1990 Football League Third Division play-off final
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Date | 27 May 1990 | ||||||
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Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Referee | Roger Milford | ||||||
Attendance | 29,252 | ||||||
The 1990 Football League Third Division play-off Final was an
The match was refereed by Roger Milford. Notts County dominated the early stages of the match with Bartlett having two shots saved within the first 15 minutes and took the lead in the 31st minute through cross from Kevin Bartlett found Tommy Johnson whose low strike beat Eric Nixon in the Tranmere goal. In the 63rd minute, a free kick played in by Phil Robinson reached Craig Short at the far post who headed it in to make the score 2–0. The final whistle brought the game to a close with Notts County 2–0 winners and gaining promotion to the Second Division.
Notts County's next season saw them finish in fourth position in the Second Division and qualify for the
Route to the final
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
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1 | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 26 | 15 | 5 | 71 | 35 | +36 | 93 |
2 | Bristol City | 46 | 27 | 10 | 9 | 76 | 40 | +36 | 91 |
3 | Notts County | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 73 | 53 | +20 | 87 |
4 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 86 | 49 | +37 | 80 |
5 | Bury | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 70 | 49 | +21 | 74 |
6 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 59 | 48 | +11 | 69 |
Tranmere's opposition for their play-off semi-final were Bury with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at Gigg Lane in Bury on 13 May 1990.
The visitors dominated the game which Ian Ross of
Notts County faced Bolton Wanderers in their semi-final and the first leg was played at Burnden Park in Bolton on 13 May 1990. The home side took the lead in the fourteenth minute from the penalty spot: Nick Platnauer fouled Stuart Storer and Tony Philliskirk scored the spot kick. With two minutes of the first half remaining, Gary Lund scored with a header from a Dean Thomas corner to level the score. After a goalless second half, the match ended 1–1.[4] The second leg took place at Meadow Lane in Nottingham three days later. In the 82nd second of the match, Bolton took the lead: a corner from Thomas found Lund at the far post who passed to Tommy Johnson who scored his 19th goal of the season. Notts County had several other opportunities to score but as Bolton began to increase the pressure, Kevin Bartlett was sent clear with a pass from Thomas and made it 2–0. Notts County won the tie 3–1 on aggregate and progressed to the final.[5]
Match
Background
This was Notts County's second appearance in the
In the matches between play-off finalists during the regular season, both sides won their home games with Notts County winning 1–0 at Meadow Lane in October 1989 and Tranmere securing a 2–0 victory at Prenton Park the following March.[10] The final was refereed by Roger Milford.[11]
Summary
The match kicked off around 3 p.m. at Wembley Stadium on 27 May 1990 in front of 29,252 spectators.[11] Notts County dominated the early stages of the match with Bartlett having two shots saved within the first 15 minutes. They took the lead in the 31st minute: a cross from Bartlett found Johnson whose low strike beat Nixon in the Tranmere goal. No changes were made by either side to their personnel at half-time. Bartlett then beat Nixon to the ball and attempted to lob it into the net but Steve Vickers cleared it. Steve Cherry, the Notts County goalkeeper, was forced to tip Jim Steel's header over the bar. In the 63rd minute, a free kick played in by Phil Robinson reached Craig Short at the far post who headed it in to make the score 2–0. With 13 minutes of the game remaining, Johnson ran through the Tranmere defence and was fouled by Steve Mungall and a free kick was awarded. Vickers was shown a yellow card for dissent, claiming it should have been a penalty. Johnson's set piece beat the wall but Nixon pushed the ball onto the goalpost. David Fairclough was then brought on to replace Mungall and his first significant contribution was to head the ball wide of the goal from 8 yards (7.3 m) following a McNab cross. Late in the match, Shaun Garnett was booked for a foul on Lund before the final whistle brought the game to a close with Notts County 2–0 winners and gaining promotion to the Second Division.[12][13]
Details
27 May 1990 | Notts County | 2–0 | Tranmere Rovers | Wembley Stadium, London |
Johnson 31' Short 62' |
Attendance: 29,252 |
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Post-match
The Tranmere manager Johnny King expressed his disappointment: "Our 65-match season has gone out of the window".[12] His counterpart, Neil Warnock reflected on the financial impact of promotion, suggesting that Notts County "can now make ends meet next season".[12]
Ten days after the Second Division play-off final, winners Swindon Town were found guilty on 35 counts of illegal player payments and were given a two-division relegation. Initially this meant that runners-up Sunderland were promoted to the First Division in Swindon's place, and Tranmere were promoted from the Third Division to the Second Division.[14][15] Following an appeal, Swindon's penalty was reduced to a one-division relegation and Tranmere's promotion was revoked, the condemnation of which was heard in an early day motion sponsored primarily by Frank Field, the Labour Party MP for Birkenhead.[15]
Notts County's next season saw them finish in fourth position in the Second Division and qualify for the play-offs. After beating Middlesbrough in the semi-final 2–1 on aggregate, they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 3–1 in the final to gain back-to-back promotions.[16] Tranmere Rovers ended their following season in fifth place in the Third Division to qualify for the play-offs, where they defeated Brentford 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final and Bolton 1–0 in the final to secure promotion to the Second Division.[17]
References
- ^ a b "League Division Three end of season table for 1989–90 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Ross, Ian (14 May 1990). "Tranmere's enterprise policy has no reward". The Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ Gammie, Walter (17 May 1990). "Notts County reach a Wembley final at last". The Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ "Lund puts County in the driving seat". The Times. 14 May 1990. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ "Notts County 2 Bolton 0". Newcastle Journal. 17 May 1990. p. 18. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Notts County". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Tranmere Rovers". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Hargreaves, Ian (21 May 1990). "Rovers return in triumph". Liverpool Echo. p. 46. Retrieved 8 April 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Notts County football club: record v Tranmere Rovers". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Notts County v Tranmere Rovers, 27 May 1990". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Blackmore, Keith (28 May 1990). "County home in on victory". The Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ Lengel, David (29 July 2016). "The Joy of Six: sports executives who paid for their crimes in prison". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 December 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Early Day Motions – Treatment of Tranmere Rovers". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ "League Division Two end of season table for 1990–91 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "League Division Three end of season table for 1990–91 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.