1997 Football League Third Division play-off Final

The 1997 Football League Third Division play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 24 May 1997, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Third Division to the Second Division of The Football League in the 1996–97 season. It was contested by Northampton Town, who had finished fourth during the league season, and Swansea City, who had finished fifth. The teams reached the final by defeating Cardiff City and Chester City respectively in the two-legged semi-finals.

1997 Football League Third Division play-off Final
Northampton Town Swansea City
1 0
Date24 May 1997
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeTerry Heilbron (Durham)
Attendance46,804

With the game heading for extra time, John Frain stepped up to score a retaken free kick past the Swansea City goalkeeper Roger Freestone in the third minute of stoppage time.[1]

Route to the final
See also: 1996–97 Football League

Northampton Town finished the season in fourth place in the Third Division table with 72 points, fourteen points short of the automatic promotion places.[2] In the play-off semi-final they faced seventh placed Cardiff City, with the first leg away at Ninian Park on 11 May 1997 finishing 1–0 to Northampton.[3] In the second match at Sixfields Stadium three days later, John Gayle scored the winning goal as Northampton won 3–2 to reach the final.[4]

Swansea City finished the season in fifth place; one place and one point behind Northampton.[2] Swansea faced sixth placed Chester City in the play-off semi-final, who they played away from home at the Deva Stadium in the first leg, and drew 0–0.[5] Their progression to the final was confirmed with a 3–0 victory at the Vetch Field, which ended the tie with an aggregate score of 3–0.[6]

Match

Details
Northampton Town1–0Swansea City
Frain  90' Report
Attendance: 46,804
Referee: Terry Heilbron
Northampton Town
Swansea City
GK1Andy Woodman
CB6David Rennie 40'
CB5Ray Warburton
CB4Ian Sampson
RWB2Ian Clarkson
LWB3John Frain
CM11Roy Hunter
CM7Sean Parrish
FW10Christian Lee
FW9John Gayle 76'
FW8Neil Grayson
Substitutes:
MF27Dean Peer 40'
MF14Ali Gibb
FW12Jason White 76'
Manager:
Ian Atkins
GK1Roger Freestone
DF8Dave Penney
DF5Christian Edwards
DF4Keith Walker
DF3João Moreira
MF6Kwame Ampadu
MF10Jan Mølby
MF11Jonathan Coates
FW9Steve Torpey
FW7Carl Heggs
FW2Dai Thomas 83'
Substitutes:
FW12Linton Brown 83'
MF15Shaun Chapple
DF14Ryan Casey
Manager:
Jan Mølby

Match rules:

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Three named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

References
  1. Fox, Norman. "Swansea run over by Frain". The Independent. London. 25 May 1997. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  2. "Final 1996/1997 Football League Two Table". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  3. "Cardiff 0–1 Northampton". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  4. "Northampton 3–2 Cardiff". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  5. "Chester 0–0 Swansea". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
  6. "Swansea 3–0 Chester". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
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