The 2009 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 25 May 2009 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Burnley and Sheffield United. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2008–09 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Sheffield United ended the season in third position while Burnley finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2009–10 season in the Premier League.
The 2009 final, refereed by Mike Dean, was watched by a crowd of more than 80,000 people. Burnley won 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Wade Elliott in the first half. Substitute Jamie Ward was sent off in the second half following two deliberate handballs, while his teammate Lee Hendrie was also dismissed after the final whistle. Victory for Burnley meant they returned to top flight football for the first time in 33 years.
Burnley ended the next season in 18th place in the Premier League and were relegated back to the Championship. Sheffield United finished the following season in 8th place, five points outside the play-offs.
Burnley faced Reading in their play-off semi-final, the first leg of which took place at Turf Moor. Reading dominated the match, but Kevin Doyle's shot was blocked on the line; he was later substituted having suffered an Achilles tendon injury. The game was decided late in the second half when Graham Alexander scored for Burnley from the penalty spot after a foul Steven Thompson by Reading's defender André Bikey. Late into injury time, Bikey was sent off for stamping on Burnley's Robbie Blake, and the match ended 1–0.[3] The second leg, at the Madejski Stadium, was played three days later. Goalless at half time, with Reading limited to few chances, a 51st minute strike from 25 yards (23 m) by Martin Paterson put Burnley 1–0 up in the game and 2–0 ahead on aggregate. Seven minutes later, Thompson with a looping volley from outside the left-hand corner of the penalty box doubled Burnley's lead but despite further chances for them, no more goals were scored and the semi-final ended 3–0 on aggregate to Burnley.[4]
In the other play-off semi-final, Sheffield United's opponents were Preston North End, with the first leg being played at Deepdale. The home team took the lead in the first half after Sean St Ledger scored, but the tie was level soon into the second half, with a volley from Brian Howard 21 seconds after kick-off. No further goals were scored and the match ended as a 1–1 draw.[5] The return leg at Bramall Lane was decided by a single goal: Greg Halford's 59th minute header secured a 1–0 win for United on the night, and a 2–1 aggregate victory.[6]
The referee for the final was Mike Dean of the Wirral District Football Association, with assistant referees Darren Cann and Mick McDonough, and Lee Probert acting as the fourth official.[12] Dean's appointment was not without controversy: he had officiated the match in which Sheffield United were relegated from Premier League in 2007 and refereed the 2006 Football League Championship play-off final when Kevin Blackwell, the Sheffield United manager, was in charge at Leeds United who lost the match 3–0.[12] Blackwell described the appointment as "inexplicable" and that he was "amazed at the stupidity of it."[13] He went on to say that he was "very, very angry about people who run the game not using their common sense and putting Mike Dean in what could be a very embarrassing position".[13] Both managers had appeared at the old Wembley Stadium as players: Owen Coyle played, and scored, in Bolton Wanderers' 4–3 victory over Reading in the 1995 Football League First Division play-off final while Blackwell featured for Boston United who lost against Wealdstone in the 1985 FA Trophy Final.[11]
Both managers named starting line-ups unchanged from the second legs of their semi-finals. Burnley were playing in their away kit of light blue, while Sheffield United wore their traditional home strip of red and white stripes. Before kick-off, both teams were presented to members of the military and former Conservative Member of Parliament and Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney.[10]
First half
Sheffield United kicked the game off around 3p.m. in sunny conditions front of a Wembley crowd of 80,518.[11][14] After early pressure, United's Kyle Walker struck the first shot on target from 20 yards (18 m) which was saved by Burnley's goalkeeper Brian Jensen. Five minutes later, Blake's weak shot was easily saved by Paddy Kenny in the Sheffield United goal. Two minutes later, a Matthew Kilgallon free kick was blocked by the Burnley wall but not cleared, allowing Howard to shoot from the edge of the penalty area which was saved by Jensen. On 13 minutes, Wade Elliott took the ball around the halfway line and started a run towards the Sheffield United goal. He passed to Chris McCann who was tackled, but the ball fell to Elliott whose first-time strike from 25 yards (23 m) flew into the top-left corner of Kenny's net, making the score 1–0 to Burnley. Two minutes later, Alexander brought down Howard as he ran into the box, but the appeals of the Sheffield United players for a penalty were dismissed by Dean. In the 19th minute, McCann headed over the bar from inside the six-yard box while Howard's free kick two minutes later was too high. The first yellow card of the game was shown to Burnley's Clarke Carlisle after he fouled Halford. Burnley were forced to make the first substitution of the afternoon on 27 minutes after McCann failed to recover from a knee injury he sustained clearing the ball, with Joey Guðjónsson coming on to replace him. Paterson went close on 31 minutes, curling the ball just wide of Kenny's post from 20 yards (18 m). Heading towards half time, the game became patchy with neither side creating clear-cut chances, but on 45 minutes, Thompson's looping header went wide. Three minutes of additional time were played and the half ended 1–0 to Burnley.[10][11]
Second half
Burnley kicked off the second half and three minutes in, they were awarded a corner which Michael Duff toe-poked just wide of the post. Stephen Quinn's run was brought to a halt by an Alexander tackle before Guðjónsson's tap-in attempt was cleared by United's Nick Montgomery. In the 58th minute, Sheffield United made their first substitution of the game, with David Cotterill being replaced by Jamie Ward. Eight minutes later, Walker played Thompson onside, who picked out Blake. A last-second tackle from Walker did enough to distract Blake whose shot from 8 yards (7.3 m) went wide. United appealed for another penalty in the 69th minute when Walker was seemingly brought down by Christian Kalvenes, but it was not awarded. A minute later, Burnley made their second substitution with Blake, suffering from a hamstring injury, being replaced by Chris Eagles. In the 72nd minute, a break from Ward allowed him to shoot from a tight angle but Jensen deflected the strike. Burnley's final substitution was made in the 74th minute with Jay Rodriguez coming on for Thompson. A minute later, Ward was booked after a deliberate handball. On 77 minutes, an Eagles pass found Paterson on the wing who cut inside to shoot, but it was blocked by Kyle Naughton. Ward was shown a second yellow card for another intentional handball in the 79th minute. Arturo Lupoli was then brought on by Sheffield United to replace Howard, before Quinn was substituted by Lee Hendrie on 85 minutes. In the last minute of regular time, Morgan and Kalvenes clashed heads and the latter was booked. The resulting free kick was struck into the wall allowing Burnley to break but they failed to score as Montgomery cleared a poor pass from Paterson. Deep into additional time, Lupoli was booked for a foul on Elliott, and the final whistle was blown, with Burnley winning the match 1–0.[10][11]
Hendrie was shown a straight red card by the referee after the match ended for foul and abusive language.[14] The Burnley manager Owen Coyle remarked "the players were magnificent. It was a great game, end-to-end. Sheffield United were brave and were coming at us even after they went down to 10 men. There's now a great adventure to look forward to. Regarding bringing in players, everybody knows our revenue. We may not have quantity but we have quality."[11] His chairman Barry Kilby stated: "After 33 years out of the top flight, we're back. Half the population of the town were here today, and this is for them. Owen Coyle has done a fantastic, superb job on a small budget, and I'm sure he's looking forward to pitting his wits against the Premier League managers next season".[11] The Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell noted "It doesn't get any easier to take, but we have to take it on chin and move forward. But I gave my congratulations to Owen Coyle. I'm going to go home and think of what to do now."[11]
Burnley ended the next season in 18th place in the Premier League, five points from safety and relegated back to the Championship for the 2010–11 season.[16] Sheffield United finished the following season in 8th place, five points outside the play-offs.[17]
