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| Event | 2010–11 Football League Championship | ||||||
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| Date | 30 May 2011 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Scott Sinclair (Swansea City) | ||||||
| Referee | Phil Dowd | ||||||
| Attendance | 86,581 | ||||||
←2010 2012 → | |||||||
The2011 Football League Championship play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 30 May 2011 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenSwansea City andReading. The match was to determine the third and final team to gainpromotion from theFootball League Championship, the second tier ofEnglish football, to thePremier League. The top two teams of the2010–11 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Swansea ended the season in third place while Reading had finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the2011–12 season in the Premier League. Winning the game was estimated to be worth up to £90 million to the successful team.
The 2011 final, refereed byPhil Dowd, was watched by a crowd of more than 86,000 people. Swansea took the lead in the first half with aScott Sinclair penalty, who scored again a minute later. Before half-time,Stephen Dobbie added a third for a scoreline of 3–0. During half-time, Reading'sJay Tabb and their assistant manager were sent off for abusing the referee. Anown goal early in the second half from Swansea'sJoe Allen and a goal from Reading'sMatt Mills made the score 3–2 but Sinclair completed hishat-trick, once again with a penalty, and Swansea won the match 4–2. It was their first top-tier play-off final win. Sinclair's hat-trick was the second in play-off final history, and he was namedman of the match.
Swansea ended the next season in mid-table in the Premier League. Reading finished the following season as champions of the Football League Championship and were automatically promoted to the Premier League.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 24 | 16 | 6 | 71 | 32 | +39 | 88 |
| 2 | Norwich City | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 83 | 58 | +25 | 84 |
| 3 | Swansea City | 46 | 24 | 8 | 14 | 69 | 42 | +27 | 80 |
| 4 | Cardiff City | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 76 | 54 | +22 | 80 |
| 5 | Reading | 46 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 77 | 51 | +26 | 77 |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 46 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 69 | 50 | +19 | 75 |
Swansea City finished the regular2010–11 season in third place in theFootball League Championship, the second tier of theEnglish football league system, two places and three points ahead ofReading. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to thePremier League and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the third promoted team. Swansea finished four points behindNorwich City (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winnersQueens Park Rangers (QPR).[1][2]
Reading facedCardiff City in their play-off semi-final, the first leg of which took place at theMadejski Stadium.Michael Chopra came on for Cardiff's strikerCraig Bellamy early in the first half who suffered a suspected hamstring strain, and after the break, Reading'sHal Robson-Kanu was replaced byMathieu Manset, again through injury. Neither team dominated the match which had few chances, and ended 0–0.[3] The second leg, at theCardiff City Stadium, was played four days later.Shane Long put the visitors ahead midway through the first half, chippingStephen Bywater, the Cardiff goalkeeper, from 20 yards (18 m). Long doubled his tally with apenalty on half time afterMatt Mills was fouled byDekel Keinan, andJobi McAnuff scored a third, to secure a 3–0 aggregate win for Reading and qualification to the play-off final.[4]
In the other play-off semi-final, Swansea City's opponents wereNottingham Forest, with the first leg being played at theCity Ground. The Welsh side's defenderNeil Taylor was sent off within two minutes for a foul onLewis McGugan but despite having to play almost the whole game with ten men, Swansea held on for a 0–0 draw.[5] The return leg took place four days later at theLiberty Stadium. Both sides hit the bar beforeLeon Britton's 25-yard (23 m) strike put Swansea into the lead. Five minutes laterStephen Dobbie doubled their lead, and whileRobert Earnshaw struck back for Forest with twelve minutes remaining, a third goal, this time on the break, from Swansea'sDarren Pratley in injury time sealed a 3–1 aggregate win and passage to the final.[6]
| Reading | Round | Swansea City | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Legs | Semi-finals | Opponent | Result | Legs |
| Cardiff City | 3–0 | 0–0 home; 3–0 away | Nottingham Forest | 3–1 | 0–0 away; 3–1 home | |
This was Swansea's first Championship play-off final, although they had lost in the third-tier final in2006 on penalties toBarnsley at theMillennium Stadium in Cardiff.[7][8] Reading had lost the1995 Football League First Division play-off final againstBolton Wanderers at the oldWembley Stadium, and had failed to qualify for the final, losing out in the2003 and2009 play-off semi-finals.[7] During the regular season, Swansea beat Reading both home and away, 1–0 on each occasion.[9] Long was Reading's top scorer with 21 goals whileScott Sinclair led the scoring charts for Swansea with 19.[10] The referee for the final wasPhil Dowd, with assistant referees Scott Ledger and Simon Long, withLee Mason acting as the fourth official.[11]
The2011 UEFA Champions League Final was scheduled to be held atWembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, so alternative venues for all of the 2011 play-off finals were considered.Manchester United'sOld Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, whileArsenal'sEmirates Stadium and the Millennium Stadium were also said to have been under consideration to host the play-off finals.[12] It was subsequently confirmed that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, two days after the Champions League final, while Old Trafford would host theLeague One andLeague Two finals on 28 and 29 May respectively.[13] Accountancy firmDeloitte calculated that the Championship play-off final would again be worth about £90 million to the winner, including more than £40 million of higher broadcast income, gate receipts and commercial income in the2011–12 Premier League.[14] Reading were looking to return to the Premier League after a three-year absence while Swansea had last played in England's top-flight in the1982–83 season. A victory for them would have made them the firstWelsh team to participate in the Premier League since its establishment in the1992–93 season.[14]
Jimmy Kébé returned to the Reading starting line-up having recovered from injury, withShaun Cummings dropping to the bench.[15] Kébé had scored nine goals and made seven assists, but a thigh injury had kept him out of the last six games.[16] Swansea's starting eleven were unchanged from the team that had won the second semi-final leg against Nottingham Forest.[15]
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Reading kicked the game off around 3 p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 86,581. Kébé's early cross was dropped by the Swansea goalkeeperDorus de Vries but was cleared by his defenders. Sinclair was then fouled, but the resulting free kick was struck high and wide ofAdam Federici's goal byFabio Borini. In the eighth minute, a foul on Sinclair byAndy Griffin saw him receive the first booking of the game from the referee Phil Dowd. Four minutes later, both Borini andZurab Khizanishvili were also booked, this time for an altercation. In the 18th minute, aJem Karacan attempt was deflected and three minutes later, Khizanishvili's challenge onNathan Dyer in the box was deemed a foul. A penalty was awarded to Swansea which was scored by Sinclair. Immediately after the restart, Dobbie made a run down the right and passed to Sinclair, whose shot went in at the far post despite Federici getting a hand on it, making the score 2–0 after 22 minutes. Mills' shot for Reading was blocked and soon after a McAnuff corner was headed off-target byNoel Hunt. With about ten minutes of the half remaining, Sinclair passed to Borini, whose shot on the turn was defended by Mills. After a period of possession for Swansea, Reading had two corners with no end product before McAnuff was booked for a foul on Britton in the 39th minute. Within a minute, Swansea extended their lead to 3–0 – Khizanishvili failed to deal with Dyer's cross and Dobbie side-footed the ball past Federici. In the final minute of half, MacAnuff's cross was struck wide of an empty net from seven yards by Long. Into stoppage time,Mikele Leigertwood's shot from 22 yards was palmed down by de Vries, before Dowd brought the half to a close, with Swansea leading 3–0 at the break.[15]
During the half-time interval, Dowd sent off Reading'sJay Tabb and their assistant managerNigel Gibbs for abuse, disallowing them from watching the second half from the dug-out.[15][17][18] Karacan's effort early in the second half was blocked before Reading were awarded a corner in the third minute. Hunt's header at the near post from McAnuff's cross was headed into his own net by the Swansea'sJoe Allen, making it 3–1. Four minutes later, Allen was booked for a foul on Leigertwood, picking up the fifth yellow card of the game. Dobbie then struck wide with only the goalkeeper to beat before Mills scored from another McAnuff corner, reducing Reading's deficit to a single goal. Two minutes later, Karacan's strike hit the post andGarry Monk's block prevented Hunt from finishing the rebound. Each side made a substitution with around 15 minutes remaining,Simon Church replacing Hunt and Swansea'sMark Gower on for Britton. In the 80th minute, Swansea extended their lead with another Sinclair penalty, following a Griffin foul on Borini in the box.[15] The strike completed Sinclair'shat-trick, just the second in play-off final history afterClive Mendonca's treble forCharlton Athletic againstSunderland in the1998 Football League First Division play-off final.[19] With six minutes remaining, Robson-Kanu came on for Griffin. Swansea retained possession and limited Reading's chances, and made their final substitution,Luke Moore coming on for Allen in the final moments of the game. Four minutes of additional time were indicated, in the last of which an unmarked Leigertwood headed over from a corner. The match ended 4–2 to Swansea who were promoted to the Premier League.[15]
       Reading |    Swansea City |
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Match officials:
| Match rules:
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| Reading | Swansea City | |
|---|---|---|
| Total shots | 19 | 6 |
| Shots on target | 11 | 4 |
| Ball possession | 47% | 53% |
| Corner kicks | 16 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 18 | 4 |
| Offsides | 3 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 3 |
| Red cards | 1 | 0 |
The Swansea managerBrendan Rodgers said: "It was a fantastic game, we didn't play as well as we have done for the rest of the season but in the moments we showed quality we were very good ... I think ourselves, Norwich and QPR will be a credit to the Championship."[15] Monk, Swansea's captain, noted: "Reading came back at us, fair play to them ... But we held on."[15] Sinclair was named asman of the match.[21]
Swansea ended thenext season in mid-table in the Premier League, in eleventh place and eleven points clear of the relegation zone.[22] Reading finished thefollowing season as champions of the Football League Championship place, one point ahead ofSouthampton, and were automatically promoted to the Premier League.[23]
