1993 Football League play-offs

Football League play-offs
Season	1992–93
Champions	Swindon Town; (First Division); West Bromwich Albion; (Second Division); York City; (Third Division)
Matches played	15
Goals scored	47 (3.13 per match)
Biggest home win	Crewe 5–1 Walsall; (Third Division)
Biggest away win	Walsall 2–4 Crewe; (Third Division)
Highest scoring	Leicester 3–4 Swindon; (7 goals)
Highest attendance	73,802 – Leicester v Swindon; (First Division final)
Lowest attendance	6,196 – Crewe v Walsall; (Third Division semi-final)
Average attendance	21,320
	← 1992 1994 →

The Football League play-offs for the 1992–93 season were held in May 1993, with the finals taking place at Wembley Stadium in London. The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs and were contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League First Division and Football League Second Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th placed teams in the Football League Third Division table. The winners of the semi-finals progressed through to the finals, with the winner of these matches gaining promotion for the following season.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Portsmouth	46	26	10	10	80	46	+34	88
4	Tranmere Rovers	46	23	10	13	72	56	+16	79
5	Swindon Town	46	21	13	12	74	59	+15	76
6	Leicester City	46	22	10	14	71	64	0+7	76

Portsmouth, whose top scorer Guy Whittingham had found the net 42 times in Division One, only missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference. Fourth placed Tranmere Rovers had recorded the highest finish of their history and had yet to play in the top flight of English football. Swindon Town, who finished fifth, had won the playoff final three years earlier but promotion was then withdrawn due to financial irregularities. The last playoff place went to the previous season's beaten finalists, Leicester City.

In the end, it was Leicester and Swindon who went through to the final. Swindon took a 3-0 lead before Leicester clawed back to make it 3-3, only for Paul Bodin to score the winner and deliver top flight football to Swindon for the first time in their history.

Glenn Hoddle's impressive two-year spell as player-manager of Swindon attracted attention of bigger clubs, and soon after this famous victory he was appointed player-manager of Chelsea, while losers Leicester had now been beaten in all of their six appearances at Wembley.

Semi-finals

First leg

16 May 1993

13:00

Leicester City	1–0	Portsmouth
Joachim 86'

Forest Ground, Nottingham

Attendance: 24,538

Referee: Keith Hackett

16 May 1993

14:50

Swindon Town	3–1	Tranmere Rovers
Vickers 2' (o.g.) Mitchell 3' Maskell 27'		Morrissey 58'

County Ground, Swindon

Attendance: 14,230

Referee: Allan Gunn

Second leg

19 May 1993

19:30

Tranmere Rovers	3–2	Swindon Town
Proctor 45' Nevin 64' Irons 83' (pen.)		Moncur 28' Maskell 81'

Prenton Park, Birkenhead

Attendance: 16,083

Referee: Paul Durkin

Swindon Town won 5–4 on aggregate.

19 May 1993

19:45

Portsmouth	2–2	Leicester City
McLoughlin 51' Kristensen 72'		Ormondroyd 53' Thompson 69'

Fratton Park, Portsmouth

Attendance: 25,438

Referee: Roger Milford

Leicester City won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

31 May 1993

15:00

Leicester City	3–4	Swindon Town
Joachim 57' Walsh 68' Thompson 69'		Hoddle 42' Maskell 47' Taylor 53' Bodin 84' (pen.)

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 73,802

Referee: David Elleray

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Port Vale	46	26	11	9	79	44	+35	89
4	West Bromwich Albion	46	25	10	11	88	54	+34	85
5	Swansea City	46	20	13	13	65	47	+18	73
6	Stockport County	46	19	15	12	81	57	+24	72

Semi-finals

First leg

16 May 1993

12:00

Stockport County	1–1	Port Vale
Gannon 5' (pen.)		Glover 24'

Edgeley Park, Stockport

Attendance: 7,856

Referee: Alan Wilkie

16 May 1993

15:00

Swansea City	2–1	West Bromwich Albion
McFarlane 50' Hayes 65'		McFarlane 72' (o.g.)

Vetch Field, Swansea

Attendance: 13,917

Second leg

19 May 1993

19:45

Port Vale	1–0	Stockport County
Foyle 84'

Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent

Attendance: 12,689

Referee: David Elleray

Port Vale won 2–1 on aggregate.

19 May 1993

19:45

West Bromwich Albion	2–0	Swansea City
Hunt 10' Hamilton 20'

The Hawthorns, West Bromwich

Attendance: 26,045

West Bromwich Albion won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

30 May 1993

15:00

Port Vale	0–3	West Bromwich Albion
		Hunt 66' Reid 82' Donovan 90'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 53,471

Referee: Roger Milford

Third Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	York City	46	21	12	9	72	45	+27	75
5	Walsall	46	22	7	13	76	61	+15	73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46	21	7	13	75	56	+19	70
7	Bury	46	18	9	15	63	55	0+8	63

Semi-finals

First leg

16 May 1993

15:00

Bury	0–0	York City

Gigg Lane, Bury

Attendance: 6,520

16 May 1993

15:00

Crewe Alexandra	5–1	Walsall
Naylor 19', 39' Clarkson 49' Edwards 50' Ward 83'		Cecere 38'

Gresty Road, Crewe

Attendance: 6,196

Second leg

19 May 1993

19:45

Walsall	2–4	Crewe Alexandra
Clarke 18' O'Connor 78'		Naylor 31', 42', 88' Ward 77'

Bescot Stadium, Walsall

Attendance: 7,398

Crewe Alexandra won 9–3 on aggregate.

19 May 1993

19:45

York City	1–0	Bury
Swann 59'

Bootham Crescent, York

Attendance: 9,206

York City won 1–0 on aggregate.

Final

29 May 1993

14:30

Crewe Alexandra	1–1 (a.e.t.)	York City
McKearney 119' (pen.)		Swann 104'
Penalties
McKearney Smith Whalley Ward	3–5	McCarthy Barnes Canham Pepper Hall

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 22,416

Referee: Allan Gunn

External links

Football League website

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