1999 Football League Second Division play-off Final
Encyclopedia
The 1999 Football League Second Division playoff final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 30 May 1999, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion
from the Second Division
to the First Division
of The Football League
in the 1998–99
season. Gillingham
faced Manchester City
.
The match was Gillingham's first ever appearance at Wembley. Manchester City, by comparison, had played there on eleven previous occasions in FA Cup
and Football League Cup
finals. The teams reached the final by defeating Preston North End
and Wigan Athletic
respectively in the semi-finals.
The match was scoreless until approximately nine minutes from the end, when Carl Asaba
gave Gillingham the lead. Robert Taylor
added a second five minutes later. With only a few minutes of normal time left, and two goals behind in the game, many City fans considered the game had been lost and began to make their way to the exits. However, Kevin Horlock
scored for City to halve the deficit in the 90th minute and, in the fifth minute of added time, Paul Dickov
scored an equaliser to send the game into extra time. With no further goals being scored, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out, which City won to gain promotion.
Given the match's importance as a final to determine league promotion and the highly unlikely turnaround in the final minutes, the game has been regarded as one of the most exciting in English football history and highlights of the game have been repeatedly shown on television. Manchester City fans also regard the game as a crucial first step in the club's revival from the third tier of English football to its current status as Premier League title contenders, Champions League
qualifiers, and arguably the richest club in the world. Dickov's goal (after four minutes and nine seconds of injury time) remains the latest goal ever scored prior to the final whistle in a match at the old Wembley Stadium. In a strange coincidence, the Gillingham keeper he scored past, Vince Bartram
, had also been the best man at Dickov's wedding. Prior to City's first goal, Bartram had been awarded the man of the match award for making several important saves. Manchester City keeper Nicky Weaver
saved two Gillingham penalties and, following his save from Guy Butters which sealed the victory, waved towards his team-mates to join him, but then ran towards the City fans, jumped over an advertising hoarding, and ran half the full length of the pitch before coming back into the centre circle where his team-mates jumped on top of him in celebration.
style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center">
Gillingham:
|
GK
1
Vince Bartram
RWB
2
Nicky Southall
CB
3
Barry Ashby
CM
4
Paul Smith
CB
5
Guy Butters
CB
6
Adrian Pennock
LWB
7
Mark Patterson
CM
8
Andy Hessenthaler
(c)
CF
9
Carl Asaba
CM
10
Mick Galloway
CF
11
Robert Taylor
Substitutes:
MF
12
John Hodge
MF
13
Mark Saunders
DF
14
Darren Carr
Manager:
Tony Pulis
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
from the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
to the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
of The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
in the 1998–99
1998-99 in English football
-Premier League:Manchester United overcame close competition from Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea to win their fifth Premiership title in seven seasons thanks to the comeback of Roy Keane after his long-term injury and a transfer raid totalling nearly £30 million which netted Aston Villa striker...
season. Gillingham
Gillingham F.C.
Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...
faced Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
.
The match was Gillingham's first ever appearance at Wembley. Manchester City, by comparison, had played there on eleven previous occasions in FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
and Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
finals. The teams reached the final by defeating Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
and Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
respectively in the semi-finals.
The match was scoreless until approximately nine minutes from the end, when Carl Asaba
Carl Asaba
Carl Edward Asaba is a former English professional football player who played as a striker.-Career:Asaba first came to prominence at Brentford, debuting in 1994 after joining the club from Dulwich Hamlet. His goalscoring soon attracted attention and Reading signed him for a club record £800,000...
gave Gillingham the lead. Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor (footballer)
Robert Anthony Taylor is an English retired association football player turned manager. He was appointed as manager of Diss Town of the Eastern Counties Football League on 25 April 2008.-Playing career:...
added a second five minutes later. With only a few minutes of normal time left, and two goals behind in the game, many City fans considered the game had been lost and began to make their way to the exits. However, Kevin Horlock
Kevin Horlock
Kevin Horlock is an English born Northern Irish football player, currently player/assistant manager of Needham Market. Horlock is a former Northern Ireland international and is most associated with Manchester City, for whom he played in three different divisions including the Premier League...
scored for City to halve the deficit in the 90th minute and, in the fifth minute of added time, Paul Dickov
Paul Dickov
Paul Dickov is a retired Scottish footballer, turned manager who is currently in charge of League One side Oldham Athletic...
scored an equaliser to send the game into extra time. With no further goals being scored, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out, which City won to gain promotion.
Given the match's importance as a final to determine league promotion and the highly unlikely turnaround in the final minutes, the game has been regarded as one of the most exciting in English football history and highlights of the game have been repeatedly shown on television. Manchester City fans also regard the game as a crucial first step in the club's revival from the third tier of English football to its current status as Premier League title contenders, Champions League
Champions League
Champions League may refer to various sports competitions. It most commonly refers to association football:-Association Football:*the UEFA Champions League, for Union of European Football Associations**the current UEFA Champions League season...
qualifiers, and arguably the richest club in the world. Dickov's goal (after four minutes and nine seconds of injury time) remains the latest goal ever scored prior to the final whistle in a match at the old Wembley Stadium. In a strange coincidence, the Gillingham keeper he scored past, Vince Bartram
Vince Bartram
Vincent Lee Bartram is an English former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is now goalkeeping coach at Southampton F.C.-Career:...
, had also been the best man at Dickov's wedding. Prior to City's first goal, Bartram had been awarded the man of the match award for making several important saves. Manchester City keeper Nicky Weaver
Nicky Weaver
Nicholas James "Nicky" Weaver is an English footballer who is a goalkeeper currently playing for League One club Sheffield Wednesday. Weaver is a former England under-21 international.-Career:...
saved two Gillingham penalties and, following his save from Guy Butters which sealed the victory, waved towards his team-mates to join him, but then ran towards the City fans, jumped over an advertising hoarding, and ran half the full length of the pitch before coming back into the centre circle where his team-mates jumped on top of him in celebration.
Match details
| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> | Manchester City: | |||
| GK | 1 | Nicky Weaver Nicky Weaver Nicholas James "Nicky" Weaver is an English footballer who is a goalkeeper currently playing for League One club Sheffield Wednesday. Weaver is a former England under-21 international.-Career:... |
||
| RB | 2 | Lee Crooks Lee Crooks -Manchester City:As a club trainee, Crooks signed his first professional contract with Premier League club Manchester City on 1 August 1994... |
||
| LB | 3 | Richard Edghill Richard Edghill Richard Edghill is an English footballer who plays as a defender and is currently unattached.-Manchester City:... |
||
| CB | 4 |  Gerard WiekensGerard Wiekens Gerard Wiekens is a former Dutch footballer who played for Veendam of the Eerste Divisie. Wiekens was born in in Oude Pekela. He usually played as a defender, but could also play in midfield or as a sweeper.-Club career:... |
||
| CB | 5 |  Andy MorrisonAndy Morrison Andrew Charles "Andy" Morrison is a Scottish ex-football player who played at centre half. He is currently Assistant Manager at Northwich Victoria.-Early career:... (c) |
||
| LM | 6 | Kevin Horlock Kevin Horlock Kevin Horlock is an English born Northern Irish football player, currently player/assistant manager of Needham Market. Horlock is a former Northern Ireland international and is most associated with Manchester City, for whom he played in three different divisions including the Premier League... |
||
| CM | 7 | Michael Brown |
||
| CM | 8 |  Jeff WhitleyJeff Whitley Jeffrey "Jeff" Whitley is a Zambian-born Northern Irish former professional football. He twice won promotion to the Premiership with Manchester City in 2000 and Sunderland in 2005 and was an Northern Ireland international... |
||
| CF | 9 | Paul Dickov Paul Dickov Paul Dickov is a retired Scottish footballer, turned manager who is currently in charge of League One side Oldham Athletic... |
||
| CF | 10 |  Shaun GoaterShaun Goater Leonard Shaun Goater MBE is a Bermudian footballer who played as a striker for a number of English clubs in the 1990s and 2000s... |
||
| RM | 11 | Terry Cooke Terry Cooke Terence John "Terry" Cooke is an English footballer, currently without a club. He began his career with Manchester United, but struggled to break into the first team and had loan spells with Sunderland, Birmingham City and Wrexham before moving to United's local rivals Manchester City in 1999... |
||
| Substitutes: | ||||
| FW | 12 | Gareth Taylor Gareth Taylor Gareth Keith Taylor is a Welsh former footballer who is now working as a coach at Premier League club Manchester City.... |
||
| DF | 13 | Tony Vaughan Tony Vaughan Anthony "Tony" Vaughan is an English former professional football defender/midfielder.-Ipswich Town:Vaughan was a product of the Manchester City youth scheme where he became a trainee. He later joined Ipswich as a youth, before making his full debut on 23 October 1994 against Chelsea at Stamford... |
||
| MF | 14 | Ian Bishop Ian Bishop (footballer) Ian Bishop is a former footballer who played as a midfielder.He was born on the Cantril Farm housing estate in Liverpool and on leaving school in July 1981 he joined Everton, turning professional for the 1983-84 season under the management of Howard Kendall - who had taken over during the same... |
||
| Manager: | ||||
| Joe Royle Joe Royle Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team... |
||||
Vince BartramVince Bartram
Vincent Lee Bartram is an English former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is now goalkeeping coach at Southampton F.C.-Career:...
Nicky SouthallNicky Southall
Leslie Nicholas "Nicky" Southall , is an English professional footballer who is a player/coach at Football League Two side Gillingham, in his fourth spell with the club. He has played in all tiers of English league football and has also appeared in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers...
Barry AshbyBarry Ashby
Barry John Ashby is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-half. He played for Watford, Brentford and Gillingham during a 17-year professional career....
Paul SmithPaul Smith (footballer born 1971)
Paul William Smith is an English professional footballer.Smith was born in East Ham, London and began his career as a trainee with Southend United, turning professional in 1990...
Guy ButtersGuy Butters
Guy Butters is a Football Manager and former professional footballer currently Managing Winchester City FC in the Wessex Premier League having been appointed to replace Glenn Cockerill in September 2010....
Adrian PennockAdrian Pennock
Adrian Barry Pennock is a retired English footballer player turned manager. His playing career was spent mainly at AFC Bournemouth and Gillingham.-Playing career:...
Mark PattersonMark Patterson (footballer born 1968)
Mark Patterson is an English former professional footballer. He played over 300 Football League matches for Carlisle United, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle and Gillingham between 1986 and 2002.-Playing career:...
Andy HessenthalerAndy Hessenthaler
Andrew "Andy" Hessenthaler is an English football manager and former player, currently in his second spell as manager of Gillingham. Hessenthaler began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the age of 26...
(c)
Carl AsabaCarl Asaba
Carl Edward Asaba is a former English professional football player who played as a striker.-Career:Asaba first came to prominence at Brentford, debuting in 1994 after joining the club from Dulwich Hamlet. His goalscoring soon attracted attention and Reading signed him for a club record £800,000...
Mick GallowayMick Galloway
Mick Galloway is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder. He was appointed caretaker manager for Hucknall Town's final game of the 2007-08 season, before being appointed as the club's permanent manager along with Andy Miller. In October 2008, they were dismissed...
Robert TaylorRobert Taylor (footballer)
Robert Anthony Taylor is an English retired association football player turned manager. He was appointed as manager of Diss Town of the Eastern Counties Football League on 25 April 2008.-Playing career:...
John HodgeJohn Hodge (English footballer)
John Hodge is a right winger who earned cult status at Gillingham. He was regarded as a supersub, coming on late in games to create chances and take on tiring opposition left-backs....
Mark SaundersMark Saunders (footballer)
Mark Saunders is an English professional footballer, who plays for, and manages, Southern League Premier Division team Tiverton Town. He previously played for Plymouth Argyle and Gillingham and made nearly 250 Football League appearances in an 11-year career...
Darren CarrDarren Carr
Darren Carr is a retired English football defender. In the 1996–97 season, he was part of Chesterfield's historic run to the FA Cup semi final, coming on as a substitute in both the semi final and semi final replay against Middlesbrough.-Clubs:*1986-1987 : Bristol Rovers*1987-1988 : Newport...
Tony PulisTony Pulis
Anthony Richard "Tony" Pulis is a Welsh former football player and is currently the manager of Stoke City. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at the age of 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one of the youngest professional players ever to have obtained the qualification...
MATCH RULES
|