1999 Football League Second Division play-off final

December 2017 April 2021 1999 Football League Second Division play-off final Manchester City 2 Gillingham 2 Wembley Stadium Twin Towers.jpg The final took place at Wembley Stadium (pictured in 2002). Wembley Stadium Manchester City won 3–1 on penalties 30 May 1999 Wembley Stadium London Mark Halsey (Welwyn Garden City) 76,935 1998 2000 The 1999 Football League Second Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 30 May 1999 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Manchester City and Gillingham. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Second Division, the third tier of English football, to the First Division. The top two teams of the 1998–99 Football League Second Division season gained automatic promotion to the First Division, while the clubs placed from third to sixth in the table took part in play-offs. Manchester City ended the season in third position while Gillingham were fourth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place in the First Division for the 1999–2000 season. In the semi-finals, Gillingham defeated Preston North End and Manchester City beat Wigan Athletic. It was Gillingham's first match at Wembley Stadium, although Manchester City had played there on eleven previous occasions. The final drew a crowd of just under 77,000, the largest crowd to ever witness a Gillingham match, and was refereed by Mark Halsey. The match was scoreless until the 81st minute, when Carl Asaba gave Gillingham the lead. Robert Taylor added a second goal five minutes later. Kevin Horlock scored for City in the 90th minute to halve the deficit and, in the fifth minute of injury time, Paul Dickov scored an equaliser to make the score 2–2 and send the game into extra time. With no further goals being scored, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out, which City won 3–1 to gain promotion. Manchester City's next season saw them secure automatic promotion to the FA Premier League after ending their campaign as runners-up. Gillingham finished their following season in third place in the Second Division and qualified for the play-offs again, where they secured promotion to the First Division with a 3–2 victory against Wigan Athletic in the final. Route to the final main WDL Q right auto Football League Second Division final table, leading positions FUL Fulham WAL Walsall MCI Manchester City GIL Gillingham PNE Preston North End WIG Wigan Athletic 31 8 7 79 32 26 9 11 63 47 22 16 8 69 33 22 14 10 75 44 22 13 11 77 50 22 10 14 75 48 complete https://uk.soccerway.com/national/england/league-one/1998-1999/regular-season/r1957/ Soccerway 28 February 2021 League One – 1998/1999 – Regular season Perform Group 17 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151017181530/http://uk.soccerway.com/national/england/league-one/1998-1999/regular-season/r1957/ live The teams finishing in the top two positions in the Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system, in the 1998–99 Football League season gained automatic promotion to the First Division.https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng99.html England 1998/99 RSSSF 20 December 1999 10 April 2021 23 October 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181023130001/http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/eng99.html live The teams finishing between third and sixth inclusive competed in the play-offs for the third and final promotion place. Manchester City finished the regular season in third place, two points ahead of fourth-placed Gillingham. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the First Division and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Preston North End and Wigan Athletic, to determine the third promoted team. Manchester City finished five points behind Walsall (who were promoted in second place) and nineteen behind league winners Fulham. Gillingham's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Preston North End, with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at Deepdale in Preston on 16 May 1999. After a goalless first half, David Eyres put Preston ahead in the 54th minute. Robert Taylor equalised with 11 minutes to go and the match ended 1–1. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74999770/the-guardian/ The Guardian 3 April 2021 Newspapers.com Gills equal to the task 17 May 1999 28 Ian Winrow The second leg was held three days later at Priestfield Stadium in Gillingham. Within two minutes of the start of the match, Gillingham took the lead through Andy Hessenthaler: Barry Ashby passed to Carl Asaba who guided the ball to Hessenthaler to score. Gillingham dominated the remainder of the half and, despite pressure from Preston after the interval, they held onto their lead; Vince Bartram, the Gillingham goalkeeper, dived full-length across his goal to keep out a strike from Jon Macken. The match ended 1–0 and Gillingham progressed to the final with a 2–1 aggregate victory. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74999870/the-guardian/ The Guardian 3 April 2021 Newspapers.com Hessenthaler leads men of Kent to Wembley Trevor Haylett 32 20 May 1999 Manchester City faced Wigan Athletic in their semi-final and the first leg was played at Springfield Park in Wigan on 15 May 1999. Within 20 seconds, the home side had taken the lead: a misunderstanding between Manchester City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver and his team-mate Gerard Wiekens allowed Stuart Barlow to score from 15 yd. Paul Dickov equalised with 13 minutes of the match remaining and the game ended 1–1. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/259580455/the-guardian/ The Guardian 3 April 2021 Newspapers.com Dickov quells fear of the faithful 17 May 1999 28 Ian Whittell April 2024 InternetArchiveBot yes The second leg took place four days later at Maine Road in Manchester. City dominated the early stages and took the lead in the 27th minute through Shaun Goater, who put the ball past Roy Carroll in the Wigan goal with his chest from a Michael Brown cross. With four minutes remaining, a shot by Wigan's Graeme Jones struck the crossbar. The match ended 1–0 and Manchester City progressed to the final 2–1 on aggregate. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74999840/the-guardian/ The Guardian 3 April 2021 Newspapers.com Goater's goal makes City slicker 20 May 1999 32 Richard Ashley Manchester CityGillinghamOpponentResultLegsRoundOpponentResultLegsWigan Athletic2–11–1 away; 1–0 homeSemi-finalsPreston North End2–11–1 away; 1–0 home Match Background The match was Gillingham's first appearance at Wembley Stadium, the country's national stadium and the venue reserved for major tournament finals since 1923. Elligate David Gillingham FC On This Day Pitch Publishing 2009 9781905411450 Durrington 97 Manchester City, by comparison, had played there on eleven previous occasions in FA Cup and League Cup finals.Nationwide Football Annual 2013–2014 2014 SportsBooks Limited 9781907524387 Stuart Barnes Cheltenham 150, 155 Gillingham were aiming to reach the second tier of English football for the first time in their history,31 Pete Lansley Football: Taylor believes Gills will pass character test The Independent 27 May 2000 https://www.proquest.com/docview/311630440 subscription 11 February 2021 30 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210330110946/https://www.proquest.com/docview/311630440/D6C4786F02BE4D3CPQ/1 311630440 live whereas their opponents had spent more than 100 seasons in the top two tiers and had played in the top-level FA Premier League as recently as the 1995–96 season.The History of English Football Clubs 181 Colin Mitchell Jon Reeves Daniel Tyler New Holland Publishers London 2013 9781780094496 At the end of the 1997–98 season, City had been relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time.https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-1998-relegation-side-18179348 What happened to the Man City team relegated from the First Division in 1998? Carrie Dunn Manchester Evening News 2 May 2020 1 April 2021 26 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210426143321/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-1998-relegation-side-18179348 live This season saw the first competitive matches between the sides: the first game, at Maine Road in November 1998, ended in a goalless draw while the return match played at Priestfield the following April ended in a 2–0 victory for Manchester City. https://www.11v11.com/teams/manchester-city/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Gillingham/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 3 April 2021 Manchester City football club: record v Gillingham 26 September 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190926195949/https://www.11v11.com/teams/manchester-city/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Gillingham/ live Asaba was the season's top scorer for Gillingham with 22 goals (20 in the league and 2 in the Football League Trophy) followed by Taylor, who scored 19 goals in the regular season (16 in the league and 3 in the Football League Trophy). https://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=1098&teamTabs=stats&season_id=128 Soccerbase Centurycomm 3 April 2021 Gillingham squad details – 1998/99 – Player appearances Manchester City's Goater was leading scorer for his side, with 20 goals (17 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 2 in the League Cup) followed by Dickov on 13 (10 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 2 in the League Cup) and Kevin Horlock with 10 (all in the league). https://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=1718&teamTabs=stats&season_id=128 Soccerbase Centurycomm 3 April 2021 Man City squad details – 1998/99 – Player appearances 27 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210727150723/https://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=1718&teamTabs=stats&season_id=128 live Gillingham manager Tony Pulis picked the same eleven players in his starting line-up as in the second leg of the semi-final. His opposite number, Joe Royle, made one change, selecting Andy Morrison in place of Tony Vaughan, who was instead named as one of the substitutes. The referee for the match was Mark Halsey, from Welwyn Garden City. https://www.11v11.com/matches/gillingham-v-manchester-city-30-may-1999-307136/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 3 April 2021 Gillingham v Manchester City, 30 May 1999 27 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210727150711/https://www.11v11.com/matches/gillingham-v-manchester-city-30-may-1999-307136/ live The play-off final drew an attendance of 76,935, the largest crowd ever to watch a Gillingham match. It was a new record attendance for the third-tier play-off final and a larger attendance than that for the First Division play-off final the following day.45–46 Stuart Barnes 2009 Nationwide Football Annual 2009–2010 SportsBooks Limited Cheltenham 9781899807819 Liam and Noel Gallagher of the rock band Oasis were among the Manchester City fans in attendance.https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/356672.stm Sport: Football: Shoot-out success for City BBC News 30 May 1999 4 April 2021 2 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210402082849/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/356672.stm live Summary thumb|right|upright|alt=Footballer Paul Dickov|Paul Dickov (pictured in 2008) scored the equalising goal five minutes into injury time. The match kicked off at around 3.00p.m. on 30 May 1999. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/82279156/the-observer/ Newspapers.com The Observer Royle's antidote for Cityitis bug 27 July 2021 74 Amy Lawrence 30 May 1999 In the first minute, Dickov's overhead kick struck Ashby's hand in the Gillingham penalty area but referee Halsey did not award a penalty kick. Goater then saw his shot hit the Gillingham goalpost. Gillingham's first goal-scoring chance came from Mick Galloway, who had a shot from close range saved by a diving Weaver. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A66592371/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=9833beb6 The Independent 19 July 2021 Gale Football: Royle's Blues rival United; Gillingham 2 Manchester City 2 (aet; Manchester City win 3–1 on penalties) Conrad Leach 31 May 1999 subscription 27 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210727150713/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA66592371&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-STND&asid=9833beb6 live After 26 minutes, City's Terry Cooke crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Horlock headed it towards goal, but it was saved by Gillingham's Bartram. Both teams had further goal-scoring opportunities in the second half. For Gillingham, Nicky Southall crossed the ball to Mark Saunders, but his shot went wide of the goal, and Asaba was tackled by City's Ian Bishop when in a potential scoring position. After 70 minutes, Weaver saved a strongly-hit shot from Gillingham's Paul Smith, and five minutes later Cooke was again involved for City, as he set up Goater, whose shot went past Bartram but hit the goalpost. The BBC characterised much of the match as "ordinary" and suggested that both teams were somewhat overawed by the high-profile setting. The match remained scoreless until the 81st minute, when Asaba gave Gillingham the lead. He played a one-two with Smith before shooting past Weaver from around 15 yd. Taylor added a second goal five minutes later: he found Asaba with a header and received a backheeled return pass before scoring with a shot. With only a minute of normal time left, and two goals behind in the game, many City fans considered that the game had been lost and began to make their way to the exits. However, after Darren Carr had tackled Goater to deny him a goal-scoring opportunity, Horlock scored from the rebound for City to halve the deficit in the 90th minute. In the fifth minute of injury time, Wiekens punted the ball forward, Horlock and Goater helped it on to Dickov who scored an equalising goal. The regulation 90 minutes ended moments later, and with the scores level the game went into extra time. Dickov saw his header gathered by Bartram and although Hodge's cross was blocked by Jeff Whitley's hand, no penalty was awarded. With no goals being scored in the additional 30 minutes, the match and promotion to the First Division would be decided by a penalty shoot-out. Horlock scored the opening penalty for Manchester City before Weaver saved Smith's spot kick. Dickov missed his penalty after it struck both posts, but Adrian Pennock then missed for Gillingham. Cooke made it 2–0 to City before John Hodge scored for Gillingham. Richard Edghill scored for City to make the score 3–1, meaning that City would win if Guy Butters failed to score with Gillingham's fourth penalty. Weaver saved the defender's kick to give Manchester City victory and secure promotion to the First Division. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74999921/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 3 April 2021 Now City turn lost cause into a triumph Trevor Haylett 31 May 1999 25 27 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210727150752/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/74999921/the-guardian/ live https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500231797/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=TTDA&xid=5f472bb6 The Times Gale City stage another Manchester late show 31 31 May 1999 Keith Pike subscription 3 April 2021 27 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210727150804/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=TTDA&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CIF0500231797&v=2.1&it=r&sid=TTDA&asid=5f472bb6 live Details 30 May 1999 15:00 BST Manchester City Gillingham 2–2 yes Horlock 90Dickov 90+5 Asaba 81Taylor 87 Wembley Stadium, London 76,935 Mark Halsey (Lancashire) Report Horlock Dickov Cooke Edghill 3–1 Smith Pennock Hodge Butters _mcfc_away_98-99 _mcfc_away_98-99 _mcfc_away_98-99 _mcfc_away_98-99 _mcfc_away_98-99 Manchester City _black_stripes _blackstripes _black_stripes 0000ff 0000ff 0000ff 000000 000000 Gillingham GK 1Nicky WeaverRB 2Lee Crooks 85LB 3Richard EdghillCB 4Gerard Wiekens CB 5 Andy Morrison (c) 61LM6Kevin HorlockCM7Michael Brown 61CM 8 Jeff WhitleyCF 9 Paul Dickov CF 10Shaun GoaterRM11 Terry CookeSubstitutes:FW 12 Gareth Taylor 85DF13 Tony Vaughan 61MF 14Ian Bishop 61Manager:Joe Royle GK 1 Vince BartramRWB 2 Nicky SouthallCB 3 Barry AshbyCM 4Paul SmithCB 5 Guy ButtersCB6Adrian PennockLWB 7Mark Patterson 105CM 8 Andy Hessenthaler (c)CF 9 Carl Asaba 87CM 10Mick Galloway 56CF 11Robert Taylor Substitutes:MF 12John Hodge 105MF 13Mark Saunders 56DF 14 Darren Carr 87Manager:Tony Pulis Post-match thumb|right|upright|alt=Football manager Tony Pulis|Gillingham manager Tony Pulis (pictured in 2014) was dismissed from his job in controversial circumstances one month after the final. Gillingham manager Pulis was bemused by the amount of time added on by referee Halsey, stating that he "could not believe" the decision to add an additional five minutes. One month after the 1999 final, Pulis was dismissed from his job at Gillingham, amid accusations of gross misconduct on his part, a decision which led to a lengthy and acrimonious court case between Pulis and club owner Paul Scally.https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/apr/26/newsstory.sport1 Pulis 'drank champagne' after sacking The Guardian Jon Brodkin 26 April 2001 1 April 2021 Scally was charged with misconduct by the Football Association (the FA), the governing body of the sport in England, after it emerged that he had placed a series of bets on the play-off final in contravention of the rules governing individuals gambling on matches in which they had a vested interest. He appeared at an FA tribunal the following year and was fined £10,000. Elligate David Gillingham FC On This Day Pitch Publishing 2009 9781905411450 Durrington 116 Manchester City's next season saw them secure automatic promotion to the FA Premier League after ending their campaign as runners-up. https://uk.soccerway.com/national/england/championship/1999-2000/regular-season/r533/ Soccerway Perform Group 3 April 2021 Championship – 1999/2000 – Regular season 27 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210727150728/https://uk.soccerway.com/national/england/championship/1999-2000/regular-season/r533/ live Gillingham, under new manager Peter Taylor, returned to the play-offs in their following season, finishing in third place in the Second Division. They secured promotion to the First Division with a 3–2 victory against Wigan Athletic in the final. https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-2/2000/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 3 April 2021 League Division 2 end of season table for 1999–00 season 27 September 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180927050225/https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-2/2000/ live https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/767702.stm Second time lucky for Gills BBC Sport 28 May 2000 4 July 2021 3 March 2003 https://web.archive.org/web/20030303203928/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/767702.stm live Looking back on the match in 2011, Pulis stated that "[Gillingham] didn't deserve to lose that game... But it made me a much stronger person. You take things out of defeat as well as victory".https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-boss-tony-pulis-out-858693 Stoke boss Tony Pulis out for Wembley revenge on Manchester City Manchester Evening News 18 April 2011 10 April 2021 10 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210410185815/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-boss-tony-pulis-out-858693 live Manchester City's 1999 captain, Morrison, contended in 2018 that the club was at risk of going out of business within a year, if not for their match-winning promotion out of the Second Division.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/09/04/mark-halsey-denied-gillingham-manchester-citys-riches-dark-day/ How Mark Halsey denied Gillingham Manchester City's riches on a dark day in 1999 The Daily Telegraph Daniel Schofield 4 September 2018 4 April 2021 8 September 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180908202313/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/09/04/mark-halsey-denied-gillingham-manchester-citys-riches-dark-day/ live Twenty years after the match, Dickov recalled scoring the equalising goal past his friend and the best man at his wedding, Gillingham goalkeeper Bartram: "There is nothing better than getting one over your mate or reminding him of it a few years later". https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/29/paul-dickov-manchester-city-1999-play-off-final-gillingham The Guardian 5 April 2021 Twenty years after: Paul Dickov and Manchester City's 1999 play-off win Jamie Jackson 29 May 2019 31 March 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210331190130/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/29/paul-dickov-manchester-city-1999-play-off-final-gillingham live As a result of the subsequent success of the club, the Manchester Evening News described the match as "legendary in City's history" and Dickov's celebration of his goal as "iconic". https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-gillingham-wembley-1999-16347459 Manchester Evening News Man City's dramatic 1999 play-off victory keeps getting bigger 30 May 2019 5 April 2021 Simon Bajkowski 29 May 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210529081801/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-gillingham-wembley-1999-16347459 live In 2017, the English Football League (formerly The Football League) described the 1999 final as a "play-off classic". https://www.efl.com/news/2017/may/play-off-classics-gillingham-v-manchester-city/ English Football League Play-Off Classics: Gillingham v Manchester City 18 May 2017 5 April 2021 24 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210124060937/https://www.efl.com/news/2017/may/play-off-classics-gillingham-v-manchester-city/ live Manchester City fans and other commentators regard the game as a crucial first step in the club's revival from the third tier of English football to yearly contenders for the Premier League championship.https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/may/24/joy-of-six-play-off-finals Barry Glendenning Barry Glendenning The Joy of Six: Football League play-off finals The Guardian 30 October 2013 24 May 2013 2 November 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131102204817/http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/may/24/joy-of-six-play-off-finals live References Category:Football League Second Division play-off finals Category:EFL League One play-off finals play Play-off Final 1999 Play-off Final 1999 Category:1999 Football League play-offs Football League Second Division play-off final Football League Second Division play-off final