Tranmere rovers face Sunderland on Sunday in the 2020/21 Papa John’s Trophy final at Wembley.

After beating Oxford in the semifinals 2-0 on the 3rd of February, the Rovers have booked their place at Wembley again for the 4th time in the past 4 years.

Keith hills side face a rampant Sunderland that beat a Lincoln side on penalty’s in the other semifinal.

For Sunderland, they will hope for the victory being 25 places above Tranmere in the football league and having won their past 6 games fighting for a playoff spot. Tranmere on the other hand are coming off against a defeat against Crawley but still were on good form before that.

However for Keith Hill’s men there is a huge blow up front after losing star striker and 18 time goal scorer James Vaughn to injury. The injury came out out as being worse than it originally seemed, leaving the rovers without their danger man who is on fire this season.

This final will be different to many others however with no fans being allowed in the stadium and both clubs taking the approach like Widnes did in the FA cup of selling online tickets to supporters to still raise funds for charity.

For both set of fans this is a real blow with Tranmere season ticket holders telling merseysportlive on how they will be celebrating the final from home and their disappointments of not being able to go the game.

Graham a lifetime season ticket holder says: ‘It would have been more disappointing if we hadn’t been there over the past few years. The fans have renamed Wembley ‘Prenton park south’ due to our visits there in the past few years. It would have been less stressful this time and probably could have just enjoyed the game, but we will still be celebrating even if it a bit more muted than it would have been.’

George Mclean, a Rovers fan states: ‘I am disappointed to not be going to Wembley as I’ve been every other time in my life and its truly an experience which is unforgettable, no feeling beats a cup final’

Matty James from the Wirral talks about his disappointment: ‘missing out on Wembley is gutting, the last time we were in a cup final was 30 years ago, so it doesn’t happen often. Playing a big team like Sunderland would have meant there would have been 30-40k fans there so a great day out, regardless of the result.

‘We will all enjoy watching us at Wembley and if we win who knows? Maybe a socially distanced gathering outside the ground?’

Andrew Fewtrell tells Merseysportlive ‘My feelings about missing the final is that its gutting I’ve been to every other rovers’ trip to Wembley so is strange and is a shame an alternative date couldn’t be sorted so fans could attend.’

‘Rovers’ fans will be celebrating if we win but its unique situation so will be a quite situation as there’s not else much we can do.’

The die-hard Super white army also gave their predictions and hopes for the game.

George Mclean a Tranmere season ticket holder predicts ‘our chances of winning are better than ever however we have lost our leading goal scorer and this is a big blow and does dent our confidence, nevertheless we’re still in the gem of a final and our players will be 100% up for it so I say we have a better chance than ever as we play with high confidence and a no fear attitude.’

Rovers super fan Matty James seems more optimistic however saying ‘chances are limp but football isn’t always simple, and we have beaten 5 league one teams this season in the cup so who knows’

Andrew Fewtrell predicts ‘it’s a cup final so anything is possible on the day we just need to stick with the game plan and utilize our strengths.’

 

 

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