 Wembley Stadium inLondon hosted the final. | |||||||
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| Date | 21 May 2022 (2022-05-21) | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Alex Pritchard | ||||||
| Referee | Simon Hooper (Wiltshire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 72,332 | ||||||
←2021 2023 → | |||||||
The2022 EFL League One play-off final was anassociation football match betweenWycombe Wanderers andSunderland on 21 May 2022 atWembley Stadium, London. It was to determine the third and final team to gainpromotion fromEFL League One, the third tier ofEnglish football, to theEFL Championship. The top two teams of2021–22 EFL League One,Wigan Athletic andRotherham United, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in the2022 English Football League play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the2022–23 season in the Championship.
Simon Hooper was thereferee for the match, which was played in front of 72,332 spectators. Sunderland took the lead in the 12th minute with a goal fromElliot Embleton.Ross Stewart doubled his side's lead in with 11 minutes of the match remaining to make it 2–0. That remained the scoreline, and Sunderland gained promotion to the Championship. Sunderland'sAlex Pritchard was namedman of the match.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan Athletic(C, P) | 46 | 27 | 11 | 8 | 82 | 44 | +38 | 92 |
| 2 | Rotherham United(P) | 46 | 27 | 9 | 10 | 70 | 33 | +37 | 90 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Dons(Q) | 46 | 26 | 11 | 9 | 78 | 44 | +34 | 89 |
| 4 | Sheffield Wednesday(Q) | 46 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 78 | 50 | +28 | 85 |
| 5 | Sunderland(P, O) | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 79 | 53 | +26 | 84 |
| 6 | Wycombe Wanderers(Q) | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 75 | 51 | +24 | 83 |
| 7 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 68 | 48 | +20 | 80 |
Sunderland finished the regular2021–22 season in fifth place inEFL League One, the third tier of theEnglish football league system, one place and one point ahead ofWycombe Wanderers. Both, therefore, missed out on the two automatic places forpromotion to theEFL Championship and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the third promoted team. Sunderland finished six points behindRotherham United (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winnersWigan Athletic.[1]
Wycombe Wanderers facedMilton Keynes Dons and the first leg was played atAdams Park in High Wycombe on 5 May 2022.[2] Seven minutes before half-time, Wycombe Wanderers took the lead whenRyan Tafazolli scored from close range with aheader from aJoe Jacobson corner.Sam Vokes then put the ball into Milton Keynes Dons' goal but it was disallowed, and the half ended 1–0. Midway through the second half,Josh McEachran wassent off after being shown two yellow cards within seven minutes, reducing the visiting side to ten players.Jason McCarthy's shot then hit the Milton Keynes Dons' crossbar before Vokes doubled Wycombe Wanderers' lead in the 82nd minute with a header from aGarath McCleary cross, and the match ended 2–0.[3] The second leg took place three days later atStadium MK in Milton Keynes.[4]Troy Parrott gave the home side the lead in the 26th minute with a header fromHiram Boateng's cross. Although Milton Keynes Dons dominated the match throughout, they were unable to score a second goal and the match ended 1–0, with Wycombe advancing to the final with a 2–1 win on aggregate.[5]
In the second play-off semi-final, Sunderland's opposition wasSheffield Wednesday, with the first match of thetwo-legged tie taking place at theStadium of Light in Sunderland on 6 May 2022. The game remained goalless untilinjury time in the first half whenRoss Stewart took the ball fromSam Hutchinson before scoring from a tight angle, his 25th goal of the season. Seven minutes into the second half,Alex Pritchard struck the ball against the Sheffield Wednesday crossbar and despite pressure from the away side in the final 20 minutes, the game ended 1–0. The 44,742 spectators set the record for the highest attendance at any play-off semi-final in the history of the post-season games.[6] The second leg took place three days later atHillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. The first half ended goalless before Sheffield Wednesday took the lead and levelled the tie in the 74th minute:Barry Bannan passed toMarvin Johnson whosecross was struck into the Sunderland goal from close range byLee Gregory. Sheffield Wednesday began to dominate the match but three minutes into second-half injury time,Jack Clarke passed toPatrick Roberts who scored from close range. The match ended 1–1 and Sunderland progressed to the final with a 2–1 aggregate victory.[7] Their win meant they went to the final having been undefeated in their previous 15 games.[8]
This was Sunderland's fourth play-off final, having lost all three of their previous finals, but they went into the match unbeaten in their previous fifteen matches.[9][10] In the1998 Football League First Division play-off final, they facedCharlton Athletic atthe old Wembley Stadium in London, in a match described by Rob Stevens of the BBC as "arguably the best play-off final in English Football League history".[11] That final ended 3–3 in regular time, 4–4 after extra time, and Sunderland lost the resultingpenalty shoot-out 7–6.[11] Sunderland's most recent play-off final ended in a 2–1 defeat to Charlton Athletic in 2019. Sunderland had also played in the1990 Football League Second Division play-off final againstSwindon Town which they lost 1–0. They were promoted however, as Swindon were later found guilty of financial misconduct.[12] Sunderland had last played in the Championship in the 2017–18 season, when they were relegated to League One after finishing bottom of the league.[9][13] Their most recent visit toWembley Stadium came in the previous season, when they won theEFL Trophy, marking their first victory at the national stadium since the1973 FA Cup Final.[8] Wycombe Wanderers also made their fourth play-off final appearance. They won the1994 Football League Third Division play-off final 4–2 againstPreston North End before losing toSouthend United in the2015 Football League Two play-off final in a penalty shoot-out. Their most recent play-off final came in 2020, when they defeatedOxford United 2–1 in theEFL League One play-off final to secure promotion to the EFL Championship. They were relegated the following season back to League One.[14]
In the matches between the sides during the regular season, Sunderland won 3–1 at the Stadium of Light in August 2021 and the fixture at Adams Park the following January ended in a 3–3 draw.[15]Ross Stewart was Sunderland's top scorer with 24 goals during the regular season, while Vokes had scored the most goals for Wycombe Wanderers with 17.[16] The final wasrefereed bySimon Hooper (representing theWiltshire Football Association),[10] with Adam Crysell and Craig Taylor as hisassistants, and Tim Robinson the fourth official. In May 2022, theEFL had announced that for the first time, thevideo assistant referee system would be used at all play-off finals, and Lee Mason was appointed in this role.[17][18] Sunderland received an initial allocation of 37,480 tickets for the final which was subsequently increased to 43,960 due to high demand. Wycombe Wanderers were initially given 19,205 tickets and applied for an extra allocation.[19] By 18 May 2022, the club announced that they had sold more than 22,000 tickets for the final.[20]
Sunderland's head coachAlex Neil made one change for his side's starting line-up from the second leg of their play-off semi-final, withElliot Embleton being selected ahead ofJack Clarke.Gareth Ainsworth, the Wycombe Wanderers head coach, announced a side unchanged from the previous match.[10]
Wycombe Wandererskicked off the match at around 3 p.m. on 21 May 2022 in front of 72,332 supporters at Wembley Stadium. Four minutes in, Pritchard took afree kick which hit theside netting of the Wycombe Wanderers' goal. In the 12th minute, Embleton took possession of the ball around half-way anddribbled forward uncontested to take a shot from outside the Wycombe Wanderers'penalty area which beatDavid Stockdale to give Sunderland a 1–0 lead.[10] There were chances to score for both sides, including a shot in the 22nd minute from Pritchard which was caught by Stockdale. Five minutes later, Ross Stewart's shot was pushed away byAnthony Patterson. In the 36th minute, Sunderland had appeals for a penalty turned down by the referee after contact from Jacobson on Roberts; instead Roberts was called foroffside. The last chance of the half fell to Wycombe Wanderers'Anthony Stewart but he headed Jacobsen's free kick wide of the goal and the half ended 1–0 to Sunderland.[21]
Neither side made any changes to their playing personnel during the interval and Sunderland kicked the second half off. A minute in, Sunderland'sDennis Cirkin was shown a yellow card for a foul but the resulting free kick was cleared. Wycombe Wanderers dominated the early stages of the half before Ross Stewart's 52nd minute header from a Pritchard cross passed just wide of the goalpost. In the 56th minute, Wycombe Wanderers made their first substitution of the match withDaryl Horgan being replaced byLewis Wing.[21] Three minutes later, a mistake from Sunderland'sBailey Wright allowed Vokes to shoot but his attempt was saved by Patterson. Sunderland made their first substitution in the 61st minute when Embleton was replaced by Jack Clarke. Four minutes after that, Wycombe Wanderers'Jordan Obita was substituted forBrandon Hanlan. Midway through the second half, Sunderland's Robert was tackled in the penalty area by Jacobsen and Anthony Stewart but no penalty was awarded. With fourteen minutes of the match remaining, Wycombe Wanderers made their final substitution withAdebayo Akinfenwa coming on in place ofDominic Gape. In the 78th minute, Hanlon's weak shot was saved before Sunderland doubled their lead through Ross Stewart. Pritchard passed him the ball outside the Wycombe penalty area, before Ross Stewart moved to his right and scoring with a low shot. Two minutes later, Pritchard was replaced for Sunderland byCallum Doyle. Ross Stewart then took the ball past Tafazolli but his shot was wide of the Wycombe Wanderers' goal. Roberts then shot wide for Sunderland before Patterson saved a strike from Anthony Stewart. With two minutes of the regular time remaining, Ross Stewart was taken off by Sunderland and replaced byNathan Broadhead. Five minutes of stoppage time were indicated by the fourth official, but there was no change to the score and Sunderland won the match 2–0.[22]
         Wycombe Wanderers |     Sunderland |
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| Wycombe Wanderers | Sunderland | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 50% | 50% |
| Goals scored | 0 | 2 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 5 |
| Shots off target | 3 | 8 |
| Fouls committed | 8 | 9 |
| Corner kicks | 1 | 4 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Sunderland's head coach Neil said that he believed his side deserved the victory: "Wycombe have done great this season but we came into the game knowing a lot of people had heavily backed us and made us favourites. As I said before the game, that’s normal for us. This club shouldn't be where it is and this is the first step towards us getting back to where we want to be."[22] Ainsworth was gracious in defeat and conceded that his side was second-best: "The better team won today. I can't stand here and pretend we were better than Sunderland but I thought at 1–0 there was a few nerves from them and we had a couple of good chances, but they’ve got some good players. Congratulations Sunderland, you deserve to be in the Championship next season."[22] Sunderland's Pritchard was named asman of the match.[23]
