2017 EFL Championship play-off Final

2017 EFL Championship play-off Final
Wembley Stadium hosted the final
Event 2016–17 EFL Championship
Huddersfield Town Reading
0 0
After extra time
Huddersfield Town won 4–3 on penalties
Date 29 May 2017
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
Referee Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Attendance 76,682

The 2017 EFL Championship play-off Final was hosted on 29 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London. The winner gained promotion to the 2017–18 Premier League season. The top two teams of the 2016–17 EFL Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, whilst the teams placed between third and sixth place in the league table played two initial matches in a series of play-offs, and the top two teams of the play-offs play for the final place for the 2017–18 season in the Premier League.

Huddersfield Town won on penalties against Reading in the final, returning to the top flight for the first time since 1972 and playing their first Premier League season in their history.[1][2]

Route to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Reading Round Huddersfield Town
Final league position
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3Reading 46267136864+485
4Sheffield Wednesday 46249136045+1581
5Huddersfield Town 46256155658−281
6Fulham 462214108557+2880
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Play-offs Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Fulham 2–1 1–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Semi-finals Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 0–0 (H) 1–1 aet (A)
4–3 on pens

Reading qualified for the play-offs following a 1–0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the Madejski Stadium on 29 April 2017.[3] On 16 May, Reading reached the final after beating Fulham 1–0 at the Madejski Stadium with a penalty scored by Yann Kermorgant after Tomáš Kalas had handled the ball.[4] This gave them a 2–1 aggregate victory, the first leg having finished 1–1 at Craven Cottage with goals from Jordan Obita for Reading and Tom Cairney for Fulham.[5] The game was Reading's first appearance in the final since 2011 when they were beaten 4–2 by Swansea City.[6] Reading have never won a play-off competition, having previously lost to Bolton Wanderers in the 1995 First Division play-off final[7] and to Walsall in the 2001 Second Division play-off final,[8] while losing in the second-tier play-off semi-finals in 2003 and 2009.[9]

Huddersfield Town qualified for the play-offs on 25 April 2017 following a 1–0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[10] In the first leg of the semi-final, on 14 May 2017, they drew 0–0 at the John Smith's Stadium against Sheffield Wednesday.[11] The second-leg, on 18 May 2017, finished 1–1 at the end of extra-time. Sheffield Wednesday scored first through Steven Fletcher only for Tom Lees to score an own goal to equalize for Huddersfield Town. The resulting penalty shoot-out finished 4–3 in Huddersfield's favour with their goalkeeper, Danny Ward saving two Wednesday penalties, from Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri.[12]

Pre-match

The final took place on 29 May 2017.[13] Winning the game is estimated to be worth at least £170m to the winning team.[14]

Reading were allocated 38,342 tickets for the final in the eastern half of Wembley Stadium,[15] with their opponents being allocated the western half of the ground. Ticket prices range from £36 to £98 for adults, with concessions being half price.[15]

Reading went without captain Paul McShane, who was shown a straight red in their play-off semi-final first leg game at Fulham. He was also suspended for the first game of next season.[16]

Match

Details

Huddersfield Town
Reading
GK1Danny Ward
RB2Tommy SmithYellow card 75' 88'
CB44Michael Hefele
CB26Christopher Schindler
LB15Chris Löwe
DM6Jonathan HoggYellow card 29'
DM10Aaron Mooy
RM9Elias KachungaYellow card 61' 66'
AM37Izzy Brown 98'
LM17Rajiv van La Parra
CF21Nahki Wells
Substitutes:
GK13Joel Coleman
DF5Mark Hudson
DF12Tareiq Holmes-Dennis
DF14Martin Cranie 88'
MF4Dean Whitehead
MF45Kasey Palmer 98'
FW23Collin Quaner 66'
Manager:
David Wagner
GK26Ali Al-Habsi
RWB2Chris Gunter
CB20Tiago Ilori
CB16Liam Moore
CB4Joey van den BergYellow card 17' 64'
LWB24Tyler Blackett
CM6George Evans
CM23Danny Williams
AM8John Swift 100'
RF18Yann KermorgantYellow card 19'
LF50Lewis Grabban 74'
Substitutes:
GK31Anssi Jaakkola
DF11Jordan ObitaYellow card 105' 64'
MF25Adrian Popa
MF7Roy Beerens
MF12Garath McCleary 74'
MF38Liam Kelly 100'
FW9Joseph Mendes
Manager:
Jaap Stam

References

  1. ↑ "Huddersfield are promoted to the Premier League as Christopher Schindler fires winning penalty to send the Terriers to play-off final victory over Reading". Daily Mail. London. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Huddersfield reach Premier League after penalty shoot-out win over Reading". The Guardian. London. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "Reading 1–0 Wigan Athletic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Reading 1–0 Fulham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "Fulham 1–1 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "Reading 2–4 Swansea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Reading 3 Bolton Wanderers 4 (After Extra Time)". Hob Nob Anyone?. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Walsall break Reading hearts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Play-off Records". royalsrecord.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "Isaiah Brown strike puts Huddersfield Town in play-offs after win over Wolves". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 Huddersfield Town (agg: 1–1, 3–4 pens)". BBC Sport. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  13. ↑ "When is the play-off final?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  14. ↑
  15. 1 2 "Wembley ticket details announced". Reading F.C. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "Reading FC captain Paul McShane set to miss start of next season". Get Reading. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
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