With the exception of Andy Gray (who had been a Football League Cup winner earlier in his career with Aston Villa and then Wolverhampton Wanderers), this was the first major honour that any of the Everton players in this match had collected. It also ended Everton's 14-year wait for a major trophy and was the first of four trophies they would win over a highly successful spell of four seasons which was arguably the most successful spell of the club's history.