I hope everyone is as excited as I am to watch the Championship play-off final between Reading and Swansea. Two good sides looking to go all out and grab that £90m Premier League prize with both hands and join QPR and Norwich in the big time next season. Hopefully the game on Monday will be truly memorable and exciting.
But to get us all in the mood I have picked five classics out from the archives complete with video footage to re-live them in all their glory. So give these a watch over the weekend and you will be well and truly ready, let’s just hope the 2011 final isn’t a letdown.
Leicester City 3 Swindon Town 4 (1993)
Here is a game that after a quiet start really burst into life. Swindon went into half-time leading 1-0 thanks to a strike from their player-manager, Glenn Hoddle. Early into the second half it looked as though Swindon were making the game safe thanks to further goals from Craig Maskell and Shaun Taylor. But Leicester weren’t about to give up without a fight and they came back from 3-0 down to level the game with goals from Julian Joachim, Steve Walsh and Steve Thompson. But a Paul Bodin penalty won the match for Swindon, just six minutes from time.
[youtube X4K1530txPM]
Bolton 4 Reading 3 (1995)
Reading got off to a fantastic start in this game and found themselves 2-0 up after just 12 minutes – with goals coming from Lee Nogan and Adrian Williams – but Stuart Lovell missed a penalty in the 34th minute and that turned the match on its head; Reading never really recovered from that disappointment and Bolton went from strength to strength. They left it late but Bolton levelled the game up with goals from Owen Coyle and Fabian de Freitas forcing a period of extra time. Further goals from Mixu Paatelainen and a second from de Freitas made the game safe. But there was still time for a late Reading goal from Jimmy Quinn – but it didn’t impact the result.
[youtube 4zXec-Czwd0]
Charlton 4 Sunderland 4 (1998)
When most people think about First Division/Championship play-off finals this is the one that tends to get remembered. But words can’t really do it justice so please check the video out below. The game really did have everything, 3-3 after normal time – and then a period of extra time that included two further goals. But eventually Charlton won 7-6 on penalties.
[youtube NwbiaTz7Yvs]
Barnsley 2 Ipswich 4 (2000)
This was a game I saw live and as a Norwich City fan I was really hoping for a Barnsley win and couldn’t face the thought of the old enemy in the Premier League. Things started well for Barnsley after only six minutes with a Richard Wright own goal gifting them the lead. However, Ipswich bounced back from their early disappointment to lead the game 3-1 with goals coming from Tony Mowbray, Richard Naylor and Marcus Stewart. But Barnsley still looked to make a game of it and got a goal back through Craig Hignett; any hopes of a Barnsley equaliser were dashed when Martijn Reuser put the game safe for Ipswich.
[youtube c9RM9gIBAAo]
Blackpool 3 Cardiff 2 (2010)
Most people would agree that last year’s final was a bit of a classic and when a match has 5 goals you can’t really complain. The first half proved to be fairly even with Cardiff taking the lead through Michael Chopra but Blackpool hit back with the equaliser from Charlie Adam. Then Joe Ledley for Cardiff and Taylor-Fletcher for Blackpool meant it was 2-2 at half time. The winner came for Blackpool early in the second half from Brett Ormerod.
[youtube Y7qFSHc0tcA]
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