2009 Football League play-offs

Football League play-offs

Season	2008–09
Champions	Burnley (Championship) Scunthorpe United (League One) Gillingham (League Two)
Matches played	15
Goals scored	23 (1.53 per match)
Biggest home win	Gillingham 2–1 Rochdale (League Two)
Biggest away win	Reading 0–2 Burnley (Championship)
Highest scoring	Millwall 5–1 Scunthorpe (5 goals)
Highest attendance	80,518 – Burnley v Sheffield United (Championship final)
Lowest attendance	4,450 – Rochdale v Gillingham (League Two semi-final)
Average attendance	25,298
← 2008 2010 →

The Football League play-offs for the 2008–09 season were held in May 2009, with the finals taking place at Wembley Stadium in London. The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs and were contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League Championship and League One tables, and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in League Two. The semi-final winners progressed to the finals, with the winner of each match earning promotion for the following season.

Burnley and Sheffield United contested the Championship play-off final, having defeated Reading and Preston North End respectively in the semi-finals. Burnley secured promotion to the Premier League with a 1–0 victory, courtesy of a goal from Wade Elliott. In the League One final, Scunthorpe United won 3–2 against Millwall; Leeds United and MK Dons were the other teams to reach the play-offs. In League Two, Gillingham won their semi-final against Rochdale and then secured promotion with a 1–0 victory against Shrewsbury, who had beaten Bury in their semi-final.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.

In the Championship, Sheffield United, who had been relegated from the Premier League under controversial circumstances in 2007, finished 3 points behind second placed Birmingham City, who in turn had finished 7 points off the champions Wolverhampton Wanderers. Reading - who were aiming to return to the Premier League at the first attempt - were in fourth place in the table. Burnley and Preston North End were only a couple of points further back on 76 and 74 respectively. Neither of the latter had played in the Premier League before, with Preston's last spell in the top division ending in 1961. Burnley were relegated from in the top flight in 1976.

Championship

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Sheffield United	46	22	14	10	64	39	+25	80
4	Reading	46	21	14	11	72	40	+32	77
5	Burnley	46	21	13	12	72	60	+12	76
6	Preston North End	46	21	11	14	66	54	+12	74

Semi-finals

First leg

8 May 2009 19:45	Preston North End	1–1	Sheffield United	Deepdale, Preston Attendance: 19,840 Referee: Andre Marriner
	St Ledger  21'	Report	Howard  46'

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9 May 2009 17:20	Burnley	1–0	Reading	Turf Moor, Burnley Attendance: 18,005 Referee: Martin Atkinson
	Alexander  84' (pen.)	Report

Second leg

11 May 2009 19:45	Sheffield United	1–0	Preston North End	Bramall Lane, Sheffield Attendance: 26,354 Referee: Alan Wiley
	Halford  59'	Report

Sheffield United won 2–1 on aggregate.

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12 May 2009 19:45	Reading	0–2	Burnley	Madejski Stadium, Reading Attendance: 19,909 Referee: Mike Riley
		Report	Paterson  51' Thompson  58'

Burnley won 3–0 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 2009 Football League Championship play-off Final

25 May 2009 15:00	Burnley	1–0	Sheffield United	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 80,518 Referee: Mike Dean
	Elliott  13'	Report

League One

Main article: 2008–09 Football League One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Milton Keynes Dons	46	26	9	11	83	47	+36	87
4	Leeds United	46	26	6	14	77	49	+28	84
5	Millwall	46	25	7	14	63	53	+10	82
6	Scunthorpe United	46	22	10	14	82	63	+19	76

Semi-finals

First leg

8 May 2009 19:45	Scunthorpe United	1–1	Milton Keynes Dons	Glanford Park, Scunthorpe Attendance: 6,599 Referee: Scott Mathieson
	Woolford  13'	Report	Wilbraham  27'

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9 May 2009 12:45	Millwall	1–0	Leeds United	The New Den, Bermondsey Attendance: 13,228 Referee: Clive Oliver
	Harris  71'	Report

Second leg

14 May 2009 19:45	Leeds United	1–1	Millwall	Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 37,036 Referee: Mark Halsey
	Becchio  53'	Report	Abdou  74'

Millwall won 2–1 on aggregate.

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15 May 2009 19:45	Milton Keynes Dons	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Scunthorpe United	Stadium:mk, Milton Keynes Attendance: 14,479 Referee: Neil Swarbrick
		Report
		Penalties
	Leven Wilbraham Navarro Puncheon Llera Stirling Lewington Guéret Flo	6–7	McCann Hayes Crosby Byrne Trotter Sparrow Forte Togwell Morris

Milton Keynes Dons 1–1 Scunthorpe United on aggregate. Scunthorpe United won 7–6 on penalties.

Final

Main article: 2009 Football League One play-off Final

24 May 2009 15:00	Millwall	2–3	Scunthorpe United	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 59,661 Referee: Michael Oliver
	Alexander  37', 39'	Report	Sparrow  6', 70' Woolford  85'

League Two

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Bury	46	21	15	10	63	43	+20	78
5	Gillingham	46	21	12	13	58	55	0+3	75
6	Rochdale	46	19	13	14	70	59	+11	70
7	Shrewsbury Town	46	17	18	11	61	44	+17	69

Semi-finals

First leg

7 May 2009 19:45	Shrewsbury Town	0–1	Bury	Prostar Stadium, Shrewsbury Attendance: 8,429 Referee: Graham Laws
		Report	Ashton  81' (o.g.)

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7 May 2009 19:45	Rochdale	0–0	Gillingham	Spotland, Rochdale Attendance: 4,450 Referee: Kevin Friend
		Report

Second leg

10 May 2009 12:00	Bury	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Shrewsbury Town	Gigg Lane, Bury Attendance: 7,673 Referee: Colin Webster
		Report	McIntyre  88'
		Penalties
	Barry-Murphy Jones Racchi Bennett Bishop	3–4	Davies Ashikodi McIntyre Worrall

Bury 1–1 Shrewsbury Town on aggregate. Shrewsbury Town won 4–3 on penalties.

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10 May 2009 18:30	Gillingham	2–1	Rochdale	KRBS Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham Attendance: 9,585 Referee: Michael Oliver
	Jackson  13', 58' (pen.)	Report	Dagnall  36'

Gillingham won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 2009 Football League Two play-off Final

23 May 2009 15:00	Gillingham	1–0	Shrewsbury Town	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 53,706 Referee: Clive Oliver
	Jackson  90'	Report

External links

• Football League website