2002 Football League Second Division play-off final
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Date | 11 May 2002 | ||||||
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Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ||||||
Referee | Graham Laws | ||||||
Attendance | 42,523 | ||||||
The 2002 Football League Second Division play-off Final was an
The match was refereed by Graham Laws in front of a crowd of 42,523. In the 16th minute Stoke City took the lead from a corner from Arnar Gunnlaugsson, which was flicked on by Chris Iwelumo; Deon Burton struck the ball on the turn from close range, his shot taking a deflection and ending in the Brentford goal. Stoke doubled their lead a minute before half-time, when Gunnlaugsson was fouled just outside Brentford's penalty area and Bjarni Guðjónsson's free kick took a deflection off Ben Burgess and beat Paul Smith in the Brentford goal. In the second half, Stoke goalkeeper Neil Cutler make a number of saves and the match ended 2–0, with Stoke promoted to the First Division.
Brentford finished their following season in 16th place in Second Division, five positions and six points above the relegation zone. Despite gaining promotion, Stoke City sacked their manager Guðjón Þórðarson five days after the final and replaced him with Steve Cotterill, who himself resigned from his position 13 games into the following season. Stoke appointed Tony Pulis as manager and ended the season in 21st place in the First Division, four points above the relegation zone.
Route to the final
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
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1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 25 | 15 | 6 | 66 | 42 | +24 | 90 |
2 | Reading | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 70 | 54 | +16 | 84 |
3 | Brentford | 46 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 83 |
4 | Cardiff City | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 75 | 50 | +25 | 83 |
5 | Stoke City | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 67 | 40 | +27 | 80 |
6 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 78 |
Stoke City's opposition for their play-off semi-final were
In the second semi-final Brentford faced
Match
Background
This was Brentford's second appearance in the third-tier play-off finals, having lost the 1997 Football League Second Division play-off final 1–0 against Crewe Alexandra.[7] They had also lost in the semi-finals of the 1991 and 1995 play-offs.[8] Brentford had played in the Second Division since being promoted in the 1998–99 season and had last played in the second tier of English football in the 1992–93 season.[9] Stoke City had participated in the play-offs on four previous occasions, in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2001 but had failed to progress beyond the semi-final stage. They had last played in the First Division in the 1997–98 season when they were relegated to the third tier.[10] Brentford had won both matches between the sides during the regular season with a 3–2 win at the Britannia Stadium in November 2001 and a 1–0 victory at Griffin Park the following March.[11] Owusu was Brentford's top scorer during the regular season with 21 goals (20 in the league and 1 in the League Cup) followed by Ben Burgess with 18 (17 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup) and Paul Evans with 14 (all in the league).[12] Chris Iwelumo led the scoring for Stoke City with 11 goals (10 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup) followed by Andy Cooke with 10 (9 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup).[13]
According to bookmakers, neither side were clear favourites to win the final.[14] In an attempt to avoid a repetition of the crowd trouble in the play-offs, local police moved the kick-off time to 1:30 p.m.[15] The match was shown live in the United Kingdom on ITV Sport Channel, and was one of the last games broadcast by the channel before it closed down.[16][17][18] Stoke had been assigned the south changing room at the Millennium Stadium: the ten previous teams to have used those facilities had lost their match.[19] Prior to this final, artist Andrew Vicari installed a mural painted with the guidance of a feng shui expert in the dressing room.[20] The referee for the match was Graham Laws.[21]
Summary
The match kicked off around 1:30 p.m. on 11 May 2002 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in front of 42,523 spectators. Within a minute, Burton had made an early run splitting the Brentford defence, but was tackled by Michael Dobson. Burgess had what was Brentford's only chance of the half in the third minute when he struck a shot high over the crossbar from close range. Stoke dominated the first half and took the lead in the 16th minute. A corner from Arnar Gunnlaugsson was flicked on by Iwelumo, Burton struck the ball on the turn from close range, and his shot took a deflection before ending in the Brentford goal. Steve Sidwell's volley from the edge of the Stoke penalty area went over the crossbar before Gunnlaugsson beat Evans and shot over the goal. A minute before half-time, Stoke doubled their lead when Gunnlaugsson was fouled just outside Brentford's penalty area, and Guðjónsson's subsequent free kick took a deflection off Burgess and beat Smith in the Brentford goal. The second half saw Brentford denied by Stoke goalkeeper Neil Cutler on numerous occasions, including weak shots from Lloyd Owusu and Evans. Cutler also made a save late in the second half against Mark McCammon, who had come on in the 70th minute to replace Burgess. The match ended 2–0 and Stoke were promoted to the First Division.[3][20][21]
Details
Brentford
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Stoke City
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Post-match
Stoke's victorious manager Guðjón Þórðarson said that he felt sorry for Brentford: "I have sympathy for Steve [Coppell] and his team. We have twice gone close and know how much it hurts."[3] He expressed uncertainty about his future with the club, suggesting that he had not "got a clue what is happening". He said that the consortium who had taken over the club in 1999 "asked for results and I have delivered – and now they have to deliver a proper contract".[22] His counterpart Steve Coppell expressed dismay over his team's defending of set pieces: "We gave away two terrible goals."[3] He also reflected on his own position and that of Brentford: "It is the nature of a football clubs that there are many imponderables in the summer – but particularly at our football club".[23] He left Brentford the following month, claiming the club lacked ambition: "... at Brentford the aim is to survive ... Noades (the Brentford chairman) told me before the end of last season that if I thought the last campaign was tight, the next one will be tighter",[24] and was replaced by first-team coach Wally Downes.[25]
Brentford ended their following season in 16th place in the Second Division, five positions and six points above the relegation zone.[26] Despite gaining promotion, Stoke City sacked Þórðarson five days after the final following a disagreement between him and Stoke's Icelandic ownership consortium, replacing him with Steve Cotterill.[27][28] Thirteen matches into the following season, Cotterill resigned from his position with the club in 15th place to join Sunderland as assistant manager to Howard Wilkinson whereupon Stoke appointed Tony Pulis as manager.[29][30][31] Stoke then went 13 league games without a win and eventually finished in 21st place in the First Division, one place and four points above the relegation zone.[32][33]
References
- ^ a b "League One – 2001/2002 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "Stoke 1–2 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 28 April 2002. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Stoke break Cardiff hearts". BBC Sport. 1 May 2002. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Huddersfield 0–0 Brentford". BBC Sport. 28 April 2002. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Brentford see off Terriers". BBC Sport. 1 May 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Foster 2015, p. 207.
- ^ Foster 2015, pp. 201, 205.
- ^ "Brentford". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Stoke City". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Brentford football club: record v Stoke City". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Brentford squad details – 2001/02 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Stoke squad details – 2001/02 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Reid, Jamie (11 May 2002). "Back Ralf to win this battle of the Schumachers". The Guardian. p. 43. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Milmo, Dan (3 May 2002). "ITV Sport to close on May 11". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Fletcher, Paul (11 May 2002). "Stoke lay hoodoo to rest". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 5 May 2004. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Stoke seal promotion". BBC Sport. 11 May 2002. Archived from the original on 17 December 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ "Thordarson's uncertain future". BBC Sport. 11 May 2002. Archived from the original on 17 December 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ "Brentford left in limbo". BBC Sport. 11 May 2002. Archived from the original on 18 December 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
- ^ Spall, Leo (7 June 2002). "Coppell questions Noades' ambition". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 March 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ "Downes replaces Coppell as Brentford manager". The Independent. 29 June 2002. p. 4. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021 – via Gale.
- ^ "League One – 2002/2003 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "Stoke sack Thordarson". BBC Sport. 16 May 2002. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Cotterill unveiled by Stoke". The Daily Telegraph. 27 May 2002. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ "Stoke 'shocked' by Cotterill walkout". The Guardian. 10 October 2002. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ "The right man for Stoke?". BBC Sport. 31 October 2002. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ "League Division 1 table after close of play on 10 October 2002". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Championship – 2002/2003 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "Stoke City football club match record: 2003". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
Bibliography
- Foster, Richard (2015). The Agony & The Ecstasy (A Comprehensive History of the Football League Play-Offs). Ockley Books. ISBN 978-1-910906-00-2.