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2009 Football League Two play-off final
The 2009 Football League Two play-off final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium on 23 May 2009, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, in the 2008–09 season. Gillingham, who had finished fifth during the league season, faced Shrewsbury Town, who had finished seventh. The match was Shrewsbury's second appearance at the new Wembley Stadium and Gillingham's first, although both clubs had played at the previous stadium of the same name. The teams reached the final by defeating Rochdale and Bury respectively; the semi-final between Shrewsbury and Bury had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
The final drew a crowd of just under 54,000 and was refereed by Clive Oliver. Gillingham were the stronger team in the first half but only came close to scoring a goal once and at half-time the score was 0–0. Both teams attacked more strongly in the second half, requiring both goalkeepers to make saves, but the match remained scoreless until the last minute, when Simeon Jackson headed in Josh Wright's corner kick to give Gillingham the lead; Shrewsbury made a last-ditch attack but were unable to equalise. Gillingham thus won the match 1–0 to gain promotion back to League One one year after being relegated.
Post-match analysis showed that referee Oliver had wrongly awarded the corner kick from which the goal was scored, but defeated manager Paul Simpson chose not to criticise the decision in his post-match comments. Gillingham spent only one season at the higher level before being relegated back to League Two. After their Wembley defeat in 2009, Shrewsbury spent three further seasons in League Two before gaining promotion.
In the 2008–09 Football League season, the teams finishing in the top three positions in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, gained automatic promotion to League One. Champions Brentford, Exeter City, and Wycombe Wanderers were promoted automatically. The teams finishing between fourth and seventh inclusive competed in the play-offs for the fourth and final promotion place.
Gillingham finished the season in fifth place with 75 points, three points outside the automatic promotion positions; Shrewsbury Town finished two places lower with 69 points. Shrewsbury had only qualified for the play-offs by defeating Dagenham & Redbridge in the final match of the regular season, enabling them to overtake their opponents in the league table and leave them in eighth place, one point outside the play-off places. In the play-off semi-finals, Gillingham were paired with sixth-placed Rochdale and Shrewsbury with fourth-place finishers Bury. Each semi-final was played on a two-legged basis, with one game at each team's home stadium and the result determined based on the aggregate score of the two games. The first leg of Gillingham's semi-final, played at Rochdale's Spotland Stadium on 7 May 2009, finished in a 0–0 draw; BBC Sport commented that "the two sides largely cancelled each other out". The first leg of the other semi-final, played on the same day at Shrewsbury's home ground, New Meadow, was decided by a late own goal from Shrewsbury's Neil Ashton, who accidentally lobbed the ball over his own goalkeeper Luke Daniels to give Bury a 1–0 win.
The second-leg matches took place three days later. At Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, Simeon Jackson scored from a cross by Andy Barcham to give Gillingham the lead in the 13th minute, only for Chris Dagnall to equalise for Rochdale in the 36th minute. Jackson scored a second goal with a penalty kick in the 58th minute after John Nutter had been fouled by Rory McArdle. Gillingham thus won the match 2–1 and won their semi-final on aggregate by the same score. Gillingham manager Mark Stimson was quoted as saying that reaching the final was just reward for his players' commitment throughout the season. At Bury's Gigg Lane, Shrewsbury goalkeeper Daniels saved a penalty kick by Bury's Phil Jevons and Kevin McIntyre scored a goal for the away team in the 88th minute to level the aggregate score at 1–1 and require extra time to be played. Shortly after the start of the extra period, Shrewsbury's Steve Leslie was sent off. With no further goals being scored in extra time, the semi-final ended in a draw and a penalty shoot-out was required to decide which team would advance to the final. Daniels saved penalty kicks from Bury's Andy Bishop and Danny Racchi and Shrewsbury won the shoot-out and thus reached the final. Shrewsbury manager Paul Simpson singled out Daniels for praise and commented on his team's "sheer guts and determination".
The match was Gillingham's first appearance at the new Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2007, although the club had played at the previous stadium of the same name in play-off finals in 1999 and 2000. Shrewsbury had previously played at the new Wembley in the 2007 League Two play-off final and at the original in the 1996 Football League Trophy Final. The teams had met twice during the regular season. In September, Shrewsbury defeated Gillingham 7–0 at New Meadow, the largest margin of victory achieved by any team in League Two during the season. The return match in March at Priestfield Stadium ended in a 2–2 draw. Shortly before the start of the final, sports betting organisation Sky Bet gave identical odds of 6/4 on both teams to win, with 9/4 on a draw.
The match drew an attendance of 53,706, the third-largest crowd ever to watch a Gillingham match and a figure significantly higher than the 35,715 registered at the previous year's League Two play-off final. The match referee was 48-year-old Clive Oliver representing the Northumberland Football Association. His 24-year-old son Michael took charge of the League One play-off final the following day, the first time that a father and son had refereed Football League play-off finals in the same season. Pre-match entertainment included teams from Killamarsh Junior School and Thurlby Community Primary School competing in the final of the Football Association Community Cup, a parade by members of the British armed forces, and a performance of the National Anthem led by operatic vocalist Will Martin. The guests of honour were Lord Mawhinney, the chairman of the Football League, and Mark Osikoya, Head of Marketing Assets for the League's sponsors, Coca-Cola. The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on the Sky Sports 1 television channel with commentary provided by Garry Birtles and Bill Leslie.
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2009 Football League Two play-off final AI simulator
(@2009 Football League Two play-off final_simulator)
2009 Football League Two play-off final
The 2009 Football League Two play-off final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium on 23 May 2009, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, in the 2008–09 season. Gillingham, who had finished fifth during the league season, faced Shrewsbury Town, who had finished seventh. The match was Shrewsbury's second appearance at the new Wembley Stadium and Gillingham's first, although both clubs had played at the previous stadium of the same name. The teams reached the final by defeating Rochdale and Bury respectively; the semi-final between Shrewsbury and Bury had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
The final drew a crowd of just under 54,000 and was refereed by Clive Oliver. Gillingham were the stronger team in the first half but only came close to scoring a goal once and at half-time the score was 0–0. Both teams attacked more strongly in the second half, requiring both goalkeepers to make saves, but the match remained scoreless until the last minute, when Simeon Jackson headed in Josh Wright's corner kick to give Gillingham the lead; Shrewsbury made a last-ditch attack but were unable to equalise. Gillingham thus won the match 1–0 to gain promotion back to League One one year after being relegated.
Post-match analysis showed that referee Oliver had wrongly awarded the corner kick from which the goal was scored, but defeated manager Paul Simpson chose not to criticise the decision in his post-match comments. Gillingham spent only one season at the higher level before being relegated back to League Two. After their Wembley defeat in 2009, Shrewsbury spent three further seasons in League Two before gaining promotion.
In the 2008–09 Football League season, the teams finishing in the top three positions in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, gained automatic promotion to League One. Champions Brentford, Exeter City, and Wycombe Wanderers were promoted automatically. The teams finishing between fourth and seventh inclusive competed in the play-offs for the fourth and final promotion place.
Gillingham finished the season in fifth place with 75 points, three points outside the automatic promotion positions; Shrewsbury Town finished two places lower with 69 points. Shrewsbury had only qualified for the play-offs by defeating Dagenham & Redbridge in the final match of the regular season, enabling them to overtake their opponents in the league table and leave them in eighth place, one point outside the play-off places. In the play-off semi-finals, Gillingham were paired with sixth-placed Rochdale and Shrewsbury with fourth-place finishers Bury. Each semi-final was played on a two-legged basis, with one game at each team's home stadium and the result determined based on the aggregate score of the two games. The first leg of Gillingham's semi-final, played at Rochdale's Spotland Stadium on 7 May 2009, finished in a 0–0 draw; BBC Sport commented that "the two sides largely cancelled each other out". The first leg of the other semi-final, played on the same day at Shrewsbury's home ground, New Meadow, was decided by a late own goal from Shrewsbury's Neil Ashton, who accidentally lobbed the ball over his own goalkeeper Luke Daniels to give Bury a 1–0 win.
The second-leg matches took place three days later. At Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, Simeon Jackson scored from a cross by Andy Barcham to give Gillingham the lead in the 13th minute, only for Chris Dagnall to equalise for Rochdale in the 36th minute. Jackson scored a second goal with a penalty kick in the 58th minute after John Nutter had been fouled by Rory McArdle. Gillingham thus won the match 2–1 and won their semi-final on aggregate by the same score. Gillingham manager Mark Stimson was quoted as saying that reaching the final was just reward for his players' commitment throughout the season. At Bury's Gigg Lane, Shrewsbury goalkeeper Daniels saved a penalty kick by Bury's Phil Jevons and Kevin McIntyre scored a goal for the away team in the 88th minute to level the aggregate score at 1–1 and require extra time to be played. Shortly after the start of the extra period, Shrewsbury's Steve Leslie was sent off. With no further goals being scored in extra time, the semi-final ended in a draw and a penalty shoot-out was required to decide which team would advance to the final. Daniels saved penalty kicks from Bury's Andy Bishop and Danny Racchi and Shrewsbury won the shoot-out and thus reached the final. Shrewsbury manager Paul Simpson singled out Daniels for praise and commented on his team's "sheer guts and determination".
The match was Gillingham's first appearance at the new Wembley Stadium, which opened in 2007, although the club had played at the previous stadium of the same name in play-off finals in 1999 and 2000. Shrewsbury had previously played at the new Wembley in the 2007 League Two play-off final and at the original in the 1996 Football League Trophy Final. The teams had met twice during the regular season. In September, Shrewsbury defeated Gillingham 7–0 at New Meadow, the largest margin of victory achieved by any team in League Two during the season. The return match in March at Priestfield Stadium ended in a 2–2 draw. Shortly before the start of the final, sports betting organisation Sky Bet gave identical odds of 6/4 on both teams to win, with 9/4 on a draw.
The match drew an attendance of 53,706, the third-largest crowd ever to watch a Gillingham match and a figure significantly higher than the 35,715 registered at the previous year's League Two play-off final. The match referee was 48-year-old Clive Oliver representing the Northumberland Football Association. His 24-year-old son Michael took charge of the League One play-off final the following day, the first time that a father and son had refereed Football League play-off finals in the same season. Pre-match entertainment included teams from Killamarsh Junior School and Thurlby Community Primary School competing in the final of the Football Association Community Cup, a parade by members of the British armed forces, and a performance of the National Anthem led by operatic vocalist Will Martin. The guests of honour were Lord Mawhinney, the chairman of the Football League, and Mark Osikoya, Head of Marketing Assets for the League's sponsors, Coca-Cola. The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on the Sky Sports 1 television channel with commentary provided by Garry Birtles and Bill Leslie.