The 1995 Football League First Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 1995 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Bolton Wanderers and Reading. The match was to determine the second and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the Premiership. The champions of the 1994–95 Football League First Division gained automatic promotion to the Premiership, while the teams placed from second to fifth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Reading ended the season in second position while Bolton Wanderers finished third. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1995–96 season in the Premiership.

The match was played in front of a Wembley crowd of more than 64,000 spectators and was refereed by Peter Foakes. Reading's Lee Nogan opened the scoring after four minutes, before Ady Williams doubled their advantage eight minutes later. Bolton's Jason McAteer then fouled Michael Gilkes and conceded a penalty. Stuart Lovell's spot kick was saved by the Bolton goalkeeper Keith Branagan and the first half ended 2–0. Reading lost Nogan and Andy Bernal through injury midway into the second half, and Bolton's Owen Coyle scored to halve the deficit with fifteen minutes remaining. A late goal from Fabian de Freitas resulted in regular time ending 2–2 and sent the game into extra time. Mixu Paatelainen then put Bolton ahead for the first time in the match, scoring midway through the additional period, and De Freitas scored his second, and Bolton's fourth, with two minutes remaining. A last-minute consolation goal from the Reading player and co-manager Jimmy Quinn meant the match ended 4–3 to Bolton who secured promotion to the Premiership.

Rioch left Bolton in June to become the new manager at Arsenal and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was sacked after six months with the club bottom of the Premiership. Bolton were subsequently relegated in their first season in the division, after finishing bottom of the table. Reading ended their following season in eighteenth place in the 1995–96 First Division, three places and four points above the relegation zone.

Following the end of the 1993–94 FA Premiership, it was agreed that the league should be reduced in size from 22 teams to 20, meaning that only two clubs were promoted from the First Division and four would be relegated from the Premiership. As a result, only Middlesbrough, the winners of the league, gained automatic promotion to the Premiership. The teams placed from second to fifth place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, partook in play-off semi-finals. Reading finished the regular 1994–95 season in second place in the table, one place ahead of Bolton Wanderers. Both therefore missed out on automatic promotion and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the second promoted team. Reading finished three points behind league winners Middlesbrough. Bolton ended the season two points behind Reading.

Reading faced Tranmere Rovers in their semi-final play-off with the first leg being played at Prenton Park on 14 May 1995. Reading took an early lead when Stuart Lovell scored in the ninth minute with a volley from Lee Nogan's cross. Despite being under considerable pressure, Tranmere equalised seven minutes later when Chris Malkin headed a cross from John Morrissey into the Reading goal. Reading regained the advantage in the 75th minute through Nogan before Lovell made it 3–1 after converting a rebound from a Nogan shot. The second leg was held at Elm Park in Reading three days later. Once again, Reading dominated the match and midway through the second half Tranmere's Tony Thomas was sent off after being shown two yellow cards. The match ended goalless and Reading qualified for the play-off final with a 3–1 aggregate victory.

Bolton Wanderers' play-off semi-final opponents were Wolverhampton Wanderers and the first leg was played at Molineux in Wolverhampton on 14 May 1995. Steve Bull scored with a header from a Robbie Dennison cross past Peter Shilton in the Bolton goal to open the scoring just before half time. Jason McAteer scored the equaliser for Bolton early in the second half with a chip, before Don Goodman's header across the face of goal was nodded in by Mark Venus to secure a 2–1 victory for Wolves. The second leg of the semi-final took place at Burnden Park in Bolton three days later. John McGinlay's goal in the 44th minute put Bolton ahead and levelled the tie 2–2 on aggregate and with a goalless second half, the game went into extra time. With eleven minutes remaining, McGinlay scored his and Bolton's second, ensuring their 3–2 aggregate victory and qualification for the final.

Bolton had lost the 1991 play-off final to Tranmere and Reading had never featured in a previous play-off final. Reading had played at Wembley Stadium in the 1988 Full Members' Cup Final where they defeated Luton Town 4–1. Bolton's most recent visit to the national stadium was in April, where they lost the 1995 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool. Reading had spent a single season in the second tier of English football, having been promoted the previous season as champions. In their 124-year history, they had never played in the top tier of English football. Bolton had been in the First Division for two seasons, having been promoted in the 1992–93 season, and last played in the top division in the 1979–80 season. Top scorers for Reading were Lovell, with 12 goals in all competitions, followed by Nogan with 11. McGinlay had scored the most goals for Bolton, with 20 in all competitions, with Mixu Paatelainen contributing 14. During the regular season, Bolton won 1–0 at home in January 1995, while Reading won the return fixture 2–1 three months later.

Bolton had made several signings after gaining promotion the previous season. Simon Coleman moved from Sheffield Wednesday for a reported fee of £350,000, Paatelainen was signed from Aberdeen for a similar sum, while Fabian de Freitas was bought from the Dutch club FC Volendam for around £400,000. In contrast, Reading had spent £130,000 on two players and taken in two players on free transfers, before equalling their club transfer fee record of £250,000 when they bought Nogan from Watford in January 1995. In December 1994, then-manager of Reading Mark McGhee left his position to join Premiership club Leicester City, despite having previously been convinced to remain with Reading by the chairman John Madejski. He was replaced in January by co-managers Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding. Prior to the final, there was considerable speculation that the Bolton manager Bruce Rioch would be leaving to join one of a number of Premiership clubs, including Manchester City, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday.