2002 Football League play-offs explained

The Football League play-offs for the 2001–02 season were held in May 2002, with the finals taking place at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The play-off semi-finals will be played over two legs and will be contested by the teams who finish in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League First Division and Football League Second Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the Football League Third Division table. The winners of the semi-finals will go through to the finals, with the winner of the matches gaining promotion for the following season.

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 First Division, Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were aiming to return to the top flight after nearly 20 years, finished 3 points behind their Black Country rivals West Bromwich Albion, who finished second and thus gained automatic promotion. Albion ended the season 10 points behind champions Manchester City, who returned to the Premier League after being relegated the previous season.Millwall who were aiming for a place in the top flight for the first time since 1990, finished in fourth place in the table.Birmingham City, who were aiming to return to the top flight for the first time since 1986, finished in fifth place.Norwich City finished 1 point behind Birmingham City and were looking for a place back in the Premiership for the first time since 1995.

First Division

	Team
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	25	11	10	76	43	+33	86
4	Millwall	46	22	11	13	69	48	+21	77
5	Birmingham City	46	21	13	12	70	49	+21	76
6	Norwich City	46	22	9	15	60	51	+9	75

Semi-finals

First leg----

Second legNorwich City won 3–2 on aggregate.----Birmingham City won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

See main article: 2002 Football League First Division play-off final.

Second Division

	Team
3	Brentford	46	24	11	11	77	43	+34	83
4	Cardiff City	46	23	14	9	75	50	+25	83
5	Stoke City	46	23	11	12	67	40	+27	80
6	Huddersfield Town	46	21	15	10	65	47	+18	78

Semi-finals

First leg----

Second legBrentford won 2–1 on aggregate.----Stoke City won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

See main article: 2002 Football League Second Division play-off final.

Third Division

	Team
4	Cheltenham Town	46	21	15	10	66	49	+17	78
5	Rochdale	46	21	15	10	65	52	+13	78
6	Rushden & Diamonds	46	20	13	13	69	53	+16	73
7	Hartlepool United	46	20	11	15	74	48	+26	71

Semi-finals

First leg----

Second legCheltenham Town 2–2 Hartlepool United on aggregate. Cheltenham Town won 5–4 on penalties.----Rushden & Diamonds won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

See main article: 2002 Football League Third Division play-off final.

External links

• Football League website