2016 Football League One play-off final
 The match took place at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
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| Date | 29 May 2016 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium,London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Adam Hammill(Barnsley) | ||||||
| Referee | Stuart Attwell | ||||||
| Attendance | 51,277 | ||||||
| Weather | Mild, overcast | ||||||
The2016 EFL League One play-off finalwas anassociation footballmatch which was played on 29 May 2016 atWembley Stadium,London, betweenBarnsleyandMillwallto determine the third and final team to gainpromotionfromEFL League Oneto theEFL Championship.The top two teams of the2015–16 Football League Oneseason gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the2016–17 seasonin the Championship.
Both Barnsley and Millwall had won one and lost one of their previous play-off finals going into the match. A Wembley Stadium crowd of more than 51,000 people watched the game which was refereed byStuart Attwell.Ashley Fletcheropened the scoring for Barnsley after two minutes, and seventeen minutes laterAdam Hammilldoubled the lead. Eleven minutes before half-time, Millwall'sMark Beevershalved the deficit, but a goal on seventy-four minutes fromLloyd Isgroverestored Barnsley's two-goal advantage which they maintained to the final whistle, winning 3–1 and earning promotion to the Championship. Violence at the Millwall end of the stadium disrupted the latter stages of the match.
Millwall ended thefollowing seasonin sixth place in League One and were promoted to the Championship after winning the2017 EFL Championship play-off final1–0 againstBradford City.Barnsley's following season saw them finish in fourteenth place in the EFL Championship, seven points above the relegation zone and twenty-two points below the play-offs.
Route to the final
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 82 | 45 | +37 | 87 |
| 2 | Burton Albion | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 85 |
| 3 | Walsall | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 71 | 49 | +22 | 84 |
| 4 | Millwall | 46 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 73 | 49 | +24 | 81 |
| 5 | Bradford City | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 80 |
| 6 | Barnsley | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 70 | 54 | +16 | 74 |
Millwallfinished the regular2015–16 seasonin fourth place inFootball League One,the third tier of theEnglish football league system,two places ahead ofBarnsley.Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places forpromotionto theEFL Championshipand instead took part in theplay-offsto determine the third promoted team. Millwall finished four points behindBurton Albion(who were promoted in second place) and six behind league winnersWigan Athletic.Barnsley ended the season seven points behind Millwall.[1][2]
Barnsley's opposition in their play-off semi-final wasWalsall.The first leg was played at Barnsley's home ground,Oakwell.Jason Demetriouscored anown goalafter he deflectedAdam Hammill's shot into the Walsall net just before half-time.Sam Winnallthen scored two second-half goals in two minutes to secure a 3–0 victory for Barnsley.[3]The second leg, played at Walsall'sBescot Stadium,took place five days later. Hammill scored his third semi-final goal in the 18th minute beforeAshley Fletcher's second half strike extended Barnsley'saggregatelead to 5–0.Jordan Cookscored a late consolation for Walsall butJosh Brownhillscored Barnsley's third of the game in the final minute to end the tie 6–1 on aggregate to Barnsley.[4]
Millwall facedBradford Cityin their play-off semi-final. The first leg was played at Bradford's home stadium,Valley Parade.Tony McMahonput the home team in the lead with apenaltyearly in the first half butLee Gregoryequalised two minutes later. Two further first-half goals, a header fromSteve Morisonand afree kickfromJoe Martin,made the score 3–1 to Millwall. Despite Bradford having the majority of the possession, no further goals were scored in the second half.[5]The second leg took place five days later at Millwall's home stadium,The Den.Gregory's 34th minute strike gave Millwall the lead, but Bradford'sJamie Proctorscored on his second attempt to bring the leg level. Bradford once again dominated possession but could not convert their limited chances and the match ended 1–1, ensuring Millwall of a 4–2 win on aggregate and progress to the play-off final.[6]
| Barnsley | Round | Millwall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Legs | Semi-finals | Opponent | Result | Legs |
| Walsall | 6–1 | 3–0 home; 3–1 away | Bradford City | 4–2 | 3–1 away; 1–1 home | |
Match
[edit]Background
[edit]Millwall had featured in two play-off finals prior to this game. They lost the2009 Football League One play-off final3–2 to Scunthorpe United but triumphed the following season in the2010 Football League One play-off finaldefeatingSwindon Town1–0.[7][8]They had also played at Wembley in the2012–13 FA Cupsemi-final, losing to Wigan Athletic.[9]Barnsley had also appeared in two play-off finals before this match. They lost 4–2 toIpswich Townin the2000 Football League First Division play-off finalat theold Wembley Stadiumand beatSwansea Cityin apenalty shootoutto secure promotion in the2006 Football League One play-off finalat theMillennium Stadium.[10][11]Barnsley had also already visited Wembley earlier in the season, with a 3–2 victory overOxford Unitedin the2016 Football League Trophy Final.[12]During the regular season, Barnsley won both matches against Millwall, 3–2 at The Den in August 2015 and 2–1 at Oakwell the following January.[13]Winnall was Barnsley's highest scorer with 21 goals while Millwall's top marksman was Gregory, who was named in the League One team of the season, with 18.[1][14]Millwall last played in the Championship during theprevious seasonwhen they were relegated to League One after finishing in 22nd position.[15]Barnsley had been relegated from the Championship in the2013–14 season,ending their campaign in 23rd place.[16]Bookmakers were divided as to who was considered the favourites to win the match.[17][18]
The referee for this season's play-off final wasStuart Attwell,with assistants Nigel Lugg and Rob Jones, while Stephen Martin acted as the fourth official. Attwell had previously officiated at the2008 Football League Two play-off finaland had refereed the2016 FA Vase Finalat Wembley the previous weekend.[19]Millwall supporters were seated in the West End of Wembley, while Barnsley fans were allocated the East End. The match was broadcast live in the UK onSky Sportswith highlights being shown onChannel 5.[20]Both teams named an unchanged starting line-up from their semi-final second leg matches, but Millwall'sByron Websterdid not complete the warm-up and was replaced byTony Craig.[21]The weather conditions for the match were mild and overcast.[22]
First half
[edit]
Millwall kicked the match off around 3p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 51,277.[23]Shane Fergusonwas fouled by Barnsley'sJosh ScowenbutMark Beeversheaded the resulting free kick from Taylor wide of the post. From the goal kick, Winnall's headed flick-on fell to Fletcher who ran into the box before shooting low past Archer to open the scoring. Hammill's fifth minute strike was too high and wide before Fletcher's shot was blocked by Archer.Conor Hourihane's subsequent low corner found Winnall whose attempt from 15 yards (14 m) was also blocked. On 19 minutes, Hammill doubled Barnsley's lead with a curling shot into the top corner of Millwall's goal from 25 yards (23 m).[21]George Williamswas shown the firstyellow cardof the match on 28 minutes when he fouled Millwall'sChris Taylor.The resulting free kick fromCarlos Edwardswas cleared by Winnall. Scowen then made two clearances in quick succession, first from Taylor and then Edwards. In the 34th minute, Millwall scored throughMark Beevers:a corner from Ferguson was kept in play at the near post by Morison, and Beevers held off Craig to strike the ball into Barnsley's net. In the 43rd minute, Martin became the firstsubstitutionof the game after sustaining a calf injury, and was replaced by the forwardAiden O'Brien.Brownhill's free kick in the last minute of the first half was off-target, and after three minutes of additional time, the referee brought the first half to a close with Barnsley leading 2–1.[24]
Second half
[edit]No changes were made by either side during the break and Barnsley kicked off the second half.[25]Millwall dominated the early stages of the second half but in the 56th minute, Hamill's double-chance was saved by Archer. Three minutes later, Gregory's chance was collected byAdam Daviesbefore Hammill's 63rd minute strike was easily saved by Archer.Marc Robertswas then booked in the 63rd minute for a challenge on Gregory. Morison then went round the Barnsley goalkeeper and although his cross found O'Brien, the resulting shot was saved by Davies. In the 74th minute,Lloyd Isgroveextended Barnsley's lead. A corner from Hourihane was missed by Archer and Isgrove headed into the Millwall goal. Two minutes later,Fred Onyedinmawas brought on forBen Thompson,and in the 82nd minute, Edwards was replaced byShaun Williams.Isgrove was then substituted byMarley Watkinsbefore O'Brien's pass to Taylor ended in the latter's shot being saved by Davies. Four minutes of additional time were played but the score remained unchanged, with the match ending 3–1 in Barnsley's favour.[24]
Details
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  Millwall
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Statistics
[edit]
| Barnsley | Millwall | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 53% | 47% |
| Goals scored | 3 | 1 |
| Shots on target | 6 | 5 |
| Shots off target | 10 | 4 |
| Fouls committed | 10 | 9 |
| Corner kicks | 9 | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Post-match
[edit]Barnsley interim managerPaul Heckingbottomsaid: "I couldn't be any prouder. Every single thing we've asked them to do, they've tried to do it. The players deserve every little bit of the celebrations."[26]Millwall's managerNeil Harrissuggested that the loss of Webster in the warm-up was a contributing factor to their defeat: "it affected us mentally before the game. You try to paper over it but we worked all work on our gameplan and it all sort of goes out of the way in the warm-up."[27]Barnsley's Hammill was namedman of the match.[23]Towards the end of the game, with Barnsley winning 3–1, a group of Millwall supporters broke through a security barrier and attacked Barnsley supporters some of whom were forced to leave the stadium to avoid the violence. The fighting was condemned bythe Football Association.[28]Objects were also thrown on Barnsley supporters occupying a lower tier and were aimed at Barnsley players on the pitch.[29]
Millwall ended thefollowing seasonin sixth place in League One, thirteen points outside the two automatic promotion places, and were promoted to the Championship after winning the2017 EFL Championship play-off final1–0 against Bradford City.[30][31]Barnsley'snext seasonsaw them finish in fourteenth place in the EFL Championship, seven points above the relegation zone and twenty-two points below the play-offs.[32]
References
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