.jpg) The final took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
| Event | 1993–94 Football League Second Division | ||||||
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| Date | 29 May 1994 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Referee | David Elleray | ||||||
| Attendance | 44,806 | ||||||
←1993 1995 → | |||||||
The1994 Football League Second Division play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 29 May 1994 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenBurnley andStockport County. It was to determine the third and final team to gainpromotion from theFootball League Second Division, thethird tier of English football, to theFirst Division. The top two teams of the1993–94 Football League Second Division,Reading andPort Vale, gained automatic promotion, while the teams placed from third to sixth place took part inplay-off semi-finals; the winners of these competed for the final place in the First Division for the1994–95 season. Burnley and Stockport County beatPlymouth Argyle andYork City, respectively, in the semi-finals.
Thereferee for the match, which was played in front of 44,806 spectators, wasDavid Elleray.Chris Beaumont opened the scoring for Stockport in less than two minutes, when he headedDavid Frain's free kick into the Burnley goal. In the 14th minute,Ted McMinn won the ball from Stockport'sMick Wallace who reacted: first he fouled McMinn and then spat at him, earning himself a straightred card from Elleray. In the 29th minute,David Eyres beat three Stockport defenders before striking the ball pastJohn Keeley to score his 28th goal of the season, and levelling the score at 1–1. In the 60th minute, Beaumont stamped onLes Thompson's calf and was shown a straight red card. Midway through the second half,Gary Parkinson took possession of a loose ball and struck a low shot from the edge of the Stockport penalty area past Keeley, making it 2–1 to Burnley who gained promotion to the First Division.
Burnley ended theirnext season in 22nd place in the First Division, two places and eight points below safety, and were relegated back to the Second Division. Stockport's following season saw them finish in eleventh position in the Second Division.
Stockport County finished the regular1993–94 season in fourth position in theFootball League Second Division, the third tier of theEnglish football league system, two places and twelve points ahead ofBurnley. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to theFirst Division and instead took part in theplay-offs, along withPlymouth Argyle andYork City, to determine the third promoted team. Stockport County finished three points behindPort Vale (who were promoted in second place) and four points behind league winnersReading.[1]
Burnley's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Plymouth Argyle with the first match of thetwo-legged tie taking place atTurf Moor in Burnley on 15 May 1994. Martin Thorpe, writing inThe Guardian described it as a "rough, tough affair" in which six players were shown theyellow card, and although Plymouth had more chances to score, the match ended goalless.[2] The second leg took place three days later atHome Park in Plymouth. The home side took the lead a quarter of an hour into the match throughDwight Marshall: Burnley failed to clear afree-kick fromPaul Dalton and the ball fell to Marshall who struck it pastMarlon Beresford, the Burnley goalkeeper.John Francis then levelled the score in the 29th minute, beating the goalkeeper after a "marvellous run". Two minutes later he doubled his and Burnley's tally, scoring after receiving a pass fromAdrian Heath.Warren Joyce scored with nine minutes remaining to make the final score 3–1 and Burnley progressed to the final with anaggregate victory of the same scoreline.[3]
Stockport faced York City in their semi-final and the first leg was held atBootham Crescent in York on 15 May 1994. The home side missed several chances to take the lead whileMike Flynn'sheader for Stockport was cleared off the York goal-line, and the match ended 0–0.[2] The second leg was played three days later atEdgeley Park in Stockport. After a goalless first half,Chris Beaumont received a pass fromJim Gannon before taking the ball roundDean Kiely, the York goalkeeper, to score in the 85th minute. With no further goals, the match ended 1–0 and Stockport went through to the final with the same aggregate score.[3]
This was Stockport County's fourth appearance in the play-offs, having failed to make it past the semi-finals in1990 and1993 and losing in the1992 Football League Third Division play-off final 2–1 againstPeterborough United. They had played in the third tier of English football since gaining automatic promotion from theFourth Division as runners-up in the1990–91 season and had not participated in the second tier since the1937–38 season.[4] Burnley had taken part in the play-offs on one previous occasion, losing in the semi-finals in1991. They had played in the third tier since being automatically promoted as champions of the Fourth Division in the1991–92 season and had most recently featured in the second tier in the1982–83 season.[5] In the two league matches between the sides in the regular season, Stockport won their home match 2–1 at Edgeley Park in September 1993 while the game at Turf Moor the following March ended in a 1–1 draw.[6] This was Stockport's fourth visit toWembley Stadium in two years, including the 1992 play-off final and the final of theFootball League Trophy in1992 and1993, both of which ended in defeat.[3]
Thereferee for the match wasDavid Elleray. Burnley played as a4–5–1 formation while Stockport adopted a4–4–2.[7]
The matchkicked off around 3 p.m. on 29 May 1994 at Wembley Stadium in front of 44,806 spectators.[9] Beaumont opened the scoring in less than two minutes, when he headedDavid Frain's free kick into the Burnley goal. Ten minutes later, Francis challengedJohn Keeley just outside the Burnleypenalty area: Francis injured his knee ligaments, was shown a yellow card and had to besubstituted forAndy Farrell. In the 14th minute,Ted McMinn won the ball from Stockport'sMick Wallace who reacted: first he fouled McMinn and then spat at him, earning himself a straightred card from Elleray. McMinn was also booked for retaliation. In the 29th minute,David Eyres beat three Stockport defenders before striking the ball past Keeley to score his 28th goal of the season, and levelling the score at 1–1. Eyres also hit the frame of the Stockport goal twice as well as seeing another chance defended.[8]
Neither side made any changes to their personnel at half time. In the 60th minute, Beaumont stamped onLes Thompson's calf and was shown a straight red card. Midway through the second half,Gary Parkinson took possession of a loose ball and struck a low shot from the edge of the Stockport penalty area past Keeley, making it 2–1 to Burnley. Despite being down to nine players, Stockport still had chances to score,Lee Todd shooting over the bar from around 8 yards (7.3 m) and Gannon missing the target from even closer. No further goals were scored and the match ended 2–1 with Burnley gaining promotion to the First Division.[8]
| 29 May 1994 | Burnley | 2–1 | Stockport County | Wembley Stadium,London |
| 15:00 UTC | Eyres 29'Parkinson 66' | Report | Beaumont 2' | Attendance: 44,806 Referee:David Elleray |
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Jimmy Mullen, the winningmanager, said that it was "the greatest day of my career" and reflected on two promotions in the last three seasons, describing Burnley's success as "remarkable".[8] The Stockport managerDanny Bergara said that he did not understand what had happened to his side: "It was bizarre ... I don't know what came over one or two of our players because we are not the kind of team to go berserk. But on one or two occasions we did."[8]
Burnley ended theirnext season in 22nd place in the First Division, two places and eight points below safety, and were relegated back to the Second Division.[5][10] Stockport's following season saw them finish in eleventh position in the Second Division.[11]
