 The match took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
| Event | 2011–12 Football League Two | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 27 May 2012 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Craig Pawson | ||||||
| Attendance | 24,029 | ||||||
| Weather | Hot | ||||||
←2011 2013 → | |||||||
The2012 Football League Two play-off final was anassociation football match played on 27 May 2012 atWembley Stadium, London, betweenCheltenham Town andCrewe Alexandra. The match determined the fourth and final team to gainpromotion fromFootball League Two, English football's fourth tier, toFootball League One. The top three teams of the2011–12 Football League Two season gained automatic promotion to League One, while those placed from fourth to seventh in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the2012–13 season in League One. Cheltenham Town finished in sixth place while Crewe Alexandra ended the season in seventh position.Southend United andTorquay United were the losing semi-finalists, being defeated by Crewe and Cheltenham respectively.
Thereferee for the match wasCraig Pawson which kicked off around 3 p.m. in front of a crowd of 24,029. In the 15th minute,Nick Powell scored to put Crewe 1–0 ahead:Kelvin Mellor found Powell, who beat a defender by flicking the ball up before striking avolley into the Cheltenham net from around 20 yards (18 m).Jeff Goulding's long-range shot then struck the Crewe crossbar before rebounding toBen Burgess who missed the target. In the 25th minute, Goulding struck Burgess' flick-on into the Crewe net but the goal was disallowed foroffside.Byron Moore's 81st minute shot was just wide of the Cheltenham's right-hand goalpost but a minute later his shot into the bottom-corner of the net after exchanged passes withA-Jay Leitch-Smith made it 2–0. Crewe won the match and gained promotion to League One.
Crewe ended theirfollowing season in thirteenth position in the League One table. Cheltenham finished in fifth place in League Two in theirnext season and qualified for theplay-offs where they lost in the semi-finals toNorthampton Town.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swindon Town | 46 | 29 | 6 | 11 | 75 | 32 | +43 | 93 |
| 2 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 66 | 41 | +25 | 88 |
| 3 | Crawley Town | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 76 | 54 | +22 | 84 |
| 4 | Southend United | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 77 | 48 | +29 | 83 |
| 5 | Torquay United | 46 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 63 | 50 | +13 | 81 |
| 6 | Cheltenham Town | 46 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 66 | 50 | +16 | 77 |
| 7 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 72 |
Cheltenham Town finished the regular2011–12 season in sixth place inFootball League Two, the fourth tier of theEnglish football league system, one position ahead ofCrewe Alexandra. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places forpromotion toFootball League One and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Cheltenham Town finished seven points behindCrawley Town (who were promoted in third place), eleven behindShrewsbury Town (who were promoted in second place), and sixteen behind league winnersSwindon Town. Crewe Alexandra ended the season one place and five points behind Cheltenham Town.[1] Crewe Alexandra had lost the first four games of their season and were fifteenth in the league at its mid-point before going on a thirteen-match unbeaten run to qualify for the play-offs.[2] In November 2011,Dario Gradi was replaced after 1,353 games as Crewe'smanager bySteve Davis with the club in 18th position.[3]
Crewe Alexandra's opposition in the play-off semi-final wasSouthend United with the first match of thetwo-legged tie being played atGresty Road on 12 May 2012. After a goalless first half,Adam Dugdale scored aheader from aAshley Westwoodfree kick early in the second half. Despite Southend having chances to score, the match ended 1–0 to Crewe.[4] The second leg of the play-off semi-final took place four days later atRoots Hall in Southend-on-Sea.A-Jay Leitch-Smith put Crewe into the lead in the first half after striking a shot pastCameron Belford.Freddy Eastwood then saw his goal disallowed after he was adjudged to have beenoffside. Both he andMichael Timlin then struck the Crewe goalposts with shots beforeNeil Harris scored from aChris Barker cross to level the game.Max Clayton made it 2–1 to Crewe before Barker himself scored. The game ended 2–2 and Crewe progressed to the final 3–2on aggregate.[5]
The second play-off semi-final saw Cheltenham Town faceTorquay United and the first leg took place atWhaddon Road in Cheltenham on 13 May 2012.Jermaine McGlashan put the home side ahead in the first half with a cross-cum-shot which went in off the post.Ben Burgess then doubled his side's lead in the second half, heading pastBobby Olejnik in the Torquay goal from a McGlashan cross. Torquay's closest chance came whenRyan Jarvis struck the Cheltenham crossbar with a header, but the match ended 2–0.[6] The second semi-final leg took place atPlainmoor in Torquay four days later. After a goalless first half, McGlashan extended Cheltenham's aggregate lead with a strike in the 75th minute after aKaid Mohamed pass.Taiwo Atieno reduced the deficit for Torquay when he headed inEunan O'Kane's corner.Marlon Pack then extended Cheltenham's lead with a 25-yard (23 m) free kick, and his team ended 4–1 aggregate winners, progressing to Wembley for the final.[7]
Cheltenham had played in two fourth tier play-off finals before 2012, winning them both. In 2002, they facedRushden & Diamonds in theThird Division play-off final at theMillennium Stadium, winning 3–1.[8] Four years later, Cheltenham secured promotion from the third tier of English football through the play-offs for a second time, beatingGrimsby Town 1–0 inthe final in Cardiff.[9] Crewe had also appeared in two play-offs finals previously, both at theold Wembley Stadium. They lost the1993 Football League Third Division play-off final againstYork City in apenalty shootout, and defeatedBrentford 1–0 in the1997 Football League Second Division play-off final.[10] Both Cheltenham and Crewe had played in the fourth tier of English football since they were relegated in the2008–09 season.[11][12]
Crewe won both matches played between the sides during the regular season, with a 1–0 victory at Whaddon Road in October 2011 followed by a 1–0 win at Gresty Road the following April.[13]Nick Powell was Crewe's top scorer for the season with 14 goals (all in the league),[14] whileDarryl Duffy led the scoring charts for Cheltenham with 13 (11 in the league and 2 in theFA Cup).[15] Crewe's manager Davis believed the contest would be even: "There's no favourites. If anything they'd be, as they finished above us. But the fact that they won more games than us doesn't count for anything now."[16]
Thereferee for the match wasCraig Pawson who wasassisted by Steve Bratt and John Brooks. Thefourth official was Nigel Miller while David Rock was the reserve assistant referee.[17] Crewe made one change to their line-up from the play-off semi-final second leg withLuke Murphy replacingLee Bell having recovered from a groin injury. Cheltenham made two changes:Keith Lowe andJames Spencer were dropped from the Cheltenham side and were replaced byLuke Garbutt andJeff Goulding.[18] Both sides adopted a4–4–2 formation.[19] According toThe Daily Telegraph the match was played in "blistering temperatures".[18]
The match kicked off around 3 p.m. on 27 May 2012 in front of a crowd of 24,029.[20] The first shot of the match came in the third minute from Cheltenham's Mohamed but it was wide of the Crewe goal. Seven minutes later, Powell won the ball and passed to Murphy whose shot from the edge of thepenalty area was saved byScott Brown in the Cheltenham goal, before Leitch-Smith struck the ball wide of the goalpost. In the 12th minute McGlashan's strike was saved by Crewe goalkeeperSteve Phillips. Three minutes later Powell scored to put Crewe 1–0 ahead:Kelvin Mellor found Powell, who beat a defender by flicking the ball up before striking avolley into the Cheltenham net from around 20 yards (18 m). Goulding's long-range shot then struck the Crewe crossbar before rebounding to Burgess who missed the target. In the 25th minute, Goulding struck Burgess' flick-on into the Crewe net but the goal was disallowed for offside. Mohamed's 27th minute shot went high over the Crewe goal before Goulding's strike was over the bar six minutes later. Powell then struck a shot from distance wide of the goal in the 36th minute before Mellor's close-range header went over Cheltenham's crossbar five minutes later. Phillips then saved from a Goulding header before the referee blew the whistle for half-time with Crewe leading 1–0.[18][21]
Neither side made any change to their personnel during the interval. Six minutes into the second half, Pack's 20-yard (18 m) low strike was just wide of the Crewe goal. A mistake from Dugdale saw Mohamed run through on goal in the 54th minute, but Phillips made the save. A free kick from Westwood in the 71st minute found Dugdale in the Cheltenham penalty area but his control was poor and allowed Brown to block his shot. In the 75th minute, Cheltenham made their firstsubstitution of the match with Duffy coming on to replace Goulding. Pack's long-range strike then went of Crewe's goal before Powell was substituted for Clayton.Byron Moore's 81st minute shot was just wide of the Cheltenham's right-hand goalpost but a minute later his shot into the bottom-corner of the net after exchanged passes with Leitch-Smith made it 2–0. In the 83rd minute, Cheltenham made a double-substitution, withRussell Penn and Spencer coming on for Pack and Burgess. Soon afterCarl Martin came on for Leitch-Smith before Brown made saves from both Moore and Clayton. Deep into stoppage time, Bell came on for Moore and the final whistle was blown, Crewe winning 2–0 and gaining promotion to League One.[18][21]
     Cheltenham Town | Crewe Alexandra |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assistant referees: |
.jpg)
| Cheltenham Town | Crewe Alexandra | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 0 | 2 |
| Disallowed goals | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 20 | 16 |
| Shots on target | 5 | 5 |
| Ball possession | 47% | 53% |
| Corner kicks | 8 | 6 |
| Fouls committed | 11 | 8 |
| Offsides | 7 | 4 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Davis, the winning manager, recalled his chairman's instruction after taking over in November 2011: "Get us out of the bottom six. Just get us safe."[22] His counterpart Yates was proud of his side: "They've been brilliant ... Today was just one step too far."[22] Speaking of Powell's goal, he said: "It was a wonder strike from a prodigious talent and we couldn't do much about that one".[19] Powell signed for Manchester United two weeks after the final.[23] The defeat was Cheltenham's first in the play-offs, having won five and drawn three of their previous post-season matches.[21]
Crewe ended theirfollowing season in thirteenth position in the League One table.[24] Cheltenham finished in fifth place in League Two in theirnext season and qualified for theplay-offs where they lost in the semi-finals toNorthampton Town.[25][26]
