 Sheffield Wednesday lift the play-off trophy after beating Barnsley in the final seconds of the game | |||||||
| |||||||
| Afterextra time | |||||||
| Date | 29 May 2023 (2023-05-29) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Referee | Tim Robinson | ||||||
| Attendance | 72,492 | ||||||
←2022 2024 → | |||||||
The2023 EFL League One play-off final was anassociation football match which took place on 29 May 2023 atWembley Stadium,London, betweenBarnsley andSheffield Wednesday. It determined the third and final team to gainpromotion fromEFL League One, the third tier ofEnglish football, to theEFL Championship. The top two teams of the2022–23 EFL League One,Plymouth Argyle andIpswich Town, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the clubs placed from third to sixth in the table took part in the2023 English Football League play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the2023–24 season in the Championship.
Tim Robinson was thereferee for the match, which was played in front of 72,492 spectators. After a goalless first half, the second half began with Barnsley being denied apenalty after what they thought was afoul onLiam Kitching, followed by thesending off ofAdam Phillips due to a sliding challenge on Sheffield Wednesday'sLee Gregory. The game remained 0–0 after 90 minutes and went intoextra time. The deciding goal came in the third minute ofstoppage time, with Sheffield Wednesday'sJosh Windassheading the ball pastHarry Isted, the Barnsleygoalkeeper, to give the team a 1–0 win and a position in the Championship for the first time since 2021.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth Argyle(C, P) | 46 | 31 | 8 | 7 | 82 | 47 | +35 | 101 |
| 2 | Ipswich Town(P) | 46 | 28 | 14 | 4 | 101 | 35 | +66 | 98 |
| 3 | Sheffield Wednesday(O, P) | 46 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 81 | 37 | +44 | 96 |
| 4 | Barnsley | 46 | 26 | 8 | 12 | 80 | 47 | +33 | 86 |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 62 | 36 | +26 | 81 |
| 6 | Peterborough United | 46 | 24 | 5 | 17 | 75 | 54 | +21 | 77 |
Sheffield Wednesday finished the regular2022–23 season in third place inEFL League One, the third tier of theEnglish football league system. They were two points behind runners-upIpswich Town and ten points ahead of fourth-placedBarnsley. Both Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley, therefore, missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to theEFL Championship and instead took part inthe play-offs to determine the third promoted team.[1] They were joined in the play-offs by fifth-placedBolton Wanderers, and sixth-placedPeterborough United, who qualified as a result ofDerby County's defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the regular season.[2] The format for the play-offs was two semi-finals, playedover two legs, followed by the final.[3]
Sheffield Wednesday were drawn against Peterborough for their semi-final. In the first leg at Peterborough'sLondon Road Stadium, the home team were dominant despite an early chance from Sheffield Wednesday strikerMichael Smith. Peterborough won the game 4–0 with goals fromJack Taylor,Joe Ward,Kwame Poku andJonson Clarke-Harris.[4] In a match dubbed by the club and local media as the "miracle of Hillsborough",[5][6] Sheffield Wednesday recovered in the second leg. First-half goals from Smith andLee Gregory, followed by strikes fromReece James andLiam Palmer after half-time, established a 4–0 lead at the end of 90 minutes and with the tie levelon aggregate, it went toextra time. Despite conceding anown goal in the first half of extra time, when a free kick was diverted off Gregory's head into the net, Sheffield Wednesday equalised the tie once more with a goal from strikerCallum Patterson. The tie thus finished 5–5 on aggregate and Sheffield Wednesday were victorious in thepenalty shootout by a score of 5–3.[7]
Barnsley's play-off semi final was against Bolton, with the first leg at theUniversity of Bolton Stadium. After a goalless first half, Barnsley took the lead due to a goal fromNicky Cadden, but the hosts equalised four minutes later through a goal byDion Charles.[8] The game finished 1–1 and the two sides went into the second leg atOakwell on level terms. The second leg was decided by a 24th-minute goal byLiam Kitching,[9] Barnsley going through to the final with a 2–1 aggregate win.[10]
This was Sheffield Wednesday's third play-off final, the first being a 4-2 victory againstHartlepool United in the2005 League One play-off final at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff and the second being a 1–0 defeat againstHull City in the2016 Championship play-off final.[11] Sheffield Wednesday had last played in the Championship in the 2020–21 season, when they were relegated to League One after being deducted six points for breaking EFL spending rules and then finishing bottom of the league.[11][12][13] Aside from the 2016 match, the club's prior visits toWembley Stadium includedthe 1935 and1966 FA Cup finals, which ended in victory and defeat respectively, and then five visits between 1991 and 1993 – a victory overManchester United in the1991 League Cup final, a1993 FA Cup semi-final win againstSheffield United, and successive defeats toArsenal in the 1993League Cup final andFA Cup final – the latter including a replay.[14] Barnsley had appeared in three play-off finals before this match. They lost 4–2 to Ipswich Town inthe last competitive game at theold Wembley Stadium, beatSwansea City in apenalty shootout to secure promotion in the2006 Football League One play-off final at theMillennium Stadium, and then defeated Millwall 3–1in 2016.[15][16][17][18] Barnsley also visited Wembley earlier in the 2015–16 season, with a 3–2 victory overOxford United inthe Football League Trophy final.[19] During the regular season, Barnsley won both matches against Sheffield Wednesday, 2–0 at Hillsborough in September 2022 and 4–2 at Oakwell the following March.[20] Smith was Sheffield Wednesday's highest scorer with 17 goals while Barnsley's top marksman wasDevante Cole with 15.[1]
The final wasrefereed byTim Robinson, with Shaun Hudson and Akil Howson as hisassistants, andJohn Busby the fourth official. From 2022, theEFL had announced that thevideo assistant referee (VAR) system would be used at all play-off finals, andTony Harrington was appointed in this role with Dan Robathan his assistant.[21][22]
The match kicked off at 3 p.m. in front of a crowd 72,492, of whom around 44,000 were Sheffield Wednesday fans and approximately 23,000 were Barnsley supporters.[23][24][25] Sheffield Wednesday had the better of the opening 15 minutes, with several chances to score, while Barnsley's best opportunity was a shot fromAdam Phillips which went over thecrossbar.[26] The game then settled down, however, as Barnsley were able to contain the Sheffield Wednesday attacks and there were few serious chances for the remainder of the half.[27][28]
The second half began with two controversial decisions which shaped the remainder of the game. The first was a challenge by Gregory on Kitching in thepenalty area, was not given as afoul or apenalty by the referee, a decision confirmed by the VAR. Former Barnsley goalkeeperDavid Preece commented onBBC Sport at the time that he was surprised by this decision because he had "seen in the Premier League penalties given for much lesser reasons than that".[28] The second incident was the referee's decision tosend off Phillips due to a sliding challenge on Gregory, again confirmed by VAR.[28] Despite Sheffield Wednesday's numerical advantage due to this decision, the two sides were still level by the end of normal time, although Barnsley had come close to a goal after Nicky Cadden's volley deflected off of the head of Kitching, hitting the crossbar.[28]
In extra time, Sheffield Wednesday were close to taking the lead after a close-range shot from Wednesday striker Smith was saved byHarry Isted, the Barnsleygoalkeeper. Barnsley themselves came close to taking the lead a few minutes later, withLuca Connell six yards from the net but was ultimately unable to convert.[28] Sheffield Wednesday believed they had taken the lead a few minutes later following a strike fromWill Vaulks into the back of the net, but this was ruled offside by the assistant referee.[29] The deciding goal came in the third minute ofstoppage time, withJosh Windassheading the ball past Isted to secure Wednesday's position in the Championship for the first time since 2021.[28]
| Barnsley | 0–1 (a.e.t.) | Sheffield Wednesday |
|---|---|---|
|
          Barnsley |      Sheffield Wednesday |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barnsley F.C. | Sheffield Wednesday F.C. | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 46% | 54% |
| Goals scored | 0 | 1 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 8 |
| Shots off target | 6 | 8 |
| Fouls committed | 11 | 12 |
| Corner kicks | 5 | 5 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 0 |
| Red cards | 1 | 0 |
Sheffield Wednesday managerDarren Moore described his side's win as "the stuff of dreams". Reflecting on the team's comeback from four goals down in the semi-final and the last-minute winner in the final, Moore commented that "you couldn't write it" and that "the impossible can be achieved".[31] Barnsley managerMichael Duff was proud of his players and described a sense of frustration, saying "it's a cruel game".[32] On the subject of the penalty decision and sending off early in the second half, he stated his belief that Gregory's challenge on Kitching should have been a penalty and that Phillips's challenge merited only a booking.[28] He did, however, compliment Sheffield Wednesday, saying that Moore had done a "brilliant job" and that they were "factually the third best team in the league".[32]
Josh Windass's father,Dean Windass, who had scored a goal under similar circumstances to his son's for Hull City againstBristol City in the2008 Championship play-off final, emphasised how proud he was, stating "there's no words, there's no words. Wow. I knew he'd score, this morning when I woke up at 5.30 I was nervous and even with his head as well – I can't believe he's headed it."[28][33]
On 31 May, Sheffield Wednesday hosted a victory parade with anopen-top bus to celebrate their promotion, which drove fromDevonshire Green toSheffield Town Hall.[34] Upon arriving at the town hall, the club's players and staff, as well as ownerDeijphon Chansiri, thanked the fans for their support.[35]
on Monday 29 May in a 3pm kick off
