.jpg) The match took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
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| Date | 25 May 1997 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Uriah Rennie (Sheffield) | ||||||
| Attendance | 34,149 | ||||||
←1996 1998 → | |||||||
The1997 Football League Second Division play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 25 May 1997 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenCrewe Alexandra andBrentford. The top two teams of the1996–97 Football League Second Division league,Bury andStockport County, gained automatic promotion to the First Division, while the teams 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 the1997–98 season in the First Division. The losing semi-finalists wereLuton Town andBristol City who had been defeated by Crewe and Brentford respectively.
Thereferee for the match, played in front of 34,149 spectators, wasUriah Rennie from Sheffield. Crewe dominated the early stages of the match and in the 34th minute,Steve Macauley passed Murphy's cross toShaun Smith who struck from close range to make it 1–0 to Crewe. Within two minutes, McCauley headed a corner from Rivers against the Brentford crossbar. Midway through the second half,Bob Taylor thought he had scored the equaliser for Brentford but his shot was saved by Crewe goalkeeperJason Kearton. In the 74th minute, Brentford were reduced to ten men afterBrian Statham was sent off having been shown a second yellow card.Dele Adebola's shot hit the crossbar of the Brentford goal and two attempts fromColin Little were stopped on the Crewe goal-line byCarl Hutchings. The match ended 1–0 and Crewe were promoted to the First Division.
Brentford'sfollowing season saw their managerDavid Webb resign in August to be replaced byEddie May. May himself left the club three months later, and was replaced byMicky Adams, who led them to a 21st place in the Second Division and relegation to the Third Division. Crewe ended theirnext season in eleventh position in the First Division, five places and fifteen points belowthe play-offs.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bury | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 62 | 38 | +24 | 84 |
| 2 | Stockport County | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 82 |
| 3 | Luton Town | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 71 | 45 | +26 | 78 |
| 4 | Brentford | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 56 | 43 | +13 | 74 |
| 5 | Bristol City | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 69 | 51 | +18 | 73 |
| 6 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 22 | 7 | 17 | 56 | 47 | +9 | 73 |
Brentford finished the regular1996–97 season in fourth place in theSecond Division, the third tier of theEnglish football league system, two places ahead ofCrewe Alexandra. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to the First Division and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the third promoted team. Brentford finished eight points behindStockport County (who were promoted in second place) and ten behind league winnersBury. Crewe ended the season one point behind Brentford.[1]
Crewe's opposition for their play-off semi-final wereLuton Town with the first match of thetwo-legged tie taking place atGresty Road in Crewe on 11 May 1997. The visitors went ahead on three minutes throughDavid Oldfield butMark Rivers equalised for Crewe eight minutes into the second half. Luton were reduced to ten men in the 58th minute whenJulian James was shown his secondyellow card; ten minutes later,Colin Little struck for Crewe to secure a 2–1 win.[2] The second leg of the semi-final took place atKenilworth Road in Luton three days later. Oldfield scored twice in an 11-minute spell: on 20 minutes he levelled theaggregate score after a mistake fromLee Unsworth, then took advantage of a lapse of concentration fromAshley Westwood to double his and Luton's tally. Little scored for Crewe within a minute with a header after a failed clearance from Luton goalkeeperIan Feuer. Smith then scored midway through the second half to make it 2–2 on the evening, and ensure Crewe's progression to the final with a 4–3 aggregate victory.[3]
Brentford facedBristol City in the other semi-final; the first leg was held atAshton Gate in Bristol on 11 May 1997. The away side took the lead in the 13th minute throughPaul Smith but Bristol City equalised two minutes later with aheader fromGary Owers.Bob Taylor gave Brentford the advantage once again on 30 minutes with a header. Late in the second half, Brentford'sCarl Asaba wassent off for a second yellow card and the match ended 2–1.[2] The second leg of the tie took place atGriffin Park three days later. After a goalless first half,Darren Barnard scored for Bristol City in the 49th minute. Taylor scored midway through the half, however, and with eleven minutes remaining,Marcus Bent added a second to make it 2–1 to the visitors, who won the tie 4–2 on aggregate.[3]
Brentford had appeared in the play-offs on two previous occasions, in1991 and1995, but had lost in the semi-finals. They had played in the Second Division since suffering relegation from the First Division in the1992–93 season.[4] This was Crewe Alexandra's fifth play-off appearance, and their third in a row. It was their second final, having lost toYork City in apenalty shootout atWembley Stadium in the1993 Football League Third Division play-off final. They had played in the Second Division since gaining promotion in the1993–94 season and had last played in the second tier of English football 101 years before, in the1895–96 Football League season, after which they were notre-elected.[5] During the regular 1996–97 season, Crewe won both games between the side, with 2–0 victories at Gresty Road in October 1996 and at Griffin Park the following April.[6]
The BrentfordmanagerDavid Webb suggested that should his side win the final, the club would consider aflotation on the stock market in order to "organise the club so that if we do go up, it can cope".[7] His counterpart,Dario Gradi, who had managed Crewe for 14 years,[8] was waiting on the fitness ofDanny Murphy who had a thigh injury, noting that his side's "plans will revolve around his fitness".[9]
The referee for the match wasUriah Rennie from Sheffield.[10] Brentford adopted a4–4–2 formation while Crewe played as a4–3–3.[11] The match was broadcast live in the UK onSky Sports.[12]
The matchkicked off around 3 p.m. on 25 May 1997 atWembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 34,149.[10] Crewe dominated the early stages of the match. In the 32nd minute, Murphy played aone-two withGareth Whalley but his shot hit the Brentford goalpost. Three minutes later,Steve Macauley passed Murphy's cross toShaun Smith who struck from close range to make it 1–0 to Crewe. Within two minutes, McCauley headed a corner from Rivers against the Brentford crossbar.[11][13][14]
Brentford made their firstsubstitution at half-time when Bent was replaced byScott Canham. Midway through the second half, Taylor thought he had scored the equaliser for Brentford with a low strike and began to celebrate only to see his shot saved by Crewe goalkeeperJason Kearton.Dele Adebola's shot hit the crossbar of the Brentford goal in the 73rd minute and a minute later Brentford were reduced to ten men afterBrian Statham was sent off having been shown a second yellow card. Two attempts from Little, including one in the last minute of the match, were stopped on the Crewe goal-line byCarl Hutchings.[11][13][14]
       Crewe |      Brentford |
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Writing inThe Times,Brian Glanville described the match as "almost embarrassingly one-sided".[11] Webb conceded that his team could have suffered a heavier defeat: "Our game went backwards and their game went forwards ... They looked much better equipped than us today to go up to be a first division team."[11] Gradi looked to the next season: "We can look forward now toManchester City andMiddlesbrough ... we really haven't dared think about it until now".[8] He accepted that certain players in his squad were likely to be playing for other teams by then,[13] and opined "If they get a chance to go, well, good luck to them".[11] Murphy moved toLiverpool for a deal reportedly worth up to £3 million six weeks later.[15]
Webb resigned before the start of Brentford'sfollowing season to become chief executive of the club.[16] He was replaced byEddie May whose reign lasted until November 1997, when both he and Webb left the club after they had dropped from third in the league to bottom.Micky Adams was appointed as the new manager, and led them to 21st place in the Second Division and relegation to the Third Division, one place from safety.[17][18] Crewe ended theirnext season in eleventh position in the First Division, five places and fifteen points belowthe play-offs.[19]
