The 2008 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 24 May 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Hull City and Bristol City. 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 2007–08 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; Hull City ended the season in third position while Bristol City finished fourth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2008–09 season in the Premier League. Winning the game was estimated to be worth up to £60 million to the successful team.

The 2008 final, refereed by Alan Wiley, was watched by a crowd of more than 86,000 people, in sunny and bright conditions. The match was won by Hull City 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Dean Windass in the first half. It was the first time that Hull City would play in the top tier of English football in their club's 104-year history.

Hull City ended the next season in 17th place in the Premier League, one point above relegation. Bristol City finished the following season in 10th place, thirteen points outside the play-offs.

Hull City finished the regular 2007–08 season in third place in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, one point and one place ahead of Bristol City. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Hull City finished four points behind Stoke City (who were promoted in second place) and six behind league winners West Bromwich Albion.

Bristol City faced Crystal Palace in their play-off semi-final, the first leg of which took place at Selhurst Park on 10 May 2008. After a goalless first half, Louis Carey put City into the lead before he fouled José Fonte to concede a late penalty which was converted by Ben Watson. In injury time, David Noble's strike from 30 yards (27 m) beat Julián Speroni in the Palace goal, and the match ended 2–1 to City. The second leg, played at Ashton Gate, took place three days later. Palace took the lead and levelled the tie on aggregate through a Watson goal midway through the first half. His second-half penalty struck the post and no further goals were scored in regular time, taking the match into extra time. Lee Trundle scored towards the end of the first half and Michael McIndoe doubled City's advantage in the second half. The match finished 2–1 to City and they progressed to the final with a 4–2 aggregate victory.

In the other play-off semi-final, Hull City's opponents were Watford, with the first leg being played at Vicarage Road on 11 May 2008. Watford's Danny Shittu had an early goal disallowed and shortly after, Nick Barmby put Hull City ahead, with a sidefooted shot from a Fraizer Campbell pass. Campbell then hit the post from an Andy Dawson cross, but the rebound was picked up and guided into an empty net by Dean Windass, doubling Hull's lead. With thirty minutes of the match remaining, the referee Kevin Friend showed John Eustace a straight red card for an infraction after a tackle. Shittu was then substituted with an unspecified injury and the match ended 2–0. The second leg was played at the KC Stadium three days later. Darius Henderson opened the scoring on 12 minutes to halve Watford's deficit across the legs, but Barmby equalised before half time. Second-half goals from Caleb Folan, Richard Garcia and Nathan Doyle ensured a dominant win for Hull, 4–1 on the day and 6–1 on aggregate.

This was Bristol City's first Championship play-off final, but they had been losing finalists in the 1988 Football League Third Division play-off final, contested over two legs, and the 2004 Football League Second Division play-off final at the Millennium Stadium. Hull's only play-off experience came in the 2001 Third Division playoffs where they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Leyton Orient. During the regular season, the two sides played out a goalless draw at the KC Stadium in November 2007, while Bristol City won their home game 2–1. Bristol City had not lost a competitive match against Hull since 1985. Hull City had never played in the highest tier of English football, while Bristol City last featured in the top division during the 1979–80 Football League First Division season. Campbell was Hull's highest scorer with fifteen goals during the regular season, followed by Windass on eleven, while Dele Adebola was Bristol City's top marksman with ten. The match was reported to be worth around £60 million to the winning team.

The referee for the game was Alan Wiley of the Staffordshire Football Association. Before kick-off, both teams were presented to former Conservative Member of Parliament and Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney. Hull City's starting line-up remained unchanged from their semi-final second leg, while Bristol City's Jamie McCombe was ill and had to be replaced by Liam Fontaine.