.jpg) | |||||||
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| Date | 27 May 1995 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Billy Stewart | ||||||
| Referee | Paul Alcock (Surrey) | ||||||
| Attendance | 22,814 | ||||||
←1994 1996 → | |||||||
The1995 Football League Third Division play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 27 May 1995 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenChesterfield andBury to determine the third and final team to gainpromotion from theFootball League Third Division to theSecond Division. The top two teams of the1994–95 Football League Third Division,Carlisle United andWalsall, gained automatic promotion to the Second Division, while those placed from third to sixth place in the table took part inplay-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the1995–96 season in the Second Division. The losing semi-finalists werePreston North End andMansfield Town.
The match,refereed byPaul Alcock, was played in front of 22,814 spectators. Chesterfield won the match 2–0 with first-half goals fromTony Lormor andPhil Robinson to gain promotion back to the third tier ofEnglish football five seasons after being relegated. For the club'smanager,John Duncan, it was his second success with Chesterfield as a manager, having won theFourth Division title in 1985. His counterpart,Mike Walsh, parted company with Bury less than four months later.
Chesterfield's next season saw them end in seventh position in the Second Division, one place and one point below theplay-offs. Bury ended their following campaign in third place in the Third Division, securing automatic promotion to the Second Division for the1996–97 season.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlisle United | 42 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 67 | 31 | +36 | 91 |
| 2 | Walsall | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 75 | 40 | +35 | 83 |
| 3 | Chesterfield | 42 | 23 | 12 | 7 | 62 | 37 | +25 | 81 |
| 4 | Bury | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 73 | 36 | +37 | 80 |
| 5 | Preston North End | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 67 |
| 6 | Mansfield Town | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 84 | 59 | +25 | 65 |
Chesterfield finished the regular1994–95 season in third position in theFootball League Third Division, the third tier of theEnglish football league system, one place and one point ahead ofBury. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to theSecond Division and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the third promoted team. Chesterfield finished two points behindWalsall (who were promoted in second place) and ten behind league winnersCarlisle United.[1]
Bury's opponents in their play-off semi-final werePreston North End with the first match of thetwo-legged tie taking place atDeepdale in Preston on 13 May 1995. The visiting side took the lead in the 40th minute whenDavid Pugh received a pass fromNick Daws before striking the ball from 10 yards (9.1 m), past Preston North End goalkeeperJohn Vaughan. Despite having a number of chances to score, Preston North End could not level the match and it ended 1–0 to Bury.[2] The second leg was held atGigg Lane in Bury three days later.[3]Tony Rigby put the home team ahead with a 20-yard (18 m)volley in the 88th minute, and althoughTony Kelly wassent off seconds later, the game finished 1–0, with Bury progressing to the final with a 2–0aggregate win.[4]
Chesterfield facedMansfield Town in their semi-final and the first leg was played atField Mill in Mansfield. After a goalless first half,Phil Robinson gave Chesterfield the lead in the 64th minute after out-pacing the Mansfield Town defence and scoring pastDarren Ward in goal.Stewart Hadley levelled the score eight minutes later when he struck from the edge of the Chesterfieldpenalty area after the defence failed to clear afree kick, and the match ended 1–1.[2] The second leg took place atSaltergate in Chesterfield three days later.Paul Holland gave Mansfield the lead after three minutes with aheader beforeTony Lormor equalised midway through the first half.Steve Wilkinson then restored Mansfield's lead with a goal on 32 minutes but Robinson equalised and regular time ended by the score at 2–2, and 3–3 on aggregate, sending the game intoextra time.Kevin Lampkin was sent off for Mansfield beforeNicky Law scored from apenalty.Mark Peters was then also dismissed, leaving Mansfield with nine players, and further strikes fromJonathan Howard and Robinson made the final score 5–2 with Chesterfield progressing to the final with a 6–3 aggregate victory.[5]
Chesterfield were making their second appearance in a play-off final, having lost 1–0 againstCambridge United in the1990 Football League Fourth Division play-off final.[6] They had played in the fourth tier of English football since suffering relegation in the1988–89 season.[6] Bury had participated in play-offs on two previous occasions, losing in the semi-finals in both: 2–0 on aggregate toTranmere Rovers in1990 and 2–1 over the two legs toBolton Wanderers in1991.[7] Bury had played in the fourth tier since being relegated in the1991–92 season.[7] It was Bury's first match at the national stadium.[4] In the two matches between the sides during the regular season, Bury had won 2–1 at Gigg Lane in September 1994 while the return fixture at Saltergate the following March ended in a goalless draw.[8] Chesterfield'smanagerJohn Duncan had led the team to promotion in a previous spell in charge as champions of the Fourth Division in the1984–85 season. His second period at the club came three years after leavingIpswich Town in 1990.[9]
Thereferee for the match wasPaul Alcock ofRedhill, Surrey.[10] Among thesubstitutes for Chesterfield was the 43-year-old commercial manager of the club,Jim Brown, asBilly Stewart, their third-choice goalkeeper, was in the starting line-up.[10][11]
The finalkicked off around 3 p.m. atWembley Stadium on 27 May 1995 in front of 22,814 spectators.[12] Bury dominated the first half, with Don Beet writing inThe Guardian that they "flung everything at Billy Stewart's goal from the start".[10] Midway through the first half, a longthrow-in flew deep into the Burypenalty area and afterDes Hazel challenged a defender, the ball fell to Lormor who struck it cleanly pastGary Kelly in the Bury goal to make it 1–0. In the 41st minute, Chesterfield doubled their lead: Law sent in another long throw-in and Robinson headed it into the Bury net despite the attention of a number of defenders. At half time, Bury made their first change of the game withMark Carter beingsubstituted off forJohn Paskin. The 68th minute saw Bury's closest chance to score when Rigby struck a free kick against the Chesterfield goalpost. Late in the game, Kelly saved attempts to score from both Robinson and second-half substituteKevin Davies. The match ended 2–0 to Chesterfield who were promoted to the Second Division.[11]
| Chesterfield | 2–0 | Bury |
|---|---|---|
Lormor 23'Robinson 41' | (Report) |
     Chesterfield | Bury |
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Laws described Bury's early dominance as "like Custer's last stand out there", but hismanagerJohn Duncan said that his goalkeeper had been "solid as a rock".[10] Despite his side's loss,Mike Walsh still favoured the play-offs, suggesting that "they are great for the supporters".[10] He left Bury in September 1995 with the club in seventeenth position in the Third Division.[13][14]
Chesterfield's next season saw them end in seventh position in the Second Division, one place and one point below theplay-offs.[15] Bury ended their following campaign in third place in the Third Division, securing automatic promotion to the Second Division for the1996–97 season.[16]
