 Old Trafford | |||||||
| Event | 2010–11 Football League One | ||||||
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| Date | 29 May 2011 | ||||||
| Venue | Old Trafford,Manchester | ||||||
| Referee | Steve Tanner | ||||||
| Attendance | 48,410 | ||||||
←2010 2012 → | |||||||
The2011 Football League One play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 29 May 2011 atOld Trafford in Manchester, betweenHuddersfield Town andPeterborough United, to determine the third and final team to gainpromotion fromFootball League One to theFootball League Championship. The top two teams of the2010–11 Football League One season,Brighton & Hove Albion andSouthampton, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the teams placed from third to sixth position took part inplay-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the2011–12 season in the Championship.AFC Bournemouth andMilton Keynes Dons were the defeated semi-finalists, losing to Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United respectively.
Steve Tanner was thereferee for the match, which was played in front of 48,410 spectators.Craig Mackail-Smith, League One's leading scorer, went close for Peterborough on several occasions in the first half but it ended goalless. In the 78th minute, Peterborough took the lead asTommy RoweheadedGrant McCann'sfree-kick into the Huddersfield net. Mackail-Smith doubled Peterborough's lead within two minutes, his shot deflecting into the goal offAntony Kay. With five minutes remaining, McCann increased the lead with a long-range strike to give Peterborough a 3–0 victory and promotion to the Championship.
Peterborough United ended theirnext season in 18th place in the Championship, four places and ten points above the relegation zone. Huddersfield Town finished theirfollowing season in fourth position inLeague One and qualified for the2012 Football League play-offs where they metSheffield United inthe final and won promotion to the Championship after a penalty shootout.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 28 | 11 | 7 | 85 | 40 | +45 | 95 |
| 2 | Southampton | 46 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 86 | 38 | +48 | 92 |
| 3 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 77 | 48 | +29 | 87 |
| 4 | Peterborough United | 46 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 106 | 75 | +31 | 79 |
| 5 | Milton Keynes Dons | 46 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 67 | 60 | +7 | 77 |
| 6 | Bournemouth | 46 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 75 | 54 | +21 | 71 |
Huddersfield Town finished the regular2010–11 season in third place inFootball League One, the third tier of theEnglish football league system, one place and eight points ahead ofPeterborough United. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to theFootball League Championship and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the third promoted team. Huddersfield Town finished five points behindSouthampton (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winnersBrighton & Hove Albion.[1]
Peterborough United's opponents for their play-off semi-final wereMilton Keynes Dons with the first match of thetwo-legged tie taking place atStadium MK in Milton Keynes on 15 May 2011.Craig Mackail-Smith gave the visitors the lead in the 8th minute, scoring after MK Dons goalkeeperDavid Martin pushed away a strike fromNathaniel Mendez-Laing. In the 47th minute,Daniel Powell levelled the score from close range after a defensive error fromTommy Rowe and three minutes later MK Dons went ahead 2–1 afterSam Baldock'sfree-kick went through thewall into the Peterborough net.Ángelo Balanta made it 3–1 in the 56th minute after beating Peterborough goalkeeperPaul Jones at the near post.Charlie Lee was thensent off for Peterborough after receiving twoyellow cards, the second for a foul on Powell. With nine minutes remaining,Stephen Gleeson was also sent off, for a foul onMark Little, andGrant McCann converted the subsequentpenalty to make the final score 3–2 to MK Dons.[3][4] The second leg was held four days later atLondon Road in Peterborough. McCann scored in the 11th minute from a free-kick to put Peterborough into the lead before Mackail-Smith's close-range strike made it 2–0 and sent his side to the final with a 4–3aggregate victory.[5][6]
Huddersfield Town facedAFC Bournemouth in the other semi-final; the first leg was played atDean Court in Bournemouth on 14 May 2011. Midway through the first half,Kevin Kilbane put the visitors ahead with aheader fromGary Roberts'cross. Soon after,Rhoys Wiggins was fouled by Huddersfield goalkeeperIan Bennett, who conceded a penalty.Danny Ings took the spot-kick but Bennett dived to his right to make the save. In the 60th minute,Donal McDermott scored with a shot from around 25 yards (23 metres) to level the match, which ended 1–1.[7][8] The second leg took place four days later at theGalpharm Stadium in Huddersfield.Lee Peltier gave Huddersfield the lead on 26 minutes from a Roberts corner, butSteve Lovell equalised just before half-time from the penalty spot afterAdam Smith was fouled in the Huddersfieldpenalty area.Danny Ward restored the home side's lead just before half-time with a strike past Bournemouth's goalkeeperShwan Jalal. Midway through the second half, McDermott's pass found Lovell who rounded Bennett and scored to make it 2–2. With the aggregate score 3–3 at the final whistle, the match went intoextra time. Ings scored for Bournemouth from aMarc Pugh cross in the 104th minute butAntony Kay equalised almost immediately with a header from a Roberts corner. Midway through the second period of additional time,Jason Pearce was shown thered card for a foul. The match ended 3–3, and with the scores level at 4–4 on aggregate, apenalty shootout was required to determine who would progress.Michael Symes andLee Novak scored the opening penalties for Bournemouth and Huddersfield respectively butLiam Feeney's spot-kick was saved by Bennett. Ward made it 2–1 to Huddersfield beforeAnton Robinson missed his penalty. Kilbane andShaun Cooper then scored for Huddersfield and Bournemouth respectively, but Kay scored the decider and Huddersfield won the shootout 4–2, progressing to the final.[9][10]
Due to the2011 UEFA Champions League Final being held atWembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, it appeared that the three Football League play-off finals may have to be played at a different venue for the first time since 2007.Manchester United'sOld Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, whileArsenal'sEmirates Stadium and theMillennium Stadium inCardiff were also under consideration to host the Championship,League One andLeague Two play-off finals.[11] It was confirmed in January 2011 that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, while Old Trafford would host the League Two and League One finals on 28 and 29 May respectively.[12]
The match was Huddersfield Town's third play-off final—their previous appearances came in1995 (a 2–1 win overBristol Rovers) and2004 (a 4–1 penalty shootout win overMansfield Town)—and capped their seventh overall appearance in the Football League play-offs. They had been relegated to the third tier of English football at the end of the2002–03 season.[13] Peterborough United had also featured in two previous play-off finals, winning the Football League Third Division final in both1992 (2–1 againstStockport County) and2000 (1–0 againstDarlington).[14] They had been relegated to League Onethe previous season, finishing bottom of the division and 15 points from safety.[14][15]
The sides had played each other three times during the season, twice in the league and once in theFootball League Trophy. Peterborough won the first league encounter 4–2 at London Road in August 2010; Huddersfield secured a 3–2 victory six weeks later in the cup competition. The second league match took place in April 2011 and ended in a 1–1 draw.[16] This was also the second time the sides had faced one another in the play-offs, with Peterborough winning 4–3 on aggregate in the1992 semi-finals.[16]
Peterborough's Mackail-Smith was the division's top scorer during the regular season with 32 goals (27 in the league, 2 in theFA Cup and 3 in theLeague Cup).[1] His side's other leading scorers wereGeorge Boyd with 17 (15 in the league and 2 in the League Cup) andAaron McLean on 13 (10 in the league, 2 in the FA Cup and 1 in the League Cup).[17]Jordan Rhodes was Huddersfield's top scorer with 26 goals (20 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup, 1 in the League Cup and 4 in the Football League Trophy) followed byAnthony Pilkington with 14 (10 in the league and 3 in the Football League Trophy).[18]
Thereferee for the match wasSteve Tanner.[19] He wasassisted byPeter Bankes and Charles Breakspear,Mick Russell acted as thefourth official and Seb Stockbridge was reserve assistant referee.[20] The final was broadcast live in the United Kingdom onSky Sports.[21] Huddersfield adopted a4–5–1 formation while Peterborough played as a4–3–2–1.[22]
The matchkicked off around 3 p.m. on 29 May 2011 at Old Trafford in front of 48,410 spectators.[19][21] In the fifth minute, Mackail-Smith's shot was deflected by Kay onto the outside of Huddersfield's post from a tackle. Boyd then struck from around 30 yards (27 metres) but his shot was saved by Bennett. For Huddersfield, Peltier headed a Roberts pass over the Peterborough crossbar before Jones caught Clarke's on-target header.Benik Afobe, playing as a lone striker, then missed an opportunity for Huddersfield before Mackail-Smith was denied once again by Kay. Roberts' free-kick was then tipped round the post by Jones before Afobe struck wide from 8 yards (7.3 metres) from the resulting corner. Mackail-Smith then hit a shot wide while unmarked after receiving a pass from Boyd, and the half ended goalless.[23]
The first chance of the second half fell to McCann who struck a curling free-kick over the bar from around 20 yards (18 metres), before Ward's run down the wing ended with his shot striking the Peterborough crossbar. Kay then fouled Mackail-Smith, who was through on goal, and was shown a yellow card. In the 78th minute, Peterborough took the lead as Rowe's header from McCann's free-kick went into the Huddersfield net. In immediate response,Danny Cadamarteri was brought on for Ward as Huddersfield switched to two strikers, but Mackail-Smith doubled Peterborough's lead within two minutes, his shot deflecting into the goal off Kay. With five minutes remaining, McCann increased his side's lead with a long-range strike beforeLee Tomlin's shot went over the Huddersfield crossbar. Peterborough won the match 3–0 and were promoted to the Championship.[23]
         Huddersfield Town |  Peterborough United |
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Match officials:
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| Huddersfield Town | Peterborough United | |
|---|---|---|
| Total shots | 7 | 9 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 5 |
| Ball possession | 44% | 56% |
| Corner kicks | 5 | 4 |
| Fouls committed | 13 | 10 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Darren Ferguson, the Peterboroughmanager, was quick to praise his chairman,Darragh MacAnthony, noting "he's spent money, had a right go and had the bottle to get me back at the club".[22] He also noted that his father, Manchester United managerAlex Ferguson, had not been present at the final, calling him a "jinx" and jokingly attributing Peterborough's semi-final first-leg loss to MK Dons to him.[22] The Huddersfield managerLee Clark said that the final score did not tell the whole story of the match: "It was just a crazy eight, ten minutes. For the first half-hour of the second half we dominated, but they had aset-piece expert ... I'm hurting for the owner, for the fantastic supporters".[22]
Peterborough United ended theirnext season in 18th place in the Championship, four places and ten points above the relegation zone.[24] Huddersfield Town finished theirfollowing season in fourth position inLeague One and qualified for the2012 Football League play-offs where they metSheffield United inthe final, winning promotion to the Championship after a penalty shootout.[25][26]
