1989 Football League play-offs

Football League play-offs

Season	1988–89
Champions	Crystal Palace (Second Division) Port Vale (Third Division) Leyton Orient (Fourth Division)
Matches played	18
Goals scored	38 (2.11 per match)
Biggest home win	C. Palace 3–0 Blackburn (Second Division)
Biggest away win	Fulham 0–4 Bristol Rovers (Third Division)
Highest scoring	Blackburn 3–1 C. Palace Fulham 0–4 Bristol Rovers Port Vale 3–1 Preston Wrexham 3–1 Scunthorpe (4 goals)
Highest attendance	30,000 – Crystal Palace v Blackburn (Second Division final)
Lowest attendance	4,377 – Scarborough v Leyton Orient (Fourth Division semi-final)
Average attendance	12,994
← 1988 1990 →

The Football League play-offs for the 1988–89 season were held in May 1989, with the two-legged finals taking place at the finalists home stadiums. The play-off semi-finals were also played over two legs and were contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League Second Division and Football League Third Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the Football League Fourth Division table. The winners of the semi-finals progressed through to the finals, with the winner of these matches either gaining promotion or avoiding relegation 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. For the first three seasons the final was played over two legs but this was changed to a single match at Wembley Stadium from 1990.

Second Division

Main article: 1988–89 Football League Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Crystal Palace	46	23	12	11	71	49	+22	81
4	Watford	46	22	12	12	74	48	+26	78
5	Blackburn Rovers	46	22	11	13	74	49	+15	77
6	Swindon Town	46	20	16	10	68	53	+15	76

Semi-finals

First leg

Blackburn Rovers v Watford

21 May 1989 15:00

Blackburn Rovers	0–0	Watford

Ewood Park, Blackburn Attendance: 14,028

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Swindon Town v Crystal Palace

21 May 1989 15:00

Swindon Town	1–0	Crystal Palace
Hopkins   (o.g.)

County Ground, Swindon Attendance: 16,658

Second leg

Watford v Blackburn Rovers

24 May 1989 19:45

Watford	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Blackburn Rovers
Redfearn		Garner

Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 13,852

Watford 1–1 Blackburn Rovers on aggregate. Blackburn Rovers won on away goals.

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Crystal Palace v Swindon Town

24 May 1989 20:00

Crystal Palace	2–0	Swindon Town
Bright Wright

Selhurst Park, London Attendance: 23,677

Crystal Palace won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 1989 Football League Second Division play-off Final

First leg

Blackburn Rovers v Crystal Palace

31 May 1989 19:45

Blackburn Rovers	3–1	Crystal Palace
Gayle  21', 27' Garner  90'		McGoldrick  86'

Ewood Park, Blackburn Attendance: 16,421 Referee: Joe Worrall

Second leg

Crystal Palace v Blackburn Rovers

3 June 1989 15:00

Crystal Palace	3–0 (a.e.t.)	Blackburn Rovers
Wright  17', 117' Madden   (pen.)

Selhurst Park, London Attendance: 30,000 Referee: George Courtney

Crystal Palace won 4–3 on aggregate.

Third Division

Main article: 1988–89 Football League Third Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Port Vale	46	24	12	10	78	48	+30	84
4	Fulham	46	22	9	15	69	67	0+2	75
5	Bristol Rovers	46	19	17	10	67	51	+16	74
6	Preston North End	46	19	15	12	79	60	+19	72

Semi-finals

First leg

Bristol Rovers v Fulham

21 May 1989 15:00

Bristol Rovers	1–0	Fulham
Penrice

Twerton Park, Bath Attendance: 9,029

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Preston North End v Port Vale

22 May 1989 19:45

Preston North End	1–1	Port Vale
Jemson		Earle

Deepdale, Preston Attendance: 14,321

Second leg

Fulham v Bristol Rovers

25 May 1989 19:30

Fulham	0–4	Bristol Rovers
		Clark Holloway Bailey Reece

Craven Cottage, London Attendance: 10,188

Bristol Rovers won 5–0 on aggregate.

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Port Vale v Preston North End

25 May 1989 19:30

Port Vale	3–1	Preston North End
Beckford		Patterson

Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent Attendance: 13,416

Port Vale won 4–2 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 1989 Football League Third Division play-off Final

First leg

Bristol Rovers v Port Vale

31 May 1989 20:00

Bristol Rovers	1–1	Port Vale
Penrice		Earle  73'

Twerton Park, Bath Attendance: 9,042 Referee: Allan Gunn

Second leg

Port Vale v Bristol Rovers

3 June 1989 15:00

Port Vale	1–0	Bristol Rovers
Earle  52'

Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent Attendance: 17,353 Referee: Keith Hackett

Port Vale won 2–1 on aggregate.

Fourth Division

Main article: 1988–89 Football League Fourth Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Scunthorpe United	46	21	14	11	77	57	+20	77
5	Scarborough	46	21	14	11	67	52	+15	77
6	Leyton Orient	46	21	12	13	86	50	+36	75
7	Wrexham	46	19	14	13	77	63	+14	71

Semi-finals

First leg

Leyton Orient v Scarborough

21 May 1989 12:00

Leyton Orient	2–0	Scarborough
Cooper

Brisbane Road, London Attendance: 9,298

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Wrexham v Scunthorpe United

21 May 1989 14:00

Wrexham	3–1	Scunthorpe United
Wright Kearns		Cowling

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham Attendance: 5,449

Second leg

Scarborough v Leyton Orient

24 May 1989 19:30

Scarborough	1–0	Leyton Orient
Russell

McCain Stadium, Scarborough Attendance: 4,377

Leyton Orient won 2–1 on aggregate.

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Scunthorpe United v Wrexham

25 May 1989 19:30

Scunthorpe United	0–2	Wrexham
		Russell

Glanford Park, Scunthorpe Attendance: 5,516

Wrexham won 5–1 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final

First leg

Wrexham v Leyton Orient

30 May 1989 19:45

Wrexham	0–0	Leyton Orient

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham Attendance: 7,915 Referee: Terry Holbrook

Second leg

Leyton Orient v Wrexham

3 June 1989 12:00

Leyton Orient	2–1	Wrexham
Harvey  45' Cooper		Bowden  47'

Brisbane Road, London Attendance: 13,355 Referee: John Martin

Leyton Orient won 2–1 on aggregate.

External links

• Football League website