1997 Football League play-offs

The Football League play-offs for the 1996–97 season were held in May 1997, with the finals taking place at the old Wembley Stadium in London. The play-off semi-finals will be played over two legs and will be contested by the teams who finish 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 will go through to the finals, with the winner of the matches gaining promotion for the following season.

Football League play-offs

Season	1996–97
Champions	Crystal Palace (First Division) Crewe Alexandra (Second Division) Northampton Town (Third Division)
Matches played	15
Goals scored	38 (2.53 per match)
Biggest home win	Swansea 3–0 Chester (Third Division)
Biggest away win	Bristol City 1–2 Brentford (Second Division)
Highest scoring	Northampton 3–2 Cardiff (5 goals)
Highest attendance	64,383 – Crystal Palace v Sheffield United (First Division final)
Lowest attendance	5,104 – Chester v Swansea (Third Division semi-final)
Average attendance	21,403
← 1996 1998 →

First Division

Main article: 1996–97 Football League First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	22	10	14	68	51	+17	76
4	Ipswich Town	46	20	14	12	68	50	+18	74
5	Sheffield United	46	20	13	13	75	52	+23	73
6	Crystal Palace	46	19	14	13	78	48	+30	71

Semi-finals

First leg

10 May 1997

15:00

Crystal Palace	3–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Shipperley 68' Freedman 89', 90'		Smith 90'

Selhurst Park, London

Attendance: 21,053

Referee: Neale Barry

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10 May 1997

15:00

Sheffield United	1–1	Ipswich Town
Fjørtoft 41'		Stockwell 78'

Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Attendance: 22,312

Referee: Roy Pearson

Second leg

14 May 1997

19:45

Ipswich Town	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Sheffield United
Scowcroft 32' Gudmundsson 73'		Kachura 9' Walker 77'

Portman Road, Ipswich

Attendance: 21,467

Referee: Terry Heilbron

Ipswich Town 3–3 Sheffield United on aggregate. Sheffield United won on away goals.

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14 May 1997

19:45

Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Crystal Palace
Atkins 30' Williams 85'		Hopkin 66'

Molineux, Wolverhampton

Attendance: 26,403

Referee: Clive Wilkes

Crystal Palace won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 1997 Football League First Division play-off final

26 May 1997

15:00

Crystal Palace	1–0	Sheffield United
Hopkin 90'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 64,383

Referee: Neale Barry

Second Division

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Luton Town	46	21	15	10	59	41	+18	78
4	Brentford	46	20	14	12	56	43	+13	74
5	Bristol City	46	21	10	15	69	51	+18	73
6	Crewe Alexandra	46	22	07	17	56	47	0+9	73

Semi-finals

First leg

11 May 1997

13:00

Bristol City	1–2	Brentford
Owers 28'		Smith 13' Taylor 30'

Ashton Gate, Bristol

Attendance: 15,581

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11 May 1997

15:00

Crewe Alexandra	2–1	Luton Town
Rivers 53' Little 68'		Oldfield 3'

Gresty Road, Crewe

Attendance: 5,467

Second leg

14 May 1997

19:45

Brentford	2–1	Bristol City
Taylor 67' Bent 79'		Barnard 49'

Griffin Park, London

Attendance: 9,496

Referee: John Kirkby

Brentford won 4–2 on aggregate.

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14 May 1997

19:45

Luton Town	2–2	Crewe Alexandra
Oldfield 20', 31'		Little 32' Smith 62'

Kenilworth Road, Luton

Attendance: 8,168

Referee: Roy Pearson

Crewe Alexandra won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 1997 Football League Second Division play-off final

25 May 1997

15:00

Brentford	0–1	Crewe Alexandra
		Smith 34'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 34,149

Referee: Uriah Rennie

Third Division

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Third Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Northampton Town	46	20	12	14	67	44	+23	72
5	Swansea City	46	21	8	17	62	58	0+4	71
6	Chester City	46	18	16	12	55	43	+12	70
7	Cardiff City	46	20	9	17	56	54	0+2	69

Semi-finals

First leg

11 May 1997

12:00

Cardiff City	0–1	Northampton Town
		Parrish 77'

Ninian Park, Cardiff

Attendance: 11,369

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11 May 1997

15:00

Chester City	0–0	Swansea City

Deva Stadium, Chester

Attendance: 5,104

Second leg

14 May 1997

19:30

Swansea City	3–0	Chester City
Thomas 39' Torpey 43' Heggs 64'

Vetch Field, Swansea

Attendance: 10,027

Swansea City won 3–0 on aggregate.

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14 May 1997

19:45

Northampton Town	3–2	Cardiff City
Sampson 23' Warburton 68' Gayle 77'		Fowler 36' Haworth 90'

Sixfields, Northampton

Attendance: 7,302

Northampton Town won 4–2 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 1997 Football League Third Division play-off final

24 May 1997

15:00

Northampton Town	1–0	Swansea City
Frain 90'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 46,804

Referee: Terry Heilbron

External links

• Football League website