1995 Football League First Division play-off final

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1995 Football League First Division play-off Final
Event1994–95 Football League First Division
Bolton Wanderers Reading
4 3
(
a.e.t.)
Date29 May 1995
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereePeter Foakes
Attendance64,107
← 1994
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The 1995 Football League First Division play-off Final was an

1994–95 Football League First Division gained automatic promotion to the Premiership, while the teams placed from second to fifth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Reading ended the season in second position while Bolton Wanderers finished third. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1995–96 season
in the Premiership.

The match was played in front of a Wembley crowd of more than 64,000 spectators and was refereed by

extra time. Mixu Paatelainen then put Bolton ahead for the first time in the match, scoring midway through the additional period, and De Freitas scored his second, and Bolton's fourth, with two minutes remaining. A last-minute consolation goal from the Reading player and co-manager Jimmy Quinn
meant the match ended 4–3 to Bolton who secured promotion to the Premiership.

Rioch left Bolton in June to become the new manager at Arsenal and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was sacked after six months with the club bottom of the Premiership. Bolton were subsequently relegated in their first season in the division, after finishing bottom of the table. Reading ended their following season in eighteenth place in the 1995–96 First Division, three places and four points above the relegation zone.

Route to the final

Main article: 1994–95 Football League
Football League First Division final table, leading positions[1]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Middlesbrough 46 23 13 10 67 40 +27 82
2 Reading 46 23 10 13 57 44 +13 79
3 Bolton Wanderers 46 21 14 11 67 45 +22 77
4 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 21 13 12 77 61 +16 76
5 Tranmere Rovers 46 22 10 14 67 58 +9 76

Following the end of the

play-offs to determine the second promoted team. Reading finished three points behind league winners Middlesbrough. Bolton ended the season two points behind Reading.[1][4]

Reading faced

aggregate victory.[6]

Bolton Wanderers' play-off semi-final opponents were

extra time. With eleven minutes remaining, McGinlay scored his and Bolton's second, ensuring their 3–2 aggregate victory and qualification for the final.[8]

Reading Round Bolton Wanderers
Opponent Result Legs Semi-finals Opponent Result Legs
Tranmere Rovers 3–1 3–1 away; 0–0 home Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–2 1–2 away; 2–0 (
a.e.t.
) home

Match

Background

Bolton had lost the 1991 Play-off Final to Tranmere

1995 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool.[11] Reading had spent a single season in the second tier of English football, having been promoted the previous season as champions.[12] In their 124-year history, they had never played in the top tier of English football.[13] Bolton had been in the First Division for two seasons, having been promoted in the 1992–93 season,[14] and last played in the top division in the 1979–80 season.[15] Top scorers for Reading were Lovell, with 12 goals in all competitions, followed by Nogan with 11.[16] McGinlay had scored the most goals for Bolton, with 20 in all competitions, with Mixu Paatelainen contributing 14.[17] During the regular season, Bolton won 1–0 at home in January 1995, while Reading won the return fixture 2–1 three months later.[18]

Bolton had made several signings after gaining promotion the previous season. Simon Coleman moved from Sheffield Wednesday for a reported fee of £350,000, Paatelainen was signed from Aberdeen for a similar sum, while Fabian de Freitas was bought from the Dutch club FC Volendam for around £400,000.[19] In contrast, Reading had spent £130,000 on two players and taken in two players on free transfers, before equalling their club transfer fee record of £250,000 when they bought Nogan from Watford in January 1995.[20][21] In December 1994, then-manager of Reading Mark McGhee left his position to join Premiership club Leicester City, despite having previously been convinced to remain with Reading by the chairman John Madejski.[22] He was replaced in January by co-managers Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding.[23] Prior to the final, there was considerable speculation that the Bolton manager Bruce Rioch would be leaving to join one of a number of Premiership clubs, including Manchester City, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday.[11][24]

Bolton's team was struck with several injuries: David Lee had broken three bones in his foot in the second leg of the play-off semi-final, while Mark Patterson, Richard Sneekes and Coleman were also ruled out.[25] Alan Stubbs was receiving treatment for a thigh injury,[25] but secured a place in Bolton's starting eleven. Neil McDonald was also back in the squad, having served a suspension.[25] Reading's Ady Williams was available for selection following his recovery from an ankle injury sustained in the semi-final at Elm Park. Simon Osborn was a doubt with a knee ligament injury, but delayed an operation in order to play.[26][27]

Reading's Shaka Hislop was named the best second tier goalkeeper in the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year.[28] Madejski had promised to walk 45 miles (72 km) to Wembley for Children in Need should his club qualify for the final.[13][23] The Reading squad spent the week prior the final in Lanzarote,[28] while Bolton prepared for the match in Portugal.[25] Bolton were considered the favourites to win the final by bookmakers,[29] although the defeated semi-final player John Aldridge suggested Reading could cause an upset, saying "If Reading play as well as they did against us they can do it ... It's going to be a classic game at Wembley because Bolton are an attractive side as well."[30] Reading sold their entire allocation of 36,500 tickets for the final, while Bolton were provided with 38,500 tickets,[31] but failed to sell a considerable number of them. Bolton's Chief Executive Officer Des McBain suggested fans may have found the financial burden too much on the back of the previous month's trip to Wembley for the League Cup final.[32] The referee for the match was Peter Foakes of Clacton-on-Sea.[33]

First half

Owen Coyle
Owen Coyle (pictured in 2016) scored Bolton's first goal.

The match kicked off around 1:30 p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 64,107. In the first minute, a backpass from Stubbs was picked up by Bolton's goalkeeper Keith Branagan resulting in Foakes awarding an indirect free kick inside the penalty area. Dariusz Wdowczyk's strike was on target but deflected off Lovell before being cleared. Three minutes later, Reading took the lead through Nogan. He received the ball from Andy Bernal, beat Stubbs and Scott Green before shooting past Branagan to make it 1–0. Reading's Scott Taylor then shot wide before his teammate Williams scored to make it 2–0 after twelve minutes. Osborn's quickly-taken free kick was met by Williams' well-timed run and he steered it past Branagan to double Reading's lead. Guðni Bergsson's header was tipped over by Hislop in the Reading goal before McAteer conceded a penalty in the 35th minute by fouling Michael Gilkes in the Bolton area. Lovell's spot kick was firm but saved by Branagan, and the rebound was struck over by Lovell from 8 yards (7.3 m). With three minutes of the half remaining, Lovell missed another chance when his shot from an errant Stubbs header went wide. The half ended with Reading holding a 2–0 lead.[33][34]

Second half

Bolton made their first substitution during half time, with De Freitas coming on to replace McDonald, and with four strikers then on the pitch, they dominated the early stages of the second half. Two minutes in, Paatelainen struck a De Freitas cross over the bar, before De Freitas himself had a shot saved by Hislop and Paataleinan headed an Owen Coyle cross wide. Reading's Nogan and Bernal were substituted off with injuries mid-way through the second half, being replaced by Quinn and Jeff Hopkins respectively. In the 76th minute, McGinlay's cross found Coyle at the far post who out-jumped Keith McPherson to head past Hislop into the Bolton goal, making the score 2–1. Four minutes later, Branagan saved an attempt by Taylor before De Freitas then struck his shot over Reading's crossbar. In the 86th minute, however, De Freitas equalised for Bolton. He received a through ball from Alan Thompson and struck a low shot past Hislop to make it 2–2. Chances from Lovell, Hopkins and Thomson all went close but no further goals were scored and regular time ended 2–2, to send the match into extra time.[33][34]

Extra time and penalties

Lovell and Taylor went close for Reading in the opening stages of extra time, while a break from McAteer ended with De Freitas shooting wide. In the 105th minute, Paatelainen put Bolton ahead for the first time in the match with a header. Lovell then had two chances to score either side of half time, and Quinn's volley went wide. De Freitas scored his second goal of the match with two minutes of extra time remaining to make it 4–2 to Bolton, converting the rebound after his initial attempt hit the goalpost. Reading player-manager Jimmy Quinn scored a minute later, his first goal in five months, following a cross from Hopkins but Bolton held out and won the match 4–3.[33][34]

Details

Bolton Wanderers4–3 (a.e.t.)Reading
Coyle 75'
De Freitas 86', 118'
Paatelainen 105'		 Report[34]
Bolton shirt numbers[35]
Reading shirt numbers[36]		 Nogan 4'
Williams 12'
Quinn 119'
Attendance: 64,107
Referee: Peter Foakes (Clacton-on-Sea)
Bolton Wanderers
Reading
Bolton Wanderers
1 Keith Branagan
2 Scott Green
3 Jimmy Phillips
5 Guðni Bergsson
6 Alan Stubbs
7 Neil McDonald downward-facing red arrow 46'
4 Jason McAteer
9 Mixu Paatelainen
11 Alan Thompson
8 Owen Coyle
10 John McGinlay
Substitutes:
16 Peter Shilton
14 John Dreyer
12 Fabian de Freitas upward-facing green arrow 46'
Manager:
Bruce Rioch
Reading:
1 Shaka Hislop
2 Andy Bernal downward-facing red arrow 67'
4 Keith McPherson
6 Dariusz Wdowczyk
5 Ady Williams
7 Michael Gilkes
8 Mick Gooding
3 Simon Osborn
11 Scott Taylor
9 Lee Nogan downward-facing red arrow 62'
10 Stuart Lovell
Substitutes:
Simon Sheppard
Jeff Hopkins upward-facing green arrow 67'
Jimmy Quinn upward-facing green arrow 62'
Manager:
Jimmy Quinn & Mick Gooding

Statistics

Statistics[34]
Bolton Wanderers Reading
Total shots 23 16
Shots on target 10 11
Corner kicks 9 6
Fouls committed 14 18
Offsides 0 3
Yellow cards 3 3
Red cards 0 0

Post-match

The winning manager Rioch suggested that the penalty save to prevent Reading taking a 3–0 lead was "the turning point ... Branagan asked me before the game if I had any information on their penalty-takers. Unfortunately we hadn't, so it was all down to him choosing the right way."[34] De Freitas said he was "looking forward to playing in the Premiership" claiming it would suit his style of play. He commiserated with his opposition: "I feel sorry for Reading, but over the season I felt we had more right to go up."[34] Quinn, one of the Reading co-managers, hoped "some of the new supporters we had today enjoyed the football" and urged them to return to watch the club the following season.[34]

The play-off final proved to be the final game in charge of Bolton Wanderers for manager Rioch, who left the club on 8 June to become the new manager at Arsenal.[37] Roy McFarland was brought in as his successor, but he lasted just six months with the club eight points from safety at the bottom of the Premiership.[38] Bolton were subsequently relegated in their first season in the division, after finishing the 1995–96 Premiership bottom of the table.[39] Reading ended their following season in eighteenth place in the 1995–96 First Division, three places and four points above the relegation zone, but fifteen points outside the play-offs.[40]

References

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