We’ve decided to take a look and listed every Championship playoff final ever since it’s introduction in the 1987/88 season.
It is often been the highlight of the season for supporters as well as one of the most high-pressured single games in English football with a place in the Premier League at stake.
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The first playoffs at this level were contested in 1987, when it was the Football League Second Division. From 1993 to 2004, following the creation of the FA Premier League as a breakaway from the Football League, it became the Division One play-offs, and since 2005 has taken its current name as the Championship play-offs following a rebranding of the remaining three divisions of the Football League.
For the first three seasons the final was played over two legs but this was changed to a single match at Wembley from 1990. tHE 1986–87 and 1987-88 playoffs semi finals included a team from the next league who had finished above the relegation positions up, for example, one team from the first tier and three teams from the second tier. The team from the higher division would be relegated if they failed to win the play-offs, with the play-off winner being promoted in their place.
There is no single sporting event in the world more valuable to the winners, who end up approximately £170m better off than the losers, mainly due to the increased commercial television revenue from being promoted to the Premier League. However, by convention the two finalists agree that the loser will keep all the gate receipts from the game, so as to slightly soften the financial blow of missing out.
Sometimes the final produces classics, sometimes absolute duds, but they’re all worth watching. And you can watch all of them here…
1987 – CHARLTON 2-1 LEEDS
It wasn’t until the 99th minute that John Sheridan opened the scoring for Leeds, however Peter Shirtliff prevented them from winning the playoff final replay by scoring a double in the 113th and 117th minute.
18,000 turned to the final which was held at Birmingham’s St Andrew’s for a 7:30pm kick off on the 29th of May 1987.
Charlton remained in the First Division and Leeds in the Second.
1988 – CHELSEA 1-0 MBORO (1-2 agg)
Yes you read that right, Chelsea, who finished 18th in the First Division all them years ago, ended up being relegated after goals from Bernard Slaven and Trevor Senior in the first leg was enough to promote Boro and send the Blues down.
40,550 attended the fixture at Stamford Bridge, the majority leaving the ground rather unhappy.
1989 – C PALACE 3-0 BLACKBURN (4-3 agg)
It wasn’t look good for the Eagles following the first leg which finished 3-1 in favour of Rovers, however Palace hit back hard, smashed three past them in the second leg to win promotion to send most of the 30,000 in attendance at Selhurst Park happy.
1990 – SUNDERLAND 0-1 SWINDON
Well, this is a unique one. Despite winning the playoffs by a Gary Bennett own goal, Swindon ended up getting demoted after being found guilty of financial irregularities which resulted in Sunderland gaining promotion instead.
The 1989–90 season had seen the club charged with 36 breaches of Football League regulations – 35 of which related to illegal payments made to players between 1985 and 1989.
A hearing to decide the club’s fate was scheduled for prior the to playoffs – but this was postponed on legal advice just days before it was due when Swindon chairman Brian Hillier, club accountant Vince Farrar and former team manager Lou Macari were all charged by police for “intent to defraud Inland Revenue by making payments without deducting tax or NI”. (In July 1992 both Hillier and Farrar were found guilty of these charges, while Macari was cleared).
Hillier and Macari were already punished by the FA in February 1990 for being involved in a £6,500 bet being placed on Swindon losing to Newcastle United in a tie during the 1987–88 FA Cup. The bet was successful and netted £4,000 winnings. Both were found guilty of breaking the rules. Hillier was given a six-month suspension from football, but after he (unsuccessfully) appealed, the FA increased it to three years. Macari was fined £1,000 (upheld after his own appeal), and Swindon Town given a £7,500 fine.
At a Football League hearing on 7 June, Swindon pleaded guilty to all 36 charges against them and admitted a further 20. The league decreed that the club would be denied promotion and instead demoted to the Third Division. Sunderland being named as the team that would go up instead was controversial as Newcastle felt that as they had finished third, three places above Sunderland, they should have been promoted instead. The FA’s decision stood. Eek!
Swindon appealed at High Court appeal against the Football League’s double demotion, saying it was “harsh, oppressive and disproportionate to previous penalties”. However, within days they dropped this action and instead appealed directly to the FA, who reduced the punishment to the club simply remaining in the Second Division; Tranmere Rovers – the losing play-off finalists in the Third Division – who were to have replaced Swindon in the second level were therefore denied promotion. See, football was much more controversial back then compared to today.
1991 – BRIGHTON 1-3 NOTTS COUNTY
Right then, back to usual now and 59,940 turned up to see the Magpies at ease when they found themselves 3-0 up by the 71st minute through two from Thomas Johnson and the third by David Regis. Dean Wilkins could only get a consolation.
1992 – BLACKBURN 1-0 LEICESTER
It was a penalty from Michael Newell in the 45th minute – on the stroke of half time – that ended up being the only goal of the game.
Newell converted the decisive penalty in front of 68,147 fans after David Speedie was adjudged to have been tugged by Steve Walsh.
Newell has the chance to extend his side’s lead from the spot, however he missed the penalty in the second half after Mark Atkins was brought down by Leicester keeper Carl Muggleton.
Rovers returned to the top flight of English football after a 26 year absence and became founder members of the newly-formed Premier League.
1993 – SWINDON 4-3 LEICESTER
Yep, Swindon were back again and this time their playoff final actually meant something.
Leicester, their opponents, were back for the second year in a row, however ended up somehow losing again despite this time being 3-0 down.
Swindon’s Glenn Hoddle, Craig Maskell and Shaun Taylor put three goals past the Foxes by the 53rd minute, only for Leicester’s Julian Joachim, Steve Walsh and Steve Thompson to produce an astonishing comeback.
Leicester’s efforts was undone however as Paul Bodin converted from the spot to finish the game at 4–3, sending the Robins to the Premier League, while Leicester were left to rue a second year of misery, having lost in the play-off final thanks to controversial penalty for the second year running. (Att: 73,802)
Eurosport placed the game at #94 on their list of the 100 Greatest football matches of all-time.
1994 – LEICESTER 2-1 DERBY
This was Leicester’s third consecutive playoff final, and once again they didn’t get off to a good start, when Tommy Johnson put the Rams one up on the 28th minute.
Despite Derby’s best efforts, the Foxes made sure they wasn’t to mess this one up, thanks to a double from Steve Walsh in both halves giving Leicester their first victory at Wembley in 7 attempts. (Att: 73,671)
1995 – BOLTON 4-3 READING
Reading went 1–0 up after four minutes through Lee Nogan before Adie Williams put the Royals 2–0 up within 12 minutes.
Stuart Lovell missed a penalty for Reading on the 34th minute, which would have put them 3–0 ahead.
Bolton got one back in the 75th minute thanks to Owen Coyle, then with four minutes to go, Fabian de Freitas levelled the match with four minutes left to play.
Extra time is where Bolton completed the comeback with a Mixu Paatelainen goal in the 105th minute, before De Freitas scored his second of the match with two minutes of extra time remaining. Reading player-manager Jimmy Quinn scored a minute later, but Bolton held out for the win. (Att: 64,107)
1996 – LEICESTER 2-1 CRYSTAL PALACE
Leicester once again found themselves in their fourth Football League First Division playoff final in five years, whilst it was just the second for Palace.
Palace took the early advantage, netting after just 14 minutes thanks to a drilled effort from Andy Roberts.
Marc Edworthy brought down Muzzy Izzet in the penalty area and Garry Parker converted the spot-kick with 15 minutes remaining.
The game went into extra-time, though the biggest talking point of extra time came with just seconds to go when Martin O’Neill sent on his substitute goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac, expecting the 6ft 7in keeper to be a better bet at saving penalties than Kevin Poole.
As soon as play resumed, a long free-kick was only partially cleared by the Crystal Palace defence and the ball came back out to unmarked Steve Claridge on the edge of the Palace box to then score the winner from 20 yards with seconds remaining.
Some Crystal Palace players later admitted they were put off by the substitution, though O’Neill admitted that was never the intention. (Att: 73,573)
1997 – CRYSTAL PALACE 1-0 SHEFFIELD UTD
At first, Palace were rather shaky, however ended up being the more superior team on the pitch.
It took until the 90th minute for Eagles captain David Hopkin to score the only goal of the game. (Att: 64,383)
1998 – CHARLTON 4-4 SUNDERLAND (4-3 pens)
After losing their Premier League place in the 1996-97 season, the Black Cats wanted an immediate return the following campaign.
Kevin Phillips was their main man in getting Sunderland close to automatic promotion, however they were beaten to it by Middlesbrough who finished just a point ahead.
Sunderland, who remain the only club to achieve 90 points or more in the second tier’s current format without going up, beating Sheffield United in the semis, and then were in if not the best playoff finals of all time, taking on Charlton at the old Wembley, it finish 4-4, but agonisingly for the Black Cats, they lost 7-6, Michael Gray missing the crucial spot-kick. (Att: 77,739)
They kept their stunning form the following season, and smashed it in achieving the title with a then-record 105 points.
1999 – BOLTON 0-2 WATFORD
Watford came away with the happier thanks to goals from Nick Wright and Allan Smart. Because of this, Watford would play in the Premier League for the first time since its inception in 1992. (Att: 70,343)
It also meant that Watford had secured promotion for the second successive season, having been promoted as champions of Division Two in 1997–98.
2000 – BARNSLEY 2-4 IPSWICH
The match was both team’s first appearance in a First Division playoff final.
It was the first time the Tykes had been in the playoffs, having been relegated to the First Division after the 1997–98 season, and finishing mid-table the following season.
Ipswich made the play-offs for the fourth consecutive season, but this was the first time they had advanced further than the semi-finals.
Watched by a crowd of more than 73,000, Ipswich Town came from behind to win 4–2 and secured promotion to the Premiership.
2001 – BOLTON 3-0 PRESTON
Gareth Farrelly opened the scoring for Bolton on the 17th minute, before holding onto the lead throughout the second half, then Michael Ricketts and Ricardo Gardner grabbed a goal each in the final two minutes of normal time, taking them back to the Premier League. (Att 54,328 at the Millennium Stadium)
Bolton would remain in the top flight for the next eleven seasons.
2002 – NORWICH 1-1- BIRMINGHAM (2-4 pens)
The game remained scoreless at the end of normal time, leading to extra time being played. Norwich scored early in extra time through an Iwan Roberts header from an Alex Notman cross and Birmingham equalised towards the end of the first period of extra time through a Geoff Horsfield goal. There were no more goals and the game finished at 1–1 requiring a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner. (Att: 71,597 at the Millennium Stadium)
WATCH: Re-live that moment when @coach_carts‘ penalty hit the back of the Norwich City net to secure promotion: http://t.co/CPqaNPkbsn
— Birmingham City FC (at ?) (@BCFC) May 12, 2015
2003 – SHEFFIELD UTD 0-3 WOLVES
Mark Kennedy opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a low drive into the corner of the net from 20 yards. Their lead was doubled sixteen minutes later when Nathan Blake headed in from close range at a corner. A three-goal lead was established moments shortly before the half time interval when Kenny Miller converted after a quick counterattack.
Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock was sent to the stands at half time after arguing with referee Steve Bennett. He saw his side offered a route back into the contest when they were awarded a penalty in the 48th minute after Wolves’ defender Paul Butler was adjudged to have handled. However, Michael Brown’s spotkick was pushed away by goalkeeper Matt Murray. (Att: 69,473 at the Millennium Stadium)
2004 – CRYSTAL PALACE 1-0 WEST HAM
Crystal Palace ended up winning this playoff final 1–0 with thanks to a goal from Neil Shipperley in the 61st minute.
Majority of 72,523 travelled across England into Wales for the much anticipated clash at the Millennium Stadium.
2005 – WEST HAM v PRESTON
This was another game that ended up having just one goal, and it was scored by Bobby Zamora, who you will know also scored the winner for QPR in more recent years.
70,275 turned up for what was the penultimate Championship playoff final at the Millennium Stadium.
2006 – LEEDS 0-3 WATFORD
Watford ended up winning the game 3–0, with opening goalscorer Jay DeMerit named man of the match. Leeds goalkeeper Neil Sullivan scored an own goal to make the score 2–0 to Watford after 60 minutes, and the final goal was a penalty kick scored by Darius Henderson which assured Watford promotion to the Premier League. (Att: 64,736)
2007 – DERBY 1-0 WEST BROM
The match was the first Championship play-off final to be held at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium. Both clubs were competing at the rebuilt Wembley for the first time, though Derby County had played at the original Wembley Stadium four times and West Bromwich Albion seven times.
The attendance of 74,993 was significantly higher than the 64,736 registered at the 2006 final, yet still far short of Wembley’s 90,000 capacity.
Stephen Pearson scored the only goal of the match to send the Rams back in the Premier League.
In the following season, Derby recorded the lowest points total since the Premier League began, getting relegated back to the Championship. West Brom won the league but also ended up getting relegated after one season in the top flight. (Att: 74,993)
2008 – BRISTOL CITY 0-1 HULL
Dean Windass volleyed Hull City into the Premier League for the first time in the club’s 104-year history.
The 39-year-old striker’s spectacular first-half shot from 18 yards was enough to beat Bristol City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. (Att: 86,703)
2009 – BURNLEY 1-0 SHEFFIELD UTD
Burnley won 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Wade Elliott in the first half. Substitute Jamie Ward was sent off in the second half following two deliberate handballs, while his teammate Lee Hendrie was also dismissed after the final whistle. Victory for Burnley meant they returned to top flight football for the first time in 33 years. (Att: 80,518)
2010 – BLACKPOOL 3-2 CARDIFF
In the match, Cardiff twice took the lead only for Blackpool to equalise within four minutes on both occasions. Blackpool went into the lead just before half time following a goal from striker Brett Ormerod.[4] With no score from either team in the second half, the final result was 3–2 to Blackpool in normal time. (Att: 82,244)
As a consequence of winning promotion, Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road stadium, which has a capacity of just over 16,000, became the smallest stadium to host Premier League football. It also meant Blackpool returned to the top flight of English League football for the first time since the 1970–71 season, when they spent one season in the old First Division, finishing bottom.
2011 – READING 2-4 SWANSEA
Swansea took the lead in the first half with a Scott Sinclair penalty, who scored again a minute later. Before half-time, Stephen Dobbie added a third for a scoreline of 3–0. During half-time, Reading’s Jay Tabb and their assistant manager were sent off for abusing the referee. An own goal early in the second half from Swansea’s Joe Allen and a goal from Reading’s Matt Mills made the score 3–2 but Sinclair completed his hat-trick, once again with a penalty, and Swansea won the match 4–2, making it their first top-tier play-off final win. (Att: 86,581)
2012 – BLACKPOOL 1-2 WEST HAM
West Ham United took the lead in the latter stages of the first half through Carlton Cole. Blackpool’s Tom Ince scored the equaliser three minutes in the second half before Ricardo Vaz Tê’s 87th minute strike secured victory and promotion for West Ham. It West Ham’s second win in three play-off finals. Their defender, James Tomkins, was named man of the match. (Att: 78,523)
2013 – CRYSTAL PALACE 1-0 WATFORD
The game ended goalless in regular time, and proceeded into extra time. Crystal Palace won 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Kevin Phillips in the last minute of the first half of extra time from the penalty spot. It was Palace’s fourth win in five play-off finals. Wilfried Zaha was named man of the match. (Att: 82,025)
2014 – DERBY 0-1 QPR
Queens Park Rangers won 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Bobby Zamora in the last minute of the game. It was QPR’s first appearance in a second tier play-off final, although they had lost in the League One playoffs to Cardiff City in the 2003 final. (Att: 87,348)
2015 – MIDDLESBROUGH 0-2 NORWICH
Norwich City won 2–0, with goals from Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond within the first fifteen minutes of the first half. It was Norwich’s first game at Wembley since winning the 1985 Football League Cup Final and marked their return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in the 2013–14 season. (Att: 85,656)
2016 – HULL 1-0 SHEFFIELD WED
Hull City won 1–0, the only goal of the game being scored by the man of the match Mohamed Diamé in the 72nd minute. It was Hull’s their first game at Wembley since losing the 2014 FA Cup Final and marked their return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in the 2014–15 season. (Att: 70,189)
2017 – HUDDERSIFELD 0-0 READING (4-3 pens)
The game was played in front of a crowd of 76,682, however ended goalless in regular time and the deadlock was not broken by the end of extra time. A penalty shootout was required to determine the winner for the third time in the history of the second tier play-off final. Although Michael Hefele was the first to miss, Reading’s Liam Moore’s shot was wayward and Jordan Obita’s attempt was saved by Danny Ward, and Huddersfield won the final 4–3 on penalties. Aaron Mooy was selected as the man of the match.
2018 – FULHAM 1-0 ASTON VILLA
The 2018 final, was watched by a crowd of more than 85,000 people. Fulham won 1–0, the only goal of the game being scored by the man of the match Tom Cairney in the 23rd minute. It was their first game at Wembley for 43 years since losing the 1975 FA Cup Final and marked their return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in the 2013–14 season.
2019 – ASTON VILLA 2-1 DERBY
The 2019 final was watched by a crowd of almost 86,000 people. Villa took the lead through Anwar El Ghazi late in the first half, and doubled their advantage with a goal from man of the match John McGinn. Despite a late consolation goal from Derby’s Jack Marriott, Villa won the match 2–1 to return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2015–16 season.
Now you’ve seen a video of every Championship playoff final ever since 1987, which was your favourite?
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