 Wembley Stadium inLondon hosted the final. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 28 May 2022 (2022-05-28) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | James Wilson | ||||||
| Referee | Jarred Gillett | ||||||
| Attendance | 37,303 | ||||||
←2021 2023 → | |||||||
The2022 EFL League Two play-off final was anassociation football match which was played on 28 May 2022 atWembley Stadium, London, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion fromEFL League Two, thefourth tier of English football, toEFL League One. The top three teams of theLeague Two,Forest Green Rovers,Exeter City andBristol Rovers, gained automatic promotion to League One, while the clubs placed from fourth to seventh in the table took part in the2022 English Football League play-offs.Port Vale andMansfield Town competed for the final place in the2022–23 season in League One.
Jarred Gillett was thereferee for the match, which was played in front of 37,303 spectators. Port Vale took the lead midway through the first half throughKian Harratt and doubled their advantage four minutes later whenJames Wilson scored. Mansfield Town'sOliver Hawkins was thensent off after being shown twoyellow cards in the space of five minutes to reduce his team to ten players. Port Vale had two goals disallowed foroffside beforeMal Benning scored with five minutes to go to secure a 3–0 win for his side. Wilson was namedman of the match.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest Green Rovers(C, P) | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 75 | 44 | +31 | 84 |
| 2 | Exeter City(P) | 46 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 65 | 41 | +24 | 84 |
| 3 | Bristol Rovers(P) | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 71 | 49 | +22 | 80 |
| 4 | Northampton Town | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 60 | 38 | +22 | 80 |
| 5 | Port Vale | 46 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 67 | 46 | +21 | 78 |
| 6 | Swindon Town | 46 | 22 | 11 | 13 | 77 | 54 | +23 | 77 |
| 7 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 22 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 52 | +15 | 77 |
Port Vale finished the regular2021–22 season in fifth place inEFL League Two, the fourth tier of theEnglish football league system, two places and one point ahead ofMansfield Town. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places forpromotion toEFL League One and instead took part in theplay-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Port Vale finished two points behindBristol Rovers (who were promoted in third place) and six behind both second-placedExeter City and league winnersForest Green Rovers.[1]Northampton Town dropped to fourth position in the table on the final day of regular season despite winning 3–1 atBarrow, as Bristol Rovers defeated bottom clubScunthorpe United 7–0 to secure automatic promotion ongoals scored.[2]
Mansfield Town faced fourth-placed Northampton Town in their play-off semi-final with the first match of thetwo-legged tie being held at theOne Call Stadium in Mansfield on 14 May 2022.Rhys Oates gave the home side an early lead when he struck the ball into the Northampton Town goal through goalkeeperJonny Maxted's legs.Jordan Bowery then scored in the 31st minute from aJamie Murphycross to double Mansfield Town's lead. Midway through the second half, Northampton Town halved the deficit whenAli Koiki scored after apass fromLouis Appéré, and the match ended 2–1.[3] The second leg took place four days later atSixfields Stadium in Northampton.[4]Steve McLaughlin gave the visiting side the lead in the 31st minute, from anElliott Hewitt cross, to extend Mansfield Town'saggregate lead. Despite dominating possession, Northampton Town failed to score and the match ended 1–0, with Mansfield Town progressing to the play-off final 3–1 on aggregate.[2]
In the other play-off semi-final, Port Vale facedSwindon Town and the first leg was played on 15 May 2022 at theCounty Ground in Swindon. Midway through the first half,Harry McKirdy gave the home side the lead, scoring with aheader from acorner fromJonny Williams. He doubled his side's advantage in the 68th minute: Port Vale goalkeeperAidan Stone saved ashot fromJack Payne but the ball rebounded to McKirdy who scored. With seven minutes remaining, Port Vale scored throughJames Wilson who tapped the ball into the Swindon Town goal from aJamie Proctor shot, and the match ended 2–1 to Swindon Town.[5] The return leg took place atVale Park, Stoke-on-Trent, four days later. Eight minutes into the match,Kian Harrattcrossed the ball for Port Vale's Wilson to score, to level the tie 2–2 on aggregate. No further goals were scored in regular time, and the match went intoextra time, during whichDarrell Clarke, the Port Valemanager, wassent off after an altercation withDion Conroy. No additional goals were scored so the game had to be decided with apenalty shoot-out. Swindon Town goalkeeperLewis Ward savedpenalties from bothDavid Worrall andRyan Edmondson but McKirdy's strike went high over the crossbar. Stone then savedJosh Davison's penalty beforeMal Benning scored Port Vale's sixth spot-kick to make it 6–5.Ellis Iandolo's penalty was off-target and Port Vale won the shoot-out to qualify for the final.[6] After the shoot-out, a crowd of supporters invaded thepitch, with Swindon Town managerBen Garner stating that his players had been "verbally and physically abused".[6]
This was Mansfield Town's second appearance in a play-off final, having lost on penalties toHuddersfield Town in the2004 Football League Third Division play-off final. They had played in the fourth tier of English football since gaining promotion back to theEnglish Football League after winning theFootball Conference in the2012–13 season.[7][8] This was Mansfield Town's first visit toWembley Stadium since losing 1–0 againstDarlington in the2011 FA Trophy final.[2][9] Port Vale had participated in play-off finals twice before, winning the two-legged1989 Football League Third Division play-off final against Bristol Rovers, and losing the1993 Football League Second Division play-off final 3–0 againstWest Bromwich Albion at theold Wembley stadium. They had played in League Two since beingrelegated from League One in the2016–17 season.[10] This year's play-off final marked Port Vale's first appearance at the renovated Wembley Stadium.[11]
In the league games between the sides during the regular season, Port Vale secured a 1–1 draw away at the One Call Stadium in October 2021 before winning 3–1 at home the following March.[12] Going into the final, Wilson was Port Vale's top scorer with 14 goals in 46 matches, followed by Proctor on 13 goals in 33 games.[13] Oates was the leading scorer for Mansfield Town, having scored 12 goals in 44 games, followed by Bowery on 9 goals in 46 matches.[14]
In May 2022, the EFL announced that for the first time, thevideo assistant referee (VAR) system would be used at all play-off finals.[15] Thereferee for the final wasJarred Gillett, who wasassisted by Neil Davies and Nick Greenhalgh. James Linnington was thefourth official whilePeter Bankes acted as the VAR.[16] Before the match, Mansfield Town's managerNigel Clough confirmed that neither he nor Clarke were consulted about the introduction of VAR.[17] Port Vale made no changes to their starting eleven from the side who played in the second leg of the play-off semi-final while Mansfield brought in Murphy andMatty Longstaff.[17] Mansfield Town wore gold shirts, navy shorts and gold socks while Port Vale'skit comprised white shirts, shorts and socks.[17]
Port Vale manager Clarke had returned from bereavement leave 22 days before the final and upon winning the play-off semi-final stated that: "We've got one more game to go against Mansfield, which is fitting because it's where my eldest daughter came from ... it's the town where I was born ... it'll be an emotional day but I'm looking forward to the final."[18]Andy Crosby, Port Vale's assistant manager, led his side out for the final, having covered for Clarke during his absence earlier in the season.[17]
Mansfield Townkicked off the match at around 4.00 p.m. on 28 May 2022 in front of 37,303 supporters at Wembley Stadium, London.[17] In the ninth minute, Murphy took advantage of a mistake between Port Vale's goalkeeper Stone andJames Gibbons but his header was saved by Stone.[19] Seven minutes later, Hallheaded the ball back into his ownpenalty area forcing Stone to make a clearance. On 19 minutes,John-Joe O'Toole conceded possession of the ball midway inside his own half allowing Port Vale'sBen Garrity to pass to Harratt whose long-range shot struck the bottom of the Mansfield Town goalpost. A minute later, Port Vale took the lead when Benning's cross was headed into the Mansfield Town goal at close range by Harratt. In the 24th minute, Port Vale doubled their lead through Wilson: Worrall crossed from the right and Garrity's header struck the Mansfield Town crossbar, rebounding to Wilson who scored. In the 30th minute, Hawkins received the firstbooking of the game for a foul on Port Vale'sNathan Smith. Four minutes later, Benning's shot was saved at the near post by Mansfield Town's goalkeeperNathan Bishop.[17] Hawkins was then sent off in the 35th minute after receiving his second yellow card in the space of five minutes, this time for a latetackle on Wilson. With three minutes of regular time in the half remaining,Connor Hall cleared a close-range shot from Bowery after a mistake from Stone. Hewitt became the second Mansfield Town player to be booked when hefouledJake Taylor in the 44th minute before Benning'sfree kick was headed wide of the Mansfield Town goal. In first-half injury time,James Perch was shown a yellow card for late tackle on Garrity but the resulting free kick Wilson went narrowly outside the post. Bishop then saved from Wilson and the half came to an end with Port Vale leading 2–0.[20]
Neither side made any changes to their playing personnel during the interval. In the 52nd minute, Taylor'svolley from just outside the Mansfield Town penalty area went wide of the goalpost. Two minutes later, Mansfield Town made the firstsubstitution of the match withGeorge Lapslie coming on to replace Murphy. On the hour mark, McLaughlin's strike went wide of Port Vale's goal. Soon after, Harratt shot the ball from close range into the Mansfield Town net but the goal was disallowed as he was adjudged to have beenoffside. In the 66th minute, Mansfield Town made their second change, withGeorge Maris replacing Longstaff. A minute later, former Mansfield Town playerHarry Charsley came on in place of Taylor in Port Vale's first substitution of the game. In the 70th minute, Port Vale had a second disallowed goal after Charsley struck the ball into the net from a curling Worrall cross: the recent substitute was deemed to have been offside. Two minutes later Stone saved a shot from Oates who also saw a 74th-minute strike go wide of the Port Vale goal. With 14 minutes of the match remaining, Proctor replaced Harratt for Port Vale in their second substitution. Three minutes laterLucas Akins came on for Mansfield Town's last substitution, in place ofStephen Quinn. In the 85th minute, Benning made it 3–0 to Port Vale aftervolleying in a cross from Worrall.Aaron Martin then replaced Worrall in Port Vale's final substitution of the game. After three minutes of injury time, the final whistle was blown and Port Vale won the match 3–0 to secure promotion to League One.[20]
          Mansfield Town |      Port Vale |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mansfield Town | Port Vale | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 55% | 45% |
| Goals scored | 0 | 3 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 6 |
| Shots off target | 5 | 11 |
| Fouls committed | 9 | 6 |
| Corner kicks | 5 | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 0 |
| Red cards | 1 | 0 |
Reflecting on the season and his personal life, Port Vale manager Clarke said "With all we’ve come through, to put in that performance in the manner we did was outstanding."[21] Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough said "We didn't give ourselves a chance" and noted that he would not be watching his former sideNottingham Forest in the2022 EFL Championship play-off final, claiming "I don’t care if I don’t see another football game for the foreseeable future".[21] Wilson was named asman of the match.[20]
