1994 Football League First Division play-off Final

Leicester City finished the regular 1993–94 season in third place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, two places and two points ahead of Derby County. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premiership and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Millwall and Tranmere Rovers, to determine the third promoted team. Leicester City finished ten points behind Nottingham Forest (who were promoted in second place) and seventeen behind league winners Crystal Palace.[1]

Derby County faced Millwall in their play-off semi-final, and the first leg took place at the Baseball Ground in Derby on 15 May 1994. Midway through the first half the home side took the lead with a goal from Gordon Cowans. Paul Simpson's shot struck the post and as the Millwall goalkeeper Kasey Keller failed to gather the rebound, Cowans struck low to score his first goal for 19 months. Derby dominated the second half and doubled their lead when Seth Johnson scored on 60 minutes having been sent clear by Marco Gabbiadini, and the match ended 2–0.[2] The second leg was played three days later at the New Den in London and was marred by two pitch invasions by Millwall supporters. Gabbiadini put Derby ahead on 16 minutes after converting a cross from Mark Pembridge. Johnson scored the second goal for Derby six minutes later. Soon after fans ran onto the pitch and were confronted by mounted police officers; the players left the pitch while numerous arrests were made. Play restarted nearly 20 minutes later, and Pat Van Den Hauwe extended Derby's lead with a goal three minutes before half time. Greg Berry reduced the deficit with a header on the hour mark, making it 3–1. Minutes later, just as the referee was about to award a penalty to Millwall, a second pitch invasion took place and the players retreated to the dressing rooms once again. They returned to the pitch 12 minutes later whereupon the referee opted not to award the penalty. No further goals were scored and Derby County progressed to the play-off final with an aggregate 5–1 victory.[3] After the game, Millwall's chairman Reg Burr claimed that the play-offs were "a recipe for violence" and argued "they should be scrapped or else changed radically."[4]

Leicester City's opponents in their play-off semi-final were Tranmere Rovers, with the first leg being hosted at Prenton Park, Tranmere, on 15 May 1994. The match ended goalless with one of the best chances falling to the home side, with John Aldridge's close range shot was saved by the fingertips of Gavin Ward.[5] The return leg took place three days later at Filbert Street in Leicester. In the last moments of the first half, Leicester took the lead: Mark Blake's shot hit the post and Ian Ormondroyd converted the rebound. A minute in the second half, the scores were level after Pat Nevin scored from a Ged Brannan cross. David Speedie, a second half substitute then restored Leicester's lead with four minutes remaining, heading in a free kick from Blake. However with seconds of the match remaining, an altercation between Speedie and the Tranmere goalkeeper Eric Nixon resulted in both players being sent off. The match ended 2–1 to Leicester and they qualified for the final.[6]

The winning manager Little admitted to being overcome with emotion: "I was a little bit overwhelmed. That is unusual for me but in a way the emotion was even greater than when we lost".[17] However he was not impressed by his team: "it was not really the sort of performance we were hoping to put on, but today it was the result that matter."[14] Walsh was relieved to avoid a third consecutive play-off final defeat, noting: "I can't believe what has happened here after the disappointments of the last two years".[17] He acknowledged that he was not completely fit and was grateful to avoid the match going into extra time.[17] McFarland suggested his team would bounce back, but acknowledged that "there were a lot of tears on the pitch afterwards which shows the depth of feeling among the players".[17] Regarding his job as manager, he reflected that he was "not concerned" and "would love the chance to have another go."[14]

Derby County ended their following season in ninth place in the First Division, six points below the final play-off places.[18] Leicester City were relegated from the Premiership the next season after finishing in 19th position, 19 points from safety.[19]