Date 29 May 2000 (2000-05-29) Venue Wembley Stadium, London | ||
The 2000 Football League First Division play-off final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 29 May 2000, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the First Division to the Premiership in the 1999–2000 season. Ipswich Town faced Barnsley in the last domestic competitive fixture to be played at the original Wembley Stadium.
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The match was both teams first appearance in a First Division play-off final. It was the first time Barnsley had been in the play-offs, having been relegated to the First Division after the 1997–98 season, and finishing mid-table the following season. Ipswich made the play-offs for the fourth consecutive season, but this was the first time they had advanced further than the semi-finals.
Ipswich Town won 4–2 and won promotion to the Premiership.
Route to the final
Ipswich finished the regular 1999–2000 Football League season in third place in Division One, one place ahead of Barnsley. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic promotion places and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Ipswich were only two points behind Manchester City (who were promoted in second place) and league winners Charlton Athletic. Barnsley were in 4th place in the league table, a further five points behind Ipswich - they also finished as the highest scorers in the division with 88 goals.
On the final day of the league season Ipswich played Walsall, and won 2–0. At one point, second place Manchester City were trailing to Blackburn, meaning that Ipswich would qualify for promotion automatically. However, City eventually won the match and secured promotion, meaning Ipswich Town would be in the play-offs for the fourth consecutive year.
In the play-off semi-finals, Ipswich beat 6th-placed Bolton Wanderers 5–3 at Portman Road after a 2–2 draw in the first leg away at the Reebok Stadium, giving an aggregate score of 7–5. Barnsley won the first leg 4–0 away at St Andrew's and, despite losing the second leg 2–1 at Oakwell, reached the final 5–2 on aggregate.
Notes
In a change from Barnsley's traditional kit of red top and white shorts, for the play-off final they wore an all-red strip.