.jpg) The match took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
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| Date | 31 May 1999 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Terry Heilbron (Newton Aycliffe) | ||||||
| Attendance | 70,343 | ||||||
←1998 2000 → | |||||||
The1999 Football League First Division play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 31 May 1999 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenBolton Wanderers andWatford. The match was to determine the third and final team to gainpromotion from theFootball League First Division, the second tier ofEnglish football, to thePremier League. The top two teams of the1998–99 Football League First Division season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while those from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; Bolton Wanderers ended the season fifth in the table, one position and one point ahead of Watford. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the1999–2000 season in the Premier League.Birmingham City andIpswich Town were the losing semi-finalists. Winning the final was estimated to be worth up to £10 million to the successful team.
The 1999 final was played in front of a crowd of 70,343 and was refereed by Terry Heilbron.Nick Wright put Watford ahead late in the first half with anoverhead kick.Allan Smart doubled their lead with two minutes remaining and Watford won the match 2–0. As a result, Watford would play in the Premier League for the first time since its inception in the1992–93 season. It also meant that Watford were promoted for the second successive season, having been champions ofDivision Two in the1997–98 season.Elton John, Watford's chairman, watched the final from Seattle.
Watford were considered favourites for relegation the following season and finished bottom of the Premier League, 12 points from safety, having lost 26 of their 38 matches: they were relegated back to the First Division. Bolton ended their next season in sixth place in the First Division to qualify for theplay-offs where they lost in the semi-finals to Ipswich Town.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunderland | 46 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 91 | 28 | +63 | 105 |
| 2 | Bradford City | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 82 | 47 | +35 | 87 |
| 3 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 26 | 8 | 12 | 69 | 32 | +37 | 86 |
| 4 | Birmingham City | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 81 |
| 5 | Watford | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 65 | 56 | +9 | 77 |
| 6 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 78 | 59 | +19 | 76 |
Watford finished the regular1998–99 season in fifth position in theFootball League First Division, the second tier of theEnglish football league system, one place and one point ahead ofBolton Wanderers. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to thePremier League and instead took part in theplay-offs, along withIpswich Town andBirmingham City, to determine the third promoted team. Watford finished ten points behindBradford City (who were promoted in second place) and twenty-eight behind league winnersSunderland.[1]
Bolton's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Ipswich Town, with the first match of thetwo-legged tie being played on 16 May 2001 at theReebok Stadium in Bolton. The visitors had apenalty appeal turned down by thereferee late in the first half whenMark Fish appeared to tripDavid Johnson and the first half ended goalless. With six minutes of the match remaining,Michael Johansenvolleyed the ball into the Ipswich goal, securing a 1–0 first-leg victory.[2] The second leg took place at Ipswich'sPortman Road three days later. The home team took the lead with a goal fromMatt Holland on 14 minutes, but the score on the day was level afterBob Taylor's close-rangeshot went in. Ipswich were ahead once again one minute later throughKieron Dyer but a deflected strike byPer Frandsen made the score 2–2 with seven minutes remaining. Dyer's 90th minute headed goal made it 3–2 to Ipswich and level onaggregate, taking the match intoextra time. Taylor scored his second and Bolton's third in the 96th minute, and Holland's 20-yard (18 m) strike made it 4–3 to Ipswich in the 116th minute. The tie ended 4–4 on aggregate with Bolton progressing to the final via theaway goals rule.[3]
Watford faced Birmingham City in their play-off semi-final and played the first leg at their home ground ofVicarage Road on 16 May 1999. After five minutes, Watford took the lead whenMichel Ngonge headedPeter Kennedy's cross into the bottom corner of the Birmingham City goal to make it 1–0. Before half-time, Birmingham City'sChris Holland hit the outside of the post with a long-distance strike andNick Wright's lob for Watford hit the crossbar. Midway through the second half,Tommy Mooney's header hit the Watford bar beforePaul Robinson was sent off for receiving a secondyellow card for afoul onPeter Ndlovu. No further goals were scored and the match ended 1–0 to Watford.[4] The return match was played atSt Andrew's in Birmingham four days later.Dele Adebola opened the scoring for Birmingham City after two minutes butDavid Holdsworth was sent off with more than an hour of the match remaining for a second yellow card. The first half ended 1–0, 1–1 on aggregate, and remained unchanged by the end of regular time. Half an hour of extra time went goalless forcing the match to be decided by apenalty shootout. At 6–6 with one penalty missed by each team, Watford'sAlon Hazan put them ahead before Holland's miss condemned Birmingham City to defeat and sent Watford to the final.[5]
This was Bolton's second appearance in the second tier play-off final; they had beatenReading 4–3 after extra time inthe 1995 final. Watford were making their first appearance in the second tier play-off final, but had lost toBlackburn Rovers in the1989 play-off semi-finals.[6] Bolton were aiming to make an immediate return to the top tier of English football having been relegated from the Premier League in the1997–98 season ongoal difference.[7] Conversely, Watford were seeking back-to-back promotions, after ending theprevious season as champions of theSecond Division (third tier).[8] They had been outside the top tier for eleven years.[8] In the two regular season meetings between the two clubs, Watford had won both, defeating Bolton 2–1 at the Reebok Stadium in October 1998 and 2–0 at Vicarage Road the following April.[9]Graham Taylor, the Watford manager, was making his first visit toWembley Stadium since September 1993 in his last game asEngland manager. Reflecting on Watford's appearance at the national stadium in the1984 FA Cup Final, he suggested: "There are two ways to go to Wembley. You either go as Watford did against Everton ... just happy to be there. Or you go to win."[10]Elton John, Watford's chairman, also spoke similarly of the 1984 final: "Yes, we desperately wanted to win ... but there was something about getting there which was a victory in its own right for a relatively small club like ours". He went on to suggest that both Taylor and his team had an "overwhelming determination" to succeed in the play-off final.[11]
Bolton's top scorer in the league was Bob Taylor who had fifteen goals for the season.[12]Gifton Noel-Williams was Watford's leading marksman with ten league goals, but had not featured for his club since suffering a fractured hip in January.[13][14] Mooney was second in the list of Watford's top scorers with nine league goals.[13] The match was broadcast live in the UK onSky Sports 2 with highlights shown later that evening onITV.[10] According to bookmakersCoral andLittlewoods, Bolton were favourites to win the match.[15][16] The match was estimated in the media to be worth around £10 million to the winning team.[17] The referee for the match was Terry Heilbron fromNewton Aycliffe inCounty Durham.[18]
Watfordkicked off the match at 3 p.m. on 31 May 1999 in front of a Wembley Stadium crowd of 70,343.[18] Bolton adopted a4–4–2 formation while Watford played as4–3–3.[19] In the second minute,Claus Jensen'spass was cleared by Watford, and a minute later a Boltoncorner was also defended. Four minutes later Taylor took the ball clear and his shot from 20 yards (18 m), under challenge fromRob Page, was straight atAlec Chamberlain in the Watford goal. Bolton dominated the midfield but in the eleventh minuteSteve Palmer's long ball forward was allowed to bounce allowing Kennedy to shoot but the ball went high over the bar. On 13 minutes,Eiður Guðjohnsen was challenged by both Robinson and Page, but the ball fell to Johansen whose shot went across the face of Watford's goal. Four minutes later, a foul fromRobbie Elliott drew afree kick which was taken by Kennedy, withSteve Banks saving from Mooney. In the 19th minute, Guðjohnsen's shot was gathered by Chamberlain, despite the goalkeeper losing his footing.[20]
Six minutes later, Guðjohnsen set off on a counter-attack, beating Robinson to goone-on-one with Chamberlain, but shot just wide of the right-hand post. In the 30th minute, a free kick from Elliott broke to Guðjohnsen whose shot from around the penalty spot was parried by Chamberlain. Seven minutes later, Watford'sDarren Bazeley beat both Gardner and Elliott to win a corner. From the set piece,Neil Cox headed the ball clear, which fell to Wright whoseoverhead kick flew into the Bolton goal, making it 1–0 to Watford.[20] TheBBC described it as "one of the best goals seen in a play-off final".[18] In the 39th minute, Frandsen's free kick was saved by Chamberlain but had to be retaken, the second strike being cleared. In the final minute of the half, Guðjohnsen's curled shot went past Watford's left-hand post.[20]
No changes were made by either side during the break and Bolton kicked off the second half. Six minutes in, Guðjohnsen's header dropped in front of Taylor who fouled Chamberlain in pursuit of a shot. In the 56th minute Guðjohnsen had another chance after breaking free but the ball was cleared by Page. A minute later,Micah Hyde was shown the first yellow card of the match for tugging an opponent's shirt. In the 61st minute, a cross from Gardner was cleared off the line by Watford's Palmer. Two subsequent corners from Bolton were defended by Watford. Five minutes later, Bolton made the firstsubstitution of the game withScott Sellars coming on to replace Johansen. On 68 minutes, a header from Mooney went close.[20]
With fifteen minutes of the game remaining, Bolton counter-attacked and Cox shot wide from a Taylor pass. Watford then made their first change of the afternoon, Ngonge being replaced byAllan Smart. Two minutes later, Wright's ball to Mooney was struck across the Bolton goal. Kennedy then shot wide of Banks from a corner, before Frandsen's shot was straight at Chamberlain. With five minutes to go, Guðjohnsen beat Palmer but his poked shot round the Watford goalkeeper went wide. A minute later, Guðjohnsen's shot was saved by Chamberlain before a 50-yard (46 m) run from Cox resulted in him shooting high and wide. In the 88th minute, Watford made their second change, Hazan coming on to replace Wright. In the 89th minute, Watford doubled their lead: Kennedy won the ball from Sellars and passed it to Smart who side-footed it past Banks. The match ended 2–0 and saw Watford secure back-to-back promotions.[20]
| Bolton Wanderers | 0–2 | Watford |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Wright 38'Smart 89' |
          Bolton Wanderers |      Watford |
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After the game, Taylor was jubilant: "I always thought I would get back to the top ... I would have gone abroad if I thought I wouldn't have been able to get back in. The England job caused me great problems ... but now I'm back at the highest level".[17] Todd, the losing manager, noted: "The first 20 minutes of any game is important and I thought we settled well. But it's not about 20 minutes – it's about 90 and we didn't stamp any authority on the game".[21] Elton John, who had watched the match live from Seattle, said: "I have never seen a Watford team play with such passion ... I can't thank Graham enough for what he has done for me".[22] He went on to praise Taylor's management: "We have one of the greatest managers to have ever graced the English game".[23] It was the fifth time that Watford had secured promotion under the management of Taylor.[18]
Watford were immediately installed byWilliam Hill, thebookmakers, as odds on for relegation from the Premier League thefollowing season and declared favourites to do so by Ian Parkes writing in theIrish Independent;[21] the club finished bottom of the Premier League, 12 points from safety, losing 26 of their 38 matches.[24] Bolton endedtheir next season in sixth place in the First Division, qualifying for theplay-offs,[25] where they lost in the semi-finals to Ipswich Town.[26]
