2014 Football League Championship play-off Final

This was Derby's third Championship play-off final, having lost 2–1 against Leicester City in the 1994 final at the old Wembley Stadium, and winning 1–0 against West Bromwich Albion in the 2007 final.[7] Queens Park Rangers were making their first appearance in a second tier play-off final, although they had played in the League One playoffs, losing out to Cardiff City in the 2003 final in extra time.[8][9] During the regular season, both teams had won their home games against one another. In November 2013, QPR won 2–1 at Loftus Road while Derby won the contest at Pride Park the following February.[10] QPR's top scorer for the season was Austin, with 20 goals,[8] while Martin scored more than any other player for Derby, also with 20.[11][12] Derby midfielder Hughes had recently been named as the Football League Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards.[13]

Derby County fans were located in the West End of Wembley, with an allocation of 37,249, while QPR supporters were situated in the East End, with an allocation of 37,332.[14] The final was refereed by Lee Mason, with assistant referees Darren England and John Brooks, while Jonathan Moss acted as fourth official.[15] It was reported in the media and press that the match was worth up to £120 million to the winning club over three years through sponsorship and television deals.[8][16]

QPR's Benoît Assou-Ekotto was expected to be fit for the final having missed both semi-finals with a knee injury, and although Niko Kranjčar picked up a hamstring injury in the second leg of their semi-final, he was also available. The club's long-term injuries included Alejandro Faurlín, Jermaine Jenas and Matt Phillips. Derby's Craig Bryson was back in full training after a semi-final back injury, otherwise their squad was fully fit.[17] Kranjčar was named in QPR's starting line-up but Assou-Ekotto missed out, while Derby's Bryson was on the bench.[18]

Robert Green (pictured in 2010) made a number of important saves for QPR.

Derby kicked the match off at around 3 p.m. in wet conditions in front of a crowd of 87,348. In the fourth minute, Derby's Johnny Russell beat two QPR players and passed to Hughes who was fouled by Gary O'Neil. The resulting free kick was defended by the QPR wall. Two minutes later QPR won a corner, which was cleared by Thorne away from Richard Dunne before Derby's Austin struck over the bar at the other end. In the 15th minute, Richard Keogh brought Austin down but Joey Barton's free kick came to nothing. Subsequent shots from Kevin Doyle and Barton were both unsuccessful and on 24 minutes, Ward's cross was headed over by Forsyth. Three minutes later Derby's appeal for a penalty after Hughes went down in the QPR box was dismissed by the referee Mason. In the 29th minute another shot from Ward, this time from 25 yards, was deflected for a corner which was cleared by QPR. The first substitution of the game was forced upon the London club with Kranjčar suffering a hamstring injury. He was replaced in the 33rd minute by Armand Traoré after Hughes' shot for Derby went over the bar. Robert Green made his first save of the afternoon, pushing Ward's curling direct free kick around the post, going on to catch Hughes' subsequent corner. After one minute of injury time, the referee brought the half to a close with the score at 0–0.[19]

Queens Park Rangers started the second half and in the 51st minute, a Ward pass was put out for a corner by Dunne which was subsequently cleared by Danny Simpson. Two further corners followed but with no end product, as the game remained goalless. In the 57th minute, Doyle passed to Traore whose pull back found Austin who struck the ball wide of the post from 12 yards. It was Doyle's last involvement as he was then replaced by Bobby Zamora in QPR's second substitution of the afternoon. In the 60th minute, O'Neil was shown a red card for fouling Russell as he was about to shoot. Soon after, to bolster the QPR midfield, Clint Hill was replaced by Karl Henry. Derby made their first substitutions of the game, with Bryson on for Hughes and Simon Dawkins replacing Russell. Two minutes later Bryson forced Green to make a low save, then Martin's shot from a Bryson pass needed the QPR goalkeeper to make a reaction save from the corner of the six-yard box. Hendrick drew another save from Green in the 75th minute, the rebound from Ward being blocked by teammate Martin. Another Hendrick shot in the 87th minute went straight to Green and in the last minute of regular time, QPR's Zamora curled a shot past Grant to make the score 1–0. Three minutes of injury were indicated, and in the last of those, Bamford came on for Ward and his attempted overhead kick was deflected behind by Barton. Derby goalkeeper Grant came up for the corner which was kicked out for a throw by Keogh, and a minute later the final whistle was blown, QPR winning the match 1–0.[19]