2013 Football League Championship play-off final
Event | 2012–13 Football League Championship | ||||||
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After extra time | |||||||
Date | 27 May 2013 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Man of the Match | Wilfried Zaha | ||||||
Referee | Martin Atkinson | ||||||
Attendance | 82,025 | ||||||
The 2013 Football League Championship play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 27 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Crystal Palace and Watford. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2012–13 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Watford ended the season in third position while Crystal Palace finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2013–14 season in the Premier League. Winning the game was estimated to be worth up to £120 million to the successful team.
The 2013 final, refereed by
Both teams finished mid-table in their respective leagues the following season. Crystal Palace ended the next season in 11th place in the Premier League, while Watford finished their following campaign in the Championship 13th place.
Route to the final
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cardiff City | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 72 | 45 | +27 | 87 |
2 | Hull City | 46 | 24 | 7 | 15 | 61 | 52 | +9 | 79 |
3 | Watford | 46 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 85 | 58 | +27 | 77 |
4 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 19 | 18 | 9 | 69 | 43 | +26 | 75 |
5 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 73 | 62 | +11 | 72 |
6 | Leicester City | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 71 | 48 | +23 | 68 |
Crystal Palace faced Brighton & Hove Albion in their play-off semi-final, the first leg being played at Selhurst Park. The game ended goalless but Palace's top scorer Glenn Murray was injured and had to be carried off on a stretcher midway through the second half after suffering what was suspected to be a cruciate ligament injury.[2] The second leg was held three days later at Falmer Stadium, a venue at which Brighton had not lost since January. Palace went into the match having won once in their past eleven games and, as expected, without Murray. He was replaced by Aaron Wilbraham who had scored once in his 25 appearances that season. Wilfried Zaha put Palace ahead midway through the second half with a header from Yannick Bolasie and double their advantage late in the game, striking the ball into the roof of the net. The 2–0 aggregate win ensured the London club's qualification for the final.[3]
In the other play-off semi-final, Watford's opponents were
Crystal Palace | Round | Watford | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opponent | Result | Legs | Semi-finals | Opponent | Result | Legs |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 2–0 | 0–0 home; 2–0 away | Leicester City | 3–2 | 0–1 away; 3–1 home |
Match
Background
This was Crystal Palace's fifth appearance in the second tier play-off final, with their most recent being in the 2004 final at the Millennium Stadium which they won 1–0 against West Ham United.[7][8] Palace had also won the 1989 final (over two legs) and the 1997 final, and had lost the 1996 final.[9] Watford also had play-off final experience, winning both their previous appearances, in the 1999 and 2006 finals.[9] During the regular season, Crystal Palace lost their home game against 3–2 in August 2012 in what was Gianfranco Zola's first league match as manager of Watford.[10] The return game played at Vicarage Road the following February ended in a 2–2 draw.[11] Murray was Palace's top scorer with 30 while Vydra had scored the most for Watford with 22.[2][12]
Both clubs sold out their allocation of tickets at Wembley Stadium, with Palace selling 33,000 tickets and Watford more than 34,000.[13][14] The final was refereed by Martin Atkinson of the West Riding County Football Association, with assistant referees Stuart Burt and Peter Kirkup, while Neil Swarbrick acted as the fourth official.[15] It was reported in the press and media that the match was worth more than £120 million over four years to the winning club through sponsorship and television appearances.[16][17][18]
Seven of Watford's starting line-up were on loan at the club, four from Italian club Udinese, two from Spanish team Granada and one from Chelsea. Palace's soul loanee was Zaha who had been sold to Manchester United in the January transfer window and loaned back to the south London club.[16] He was declared fit to play despite picking up an ankle injury in the semi-final, so Palace's team was unchanged. Daniel Pudil and Hogg were recalled to the Watford side, having been absent from the team that defeated Leicester City in the semi-final.[16] Wilbraham retained his place in the Palace team as Murray's first semi-final injury kept him sidelined.[17]
First half
Watford kicked the match off shortly after 3 p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 82,025. After a brief interlude to remove some balloons which had descended from the spectators into the Crystal Palace penalty area, Watford won a free kick for a foul on Deeney. The resulting set piece was cleared, and on 8 minutes, Palace's
Second half
Over the half-time break, Watford's Vydra was replaced by the Spanish striker
Extra time
Watford kicked off the first period of extra time, and three minutes in, Deeney brought another save from Speroni. Forestieri then shot wide from a tight angle. Nine minutes in, Danny Gabbidon conceded a corner which, taken by Abdi, was struck by Battocchio through a group of defenders and saved by Speroni. Dean Moxey was then booked for a foul on Forestieri, becoming the sixth player of the afternoon to receive a yellow card. On the brink of half time, Cassetti fouled Zaha in the Watford box and Palace were awarded a penalty. The spot kick was struck into the top-left corner by Phillips, putting Palace 1–0 ahead. Four minutes into the second half, a corner from Abdi was gathered by Speroni before Deeney could capitalise on the loose ball. In the 23rd minute, a free kick from Abdi from 25 yards (23 m) was easily caught by Speroni. With two minutes remaining, Joel Ward blocked an Ekstrand shot with his stomach; appeals for a penalty were dismissed by Atkinson. Forestieri then went close as Ward was forced to clear his shot off the Palace goal line. Two corners for Watford came to nothing and the referee blew his whistle to signify the end of extra time and the match, with Palace winning 1–0.[16]
Details
Crystal Palace | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | Watford |
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Phillips 105+1' (pen. ) |
Report |
Crystal Palace
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Watford
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:
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Match rules:
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Statistics
Crystal Palace | Watford | |
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Total shots | 12 | 15 |
Shots on target | 10 | 9 |
Ball possession | 52% | 48% |
Corner kicks | 6 | 8 |
Fouls committed | 12 | 13 |
Yellow cards | 4 | 3 |
Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Post-match
Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway said: "I've been very fortunate to have worked with some great players and I'm very grateful to this bunch. We're in the Premier League now and ... god help us. We battled hard."[16] He went on to say "It all starts now for me because the minute we kick off next season we're on a hiding to nothing ... We've got to make sure we can compete and I want to stay there."[20] Zola was gracious in defeat and conceded that Palace "played well and probably deserved it more than us, so congratulations to them ... I had no complaints about their penalty ... Wilfried Zaha made a huge difference."[21] Phillips spoke of his winning penalty strike and his future: "I had in my mind where I wanted to take it, I was happy to take it. I picked my spot and stuck to it. I don't know if that's going to be my last match, but if it is, what a way to sign off."[16] Zaha was named man of the match.[22]
Crystal Palace ended the next season in 11th place in the Premier League, 12 points above the relegation zone.[23] Watford finished the following season in 13th place, 16 points above the relegation zone but 12 points outside the play-offs.[24]
References
- ^ a b "League Championship end of season table for 2012–13 season". 11v11.com. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ a b Johnston, Neil (10 May 2013). "Crystal Palace 0–0 Brighton & Hove Albion". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Begley, Emlyn (13 May 2013). "Brighton & Hove Albion 0–2 Crystal Palace". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Phillips, Owen (9 May 2013). "Leicester City 1–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "Vydra is npower Championship Player of the Year". English Football League. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (12 May 2013). "Watford 3–1 Leicester City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Matchett, Karl (24 May 2014). "How the Last 20 Play-Off Winners Have Fared in Their First Premier League Season". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "Crystal Palace 1–0 West Ham". BBC Sport. 29 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Play-Off Final History & Stats". Sporting Life. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "Crystal Palace 2–3 Watford". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Crystal Palace football club match record: 2013". 11v11.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Watford boss Gianfranco Zola 'lost it' after play-off winner". BBC Sport. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Play-Off Final Tickets sold out". Crystal Palace F.C. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Watford have sold their ticket allocation for the Championship play-off final against Crystal Palace". Watford Observer. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Martin Atkinson will referee the Championship final between Watford and Crystal Palace at Wembley". Watford Observer. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Glendenning, Barry (27 May 2013). "Crystal Palace v Watford – as it happened". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
- ^ a b Fletcher, Paul (27 May 2013). "Crystal Palace 1–0 Watford (aet)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Winter, Henry (27 May 2013). "Crystal Palace 1 Watford 0: Championship play-off final: match report". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ Fletcher, Paul (27 May 2013). "Crystal Palace 1–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "Ian Holloway: Crystal Palace are 'on a hiding to nothing'". BBC Sport. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Crystal Palace deserved win, says Watford boss Gianfranco Zola". BBC Sport. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Watford's Gianfranco Zola praises Wilfried Zaha". Sky Sports. 27 May 2013. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Premier League table at close of 2013–14 season". 11v11.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "League Championship table at close of 2013–14 season". 11v11.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.