Date 29 May 1995 Attendance 64,107 | Referee Peter Foakes | |
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Venue Wembley Stadium, London | ||
The 1995 Football League Division One play-off Final was an epic contest between Bolton Wanderers and Reading at Wembley Stadium, London. Bolton Wanderers won the match 4-3, after extra time.
Contents
Background
The Premier League was going to be made smaller, so only two clubs went up and four would go down to Division Two. Reading had only just gone up, as champions, from Division Two the year before. Bolton had only finished 14th in Division One. Middlesbrough was the side to go up as First Division Champions.
Route to the Final
Match Summary
Reading went 1-0 up after four minutes, Nogan with the goal. Williams made it 2-0 within 12 minutes. Lovell missed a penalty for Reading on 34 minutes, and that was the turning point. Bolton scored a 75th-minute goal to give them hope and with four minutes to go, De Freitas scored the leveler for Wanderers. Bolton went 3-2 up in extra time, Paatelainen scored on 105 minutes, De Freitas scored Wanderers' 4th goal on 118, while Reading player-manager Quinn scored a late goal.
Post Match
Wanderers were relegated from the Premier League after one season, but would eventually enjoy an uninterrupted 11-year stay between 2001 and 2012. Reading were promoted as First Division Champions in 2006 and remained in the Premier League for two seasons before being relegated, but went on to win promotion once more in 2012 (again as champions of the second tier Championship division) in the same season as Bolton were relegated. However, they only lasted one season before being relegated back to the Championship in 2013.