2000 Football League Second Division play-off Final

The 2000 Football League Second Division play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2000, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Second Division to the First Division of The Football League in the 1999–2000 season. Gillingham faced Wigan Athletic in one of the last competitive fixtures to be played at the original Wembley Stadium. It was Gillingham's second consecutive appearance in the Second Division play-off final after a defeat to Manchester City the previous season. Wigan had been defeated in the semi-finals the previous season and had never previously reached a play-off final. The teams reached the 2000 final by defeating Stoke City and Millwall respectively in the semi-finals.

2000 Football League Second Division play-off Final
The final took place at Wembley Stadium.
Wigan Athletic Gillingham
2 3
After extra time
Date28 May 2000
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeRob Styles (Hampshire)
Attendance53,764

The final drew a crowd of just under 54,000 and was refereed by Rob Styles. Gillingham took the lead in the first half when Wigan defender Pat McGibbon scored an own goal under pressure from Iffy Onuora. Wigan equalised shortly after half-time, and believed they had taken the lead when Gillingham's Nicky Southall blocked a shot from Wigan's Arjan de Zeeuw; Southall appeared to be standing behind the goal line, which would have meant that the ball had entered the goal, but the assistant referee ruled otherwise. The score after the regulation 90 minutes was 1–1 so the match went into extra time. During the extra period Wigan took a 2–1 lead when Stuart Barlow scored a penalty kick, but Gillingham scored two goals in the last six minutes through Steve Butler and Andy Thomson, both of whom had come on as substitutes, to win 3–2. Gillingham thus gained promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in the club's 107-year history.

Both managers left their respective jobs after the match. Wigan's John Benson had always intended to step down at the end of the season; Gillingham hoped to retain the services of Peter Taylor but he chose to leave and take the manager's job at Leicester City.

Route to the final
Main article: 1999–2000 Football League § Second Division
Football League Second Division final table, leading positions[1]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Preston North End 46 28 11 7 74 37 +37 95
2 Burnley 46 25 13 8 69 47 +22 88
3 Gillingham 46 25 10 11 79 48 +31 85
4 Wigan Athletic 46 22 17 7 72 38 +34 83
5 Millwall 46 23 13 10 76 50 +26 82
6 Stoke City 46 23 13 10 68 42 +26 82

In the 1999–2000 Football League season, the teams finishing in the top two positions in the Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system, would gain automatic promotion to the First Division. The teams finishing between third and sixth inclusive would compete in the play-offs for the third and final promotion place.[1] Gillingham finished the season in third place, one position ahead of Wigan Athletic. On the final day of the league season, Gillingham had the opportunity to finish in second place in the table and thereby clinch an automatic promotion place, but a 1–0 defeat away to Wrexham meant that Burnley were able to overtake them thanks to their 2–1 win over Scunthorpe United.[2] Wigan had looked on course for an automatic promotion place in the first half of the season but the team's form fell away dramatically after Christmas.[3]

In the play-off semi-finals, Wigan were paired with fifth-placed Millwall and Gillingham with sixth-place finishers Stoke City. In the first leg of their semi-final away to Stoke, Gillingham conceded two goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Although Ty Gooden scored a goal for the "Gills" after 18 minutes, Stoke extended their lead to 3–1 in the second half. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Andy Hessenthaler scored a goal for Gillingham, making the final score 3–2.[4][5] Wigan drew 0–0 in the first leg against Millwall, with the BBC noting that both teams appeared "edgy from the outset and perhaps too anxious to impress".[4] After the first legs, the BBC still regarded the outcome of both semi-finals as difficult to predict.[4]

Four days after the first leg matches took place, Wigan defeated Millwall 1–0 in the second leg to win by the same score on aggregate and clinch a place at Wembley; midfielder Darren Sheridan scored the only goal of the game in the second half. Reserve goalkeeper Derek Stillie played in place of Roy Carroll, who had recently undergone an appendix operation,[6] and was praised for his tenacious performance.[7] Gillingham's second leg match was an emotionally-charged game, and before half-time Stoke's Clive Clarke was sent off, reducing his team to ten men. Early in the second half, Graham Kavanagh was also dismissed, leaving Stoke with just nine players. Barry Ashby scored a goal for Gillingham to bring the aggregate score level at 3–3, and with the scores level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time was required. During the additional 30 minutes, Iffy Onuora and Paul Smith scored further goals for Gillingham, who thus secured victory by a final aggregate score of 5–3.[7][8] Stoke manager Gudjon Thordarson was critical of the performance of referee Rob Styles, saying "The almighty God was looking elsewhere. Even He can’t put consistency into the referees".[9]

Wigan Athletic Gillingham
Opponent Result Legs Round Opponent Result Legs
Millwall 1–0 0–0 away; 1–0 home Semi-finals Stoke City 5–3 2–3 away; 3–0 home

Background
Gillingham fans waving banners before the match

Gillingham were appearing in the play-off final for a second consecutive season. In the 1998–99 season, the "Gills" had qualified for the final but been defeated by Manchester City.[10] Wigan had also competed in the previous season's play-offs but lost to Manchester City at the semi-final stage; the club had never reached a play-off final, but had played at Wembley on three previous occasions, most recently in the previous season's Football League Trophy.[11] Neither Gillingham nor Wigan had competed higher than the third tier of English football in their history, so whichever team emerged victorious would reach the second level for the first time.[12] The teams had met twice during the regular season, each team winning at their home stadium; Wigan won 2–0 at the JJB Stadium in December and Gillingham won 2–1 at Priestfield Stadium in April.[13] The odds on both teams were considered to be equal, at 5–6.[14]

The play-off final drew an attendance of 53,764, much lower than the figure of 76,935 recorded at the equivalent fixture in the previous season,[15] and there was a significant disparity in the number of tickets sold to the fans of the two clubs, with only around 10,000 Wigan fans in attendance compared to over 40,000 Gillingham fans.[12] A specific revenue figure for the match was not made public, but half of the gate receipts went to The Football League to distribute amongst its member clubs, with Gillingham and Wigan each receiving twenty-five per cent.[16] Rob Styles was chosen to referee the match; although he had been criticised by the defeated manager after the semi-final match between Gillingham and Stoke City, his performance was rated highly by the referee's assessor, and his appointment to take charge of the final was seen as a reward for his handling of the earlier game.[9] The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports 2 with commentary provided by Rob Hawthorne and Alan Brazil.[17] As both teams usually wore predominantly blue kits, a coin was tossed to determine which would have to wear their second-choice colours; Wigan won the toss, meaning that Gillingham wore their second-choice kit of all-yellow.[18] The guest of honour was Philip Williamson, retail operations director of the Nationwide Building Society, the principal sponsor of the Football League, who was accompanied by Peter Middleton, the chairman of the League, and David Dent, the secretary of the Football Association, the governing body of all football in England.[19] One of the Gillingham mascots was Andy Hessenthaler's six-year-old son Jake, who would go on to play professionally for the club himself.[20][21]

Gillingham manager Peter Taylor picked seven of the players who had started the previous season's play-off final,[15] but made the decision to leave the team's captain, Paul Smith, out of the starting line-up due to personal issues, which led to the player requesting a transfer.[22] Wigan manager John Benson, who was taking charge of the team for the last time before the appointment of a new manager,[12] picked the same eleven players who had started the second leg of the play-off semi-final; the line-up included five players who had played at Wembley in the previous season's Football League Trophy final.[23] There was media speculation that Benson would recall goalkeeper Roy Carroll, by now fully recovered from his operation,[6] but ultimately he opted to again select Derek Stillie, and Carroll was named as one of the substitutes.[24] Stuart Barlow, the club's top scorer during the regular season, had recovered from an operation on his ankle and it was anticipated that he would be named as a substitute, but he was ultimately named in the starting line-up.[25] Both teams adopted a 3–5–2 formation.[26]

Match

First half
Gillingham's Andy Hessenthaler was involved in the build-up to the first goal.

Approximately 90 minutes before the game a hailstorm had occurred, but by 3.00pm the sky was clear.[27] After the players were presented to the guest of honour, Gillingham kicked off the match.[28] Wigan were the stronger team in the early part of the game, with Darren Sheridan dominating the midfield play and Andy Liddell causing problems for Gillingham's defenders.[29] Simon Haworth of Wigan had the first goalscoring opportunity after less than four minutes with a header, but Gillingham goalkeeper Vince Bartram made a comfortable save.[30] As the 15-minute mark approached, the ball had been in the third of the pitch closest to the goal being defended by Gillingham for almost twice as much time as in the third closest to the other goal.[31]

After 26 minutes, Liddell hit the crossbar with a long-range shot on goal.[29][32]

Gillingham took the lead after 35 minutes after Andy Hessenthaler passed to Carl Asaba, whose shot was deflected into his own goal by Wigan defender Pat McGibbon, under pressure from Iffy Onuora.[29][33] Wigan's Arjan de Zeeuw attempted to keep the ball out of the goal, but after checking with his assistant referee, referee Rob Styles ruled that the ball had crossed the line and awarded a goal to Gillingham.[34][35] Shortly afterwards, Wigan were awarded a free kick just outside Gillingham's penalty area, but Neil Redfearn's kick went over the crossbar.[36] In the final minute of the first half, Gillingham received a free kick approximately 35 yards (32 m) from the Wigan goal, but Nicky Southall's kick came to nothing.[37] There were no further goalscoring opportunities and at half-time the score remained 1–0 to Gillingham.[29] Former Gillingham manager Tony Pulis, working as a pundit on the Sky Sports 2 broadcast, picked out Liddell as Wigan's key player and stated that his team-mates needed to get the ball to him more frequently in the second half if they wished to get back into the game.[38]

Second half

Wigan again dominated play after the half-time interval and equalised in the 53rd minute.[33] Wigan's de Zeeuw crossed the ball from a wide position and Simon Haworth flicked it up and then hit a shot from 6 yards (5.5 m) out past Bartram and into the net, to score what Phil Shaw of The Independent described as "one of Wembley's great goals".[29]

In the 65th minute, de Zeeuw's header was cleared off the line by Gillingham's Southall, who appeared to be standing behind the goal line.[33][35] The Wigan players and supporters began to celebrate, believing that the ball had in fact crossed the line and entered the goal, but the assistant referee ruled otherwise, meaning that the score remained 1–1.[33]

Gillingham had several chances on goal in the latter stages of the game, but Wigan goalkeeper Derek Stillie prevented any further goalscoring.[29] Four minutes before the end of the game, Southall received the ball near the touchline but was fouled by Wigan defender Kevin Sharp. The Wigan player had already been cautioned for dissent,[34] and so was sent off by referee Styles for his second offence, reducing his team to ten men.[29][33][34][39] The match remained deadlocked at 1–1 after 90 minutes and therefore went into extra time.[33]

Extra time
Darren Sheridan of Wigan, who was involved in a pivotal moment in extra time

In the early stages of extra time, Wigan again looked stronger despite their numerical disadvantage.[29] Five minutes into the extra period, Gillingham made a second substitution, bringing on Andy Thomson to replace fellow striker Onuora.[40] Shortly afterwards, as Darren Sheridan received the ball in the Gillingham penalty area, he fell to the ground under pressure from Gillingham's Barry Ashby.[33] Although the commentary team believed that Ashby had only made minimal contact, he was adjudged to have fouled Sheridan and referee Styles awarded a penalty kick to Wigan.[41] Stuart Barlow took the kick and scored to give his team a 2–1 lead.[33][34] Shortly before the end of the first half of extra time, Gillingham manager Taylor made his final substitution, bringing on striker Steve Butler to replace defender Ashby.[42] Butler, a 38-year-old veteran, had played only sporadically during the season, appearing in the starting line-up on just three occasions.[43] At the same time, Wigan replaced Liddell with former club captain Carl Bradshaw.[44]

Wigan made their final substitution before the second half of extra time began, replacing Haworth with Jeff Peron.[45] Less than three minutes into the second period, Ian Kilford had the chance to extend Wigan's lead, which according to the commentators would have "killed Gillingham off", but his shot went narrowly wide of the goal.[46] Moments later, Butler headed in a cross from Junior Lewis to level the match once again.[29][33] With approximately six minutes of the match remaining Hessenthaler was brought down by a Wigan defender and Gillingham appealed for a penalty, but the referee did not award one and subsequently cautioned Hessenthaler for arguing with him.[47] In the 118th minute, Lewis passed the ball to Ty Gooden, who crossed the ball from close to the left touchline into the Wigan penalty area, prompting commentator Hawthorne to exclaim "Gooden....and that is a good 'un!"[48] Thomson beat Stuart Balmer to the ball and headed it past Stillie to give his team the lead with only two minutes remaining.[33] Wigan were unable to score any further goals in the short time remaining, and the match finished 3–2 to Gillingham.[33]

Details
Wigan Athletic2–3 (a.e.t.)Gillingham
Haworth  59'
Barlow  99' (pen.)		 Report McGibbon  35' (o.g.)
Butler  114'
Thomson  118'
Attendance: 53,764
Wigan Athletic
Gillingham
GK13Derek Stillie
RWB14Scott Green
DF4Pat McGibbon
DF5Stuart Balmer (c)
DF6Arjan de Zeeuw
LWB3Kevin Sharp  86'
MF18Ian Kilford
MF32Neil Redfearn 84'
MF22Darren Sheridan
FW9Simon Haworth 106'
FW7Andy Liddell 105'
Substitutes:
FW11Stuart Barlow 84'
GK1Roy Carroll
MF29Jeff Peron 106'
DF15Gareth Griffiths
DF2Carl Bradshaw 105'
Manager:
John Benson
GK1Vince Bartram
RWB7Nicky Southall
DF17Adrian Pennock (c)
DF5Barry Ashby 105'
DF6Guy Butters
LWB3Roland Edge 61'
MF8Andy Hessenthaler
MF24Junior Lewis
MF11Ty Gooden
FW9Carl Asaba
FW29Iffy Onuora 95'
Substitutes:
MF4Paul Smith 61'
FW26Steve Butler 105'
FW27Andy Thomson 95'
GK38Steve Mautone
DF12Nyron Nosworthy
Manager:
Peter Taylor

Post-match
Gillingham manager Peter Taylor left his post shortly after leading the team to promotion.

After the final whistle Gillingham's temporary captain Adrian Pennock received the winners' trophy jointly with the team's usual captain, Paul Smith, who had come on as a substitute.[49] Peter Taylor commented that "These players, especially the ones that were here last year, deserved it. All season they've shown unbelievable character, and that's what they have done today. They never know when they are beaten." John Benson, commenting particularly on the goal which Wigan felt they were denied, said that "You feel cheated, but decisions like that are part of the game".[50] The day after the game, the victorious players and officials, along with their families, took part in a celebratory open-top bus parade of Gillingham and were the guests of honour at a civic reception hosted by the town's mayor.[51][52]

In the aftermath of the match, Gillingham offered a new contract to manager Peter Taylor, but two weeks after leading the club to victory at Wembley he left to take over as manager of Premier League team Leicester City.[53] Wigan manager John Benson had already announced before the play-off final that he would be leaving his post whatever the result,[6] and he was replaced by Bruce Rioch.[54] Following Taylor's departure, Paul Smith withdrew his transfer request, intimating that he no longer felt the need to leave the club now that Taylor had departed;[22] he would remain at the club for a further five years.[55] Andy Hessenthaler was appointed to replace Taylor in a player-manager capacity.[56]

As a result of their victory, Gillingham gained promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in the club's 107-year history,[33] and went on to spend five seasons at that level.[57] Wigan reached the Second Division play-offs for a third season in a row in the 2000–01 season but once again failed to achieve promotion, losing at the semi-final stage to Reading.[58] The club finally gained promotion to the second tier of English football in the 2002–03 season and achieved further promotion to the Premier League two years later.[59][60]

The match was the penultimate game to take place at the original Wembley Stadium. The following day's First Division play-off Final was the last match to take place at the stadium before it was demolished and a new stadium of the same name built in its place.[61]

References
General
  • Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2-3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final. Gillingham F.C. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021 – via YouTube.
Specific
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  40. Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2-3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 02:32:20–02:32:40
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