2010 Football League One play-off final

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2010 Football League One play-off final
Millwall Swindon Town
1 0
Date29 May 2010
VenueWembley Stadium, London
Man of the MatchPaul Robinson (Millwall)
RefereeColin Webster
Attendance73,108
WeatherWet and cold
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The 2010 Football League One play-off final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Millwall and Swindon Town to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League One to the Football League Championship. The top two teams of the 2009–10 Football League One season, Norwich City and Leeds United, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2010–11 season in the Championship. Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town were the losing semi-finalists, having been defeated by Swindon and Millwall respectively.

The referee for the match, which was played in front of 73,108 spectators, was Colin Webster. Both sides failed to capitalise on early chances to score, while an own-goal header by Swindon's Kevin Amankwaah was disallowed, as Millwall's Liam Trotter had been offside in the build-up. Steve Morison's shot was then blocked before Paul Robinson scored to make it 1–0 to Millwall: Scott Cuthbert's header from Danny Schofield's corner fell to Robinson who struck from close range. In the 72nd minute, a through-ball from Robinson sent Charlie Austin clear but his shot was high over the Millwall crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat. Austin saw the final chance of the match pushed round the post by Millwall goalkeeper David Forde to ensure the match ended 1–0. Millwall were promoted to the Championship in their first success in the play-offs in six attempts.

Swindon Town ended their following season bottom of the League One table and were relegated to League Two. Millwall's next season saw them finish in ninth place in the Championship, three positions and eight points outside the play-offs.

Route to the final

Main article: 2009–10 Football League One
Football League One final table, leading positions[1]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Norwich City 46 29 8 9 89 47 +42 95
2 Leeds United 46 25 11 10 77 44 +33 86
3 Millwall 46 24 13 9 76 44 +32 85
4 Charlton Athletic 46 23 15 8 71 48 +23 84
5 Swindon Town 46 22 16 8 73 57 +16 82
6 Huddersfield Town 46 23 11 12 82 56 +26 80

Millwall finished the regular 2009–10 season in third place in Football League One, the third tier of the English football league system, two places ahead of Swindon Town. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Football League Championship and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Millwall finished one point behind Leeds United (who were promoted in second place) and ten behind league winners Norwich City. Swindon Town ended the season a further three points behind Millwall.[1] Southampton would have finished the season in fifth position in League One but they had been penalised with a ten-point deduction as a result of the club's parent company going into administration.[2]

Swindon Town's opponents for their play-off semi-final were

on aggregate. Miguel Llera was then sent off for Charlton after dragging down Austin and the game went into extra time. With no further goals in the additional 30 minutes, the tie went to a penalty shootout. Bailey missed Charlton's second spot kick and with all other penalties being converted, Swindon won 5–4 and progressed to the final.[4]

Millwall faced

Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield on 15 May 2010. The visitors seldom threatened during the first half but saw two penalty appeals turned down by the referee, and the match ended goalless.[5] The second leg took place three days later at the New Den in London. Steve Morison opened the scoring midway through the first half when the ball fell to him at short range after Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies pushed out a cross. Scott Barron then struck the crossbar before Paul Robinson scored from a corner with eight minutes remaining to make it 2–0 which remained the final score and saw Millwall qualify for the final.[6]

Match

Background

Charlie Austin
Charlie Austin (pictured in 2015) had scored 19 league goals for Swindon Town during the regular season.

This was Swindon's sixth trip to the play-offs and their fourth final, having gained promotion in the

2006–07 season.[7] Millwall had also participated in the play-offs on five previous occasions; they had failed to progress past the semi-finals other than in the previous season, when they had lost 3–2 to Scunthorpe in the final. They had been relegated to League One in the 2005–06 season.[8]

In the matches between the sides during the regular season, the first encounter at the County Ground in October 2009 ended in a 1–1 draw while the return match at the New Den the following May was a 3–2 victory for Millwall.[9] Swindon's top scorer during the regular season was Billy Paynter who had scored 29 goals (26 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 2 in the League Cup), followed by Austin with 19 (all in the league).[10] Top marksmen for Millwall were Morison, who had scored 22 goals during the regular season (20 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup) and Neil Harris with 18 (13 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 4 in the League Cup).[11] According to The Daily Telegraph, winning the match was worth £5 million to the successful club.[12]

The referee for the final was Colin Webster.[13] Millwall made one change to the side that beat Huddersfield in the play-off semi final with Jack Smith being replaced by Shaun Batt. Swindon's starting eleven for the final saw two changes to the side that started the play-off second leg against Charlton: Kevin Amankwaah and Sheehan came in for Stephen Darby and Greer.[14] The match was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports with radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.[15] Both sides adopted a 4–4–2 formation.[16]

Summary

Millwall

chip was pushed behind the goal-line by Swindon goalkeeper Lucas but the subsequent corner came to nothing. A short backpass from Scott Cuthbert allowed Morison an opportunity but Lucas cleared the ball. Two minutes later Morison's lob went over the crossbar after he had received a pass from Danny Schofield. In the 28th minute, Austin's strike from distance went over Millwall's goal before Swindon's Amankwaah headed the ball into his own net; the referee disallowed the own goal as Liam Trotter had been adjudged offside in the build-up. Morisons's shot was then blocked before Robinson scored in the 39th minute to make it 1–0 to Millwall: Cuthbert's header from Schofield's corner fell to Robinson who struck from close range. Minutes before half-time, Millwall were forced to make the first change of the afternoon with Tony Craig coming off with a foot injury and being replaced by Andy Frampton. The half ended with the score 1–0.[14][17]

Neither side made any personnel changes during the interval and two minutes after the second half kicked off, Swindon's first opportunity came through a free kick after Millwall's goalkeeper David Forde carried the ball out of the box. Sheehan took the set piece but his curling strike was cleared. Swindon maintained their pressure but both Schofield and Trotter had close shots for Millwall. Swindon's Lecsinel Jean-François then saw his header saved by a diving Forde before Millwall's Morison despatched a weak shot from inside the opposition area. In the 67th minute, Darby came on to replace Sheehan for Swindon before Millwall's Chris Hackett was brought on for Batt. Five minutes later, a through-ball from Robinson allowed Austin to run clear of the defenders but his shot was high over the crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat. In the 73rd minute, Alan O'Brien replaced Jon-Paul McGovern in Swindon's second substitution. On 80 minutes, Jean-François became the first player to be shown the yellow card for a foul on Morison. Shortly thereafter, Vincent Péricard came on to replace Paynter. Late pressure from Swindon failed to produce any goals, and Austin saw the final chance of the match pushed round the post by Forde to ensure the match ended 1–0 and Millwall were promoted to the Championship.[14][17]

Details

Millwall1–0Swindon Town
Robinson 39' Report
Attendance: 73,108
Referee: Colin Webster
Millwall
Swindon Town
GK 1 David Forde
RB 16 Scott Barron
CB 5 Paul Robinson (c)
CB 18 Darren Ward
LB 15 Tony Craig downward-facing red arrow 44'
RM 7 Danny Schofield
CM 40 Liam Trotter
CM 26
Jimmy Abdou
LM 25 Shaun Batt downward-facing red arrow 70'
CF 20 Steve Morison
CF 9 Neil Harris
Substitutes:
GK 13 John Sullivan
DF 3 Andy Frampton upward-facing green arrow 44'
MF 12 Chris Hackett upward-facing green arrow 70'
MF 22 Ali Fuseini
MF 24 Marc Laird
FW 8 Gary Alexander
FW 30 Jonathan Obika
Manager:
Kenny Jackett
GK 1 David Lucas
RB 15 Kevin Amankwaah
CB 2 Scott Cuthbert
CB 19 Lecsinel Jean-François Yellow card 80'
LB 3 Alan Sheehan downward-facing red arrow 67'
RM 7 Jon-Paul McGovern downward-facing red arrow 73'
CM 4 Jonathan Douglas
CM 30 Simon Ferry
LM 24 Danny Ward
CF 32 Charlie Austin
CF 20 Billy Paynter downward-facing red arrow 81'
Substitutes:
GK 12 Phil Smith
DF 14 Sean Morrison
DF 21 Stephen Darby upward-facing green arrow 67'
MF 8 Craig Easton
MF 10 Michael Timlin
MF 18 Alan O'Brien upward-facing green arrow 73'
FW 5 Vincent Péricard upward-facing green arrow 81'
Manager:
Danny Wilson
Millwall players celebrating their play-off final victory
Millwall players celebrating their victory after the match
Statistics[17]
Statistic Millwall Swindon Town
Total shots 21 8
Shots on target 8 4
Ball possession 50% 50%
Corner kicks 13 3
Fouls committed 14 6
Yellow cards 0 1
Red cards 0 0

Post-match

Kenny Jackett, the winning manager, said that his club would "look forward now quickly though because we want to compete next season, without a doubt" but also reflected on recent defeats in the play-offs: "I'm so proud to be the first man to lead Millwall to victory at Wembley and I can't wait to lead these boys out in the Championship."[14] His counterpart Danny Wilson spoke of Austin's late chance: "The boy didn't miss it, the ball bobbled and the pitch dictated. When he went through you'd put your house on him."[12] Paynter concurred, saying "[Austin] thought it was his fault but the pitch played its part."[16] Winning goalscorer Robinson was jubilant and recalled that "to score the winning goal and lift a trophy at Wembley ... that's all I ever dreamt of."[16]

Swindon Town ended their following season bottom of the League One table and were relegated to League Two.[18] Wilson had resigned as manager in March 2011 with the side in the bottom four of the division, with Paynter, Greer and Austin all having left club earlier in the season.[19] Millwall's next season saw them finish in ninth place in the Championship, three positions and eight points outside the play-offs.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "League One – 2009/10 – regular season". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  2. ^ Anka, Carl (27 March 2020). "Ten years on: the trip to Wembley that helped Southampton rise again". The Athletic. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Swindon 2–1 Charlton". BBC Sport. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  4. ^ Fletcher, Paul (17 May 2010). "Charlton 2–1 (agg 3–3)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Huddersfield 0–0 Millwall". BBC Sport. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  6. ^ Fletcher, Paul (18 May 2010). "Millwall 2–0 Huddersfield (agg 2–0)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Swindon Town". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Millwall". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Millwall football club: record v Swindon Town". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Swindon squad details – 2009/10 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Millwall squad details – 2009/10 – Player appearances". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b Ley, John (30 May 2010). "Millwall 1 Swindon 0: match report". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Millwall v Swindon Town, 29 May 2010". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d e Lyon, Sam (29 May 2010). "League One play-off final as it happened". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Live Football League". The Times. 29 May 2010. p. 336. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021 – via Gale.
  16. ^ a b c Szczepanik, Nick (31 May 2010). "Agony is over as Robinson earns glory". The Times. p. 79. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021 – via Gale.
  17. ^ a b c Fletcher, Paul (29 May 2010). "Millwall 1–0 Swindon". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  18. ^ "League One – 2010/2011 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  19. ^ "2 March 2011". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Championship – 2010/2011 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
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