1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final

Association football match June 2017 April 2021 1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final 1988–89 Football League Fourth Division Wrexham 1 Leyton Orient 2 First leg 0 0 30 May 1989 Racecourse Ground Wrexham 7,915 Second leg 1 2 3 June 1989 Brisbane Road Leyton 13,355 1988 1990 The 1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final was an association football match played over two legs between Wrexham and Leyton Orient on 30 May and 3 June 1989. The final was to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of English football, to the Third Division. The top three teams of the 1988–89 Football League Fourth Division season, Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Crewe Alexandra, gained automatic promotion to the Third Division, while those placed from fourth to seventh in the league competed in the play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals played against each other for the final place in the Third Division for the 1989–90 season. Leyton Orient ended the season in sixth position, one place ahead of Wrexham, while Scarborough and Scunthorpe United were the other semi-finalists. The first leg of the final was played at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham and ended goalless. The second leg took place at Brisbane Road in Leyton four days later and a minute before half-time, Leyton Orient took the lead when Lee Harvey struck the ball past Mike Salmon in the Wrexham goal from the right of the penalty area. One minute into the second half, Jon Bowden equalised for Wrexham when he was unmarked at the near post and headed in a cross. With eight minutes of the match remaining, Mark Cooper received the ball from Harvey before swivelling and striking it past Salmon to make it 2–1. Leyton Orient won the match and tie, and were promoted to the Third Division. Leyton Orient's next season saw them finish in fourteenth position in the Third Division. Wrexham ended their following season in 21st place in the Fourth Division. Route to the final 1988–89 Football League#Fourth Division main WDL Q right auto Football League Fourth Division final table, leading positions ROT Rotherham United TRA Tranmere Rovers CRE Crewe Alexandra SCU Scunthorpe United SCA Scarborough LEY Leyton Orient WRE Wrexham 22 16 8 76 35 21 17 8 62 43 21 15 10 67 48 21 14 11 77 57 21 14 11 67 52 21 12 13 86 50 19 14 13 77 63 complete https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-four/1989/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 20 April 2021 League Division Four end of season table for 1988–89 season 20 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210420083758/https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-four/1989/ live Leyton Orient finished the regular 1988–89 season in sixth position in the Football League Fourth Division – the fourth tier of the English football league system – one place and four points ahead of Wrexham. Both missed out on the three automatic places for promotion to the Third Division and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Scunthorpe United and Scarborough, to determine the fourth promoted team. Leyton Orient finished three points behind Crewe Alexandra (who were promoted in third place), five behind Tranmere Rovers (promoted as runners-up) and seven behind league winners Rotherham United. Wrexham's opposition for their play-off semi-final were Scunthorpe United and the first match of the two-legged tie was held at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on 21 May 1989. Darren Wright put the home side into the lead after two minutes when he scored from a free kick. David Cowling then equalised for Scunthorpe with a mishit cross from around 30 yd. Ollie Kearns scored twice, each time with a header, to give Wrexham a 3–1 victory. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19890522/498/0047 British Newspaper Archive subscription Liverpool Echo 21 April 2021 22 May 1989 47 Wrexham on right course The second leg took place four days later at Glanford Park in Scunthorpe. Kevin Russell gave the visitors the lead in the first half before Scunthorpe lost both Paul Nicol and Cowling to injury. Russell then scored his and Wrexham's second goal, giving them a 2–0 win and a 5–1 aggregate victory to see them progress to the final. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001730/19890525/464/0065 Wrexham take on Orient in final British Newspaper Archive subscription 21 April 2021 25 May 1989 65 Evening Herald Leyton Orient faced Scarborough in the other semi-final with the first leg being played at Brisbane Road in Leyton on 21 May 1989. Mark Cooper gave the home side the lead after six minutes with a header. He scored his and Leyton Orient's second in the 83rd minute from a free kick to give his side a 2–0 win. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117158373/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=STND&xid=4b209456 22 May 1989 The Times Gale subscription Blackburn fail to gain the initiative Louise Taylor 21 April 2021 The return leg was held three days later at the McCain Stadium in Scarborough. The home side applied most of the pressure including shots from Paul Olsson and Chris Short, and a goalline clearance from Kevin Hales, but the first half ended goalless. Martin Russell scored in the 70th minute to give Scarborough the lead. Despite losing the match 1–0, Leyton Orient progressed to the final with a 2–1 aggregate win. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117157031/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=STND&xid=589bdd16 25 May 1989 The Times Gale subscription Orient are cleared to qualify Martin Searby 21 April 2021 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163045/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA117157031&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=589bdd16 live Match Background Neither Wrexham nor Leyton Orient had participated in the English Football League play-offs prior to this season. https://www.fchd.info/WREXHAM.HTM Wrexham Football Club History Database 21 April 2021 19 September 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200919181446/http://www.fchd.info/WREXHAM.HTM live https://www.fchd.info/LEYTONOR.HTM Leyton Orient Football Club History Database 21 April 2021 28 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210128014400/https://www.fchd.info/LEYTONOR.HTM live Wrexham had played in the Fourth Division since being relegated from the Third in the 1982–83 season while Leyton Orient had played in the fourth tier since being relegated there (as Orient) in the 1984–85 season. https://www.fchd.info/ORIENT.HTM Orient Football Club History Database 21 April 2021 18 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210418214706/https://www.fchd.info/ORIENT.HTM live Both sides had won their away game in the matches between them during the regular season: Wrexham secured a 1–0 victory at Brisbane Road in December 1988 while Leyton Orient won by the same scoreline at the Racecourse Ground the following April. https://www.11v11.com/teams/leyton-orient/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Wrexham/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 21 April 2021 Leyton Orient football club: record v Wrexham 19 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210419225035/https://www.11v11.com/teams/leyton-orient/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Wrexham/ live First leg Summary The first leg of the play-off final took place at the Racecourse Ground on 30 May 1989 in front a crowd of 7,915,Foster 2015 199 Wrexham's largest attendance of the season. The referee for the match was Terry Holbrook. Ian Ross, writing in The Times, described the playing surface as "so dry as to make the bounce of the ball unpredictable". Although those conditions did not favour Leyton Orient whose "attempts to play cohesive football floundered", they had the first opportunity to score when a free kick from Kevin Dickenson struck the Wrexham crossbar from a Cooper header. Alan Comfort played in a number of crosses but none were converted by his Leyton Orient colleagues. Wrexham were limited to long-range chances, to no avail, and the match ended in a goalless draw. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117156050/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=STND&xid=bfbad129 Gale 21 April 2021 The Times Orient's revival on course 31 May 1989 subscription Ian Ross 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163105/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA117156050&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=bfbad129 live Details uncollapsed 1 30 May 1989 Wrexham 0–0 Leyton Orient Racecourse Ground, Wrexham 7,915 Terry Holbrook GK 1 Mike SalmonRB 2 Neil SalathielCB 3 Darren WrightCB 4 Geoff Hunter LB 5 Nigel BeaumontRM 6 Joey JonesCM 7 Andy Thackeray CM 8 Brian FlynnLM 9 Ollie KearnsCF 10Kevin RussellCF 11Jon BowdenSubstitutes:FW 12Steve Buxton Manager:Dixie McNeil GK 1 Paul HealdRB 2 Terry HowardCB 3 Kevin DickensonCB 4 Kevin Hales LB 5 Keith DayRM 6 John SittonCM 7 Steve Baker CM 8 Steve CastleFW 9 Lee Harvey FW 10Mark CooperLM 11Alan Comfort Substitutes:FW 12Paul Ward Manager:Frank Clark Second leg Summary The second leg of the final was held at Brisbane Road on 3 June 1989 in front of a crowd of 13,355.Foster 2015 199 The referee for the game was J. Martin and kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes as the large attendance was safely introduced to the ground. A minute before half-time, Leyton Orient took the lead when Lee Harvey struck the ball past Mike Salmon in the Wrexham goal from the right of the penalty area. One minute into the second half, Jon Bowden equalised for Wrexham when he was unmarked at the near post and headed in a cross. With eight minutes of the match remaining, Cooper received the ball from Harvey before swivelling and striking it past Salmon to make it 2–1. Leyton Orient won the match and tie, and were promoted to the Third Division. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/76196363/the-observer/ Newspapers.com Louise Taylor 21 April 2021 4 June 1989 The Observer Orient up 24 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163103/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/76196363/the-observer/ live Details uncollapsed 1 3 June 1989 Leyton Orient 2–1 2–1 Wrexham Harvey 44 Cooper 82 Bowden 46 Brisbane Road, Leyton 13,355 J. Martin GK 1 Paul HealdRB 2 Terry HowardCB 3 Kevin Dickenson CB 4 Kevin Hales LB 5 Keith DayRM 6 John SittonCM 7 Steve Baker CM 8 Steve CastleFW 9 Lee Harvey FW 10Mark CooperLM 11Alan Comfort Substitutes:FW 12Paul Ward Manager:Frank Clark GK 1 Mike SalmonRB 2 Neil SalathielCB 3 Darren WrightCB 4 Geoff Hunter LB 5 Nigel BeaumontRM 6 Joey JonesCM 7 Andy Thackeray CM 8 Brian Flynn LM 9 Ollie KearnsCF 10Kevin RussellCF 11Jon BowdenSubstitutes:FW 12Steve Buxton MF 13Graham Cooper Manager:Dixie McNeil Post-match Frank Clark, the winning manager, said "I do not feel sorry for [Wrexham] but I feel for them." https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/76196580/the-guardian/ The Guardian Cooper's late winner allows Orient and Comfort to get there in the end Jeremy Alexander 21 April 2021 5 June 1989 14 Newspapers.com 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163108/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/76196580/the-guardian/ live He added that "Going back into the third won't make us a million... But it's a start." https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A117155204/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=STND&xid=cd45c510 The Times 21 April 2021 Orient's home comforts Dennis Signy 5 June 1989 Gale subscription 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163046/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CA117155204&v=2.1&it=r&sid=STND&asid=cd45c510 live His counterpart Dixie McNeil said "the lads fought hard all the way." He left Wrexham in November 1989 and was replaced by Brian Flynn. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/76197146/the-guardian/ The Guardian Untitled 21 April 2021 Newspapers.com 3 November 1989 20 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163052/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/76197146/the-guardian/ live After the match, Comfort departed by helicopter for Heathrow Airport to catch a flight to Ireland where he was to be married later that afternoon. Wrexham ended their following season in 21st place in the Fourth Division. https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-four/1990/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 21 April 2021 League Division Four end of season table for 1989–90 season 21 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210421163106/https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-four/1990/ live Leyton Orient's next season saw them finish in fourteenth position in the Third Division. https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/1990/ 11v11 AFS Enterprises 21 April 2021 League Division Three end of season table for 1989–90 season 19 April 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210419202558/https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-three/1990/ live References Bibliography The Agony & The Ecstasy (A Comprehensive History of the Football League play-offs) Richard Foster 978-1-910906-00-2 Ockley Books 2015 4 Category:EFL League Two play-off finals Play-off Final 1989 Play-off Final 1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final Football League Fourth Division play-off final Football League Fourth Division play-off final Football League Fourth Division play-off final Category:Football competitions in Wrexham