2003 Football League Third Division play-off final
.jpg) The final took place at the Millennium Stadium. | |||||||
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| Date | 24 May 2003 | ||||||
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| Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | ||||||
| Referee | Alan Kaye | ||||||
| Attendance | 32,148 | ||||||
The 2003 Football League Third Division play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 24 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, between Bournemouth and Lincoln City to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Third Division to the Second Division. The top three teams of the 2002–03 Third Division season, Rushden & Diamonds, Hartlepool United and Wrexham, gained automatic promotion to the Second Division, while those placed from fourth to seventh place in the table took part in play-offs. The winners of the semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2003–04 season in the Second Division. Bournemouth and Lincoln City defeated Bury and Scunthorpe United, respectively, in the semi-finals.
The final
Bournemouth ended their following season in ninth position in the Second Division, three places and seven points below the play-offs. Lincoln City's finished in seventh place in the Third Division in their next season but were knocked out of the play-offs in the semi-final, losing 4–3 on aggregate to Huddersfield Town.
Route to the final
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rushden & Diamonds | 46 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 73 | 47 | +26 | 87 |
| 2 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 71 | 43 | +28 | 85 |
| 3 | Wrexham | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 84 | 50 | +34 | 84 |
| 4 | Bournemouth | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 60 | 48 | +12 | 74 |
| 5 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 68 | 49 | +19 | 72 |
| 6 | Lincoln City | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 70 |
| 7 | Bury | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 57 | 56 | +1 | 70 |
Bournemouth finished the regular 2002–03 season in fourth place in the Football League Third Division, the fourth tier of the English football league system, two positions and four points ahead of Lincoln City. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places for promotion to the Second Division and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Bournemouth ten points behind Wrexham (who were promoted in third place), eleven behind Hartlepool United (who were promoted in second) and thirteen behind league winners Rushden & Diamonds.[1]
Lincoln City's opponents for their play-off semi-final were
In the other semi-final, Bournemouth faced
Match
Background
Both Lincoln City and Bournemouth were making their first appearance in the play-offs.[6][7] Bournemouth had been relegated to the Third Division the previous season and thus were aiming to make an immediate return to the Second Division.[6] Lincoln City had played in the Third Division since suffering relegation from the Second Division in the 1998–99 season.[7] During the regular season, both matches between the sides had ended in wins for the visiting teams: Bournemouth won 2–1 at Sincil Bank in October 2002 while Lincoln City secured a 1–0 victory at Dean Court the following April.[8] Hayter was Bournemouth's leading scorer in the regular season with 11 goals in total (8 in the league, 1 in the 2002–03 FA Cup and 2 in the Football League Trophy).[9] Lincoln City's top scorer was Ben Futcher who had scored 10 goals (8 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 1 in the Football League Trophy).[10]
The referee for the match, which was shown live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports, was Alan Kaye.[11][12]
Summary
The match
Neither side made any changes to their personnel during the interval and eleven minutes into the second half, Bournemouth extended their lead. Neil Moss, the Bournemouth goalkeeper, punched the ball clear which enabled his side to counter-attack and Elliott's cross was volleyed into the Lincoln goal by Purches. Four minutes later it was 4–1 after O'Connor ran onto Steve Fletcher's pass, beat Futcher and struck the ball past Marriott. In the 75th minute, Lincoln reduced the deficit when second-half substitute Chris Cornelly's cross was headed into the Bournemouth net by Mark Bailey. Just over a minute later, Fletcher scored with a header from O'Connor's free kick to make the score 5–2 to Bournemouth, which it remained to the final whistle.[13]
Details
| Bournemouth | 5–2 | Lincoln City |
|---|---|---|
S. Fletcher  29'C. Fletcher 45', 77'Purches 56'O'Connor 60' |
Report | Futcher 35' Bailey 75' |
      Bournemouth
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Lincoln City
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Post-match
The Bournemouth manager Sean O'Driscoll said: "I'm delighted for everybody ... Both teams don't score that many goals so we have kept the best till last, but we have another gear to go up now".[14] His counterpart Keith Alexander was disappointed: "I'm proud with what we have done but if we had defended like that all season we would have been relegated."[14]
Bournemouth ended their following season in ninth position in the Second Division, three places and seven points below the play-offs.[15] Lincoln City's finished in seventh place in the Third Division in their next season but were knocked out of the play-offs in the semi-final, losing 4–3 on aggregate to Huddersfield Town.[16]
References
- ^ a b "League Division 3 end of season table for 2002–03 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln on top after thriller". BBC Sport. 10 May 2003. Archived from the original on 27 October 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln see off Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. 14 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Stalemate at Gigg Lane". BBC Sport. 10 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Cherries see off Bury". BBC Sport. 13 May 2003. Archived from the original on 5 June 2004. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ a b "A F C Bournemouth". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Lincoln City". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln City football club: record v AFC Bournemouth". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "Bournemouth squad details – 2002/03 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "Lincoln squad details – 2002/03 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "AFC Bournemouth v Lincoln City, 24 May 2003". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b c "Bournemouth win seals promotion". BBC Sport. 24 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b "O'Driscoll hails super Cherries". BBC Sport. 24 May 2003. Archived from the original on 14 August 2003. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "League Division 2 end of season table for 2003–04 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ "League Division 3 end of season table for 2003–04 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.