1999 Football League First Division play-off Final

1999 Football League First Division play-off final
Bolton Wanderers Watford
0 2
Date 31 May 1999
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Referee T Heilbron
Attendance 70,343

The 1999 Football League Championship play-off Final was contested between Bolton Wanderers and Watford, played at Wembley Stadium on 31 May 1999. The match was won by Watford through goals from Nick Wright and Allan Smart. As a result, Watford would play in the Premier League for the first time since its inception in 1992. It also meant that Watford had secured promotion for the second successive season, having been promoted as champions of Division Two in 1997–98.

Route to the final

Watford

Graph of Watford's league progress in 1998–99

.

Watford were promoted from the Second Division in 1997–98. Elimination from their first games in the League Cup and FA Cup to Cambridge United and Tottenham Hotspur respectively enabled Watford to focus on their league campaign. After winning their opening three league games, Watford gradually moved from the top of the table to a mid-table position. Following consecutive defeats to Swindon Town, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United in February and early March, a play-off position appeared unlikely.[1] However, seven wins and a draw from the last eight games was enough to earn Watford a play-off spot on the last day of the season.[1]

Final league table

Key

Pos: League position P: Matches played W: Matches won D: Matches drawn L: Matches lost F: Goals for A: Goals against Pts: Points (C): Champions (P): Promoted (pl): Qualified for play-offs

Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1. Sunderland (C) (P) 46 31 12 3 91 28 105
2. Bradford City (P) 46 26 9 11 82 47 87
3. Ipswich Town (pl) 46 26 8 12 69 32 86
4. Birmingham City (pl) 46 23 12 11 66 37 81
5. Watford (P) (pl) 46 21 14 11 65 56 77
6. Bolton Wanderers (pl) 46 20 16 10 78 59 76
7. Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 19 16 11 64 43 73
8. Sheffield United 46 18 13 15 71 66 67
9. Norwich City 46 15 17 14 62 61 62
10. Huddersfield Town 46 15 16 15 62 71 61

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
6th Bolton Wanderers* 4–4 Ipswich Town 3rd 1–0 3–4 aet
5th Watford 1–1 (7–6 pen) Birmingham City 4th 1–0 0–1 aet

* Bolton win on away goals


Match details

31 May 1999
15:00
Bolton 0 – 2 Watford
Report Wright  38'
Smart  89'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 70,343
Referee: Terry Heilbron
Bolton:
GK 1England Steve Banks
RB 2 England Neil Cox  89'
LB 3 England Robbie Elliott
CM 4 Denmark Per Frandsen
CB 5 England Andy Todd
CB 6 South Africa Mark Fish (captain)
RM 7 Denmark Michael Johansen  66'
CM 8 Denmark Claus Jensen
CF 9 Iceland Eiður Guðjohnsen
CF 10England Bob Taylor
LM 11Jamaica Ricardo Gardner
Substitutes:
MF 12 Denmark Bo Hansen  89'
MF 13 England Scott Sellars  66'
DF 14 Iceland Guðni Bergsson
Manager:
England Colin Todd
Watford:
GK 1 England Alec Chamberlain
RWB2 England Darren Bazeley
LWB3 Northern Ireland Peter Kennedy
CB 4 Wales Rob Page (captain)
CB 5 England Steve Palmer
CB 6 England Paul Robinson
CM 7 Democratic Republic of the Congo Michel Ngonge  75'
CM 8 England Micah Hyde
CF 9 England Tommy Mooney
CM 10Australia Richard Johnson
CF 11England Nick Wright  87'
Substitutes:
MF 12Scotland Allan Smart  75'
GK 13England Chris Day
DF 14Israel Alon Hazan  87'
Manager:
England Graham Taylor

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level.
  • 3 named substitutes.
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions.

Key


See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Nationwide League Division 1 fixtures". Blind, Stupid and Desperate. Retrieved 25 October 2009.

External links

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