Mark Lillis.</p>.<p>Chelsea raced into a 5-1 lead fuelled by David Speedie's hat-trick -- the first Wembley treble since Geoff Hurst's for England in the 1966 World Cup final.</p>.<p>Thanks partly to two goals from Lillis, City closed the gap to 5-4 but Chelsea held on to win their first trophy for 15 years.</p>.<p>"In the early rounds it wasn't taken seriously but Chelsea hadn't been to Wembley for a long time," said former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin, who played in the match.</p>.<p>"It was a really memorable game. Any Chelsea fan that was there will never forget it. Boy did they make some noise."</p>.<p>The Full Members' Cup went extinct after 1992 and it would be a surprise if City manager Pep Guardiola or Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel had even heard of it.</p>.<p>But for one sun-splashed spring afternoon at Wembley, the competition provided a welcome glimpse into the future for two downtrodden clubs who can now bask in their status as European heavyweights.</p>