1993 Football League First Division play-off final

Route to the final

Main article: 1992–93 Football League First Division

Swindon Town finished the regular 1992–93 season in fifth place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, one place ahead of Leicester City. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premiership and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Portsmouth (who finished third) and Tranmere Rovers (who finished fourth), to determine the third promoted team. Swindon finished twelve points behind West Ham United (who were promoted in second place) and twenty behind league winners Newcastle United. Leicester City ended the season level on points with Swindon but with an inferior goal difference.

Swindon Town faced Tranmere Rovers in their play-off semi-final and the first leg was played at the County Ground, Swindon, on 16 May 1993. Swindon took the lead within two minutes of the kick-off when a cross from Nicky Summerbee was headed past Eric Nixon in the Tranmere goal by his own defender Steve Vickers. The lead was doubled a minute later when Nixon mishandled a shot from Ross MacLaren, allowing Dave Mitchell to score. A John Aldridge goal in the fourth minute was disallowed for a push on Glenn Hoddle, but Craig Maskell halved Tranmere's deficit in the 27th minute. John Morrissey scored Swindon's third on 58 minutes, and the match ended 3–1. The second leg of the semi-final was played three days later at Prenton Park. Swindon took the lead on 30 minutes, with a goal from John Moncur following a through ball from Martin Ling. Just before half time, Mark Proctor levelled the game with a volley. Pat Nevin then scored after the Swindon goalkeeper Fraser Digby dropped a cross. Maskell equalised before Hoddle fouled Morrissey to concede a penalty. Kenny Irons scored from the spot, but Swindon held on; despite losing the match 3–2, they progressed to the final with a 5–4 aggregate victory.

Leicester City's play-off semi-final opponents were Portsmouth and the first leg took place on 16 May 1993. The match was hosted at Nottingham Forest's home stadium, the City Ground, as Leicester's Filbert Street was undergoing redevelopment. The game, described by Paul Weaver in The Guardian as "dreadful", was "partially redeemed by a stunning goal" from Julian Joachim, a second-half substitute for Leicester. The second leg was played at Fratton Park three days later and was goalless at half time. Six minutes into the second half, Portsmouth took the lead when Alan McLoughlin scored from a George Lawrence header. Within two minutes Leicester had equalised when Ian Ormondroyd found the target following a deflected shot from David Oldfield. Steve Thompson then put Leicester ahead in the 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the penalty area beating the Portsmouth goalkeeper Alan Knight. Three minutes later, Bjørn Kristensen levelled the score once more with an 18 yd curling shot into the far corner of the Leicester goal. The game ended 2–2, and ensured Leicester a 3–2 aggregate victory.

Match

Background

This was Leicester's second appearance in the First Division play-off final: they had lost 1–0 to Blackburn Rovers in the previous season's final. They had played in the second tier of English football since they were relegated from the First Division in the 1986–87 season. Swindon had beaten Gillingham 2–0 in a replay after the 1987 Football League Third Division play-off final, which was played over two legs, had ended 2–2 on aggregate. Swindon had played in the second tier since that promotion. As such, Swindon were aiming to be promoted to the top flight of English football for the first time in the 73-year League history of the club.

Leicester's top scorer during the regular season was Steve Walsh with fifteen goals in all competitions, followed by Joachim and David Lowe on twelve. Maskell had scored the most goals for Swindon with twenty-one in all competitions, while Mitchell had scored fifteen. In the matches played between both sides during the regular season, Leicester had won their home game 4–2 in December 1992, while the return fixture at the County Ground the following April ended in a 1–1 draw.

The referee for the match was David Elleray of Harrow on the Hill. Hoddle also selected Moncur, who had sustained bruised ribs against Tranmere, in preference to Micky Hazard. The Leicester manager Brian Little named Joachim in the starting line-up in preference to Lowe, in a 4–4–2 formation described in the Staffordshire Sentinel as "imaginative", pairing 18-year-old Joachim in attack alongside Walsh. According to Deloitte, the match was worth £5million to the promoted club through increases in matchday, commercial and broadcasting income. Former player Alan Hudson, writing in the Staffordshire Sentinel, believed Swindon to be favourites to win the match. McLoughlin, who scored the winning goal for Swindon in the 1990 play-off final, also suggested that his former club would defeat Leicester.

Summary

The match kicked off in sunny conditions in front of a Wembley crowd of 73,802. Although Swindon dominated possession during the early stages of the first half, they were unable to convert any chances. Cutting in from the left wing, a Paul Bodin cross was cleared by Leicester to deny Mitchell. Summerbee was shown a yellow card for a foul as Leicester sought to increase pressure on Swindon, and although Digby failed to hold onto a Joachim cross, he successfully parried it away. Despite Leicester's higher tempo, it was Swindon who took the lead three minutes before half time. A backheel from Maskell found Hoddle whose shot curled past Kevin Poole in the Leicester goal. It was his first goal since the opening day of the season, and his ninth goal at Wembley.

Two minutes after the break, Maskell doubled Swindon's lead. After a one-two with Moncur, he struck the ball into the goal inside the far post. In the 53rd minute, Shaun Taylor made it 3–0 with a header after Poole was hesitant to claim the ball. Walsh struck over the bar before, four minutes later, Joachim scored his fourteenth goal of the season after converting a rebound off the post of the Swindon goal. Author Dick Mattick suggested that at this point in the game, "panic set in" for Swindon and Leicester started "cutting swathes through the [Swindon] Town defence". Thompson completed Leicester's comeback a minute later after scoring with a low shot. Swindon's Ling then saw his strike saved by Poole, before Taylor's header was cleared off the line by Leicester. Mitchell's shot was then smothered before the referee awarded Swindon a penalty in the 84th minute: Hoddle played a 50 yd pass to substitute Steve White who fell in the Leicester penalty area after contact with both Poole and Colin Hill. Elleray adjudged it to have been a foul, and Bodin stepped up to take the spot kick. Despite a "nonchalant" run-up, his carefully taken strike beat Poole to his left. No further goals were scored, the match ended 4–3 and Swindon were promoted to the Premiership.

Details

Walsh Thompson Maskell Taylor Bodin

|} Match rules

• 90 minutes.
• 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
• Penalty shootout if scores still level.
• Two named substitutes.
• Maximum of two substitutions. |}--

Post-match

Trevor Haylett, writing in The Independent, described the match as an "absolute cracker" and that the late penalty was "the last act of a heart-stopping drama". He also suggested that Hoddle should be considered as the next England national football team manager. In 2009, Eurosport listed it as the 94th best association football match of all-time.

Hoddle noted that it was his proudest moment in football, stating: "To take a club up that has never been in the top flight and in these circumstances is a great feeling".

On the evening of 2 June, a bus-top parade through the town was held during which thousands of fans held aloft banners "in a final plea to the management duo" to remain with the club. MacClaren, Hazard and Brian Marwood were also absent, having left to go on holiday. Club chairman Ray Hardman confirmed that although a two-hour board meeting had taken place prior to the parade, Hoddle's position had not been discussed. Four days after the match, Hoddle was confirmed as player-manager at Chelsea. Gorman had initially resigned, alongside Hoddle, but was persuaded to stay by Hardman after being offered the manager's position. Hoddle was unrepentant, and offered no apology for his departure: "It was a very sad day when I left Swindon and it was a very emotional decision to make... you have to do hard things that are right for yourself and [Chelsea manager] is the right job for me... I thought it was time to move on". In his first season with the London club, he led Chelsea to 14th position in the league and an appearance at Wembley in the 1994 FA Cup Final where they lost 4–0 to Manchester United.

In their following season, Swindon finished bottom of the Premiership and were relegated back to the second tier. Their drop back to the Second Division was confirmed after a 4–2 home defeat to Wimbledon on 23 April 1994. By the end of the season, they had conceded 100 goals, which, , is a Premier League record. Leicester ended their next season in fourth place in the First Division, and qualified for the play-offs. They defeated Tranmere Rovers in the semi-final before securing promotion to the Premiership with a 2–1 win over Derby County, their East Midlands rivals, in the play-off final.

References

References

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