1996 Football League First Division play-off final

Association football match in London January 2021 1996 Football League First Division play-off final Old Wembley Stadium (external view).jpg Wembley Stadium 200 Crystal Palace 1 Leicester City 2 after extra time 27 May 1996 Wembley Stadium London David Allison (Lancaster) 73,573 1995 1997 The 1996 Football League First Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 27 May 1996 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Crystal Palace and Leicester City. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the Premiership. The top two teams of the 1995–96 Football League First Division season gained automatic promotion to the Premiership, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1996–97 season in the Premiership. Crystal Palace ended the season in third position, two places ahead of Leicester City. They beat Charlton Athletic and Stoke City, respectively, in the semi-finals. The match was played in front of a crowd of 73,573 and was refereed by David Allison from Lancaster. Leicester dominated the early stages of the game but Palace took the lead on 14 minutes with a strike from Andy Roberts. In the 76th minute, Marc Edworthy brought down Muzzy Izzet in the Palace penalty area. Nigel Martyn managed to get a hand to the spot kick but could not stop it going in and levelling the score at 1–1. The game went into extra time and the final minute of the additional period of play, Leicester, anticipating a penalty shootout, substituted in 6 7 tall goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. Seconds later, Steve Claridge struck the winning goal from a Julian Watts header, and eleven seconds after that, the referee blew the final whistle. Leicester won 2–1 and gained promotion to the Premier League. Winning the final marked Leicester City's fifth promotion since they were relegated in the 1968–69 season. In their following season, they finished in ninth place in the Premier League and also won the League Cup. Crystal Palace ended their next campaign in sixth place in the First Division, and were promoted via the play-offs, winning the final 1–0 against Sheffield United with a last-minute goal. Route to the final 1995–96 Football League main WDL Q right auto Football League First Division final table, leading positions SUN Sunderland DER Derby County CRY Crystal Palace STK Stoke City LEI Leicester City CHA Charlton Athletic 22 17 7 59 33 21 16 9 71 51 20 15 11 67 55 20 13 13 60 49 19 14 13 66 60 17 20 9 57 45 complete https://int.soccerway.com/national/england/championship/1995-1996/regular-season Soccerway 28 October 2020 Championship – 1995/1996 – Regular season 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210333/https://int.soccerway.com/national/england/championship/1995-1996/regular-season/r2283/ live Crystal Palace finished the regular 1995–96 season in third place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, two places and four points 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 Stoke City and Charlton Athletic, to determine the third promoted team. Crystal Palace finished four points behind Derby County (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winners Sunderland. Leicester City's opponents in their play-off semi-final were Stoke City, with the first match of the two-legged tie being played at Filbert Street in Leicester on 12 May 1996. The match finished goalless with Kevin Poole, the home team's goalkeeper, making a save in the fifth minute from Graham Potter. Michael Walker, writing in The Guardian, compared the save to Gordon Banks' "save of the century" against Pelé. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62074173/the-guardian/ The Guardian Michael Walker Poole harbours hope 13 May 1996 29 October 2020 21 Newspapers.com 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210331/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62074173/the-guardian/ live https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/gordon-banks-soccer-star-who-made-save-of-the-century-dies-at-81/2019/02/12/c0db4324-2ee7-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html The Washington Post 29 October 2020 Gordon Banks, soccer star who made 'save of the century,' dies at 81 Steve Douglas Rob Harris 12 February 2019 18 February 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190218103816/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/gordon-banks-soccer-star-who-made-save-of-the-century-dies-at-81/2019/02/12/c0db4324-2ee7-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html live The second leg was played three days later at the Victoria Ground in Stoke. After a goalless first half, Garry Parker put Leicester City ahead just 30 seconds into the second. He had been restored to the team after ten games following a disagreement with manager Martin O'Neill, and his volley from a Scott Taylor cross made it 1–0 to the visitors. Leicester City won the tie 1–0 on aggregate and progressed to the final. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62075180/the-guardian/ Newspapers.com The Guardian Ian Ross 16 May 1996 23 29 October 2020 Parker douses Stoke fire 31 October 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201031211938/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62075180/the-guardian/ live Crystal Palace faced Charlton Athletic in the other semi-final; the first leg took place at The Valley on 12 May 1996. Charlton took the lead in the first minute when Shaun Newton capitalised on a rebound from Palace's goalkeeper Nigel Martyn. In the 65th minute, Kenny Brown (who was on loan from West Ham United) scored the equaliser with a volley. Six minutes later Carl Veart's header from a George Ndah overhead kick made it 2–1 to Crystal Palace. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62074500/the-guardian/ The Guardian Russell Thomas Bassett's bark makes Palace bite 21 13 May 1996 29 October 2020 Newspapers.com 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210328/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62074500/the-guardian/ live The return leg took place three days later at Selhurst Park. Ray Houghton scored after three minutes with a floated shot into the far top corner of Charlton's goal. David Whyte had a second-half goal disallowed for Charlton after he was adjudged to have been offside. The match ended 1–0, and 3–1 on aggregate to Crystal Palace. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62075434/the-guardian/ The Guardian Robert Pryce Palace upwardly mobile again 16 May 1996 23 29 October 2020 Newspapers.com 1 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201101094731/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62075434/the-guardian/ live Match Background right|upright|thumb|alt=Martin O'Neill|Martin O'Neill (pictured in 2012) was Leicester City manager. This was Crystal Palace's second appearance in the second-tier play-off final, having won the 1989 final (over two legs) against Blackburn Rovers. https://web.archive.org/web/20161009214128/https://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/9864357/play-off-final-history-stats https://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/9864357/play-off-final-history-stats 9 October 2016 25 May 2015 Sporting Life 6 September 2020 Play-Off Final History & Stats Leicester were appearing in their fourth second-tier play-off final. They had lost in both 1992 and 1993, but won 2–1 against Derby County in the 1994 final to gain promotion to the Premiership. Both clubs were aiming for an instant return to the Premiership having been relegated in the 1994–95 season when they finished in the bottom four. https://int.soccerway.com/national/england/premier-league/1994-1995/round-1/r54/ Soccerway 29 October 2020 Premier League – 1994/1995 23 August 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170823051019/http://int.soccerway.com/national/england/premier-league/1994-1995/round-1/r54/ live In the meetings between the two clubs during the regular season, the away side won each time: Crystal Palace won 3–2 in October 1995 while Leicester secured a 1–0 victory the following April. https://www.11v11.com/teams/leicester-city/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Crystal%20Palace/ 11v11 29 October 2020 AFS Enterprises Leicester City football club: record v Crystal Palace 22 October 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201022152624/https://www.11v11.com/teams/leicester-city/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Crystal%20Palace/ live Leicester City's top scorers were Iwan Roberts with 20 goals (19 in the league and 1 in the League Cup) and Emile Heskey on 7 (all in the league).Smith Taylor 2001 329 Roberts had not played since 9 April, however, when he sustained a rib injury against West Bromwich Albion after a collision with Stacy Coldicott.Smith Taylor 2001 329 https://www.proquest.com/docview/294918279 29 October 2020 Leicester put to flight by Raven The Guardian 10 April 1996 Jeremy Alexander 21 subscription 294918279 Although it was reported in the media that Roberts had recovered, he was not selected for the squad for the play-off final.Smith Taylor 2001 329 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002321/19960526/302/0032 British Newspaper Archive subscription Play-off preview 8 July 2020 26 May 1996 32 Sunday Tribune Dave Hannigan Mark Robins had scored 10 goals in all competitions for Leicester City, with 6 in the league and 4 in the 1995–96 Football League Cup.Rollin Rollin 1996 200–201, 577–581, 602–603 Dougie Freedman had scored the most goals for Crystal Palace during the regular season with 20, all in the league, while Dyer was second-top scorer with a total of 14 goals (13 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup).Rollin Rollin 1996 140–141, 577–581, 602–603 Crystal Palace's Dave Bassett was seeking the seventh promotion of his managerial career. He had taken over at the club four months prior to the final, and led them from sixteenth in the league to third with a run of just four defeats in twenty-two games. O'Neill had been Leicester manager since December 1995 when he left Norwich City after claiming the chairman Robert Chase was not providing sufficient financial support. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62088541/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 29 October 2020 22 December 1995 18 Neil Robinson Cynthia Bateman Vertigo on managerial merry-go-round 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210329/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62088541/the-guardian/ live Despite criticism from fans who were dissatisfied with Leicester's style of play during O'Neill's early tenure, and failing to win in his first nine matches, the team ended the regular season undefeated in their last seven games and qualified for the play-offs on the final day. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62091717/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 29 October 2020 6 May 1996 Mark Redding Leicester Mustafa chance 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210322/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62091717/the-guardian/ live https://www.proquest.com/docview/318582495 29 October 2020 Russell Kempson 24 The Times Walsh ready to put experience to good use 27 May 1996 subscription 318582495 O'Neill had previously managed a team at Wembley, leading Wycombe Wanderers to victory in the 1994 Football League Third Division play-off final and two FA Trophy victories. There was speculation in the media that if Leicester failed to be promoted, they would sell Heskey, with Liverpool being favourites to buy him. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19960527/361/0032 British Newspaper Archive 29 October 2020 Liverpool Echo subscription 32 Philip McNulty Phil McNulty Evans set to pound on £2m Heskey 27 May 1996 Conversely, should Leicester be promoted, it was reported that O'Neill would make a bid for Keith O'Neill who he managed when at Norwich City. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002321/19960526/321/0035 British Newspaper Archive 29 October 2020 Sunday Tribune subscription 35 Bargain Rush 26 May 1996 Dave Hannigan Leicester City's midfielder Taylor had played for Reading, who had lost the previous season's First Division play-off final, and said he was keen to make amends: "It's an awful feeling to be beaten at Wembley... I'm bursting for the opportunity to put it right". https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002341/19960526/491/0089 British Newspaper Archive 29 October 2020 Sunday Life 26 May 1996 O'Neill draws hope from life of Brian... 89 subscription Leicester City's Steve Walsh, who had featured for his club in their previous three play-off finals and scored three times, appeared resolute: "Winning is the only thing... You cannot enjoy losing any final. After so much hard work, after all you've gone through, it's awful." Thomas Russell of The Guardian anticipated that Rob Quinn would make his third start for Crystal Palace. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62105506/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 29 October 2020 27 May 1996 Russell Thomas Managerial miracle workers vie for the final piece 18 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210336/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62105506/the-guardian/ live He had replaced the injured Leif Anderson in the second leg of their play-off semi-final against Charlton Athletic. Martyn, the Crystal Palace goalkeeper, was to play despite carrying an elbow injury for which he needed corrective surgery, while Hopkin remained an injury doubt. https://www.proquest.com/docview/318583095 29 October 2020 The Times Perfect ending in sight Russell Kempson 27 May 1996 24 subscription 318583095 The final was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on ITV as part of The Big Match programme. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62106084/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 29 October 2020 27 May 1996 46 Carlton 6 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201106132409/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62106084/the-guardian/ live Bookmakers considered Crystal Palace to be the favourites. https://www.proquest.com/docview/312467317 29 October 2020 The Independent 27 May 1996 22 Costa the best value in Open contest subscription 312467317 https://www.proquest.com/docview/294978183 29 October 2020 The Guardian 25 May 1996 21 Sports Betting: Back Wigan to run Bath close Julian Turner subscription 294978183 The referee for the match was David Allison from Lancaster. https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/claridges-climax-shatters-palace-1349607.html The Independent 29 October 2020 Claridge's climax shatters Palace Mike Rowbottom 28 May 1996 4 November 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121104034550/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/claridges-climax-shatters-palace-1349607.html live Crystal Palace adopted a 3–5–2 formation while Leicester played as 4–4–2. Summary The final kicked off around 3p.m. on 27 May 1996 in front of a crowd of 73,573 at Wembley Stadium. Leicester dominated the early stages of the game but Palace took the lead on 14 minutes: Andy Roberts struck the ball from the edge of the box past Kevin Poole in the Leicester goal. In the second half, Poole saved a shot from George Ndah and then almost immediately defended a volley from Freedman. In the 76th minute, Walsh passed to Izzet who was brought down in the Palace penalty area by Marc Edworthy. Martyn managed to get a hand to the spot kick but it was not enough to stop it going in and levelling the score at 1–1. Veart then cleared Walsh's header off the line with three minutes of regular time remaining, and the game went into extra time. In the final minute of the additional 30-minute period, Leicester made their final substitution of the game to bring on 6 7 tall goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac in anticipation of a penalty shootout. With less than a minute remaining, Steve Claridge struck the winning goal from a Julian Watts header, and eleven seconds later, the referee blew the final whistle. Leicester won 2–1 and gaining promotion to the Premier League. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500793766/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=TTDA&xid=9d00997d Gale 21 January 2021 Last-gasp Claridge puts Leicester back in top flight Russell Kempson 28 May 1996 65591 The Times 21 subscription 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210329/https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AUserLogin&uselang=en&returnto=Special%3AOAuth%2Fauthenticate&returntoquery=%26oauth_consumer_key%3Dc656df92ac58925bbcb164666bde5baf%26oauth_token%3D96c8cb308f5384259d93dc57dd3d4a69 live Details 27 May 1996 15:00 BST Leicester City 2–1 yes Crystal Palace Report Parker 76 pen.Claridge 120 Roberts 14 Wembley Stadium, London 73,573 David Allison (Lancaster) _collar _whitebottom _whitestripe 000095 000095 000095 000095 000095 Leicester City _bluestripes2 _bluestripe2 FF0000 FF0000 FF0000 FF0000 FF0000 Crystal Palace GK 1Kevin Poole 119RB 2Simon GraysonCB 4Julian WattsCB 5Steve Walsh (c) 118LB 3Mike WhitlowRM 10 Garry ParkerCM 6Muzzy IzzetCM 7 Neil LennonLM 8 Scott Taylor 101CF 11Emile HeskeyCF 9 Steve ClaridgeSubstitutes:FW 12 Mark Robins 101GK 13 Zeljko Kalac 119DF 14Colin Hill 118Manager:Martin O'Neill GK 1 Nigel MartynRWB 7Darren PitcherCB 2Marc EdworthyCB 3 Kenny BrownCB 10 Dave Tuttle (c) 102LWB 5 Rob QuinnCM 6 David Hopkin 71CM 4Andy RobertsCM 8Ray HoughtonCF 9 Dougie Freedman 99CF 11George NdahSubstitutes:MF 12Carl Veart 71MF 13 Simon Rodger 102FW 14Bruce Dyer 99Manager:Dave Bassett Post-match O'Neill was jubilant and thankful that a penalty shootout was avoided: "We just about deserved to win it, and that's an understatement. We played brilliantly, but I didn't fancy penalties. I think I would have committed suicide had we lost". https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62235299/the-guardian/ The Guardian Newspapers.com 31 October 2020 28 May 1996 Claridge clocks in late for City Paul Weaver 20 8 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201108000435/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62235299/the-guardian/ live He went on to add that "this has to be one of the best moments of my life". https://www.proquest.com/docview/318582613 5 November 2020 Last-gasp Claridge puts Leicester back in top flight Russell Kempson 21 28 May 1996 subscription The Times 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210430/https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AUserLogin&uselang=en&returnto=Special%3AOAuth%2Fauthenticate&returntoquery=%26oauth_consumer_key%3Dc656df92ac58925bbcb164666bde5baf%26oauth_token%3D284970b7a06884ec0077c087706a5d36 318582613 live Journeyman Claridge, who had moved to Leicester City from Birmingham City in March, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001730/19960528/510/0064 Claridge avoids penalty horror British Newspaper Archive 5 November 2020 64 28 May 1996 Evening Herald subscription described his winning strike as "the most important goal of my life" but admitted that it "went in off my shin". He added that he was "dreading penalties" having converted just one spot kick from six attempts during his career. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000271/19960528/501/0042 Liverpool Echo 5 November 2020 My spot of fear, reveals Claridge 28 May 1996 42 British Newspaper Archive subscription In an interview 20 years later, Claridge refuted that he had scored off his shin, claiming "It didn't hit my shin, that was a stupid thing to say... I hit it properly and sweet". https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/playoff-final-leicester-city-claridge-1613301 Leicester Mercury 5 November 2020 Steve Claridge claims he never shinned his Leicester City play-off winner at Wembley James Sharpe 27 May 2018 31 October 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201031133621/https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/playoff-final-leicester-city-claridge-1613301 live Bassett remarked that "[t]his has happened to me three times" and said his team deserved to take the game to penalties. Neil Robinson in The Guardian reported that O'Neill was given a £5million budget to make additions to the Leicester City squad. https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62595093/the-guardian/ The Guardian 5 November 2020 League may block £10m bid for QPR Neil Robinson 24 30 May 1996 Newspapers.com 21 January 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210121210410/https://theguardian.newspapers.com/clip/62595093/the-guardian/ live Winning the final marked Leicester City's fifth promotion since they were relegated in the 1968–69 season. In their following season, they finished in ninth place in the Premier League. https://www.11v11.com/teams/leicester-city/tab/leagueTables/1997/ 11v11 Premier League table at close of 1996–97 season 5 November 2020 AFS Enterprises 2 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201102205039/https://www.11v11.com/teams/leicester-city/tab/leagueTables/1997/ live They also won the League Cup with the winning goal coming from Claridge in extra time in a replay, after the first final was drawn, and ensuring the club qualified for European football. https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/claridges-five-star-silver-service-1267700.html The Independent 5 November 2020 Claridge's five-star silver service Glen Moore 17 April 1997 25 September 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150925202456/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/claridges-fivestar-silver-service-1267700.html live Crystal Palace ended their next campaign in sixth place in the First Division, and were promoted via the play-offs, winning the final 1–0 against Sheffield United with a last-minute goal. https://www.11v11.com/teams/crystal-palace/tab/leagueTables/1997/ 11v11 5 November 2020 League Division 1 table at close of 1996–97 season AFS Enterprises 1 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201101083204/https://www.11v11.com/teams/crystal-palace/tab/leagueTables/1997/ live https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-hopkins-late-hit-has-palace-glad-all-over-1263790.html The Independent Football: Hopkin's late hit has Palace glad all over Mike Rowbottom 27 October 2020 27 May 1997 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122618/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-hopkins-late-hit-has-palace-glad-all-over-1263790.html live References Bibliography Glenda Rollin Jack Rollin Rothmans Football Yearbook 1996–97 1996 Headline Publishing Group London 978-0-7472-7781-1 Of Fossils & Foxes: The Official History of Leicester City Football Club Dave Smith Paul Taylor Polar Publishing 2001 1-899538-21-6 1989 Football League play-off final Category:EFL Championship play-off finals Football League First Division play-off final 1996 Football League First Division play-off final 1996 Football League First Division play-off final Football League First Division play-off final