The 2009 Football League One play-off final was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

match which was played on 24 May 2009 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, London, between

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

to determine the third and final team to gain

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

from

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

to the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

. The top two teams of the

2008–09 Football League One The Football League 2008–09 (named Coca-Cola Football League for sponsorship reasons), was the seventeenth season under its current league division format. It began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion play-off finals. ...

season,

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while those placed from third to sixth in the table took part in play-off semi-finals. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2009–10 season in the Championship. The losing semi-finalists were

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. The game was played in front of 59,661 spectators and was refereed by Michael Oliver. In the 6th minute,

Matt Sparrow Matthew Ronald Sparrow (born 3 October 1981) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder Sparrow made 440 appearances in the Football League across his 17-year-long playing career, notably 369 o ...

put Scunthorpe ahead with a right-footed shot into the top-left corner of the Millwall goal from around . Gary Alexander levelled the match with a long-range strike in the 37th minute. Two minutes later, he doubled his tally with a header into the bottom-left corner of the Scunthorpe goal from . With 20 minutes remaining, Sparrow struck from around to restore parity at 2–2 and 15 minutes later,

Martyn Woolford Martyn Paul Woolford (born 13 October 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He has played in the Football League for Scunthorpe United, Bristol City, Millwall, Sheffield United, Fleetwood Town and Grims ...

put Scunthorpe ahead with a left-footed strike from . The final score was 3–2 to Scunthorpe who were promoted to the Championship. Scunthorpe's next season saw them finish in 20th position, two places above the relegation zone. Millwall ended their following season in third place in the table to qualify for the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

where they defeated

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Route to the final

finished the regular 2008–09 season in fifth place in

, the third tier of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

, one position ahead of

. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for

to the

and instead took part in the

to determine the third promoted team. Millwall finished seven points behind

(who were promoted in second place) and fourteen behind league winners

. Scunthorpe United ended the season six points behind Millwall. Scunthorpe United's opponents in their play-off semi-final were

and the first match of the

two-legged tie In sports (especially association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...

took place at

Glanford Park Glanford Park, currently known as The Attis Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the home of team Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at ...

in Scunthorpe on 8 May 2009. A volley from

put the home side into the lead early in the match after

Willy Guéret Willy Julie Guéret (born 3 August 1973) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Guéret was born in Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe. He joined Le Mans in 1996, playing alongside a young Didier Drogba, but moved t ...

failed to properly clear a shot from

Paul Hayes Paul Hayes or Hays may refer to: * Paul Hays, reader clerk * Paul R. Hays (1903–1980), American judge * Paul Hayes (footballer) (born 1983), English footballer * Paul Hayes (antiques expert) (born 1970), English antiques expert * Paul Hayes (h ...

Aaron Wilbraham Aaron Thomas Wilbraham (born 21 October 1979) is an English association football, football manager and former professional footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Playing career Early career Born in Knutsford, Chesh ...

scored the equaliser with a header in the 27th minute: no further goals were scored and the match ended 1–1. The second leg of the semi-final was held a week later at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes. Regular time ended goalless, sending the match into

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

where the closest chance fell to

David Mirfin David Matthew Mirfin (born 18 April 1985) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a centre back. Career Huddersfield Town Mirfin was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He graduated from the Huddersfield Town Academy in the ...

whose shot struck the Millwall goalpost. With the tie ending 1–1

on aggregate There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

, a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

was required to decide the winners. The first six penalties were scored before

Cliff Byrne Clifford Byrne (born 26 April 1982) is an Irish former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is currently assistant manager at side Doncaster Rovers F.C., Doncaster Rovers. Playing care ...

missed his for Scunthorpe.

Jason Puncheon Jason David Ian Puncheon (born 18 June 1986) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. He was most recently head coach of Cypriot club Akritas Chlorakas. Following his goal against Everton on his Blackpool debut, he ha ...

's spot kick was then saved but with the next two penalties being scored, the shootout went to

sudden death Sudden Death or Sudden death may refer to: Medical * Cardiac arrest, also known as sudden cardiac death, natural death from cardiac causes * Sudden cardiac death of athletes * Sudden infant death syndrome * Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy *Su ...

and Jude Stirling both missed before the next four were scored. Ian Morris converted his side's ninth penalty and then

Tore André Flo Tore André Flo (born 15 June 1973) is a Norwegian professional football coach and a former striker who previously was the manager of 1. divisjon club Sogndal. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country ...

missed to give Scunthorpe a 7–6 penalty win. In the second play-off final, Millwall faced

with the first leg being played at

the New Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in Bermondsey, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter-of-a-mile from the Old Den, whic ...

on 9 May 2009. After a goalless first half, Neil Harris scored in the 70th minute from a Gary Alexander

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

to give Millwall a one-goal lead to take into the second leg. The second leg, at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

in Leeds, took place five days later. Millwall goalkeeper David Forde made a double-save from

Jermaine Beckford Jermaine Paul Alexander Beckford (born 9 December 1983) is a football pundit and former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He began his career as a trainee at Chelsea F.C., Chel ...

and

Fabian Delph Fabian Delph (born 21 November 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder or left-back. He was on the books of Bradford City as a youngster until he moved to Leeds United aged 11. Having played 45 matc ...

before denying Beckford's second-half

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

after

Sam Sodje Okeremute Samuel Sodje (born 25 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Born in England to Nigerian parents, Sodje represented Nigeria at international level. Club career Early years Sodje was born in Greenwi ...

was pulled back in the

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

Andy Frampton Andrew James Kerr Frampton (born 3 September 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Frampton joined the youth academy of Crystal Palace at the age of 11, progressing through the ranks before making ...

. In the 53rd minute, Leeds took the lead when

Luciano Becchio Luciano Héctor Becchio (born 28 December 1983) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Segunda División B – Group 3 side CD Atlético Baleares.Ben Parker cross to level the aggregate score.

Lewis Grabban Lewis James Grabban (born 12 January 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Since retiring from football Lewis has returned to Nottingham Forest as an academy coach. He was called up to the Jamaica squad in ...

then passed to Djimi Abdou who scored from close range to make it 1–1 on the day. With no further goals, Millwall won the tie 2–1 on aggregate and progressed to the final.

Match

Background

Scunthorpe had played in League One for a single season having been relegated from the Championship in the 2007–08 season. They had featured in the play-offs six times, including four times in five years between 1988 and 1992, but had reached the final just twice. In 1992, they lost in a penalty shootout to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in the final of the fourth tier play-offs at the

old Wembley Stadium Wembley Greyhounds, Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a Association football, football stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its We ...

before gaining promotion to the third tier with victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

in the 1999 Football League Third Division play-off final. Earlier in the season, Scunthorpe had already played at the renovated

in the Football League Trophy Final, where they lost 3–2 to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

after extra time. Millwall had played in League One since being relegated in the 2005–06 season. They had qualified for play-offs four times since the inception of the post-season competition but had failed to progress beyond the semi-finals on any occasion. In the two games between the sides during the regular season, Scunthorpe had won both, with a 3–2 victory at home in October 2008 and a 2–1 win at the New Den the following January. Scunthorpe's top scorer for the regular season was

Gary Hooper Gary Hooper (born 26 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Maldon & Tiptree. Hooper started his career at non-League club Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, a ...

with 28 goals (24 in the league and 4 in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

) followed by Hayes with 16 (all in the league). Alexander led the scoring charts for Millwall with 13 goals (11 in the league, 2 in the FA Cup) followed by Harris on 10 (8 in the league, 2 in the FA Cup). The referee for the match was the 23-year-old Michael Oliver. The day before the League One play-off final, his father, Clive Oliver, refereed the League Two play-off final. It was anticipated by Mikey Stafford in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' that around 45,000 Millwall supporters would attend the match, outnumbering their opposition fans by four-to-one. The match was broadcast live in the UK on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

. Millwall were considered narrow favourites to win promotion according to

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...

s. Scunthorpe's Hooper was expected to be fit following a groin injury but Ben May was unavailable with a damaged thigh.

Summary

The match kicked off around 1p.m. on 24 May 2009 in front of 59,661 spectators. In the 6th minute, Sparrow put Scunthorpe ahead with a right-footed shot into the top-left corner of the Millwall goal from around . Four minutes later, Scunthorpe's

Sam Togwell Samuel James Togwell (born 14 October 1984) is an English Association football, football manager and former player who manages club Beaconsfield Town F.C., Beaconsfield Town. Togwell was a midfielder. He began his career with Crystal Palace F. ...

became the first player to be shown a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

for unsporting behaviour. On 16 minutes, Sparrow was also booked, also for unsporting behaviour. Alexander levelled the match with a long-range strike in the 37th minute. Two minutes later, Alexander doubled his tally with a header into the bottom-left corner of the Scunthorpe goal from . The referee blew the whistle to signify half-time with the score at 2–1. Millwall made the first

substitution Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion * Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

of the match at the interval when Abdou was replaced by Marc Laird. Nine minutes later, Scunthorpe's Togwell was substituted for Liam Trotter. In the 63rd minute, Chris Hackett came on for Grabban. With 20 minutes remaining, Sparrow struck from around to restore parity at 2–2. Ten minutes later, Scunthorpe's Forte came on for Hooper before Millwall's Tony Craig was shown a yellow card for unsporting behaviour. In the 85th minute, Woolford put Scunthorpe ahead with a left-footed strike from . In the last minute Millwall made their final substitution with Paul Robinson coming on for Frampton. The referee blew for full time with the final score 3–2 to Scunthorpe who were promoted to the Championship.

Details

Post-match

Nigel Adkins Nigel Howard Adkins (born 11 March 1965) is an English professional football manager and former footballer and physiotherapist. He was most recently the manager and technical director at Tranmere Rovers. Adkins played as a goalkeeper for Tran ...

, the winning manager and former club physiotherapist, noted: "In the end fortunes favoured us and we've got the result we needed. At the end of the day it was one game of football for the whole season... This season I've thought this is the transition from being physio and I've put a suit on and I've felt very comfortable with it." He reflected on his club's immediate return to the second tier: "It's a fantastic achievement to bounce straight back to the Championship... In a challenging economic climate we have tried to provide an entertaining product and we deserve to go up." Millwall's manager

Kenny Jackett Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is an English football manager and former player who played for Watford. He was most recently director of football at club Gillingham. A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midf ...

was gracious in defeat: "It was a 50–50 game... Scunthorpe put their chances away, so congratulations to them." Scunthorpe's next season saw them finish in 20th place, two positions above the relegation zone. Millwall ended their following season in third place in the table to qualify for the

where they defeated

in the

References

External links

* {{Scunthorpe United F.C.

Play-off Final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

2 EFL League One play-off finals Play-off Final 2009 Play-off Final 2009 Football League One play-off final Football League One play-off final