 The match took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
| Event | 2015–16 Football League Two | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 30 May 2016 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Iain Williamson | ||||||
| Attendance | 57,956 | ||||||
←2015 2017 → | |||||||
The2016 Football League Two play-off final was anassociation football match played on 30 May 2016 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenPlymouth Argyle andAFC Wimbledon. The match determined the fourth and final team to gainpromotion fromFootball League Two, English football's fourth tier, toFootball League One. The top three teams of the2015–16 Football League Two season gained automatic promotion to League One, while those placed from fourth to seventh in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the2016–17 season in League One. Plymouth Argyle finished in fifth place while Wimbledon ended the season in seventh position.Accrington Stanley andPortsmouth were the losing semi-finalists.
The final was played in front of 57,956 spectators and wasrefereed by Iain Williamson. The first half ended goalless, but in the 77th minute, substituteAdebayo Akinfenwa's first action was to help win acorner for Wimbledon, from whichLyle Taylor scored with a low shot pastLuke McCormick. Ten minutes into stoppage time,Ade Azeez won apenalty which was scored by Akinfenwa to make it 2–0 which was the final score. It was Wimbledon's sixth promotion since the club's formation in 2002.
Wimbledon ended theirfollowing season in fifteenth place in the League One table, while Plymouth finished thenext season in second position to gain automatic promotion to League One for the2017–18 season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northampton Town | 46 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 82 | 46 | +36 | 99 |
| 2 | Oxford United | 46 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 84 | 41 | +43 | 86 |
| 3 | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 26 | 7 | 13 | 77 | 46 | +31 | 85 |
| 4 | Accrington Stanley | 46 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 74 | 48 | +26 | 85 |
| 5 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 72 | 46 | +26 | 81 |
| 6 | Portsmouth | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 75 | 44 | +31 | 78 |
| 7 | AFC Wimbledon | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 64 | 50 | +14 | 75 |
Plymouth Argyle finished the regular2015–16 season in fifth place inFootball League Two, the fourth tier of theEnglish football league system, two positions ahead ofAFC Wimbledon. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places forpromotion toFootball League One and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Plymouth Argyle finished four points behindBristol Rovers (who were promoted in third place), five behindOxford United (promoted in second) and eighteen behind league winnersNorthampton Town. Wimbledon ended the season two places and six points behind Plymouth Argyle.[1]
Wimbledon's opponents in their play-off semi-final wereAccrington Stanley with the first match of thetwo-legged tie being played on 14 May 2016 atKingsmeadow in Greater London. After a goalless first half in which no shots on target were made by either side,Tom Beere's low shot three minutes into injury time beatNeil Etheridge in the Accrington goal to ensure the match ended 1–0.[2] The second leg of the semi-final play-off took place four days later at theCrown Ground in Accrington.Josh Windass levelled the tie with apenalty six minutes before half-time afterScott Brown wasfouled.Piero Mingoia then put Accrington aheadon aggregate with a strike in the 59th minute. Midway through the second half, aheader fromAdebayo Akinfenwa made it 2–1 and with no further change to the scoreline, the game went intoextra time.Lyle Taylor then scored after Etheridge had saved an effort fromJake Reeves, and Wimbledon progressed to the final with a 3–2 aggregate victory.[3]
In the second play-off semi-final, Plymouth Argyle facedPortsmouth and the first leg was played atFratton Park in Portsmouth on 12 May 2016. A strike from the edge of Plymouth's penalty area fromMarc McNulty gave the home side a third-minute lead butJamille Matt equalised six minutes later with a header. On 19 minutes, Matt put Plymouth ahead with anoverhead kick. Six minutes after half-time,Peter Hartley fouled McNulty in the box, andGary Roberts converted the subsequent penalty to make it 2–2.[4] The second leg was held atHome Park in Plymouth three days later. The home side dominated the game but did not score until injury time in the second half when Hartley convertedGraham Carey'scorner. The match ended 1–0 giving Plymouth a 3–2 aggregate win and progression to the play-off final at Wembley.[5]
Prior to the final, the teams had faced each other three times during the season. Plymouth had won the league match at Kingsmeadow in August 2015, followed by victory there in theEFL Trophy the following month. Wimbledon won the other league fixture between the sides, with a 2–1 victory in April 2016.[6] AFC Wimbledon fans were allocated the West End of Wembley, while Plymouth Argyle supporters were seated in the East End.[7] Thereferee for the match was Iain Williamson,assisted by Ron Ganfield and Paul Marsden. Tim Robinson was thefourth official and the reserve assistant referee was Tom Bramall.[7] The live match was broadcast onSky Sports in the UK, with highlights of the match shown later onChannel 5.[7]
Wimbledon wore all-bluekit with yellow trim while Plymouth played in green-and-white striped shirts, green shorts and green-and-white socks.[8]
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Plymouth Argylekicked off the match at around 3 p.m. in front of 57,956 spectators. In the seventh minute, a header from a deep free-kick was flicked on by Taylor but his shot was saved, and soon after Carey's shot flew over the Wimbledon crossbar. Six minutes later, a Taylor shot was deflected out for a corner which was cleared to Reeves whosevolley went wide of the Plymouth goal.[8] In the 25th minute,Kelvin Mellor almost scored anown goal after deflecting a Wimbledon cross but the ball went wide, and Plymouth cleared the subsequent corner. Five minutes before half-time, a long-range strike fromCallum Kennedy was saved byLuke McCormick in the Plymouth goal. After a minute of injury time, the referee blew the whistle to bring the half to an end with the score goalless.[9]
The second half was kicked off by Wimbledon but the first chance fell to Plymouth on 47 minutes: a high cross intended forJake Jervis was punched clear byKelle Roos, the Wimbledon goalkeeper. Two minutes later,Carl McHugh's mis-hit pass almost beat his own goalkeeper but went wide for a corner. In the 56th minute, a shot fromAndy Barcham was blocked beforeTom Elliott headed over the bar from a Taylor cross.Gregg Wylde became the first player to be booked after being shown theyellow card for a foul on Wimbledon'sBarry Fuller in the 63rd minute. Two minutes later, Carey's curling free kick from around 30 yards (27 m) was saved by Roos, thenDarius Charles was booked for a foul on Matt. On 68 minutes, Plymouth made their firstsubstitution of the afternoon with Jervis being replaced byCraig Tanner. Soon after,Jonathan Meades came on to replaceConnor Smith for Wimbledon.[10] In the 77th minute, Elliott left the pitch to be replaced by Akinfenwa whose first action a minute later was to help win a corner for Wimbledon, from which Taylor scored with a low shot past McCormick. The Plymouth goalkeeper made another save four minutes later before Reid came on to replace Wylde in the 83rd minute. Hartley was then injured in a clash with Akinfenwa and was stretchered off the pitch, and replaced byJordon Forster. In the 90th minute, McCormick tipped away Akinfenwa's header to keep the score at 1–0, and the game went into seven minutes of injury time. Tanner was brought down in the 95th minute but the referee ignored appeals for a penalty from Plymouth before Taylor's weak shot after a one-on-one with McCormick was easily saved by the goalkeeper.[11] Taylor was then replaced byAde Azeez in Wimbledon's third substitution of the match. Ten minutes into stoppage time, Azeez won a penalty which was scored by Akinfenwa to make it 2–0 which was the final score.[12]
| AFC Wimbledon | 2–0 | Plymouth Argyle |
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Taylor 78'Akinfenwa 90+10' (pen.) | Report |
         AFC Wimbledon |      Plymouth Argyle |
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The scorer of Wimbledon's second goal, Akinfenwa revealed shortly after the end of the game that he had been released and that he was looking for a new club.[13] It was Wimbledon's sixth promotion since the club's formation in 2002.[12]
Wimbledon ended theirfollowing season in fifteenth place in the League One table.[14] Plymouth finished thenext season in second position in League Two to gain automatic promotion to League One for the2017–18 season.[15]
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