1995 Football League First Division play-off Final

The 1995 Football League First Division play-off Final was hosted on 29 May 1995 at Wembley Stadium, London. The winner gained promotion to the 1995–96 FA Premier League. The match was contested between Bolton Wanderers and Reading, Bolton winning the match 4–3, after extra time.

1995 Football League First Division play-off Final
Event1994–95 Football League First Division
Bolton Wanderers Reading
4 3
(a.e.t.)
Date29 May 1995
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereePeter Foakes
Attendance64,107

Background

The Premier League was being reduced in size from twenty-two teams down to twenty, meaning that only two clubs were promoted from the First Division; four would be relegated from the Premier League. Reading had been promoted, as champions, from the Second Division the year before. They finished the league season in second place, which would have ordinarily won the club automatic promotion to the top flight. Bolton, who had finished fourteenth in the previous season, finished third in the First Division. Middlesbrough were promoted as First Division champions. In the league season, Bolton had defeated Reading 1–0 at Burnden Park, while Reading had won the reverse fixture 2–1 at Elm Park.

Route to the Final
Main article: 1994–95 Football League
Reading Round Bolton Wanderers
Final league position
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
2Reading 46237135844+1479
3Bolton Wanderers 462114116745+2277
4Wolverhampton Wanderers 462113127761+1676
5Tranmere Rovers 462210146758+976
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Play-offs Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Tranmere Rovers 3–1 3–1 (A) 0–0 (H) Semi-finals Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–2 1–2 (A) 2–0 aet (H)
Reading
Tranmere Rovers1–3Reading
Malkin  14' Lovell  9', 81'
Nogan  74'
Attendance: 12,207
Referee: John Kirkby
Reading0–0Tranmere Rovers
Attendance: 13,245
Referee: Paul Alcock

Reading won 3–1 on aggregate.

Bolton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers2–1Bolton Wanderers
Bull  44'
Venus  51'		 McAteer  46'
Attendance: 26,153
Referee: Philip Wright
Bolton Wanderers2–0 (a.e.t.)Wolverhampton Wanderers
McGinlay  44', 109'
Attendance: 20,041
Referee: Steve Dunn

Bolton Wanderers won 3–2 on aggregate.

Match Summary

Reading went 1–0 up after four minutes following a goal from Lee Nogan. Adie Williams put Reading 2–0 up within twelve minutes. Stuart Lovell missed a penalty for Reading on thirty-four minutes, which would have put the Berkshire club 3–0 ahead. Bolton scored a seventy-fifth minute goal through Owen Coyle. with four minutes to go, Fabian de Freitas levelled the match with four minutes left to play, sending the game into extra-time. Bolton completed the comeback with a Mixu Paatelainen goal in the hundred and fifth minute, before De Freitas scored his second of the match with two minutes of extra-time remaining. Reading player-manager Jimmy Quinn scored a minute later, but Bolton held out for the win.[1][2]

Match details
Bolton Wanderers4–3 (a.e.t.)Reading
Coyle  75'
De Freitas  86', 118'
Paatelainen  105'		 (Report) Nogan  4'
Williams  12'
Quinn  119'
Attendance: 64,107
Referee: Peter Foakes (Clacton-on-Sea).
Bolton Wanderers
Reading
Bolton Wanderers:
GK1Keith Branagan
DF2Scott Green
DF3Jimmy Phillips
DF5Guðni Bergsson
DF6Alan Stubbs
MF7Neil McDonald 46'
MF4Jason McAteer
MF9Mixu Paatelainen
MF11Alan Thompson
FW8Owen Coyle
FW10John McGinlay
Substitutes:
GK16Peter Shilton
DF14John Dreyer
FW12Fabian de Freitas 46'
Manager:
Bruce Rioch
Reading:
GK1Shaka Hislop
RWB2Andy Bernal 67'
DF4Keith McPherson
DF6Dariusz Wdowczyk
DF5Adrian Williams
LWB7Michael Gilkes
MF8Mick Gooding
MF3Simon Osborn
MF11Scott Taylor
FW9Lee Nogan 62'
FW10Stuart Lovell
Substitutes:
GK15Simon Sheppard
DF14Jeff Hopkins 67'
FW12Jimmy Quinn 62'
Manager:
Jimmy Quinn & Mick Gooding

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level.
  • 3 named substitutes.
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions.

Post Match

The play-off final proved to be the final game in charge of Bolton Wanderers for manager Bruce Rioch, leaving the club on 8 June to become the new manager at Arsenal. Roy McFarland was brought in as his successor, but he lasted just six months as Bolton were relegated from the Premier League in their first season in the division, after finishing the 1995–96 season bottom. They would return for the 1997–98 season, in which they were also relegated, before having an uninterrupted eleven-year stay in the top flight between 2001 and 2012.

Reading wouldn't enjoy as much success in the next season, finishing nineteenth, after selling goalkeeper Shaka Hislop to Premier League giants Newcastle United for a then-club record sale of £1.6 million. The club would only secure their First Division place with a 3–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final home match of the season. Reaching the play-off final gave impetus for the club to relocate to the new Madejski Stadium, as their former home, Elm Park was deemed unsuitable for Premier League, and latterly First Division, football. The club would eventually reach the Premier League, following a Championship title win in the 2005–06 season – eleven seasons later.

References
  1. "Reading 3 Bolton Wanderers 4". Hob Nob Anyone?. 29 May 1995. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  2. "WANDERERS MEMORIES: Bolton Wanderers 4 Reading 3 – May 1995". The Bolton News. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
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