The Football League One Playoffs are a series of playoff matches, contested by the teams finishing from 3rd to 6th in the Coca Cola Football League One table to determine the third spot for promotion to the second tier of English football, the Championship.

The latest final was played in May 2009, with Scunthorpe United beating Millwall 3-2 at Wembley.

Contents 1 Format 2 Results 3 1987 4 1988 5 1989 6 1990 7 1991 8 1992 9 1993 10 1994 11 1995 12 1996 13 1997 14 1998 15 1999 16 2000 17 2001 18 2002 19 2003 20 2004 21 2005 22 2006 23 2007 24 2008 25 2009 26 References

[edit] Format

Name changes
1987 - 1992	Football League Third Division playoffs
1993 - 2004	Football League Second Division playoffs
2005 - 0000	Football League One playoffs

The current system of the League One playoffs uses two semi-finals played over two legs, with 6th playing 3rd and 5th playing 4th, with the return fixtures following. For the two-legged semi-finals, there is no away goals advantage such as those in the knock-out rounds of European competition. The Final is played at Wembley, although from 2001 to 2006, it was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while Wembley was being rebuilt.

Aside from the branding changes which affected English football in 1992 and 2004, the League One playoffs have also changed in format. The last alteration occurred in 1995, when the restructuring of the league meant 2nd to 5th contested the playoffs. When they started in 1987, the playoffs originally featured a second-tier team and three third-tier clubs. This format was continued for 1988, but discontinued afterwards.

The final was originally held over two legs, but both the 1987 and 1988 finals went to a third match at Selhurst Park and Fellows Park respectively. From 1990, the final has been a single-match affair, being held at Wembley, or the Millennium Stadium between 2001 and 2006.

[edit] Results

[edit] 1987

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
4th Wigan Athletic	2-3	Swindon Town 3rd	2-3	0-0
5th Gillingham	6-6	Sunderland 20th Div 2	3-2	3-4 aet

* Gillingham win on away goals

Final

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Gillingham	2-2	Swindon Town	1-0	1-2

Replay

May 29, 1987	Swindon Town	2-0	Gillingham	Selhurst Park Attendance: 18,491
	Steve White 2', 65'

[edit] 1988

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
4th Notts County	2-4	Walsall 3rd	1-3	1-1
5th Bristol City	2-1	Sheffield United 21st Div 2	1-0	1-1

Final

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bristol City	3-3	Walsall	1-3	2-0

Replay

30 May 1988	Walsall	4-0	Bristol City	Fellows Park Attendance: 13,007

[edit] 1989

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Preston North End	1-4	Port Vale 3rd	1-1	1-3
5th Bristol Rovers	5-0	Fulham 4th	1-0	4-0

Final

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bristol Rovers	1-2	Port Vale	1-1	0-1

[edit] 1990

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Bolton Wanderers	1-3	Notts County 3rd	1-1	0-2
5th Bury	0-2	Tranmere Rovers 4th	0-0	0-2

Final

27 May 1990	Notts County	2 - 0	Tranmere Rovers	Wembley Attendance: 29,252
	Tommy Johnson Craig Short

[edit] 1991

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Brentford	2-3	Tranmere Rovers 5th	2-2	0-1
7th Bury	1-2	Bolton Wanderers 4th	1-1	0-1

Final

1 June 1991	Tranmere Rovers	1 - 0 aet	Bolton Wanderers	Wembley Attendance: 30,217
	Chris Malkin

[edit] 1992

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Peterborough United	4-3	Huddersfield Town 3rd	2-2	2-1
5th Stockport County	2-1	Stoke City 4th	1-0	1-1

Final

25 May 1992	Peterborough United	2 - 1	Stockport County	Wembley Attendance: 35,087
	Ken Charlery 2 goals		Kevin Francis

[edit] 1993

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Stockport County	1-2	Port Vale 3rd	1-1	0-1
5th Swansea City	2-3	West Bromwich Albion 4th	2-1	0-2

Final

30 May 1993	West Bromwich Albion	3 - 0	Port Vale	Wembley Attendance: 53,471
	Andy Hunt Nicky Reid Kevin Donovan

[edit] 1994

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Burnley	3-1	Plymouth Argyle 3rd	0-0	3-1
5th York City	0-1	Stockport County 4th	0-0	0-1

Final

29 May 1994	Burnley	2 - 1	Stockport County	Wembley Attendance: 44,806
	David Eyres Gary Parkinson		Chris Beaumont

[edit] 1995

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
4th Bristol Rovers*	1-1	Crewe Alexandra 3rd	0-0	1-1
5th Huddersfield Town	2-2 (4-3 pens)	Brentford 2nd	1-1	1-1

* Bristol Rovers win on away goals

Final

28 May 1995	Huddersfield Town	2 - 1	Bristol Rovers	Wembley Attendance: 59,175
	Andy Booth Chris Billy		Marcus Stewart

[edit] 1996

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Bradford City	3-2	Blackpool 3rd	0-2	3-0
5th Crewe Alexandra	2-3	Notts County 4th	2-2	0-1

Final

26 May 1996	Bradford City	2 - 0	Notts County	Wembley Attendance: 39,972
	Des Hamilton Mark Stallard

[edit] 1997

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Crewe Alexandra	4-3	Luton Town 3rd	2-1	2-2
5th Bristol City	2-4	Brentford 4th	1-2	1-2

Final

25 May 1997	Crewe Alexandra	1 - 0	Brentford	Wembley Attendance: 34,149
	Shaun Smith 34'	Report

[edit] 1998

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Fulham	1-2	Grimsby Town 3rd	1-1	0-1
5th Bristol Rovers	3-4	Northampton Town 4th	3-1	0-3

Final

24 May 1998	Grimsby Town	1 - 0	Northampton Town	Wembley Attendance: 62,988 Referee: Terry Heilbron (Newton Aycliffe)
	Kevin Donovan 19'	Report

[edit] 1999

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Wigan Athletic	1-2	Manchester City 3rd	1-1	0-1
5th Preston North End	1-2	Gillingham 4th	1-1	0-1

Final

30 May 1999	Manchester City	2 - 2 aet 3 - 1 pens	Gillingham	Wembley Attendance: 76,935 Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
	Kevin Horlock 89' Paul Dickov 90+4'	Report	Carl Asaba 81' Rob Taylor 86'

[edit] 2000

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Stoke City	3-5	Gillingham 3rd	3-2	0-3
5th Millwall	0-1	Wigan Athletic 4th	0-0	0-1

Final

28 May 2000	Gillingham	3 - 2 aet	Wigan Athletic	Wembley Attendance: 53,764 Referee: Rob Styles, Hampshire
	Pat McGibbon og 35' Steve Butler 114' Andy Thomson 118'	Report	Simon Haworth 59' Stuart Barlow 99' pen

[edit] 2001

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Wigan Athletic	1-2	Reading 3rd	0-0	1-2
5th Stoke City	2-4	Walsall 4th	0-0	2-4

Final

27 May 2001	Walsall	3 - 2 aet	Reading	Millennium Stadium Attendance: 50,496 Referee: Eddie Wolstenholme (Blackburn)
	Don Goodman 48' Tony Rougier 107' og Darren Byfield 109'	Report	Jamie Cureton 31' Martin Butler 91'

[edit] 2002

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Huddersfield Town	1-2	Brentford 3rd	0-0	1-2
5th Stoke City	3-2	Cardiff City 4th	1-2	2-0

Final

11 May 2002	Stoke City	2 - 0	Brentford	Millennium Stadium Attendance: 42,523 Referee: Graham Laws (Tyne and Wear)
	Deon Burton 16' Ben Burgess 45' og	Report

[edit] 2003

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Cardiff City	1-0	Bristol City 3rd	1-0	0-0
5th Oldham Athletic	1-2	Queens Park Rangers 4th	1-1	0-1

Final

25 May 2003	Cardiff City	1 - 0 aet	Queens Park Rangers	Millennium Stadium Attendance: 66,096 Referee: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)
	Andy Campbell 114'	Report

[edit] 2004

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Hartlepool United	2-3	Bristol City 3rd	1-1	1-2
5th Swindon Town	2-2 aet (3-4 pens)	Brighton & Hove Albion 4th	0-1	2-1

Final

30 May 2004	Brighton & Hove Albion	1 - 0	Bristol City	Millennium Stadium Attendance: 65,167 Referee: Richard Beeby (Northamptonshire)
	Leon Knight 84' pen	Report

[edit] 2005

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Hartlepool United	2-2 aet (6-5 pens)	Tranmere Rovers 3rd	2-0	0-2
5th Sheffield Wednesday	3-1	Brentford 4th	1-0	2-1

Final

29 May 2005	Sheffield Wednesday	4 - 2 aet	Hartlepool United	Millennium Stadium Attendance: 59,808 Referee: Phil Crossley (Kent)
	Jon-Paul McGovern 45' Steven MacLean 82' pen Glenn Whelan 94' Drew Talbot 120'	Report	Eifion Williams 47' Jon Daly 71'

[edit] 2006

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Swansea City	3-1	Brentford 3rd	1-1	2-0
5th Barnsley	3-2	Huddersfield Town 4th	0-1	3-1

Final

27 May 2006	Barnsley	2 - 2 aet 4 - 3 pens	Swansea City	Millennium Stadium Attendance: 55,419 Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
	Paul Hayes 19' Daniel Nardiello 62'	Report	Rory Fallon 28' Andy Robinson 40'

[edit] 2007

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Oldham Athletic	2-5	Blackpool 3rd	1-2	1-3
5th Yeovil Town	5-4 aet	Nottingham Forest 4th	0-2	5-2

Final

27 May 2007	Yeovil Town	0 - 2	Blackpool	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 59,313 Referee: Andy D'Urso (Essex)
		Report More details	Robbie Williams 43' Keigan Parker 52'

[edit] 2008

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Southend United	1-5	Doncaster Rovers 3rd	0-0	1-5
5th Leeds United	3-2	Carlisle United 4th	1-2	2-0

Final

25 May 2008	Doncaster Rovers	1 - 0	Leeds United	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 75,132 Referee: Andy D'Urso (Essex)
	James Hayter 48'	Report

[edit] 2009

Semi-finals

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
6th Scunthorpe United	1-1 (a.e.t, 7-6 pens.)	Milton Keynes Dons 3rd	1-1	0-0
5th Millwall	2-1	Leeds United 4th	1-0	1-1

Final

24 May 2009	Millwall	2 - 3	Scunthorpe United	Wembley Stadium Attendance: 59,661 Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
	Gary Alexander 37' Gary Alexander 39'	Report	Matthew Sparrow 6' Matthew Sparrow 70' Martyn Woolford 85'

[edit] References

• Semi-finals results
• Finals results
• Results and match facts

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