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| Date | 24 May 1997 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Terry Heilbron (Newton Aycliffe) | ||||||
| Attendance | 46,804 | ||||||
←1996 1998 → | |||||||
The1997 Football League Third Division play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 24 May 1997 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenNorthampton Town andSwansea City to determine the fourth and final team to gainpromotion from theFootball League Third Division to theSecond Division. The top three teams of the1996–97 Football League Third Division,Carlisle United,Fulham and league winnersWigan Athletic, gained automatic promotion to the Second Division, while the teams placed from fourth to seventh 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 Second Division. The losing semi-finalists wereChester City andCardiff City.
The match,refereed by Terry Heilbron, was played in front of 46,804 supporters. In a goalless first half,Carl Heggs came close to scoring with avolley whichAndy Woodman, the Northampton Towngoalkeeper, saved. Late in the second half, Northampton Town were awarded afree kick whichJohn Frain struck against the Swanseawall, but the referee ordered it be re-taken. On the second attempt, Frain scored to give his side a 1–0 victory and promotion to the Second Division.
In theirnext season, Northampton Town finished in fourth place in the Second Division to qualify for theplay-offs. There, they lost 1–0 toGrimsby Town in the1998 Football League Second Division play-off final. Swansea City ended theirfollowing season in 21st position in the Third Division.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 84 | 51 | +33 | 87 |
| 2 | Fulham | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 72 | 38 | +34 | 87 |
| 3 | Carlisle United | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 67 | 44 | +23 | 84 |
| 4 | Northampton Town | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 67 | 44 | +23 | 72 |
| 5 | Swansea City | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 62 | 58 | +4 | 71 |
| 6 | Chester City | 46 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 55 | 43 | +12 | 70 |
| 7 | Cardiff City | 46 | 20 | 9 | 17 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 69 |
Northampton Town finished the regular1996–97 season in fourth position in theFootball League Third Division, the fourth tier of theEnglish football league system, one place and one point ahead ofSwansea City. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places forpromotion to theSecond Division and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Northampton Town finished twelve points behindCarlisle United (who were promoted in third place), and fifteen behind second-placedFulham and league winnersWigan Athletic (who had superiorgoal difference to Fulham).[1]
In their play-off semi-final, Northampton Town facedCardiff City, with the first match of thetwo-legged tie taking place atNinian Park in Cardiff on 11 May 1997.[2] After a goalless first half, Northampton Town were reduced to ten players whenMark Cooper wassent off for violent conduct with 20 minutes of the match remaining. Seven minutes later,Sean Parrish scored with alob from the edge of the Cardiff Citypenalty area to give Northampton Town a 1–0 victory.[3] The second leg was held atSixfields Stadium in Northampton three days later.[4]Ian Sampson put Northampton Town ahead midway through the first half with aheader and three minutes later, Cardiff'sJeff Eckhardt was sent off for the use of an elbow.Jason Fowler scored for Cardiff in the 36th minute before goals fromRay Warburton andJohn Gayle made it 3–1.Simon Haworth scored a late goal for Cardiff but the match ended 3–2 to Northampton Town who progressed to the final with a 4–2aggregate victory.[5]
Swansea City's opposition in their play-off semi-final wasChester City with the first leg being held at theDeva Stadium in Chester on 11 May 1997.[6] The match was ill-disciplined with nine players being booked.David Flitcroft had a goal disallowed foroffside and the match ended in a 0–0 draw.[3] The second leg took place atVetch Field in Swansea three days later.[7] In the eighth minute, Swansea's defenderSteve Jones broke his right leg and was taken away in an ambulance, shortly before Chester'sChris Priest was dismissed for twoyellow cards. Swansea scored twice in first-halfstoppage time, with goals fromDave Thomas andSteve Torpey.Carl Heggs extended Swansea's lead when he scored with a left-footedvolley in the 62nd minute, and the match ended 3–0, with the Welsh team progressing to the final with the same aggregate score.[8]
This was Swansea City's second appearance in a play-off final, having won the1988 Football League Fourth Division play-off final 5–4 on aggregate againstTorquay United. They had played in the fourth tier of English football since being relegated in the1989–90 season.[9] It was their second competitive match atWembley Stadium, having made their debut at the national stadium three years before where they won the1994 Football League Trophy Final in apenalty shoot-out againstHuddersfield Town.[10] Northampton Town were appearing in the first play-off final in their history, and had also played in the fourth tier since suffering relegation in the 1989–90 season.[11] It was also their first match at the national stadium.[12]
In the two matches between the sides during the regular season, Swansea City won both: a 1–0 victory at Vetch Field in November 1996 was followed by a 2–1 win at Sixfields the following February.[13]Dave Penney was Swansea City's top scorer during the regular season with 13 goals (all in the league).[14] Northampton Town's leading scorer wasNeil Grayson who had scored 12 league goals during the season.[15] Thereferee for the match was Terry Heilbron fromNewton Aycliffe.[16]
The matchkicked off around 3 p.m. on 24 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 46,804.[17] Five minutes into the match, a volley from Swansea's Heggs was tipped over the crossbar byAndy Woodman, the Northampton Towngoalkeeper.[18] In the 25th minute,Jan Mølby conceded possession to Swansea's Grayson who passed to Parrish, butChristian Edwards blocked his shot. Early in the second half,John Frain crossed forChristian Lee but his header was off-target.[19] Later in the half, Frain crossed for Gayle whose header just clipped the Swansea crossbar. Soon after, Northampton Town were awarded afree kick on the edge of the Swansea penalty area. Frain struck the ball into thewall but the referee adjudged that the defenders had encroached and ordered the free kick be retaken. On the second attempt, and in second-half stoppage time, Frain's shot found its way into the back of the Swansea goal, giving Northampton a 1–0 lead which they held onto for the last seconds to secure victory and promotion to the Second Division.[18]
     Northampton Town | Swansea City |
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Swansea City'splayer-manager Mølby was critical of the referee's decision to allow the decisive free kick to be retaken, suggesting "if they hadn't scored from the second [free kick], the referee would have let them take it again ... There is no crueller way to lose at Wembley than that."[20] Winning goalscorer Frain was elated, recounting that "six months ago I was rotting away in Birmingham's reserves. Now I've scored a last minute winner at Wembley, the stuff you dream about when you are kicking a ball in a park as a little kid."[20] Northampton Town's managerIan Atkins reflected on his club's recent history, noting "The club was in a state of despair when I arrived and we have gone through a lot in recent years" but that now the "whole town has gone barmy!"[21]
In theirnext season, Northampton Town finished in fourth place in the Second Division to qualify for theplay-offs. There, they lost 1–0 toGrimsby Town in the1998 Football League Second Division play-off final.[22] Mølby was dismissed from his position the following October with his side fifth from bottom.[23]Micky Adams replaced Mølby temporarily and two weeks laterAlan Cork was appointed as the full-time manager:[24] he led Swansea to 21st position in the Third Divisionthat season.[25]
