The 2000 Football League Second Division play-off final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2000, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Second Division to the First Division of the Football League in the 1999–2000 season. Gillingham faced Wigan Athletic in one of the last competitive games to be played at the original Wembley Stadium. It was Gillingham's second consecutive appearance in the Second Division play-off final after a defeat to Manchester City a year earlier. Wigan had been defeated in the semi-finals the previous season and the game marked their first appearance in a play-off final. The teams reached the 2000 final by defeating Stoke City and Millwall respectively in the semi-finals.
The final drew a crowd of 53,764 and was refereed by Rob Styles. Gillingham took the lead in the first half when Wigan defender Pat McGibbon scored an own goal under pressure from Iffy Onuora. Wigan equalised shortly after half-time, and believed they had taken the lead when Gillingham's Nicky Southall blocked a shot from Wigan's Arjan de Zeeuw; Southall appeared to be standing behind the goal line, which would have meant that the ball had entered the goal, but the assistant referee ruled otherwise. The score after the regulation 90 minutes was 1–1 so the match went into extra time. During the extra period Wigan took a 2–1 lead when Stuart Barlow scored a penalty kick, but Gillingham scored two goals in the last six minutes through Steve Butler and Andy Thomson, both of whom had come on as substitutes, to win 3–2. Gillingham thus gained promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in the club's 107-year history.
Both teams' managers left their respective jobs after the match. Wigan's John Benson had always intended to step down at the end of the season; Gillingham hoped to retain the services of Peter Taylor but he chose to leave and take the manager's job at Leicester City. Gillingham spent five years at the higher level before being relegated back to the third tier. After losing in the play-offs again in 2001, Wigan finally gained promotion to the First Division in 2003.
Route to the final
In the 1999–2000 Football League season, the teams that finished in the top two positions in the Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system, gained automatic promotion to the First Division. The teams that finished between third and sixth inclusive competed in the play-offs for the third and final promotion place. Gillingham (nicknamed the "Gills") finished the season in third place, one position ahead of Wigan Athletic. On the final day of the league season, Gillingham had the opportunity to finish in second place in the table and thereby clinch an automatic promotion place, but a 1–0 defeat away to Wrexham meant that Burnley were able to overtake them with a 2–1 win over Scunthorpe United. Wigan had looked on course for an automatic promotion place in the first half of the season, being undefeated after 23 games. The team struggled from January onwards, however, including a run of eight league games without a win, and finished five points outside the top two.
In the play-off semi-finals, Wigan were paired with fifth-placed Millwall and Gillingham with sixth-place finishers Stoke City. 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. In the first leg of their semi-final away to Stoke, Gillingham conceded two goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Although Ty Gooden scored for the "Gills" after 18 minutes, Stoke extended their lead to 3–1 in the second half. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Andy Hessenthaler scored a goal for Gillingham, making the final score 3–2. Wigan drew 0–0 in the first leg against Millwall, with BBC Sport noting that both teams appeared "edgy from the outset and perhaps too anxious to impress". After the first legs, the BBC still regarded the outcome of both semi-finals as difficult to predict.
Four days after the first leg matches took place, Wigan defeated Millwall 1–0 in the second leg to win the semi-final by the same score on aggregate and clinch a place at Wembley; midfielder Darren Sheridan scored the only goal of the game in the second half. Reserve goalkeeper Derek Stillie played in place of Roy Carroll, who had recently undergone an appendix operation, and was praised for his tenacious performance. Gillingham's second leg match was an emotionally-charged game, and before half-time Stoke's Clive Clarke was sent off, reducing his team to ten men. Early in the second half, Graham Kavanagh was also dismissed, leaving Stoke with just nine players. Barry Ashby scored a goal for Gillingham to bring the aggregate score level at 3–3, and with the scores level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time was required. During the additional 30 minutes, Iffy Onuora and Paul Smith scored further goals for Gillingham, who thus secured victory by a final aggregate score of 5–3. Stoke manager Gudjon Thordarson was critical of the performance of referee Rob Styles, saying "The almighty God was looking elsewhere. Even He can't put consistency into the referees."
Wigan AthleticGillinghamOpponentResultLegsRoundOpponentResultLegsMillwall1–00–0 away; 1–0 homeSemi-finalsStoke City5–32–3 away; 3–0 home
Background Gillingham were appearing in the play-off final for a second consecutive season. In the 1998–99 season, the "Gills" had qualified for the final but had been defeated by Manchester City. Wigan had competed in the previous season's play-offs but lost to Manchester City at the semi-final stage; the club had never reached a play-off final, but had played at Wembley on three previous occasions, most recently in the 1999 Football League Trophy Final. Neither Gillingham nor Wigan had competed higher than the third tier of English football in their history, so whichever team emerged victorious would reach the second level for the first time. The teams had met twice during the regular season, each team winning at their home stadium; Wigan won 2–0 at the JJB Stadium in December and Gillingham won 2–1 at Priestfield Stadium in April. On the morning of the match, The Observer listed the odds on both teams as equal, at 5–6.
The match drew an attendance of 53,764, much lower than the figure of 76,935 recorded at the previous season's Second Division play-off final, and there was a significant disparity in the number of tickets sold to the fans of the two clubs, with only around 10,000 Wigan fans in attendance compared to over 40,000 Gillingham fans. Rob Styles was chosen to referee the match; although he had been criticised by the defeated manager after the semi-final match between Gillingham and Stoke City, his performance was rated highly by the league's official assessor of referees, and his appointment to take charge of the final was seen as a reward for his handling of the earlier game. The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on the Sky Sports 2 television channel with commentary provided by Rob Hawthorne and Alan Brazil.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:41:37–00:41:39 As both teams usually wore predominantly blue kits, a coin was tossed to determine which would have to wear their second-choice colours; Wigan won the toss, meaning that Gillingham wore their second-choice kit of all-yellow.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:40:40–00:40:58 The guest of honour was Philip Williamson, retail operations director of the Nationwide Building Society, the principal sponsor of the Football League, who was accompanied by Peter Middleton and David Dent, the League's chairman and secretary respectively. One of the young mascots who accompanied the players as they entered the field of play was Hessenthaler's six-year-old son Jake, who would go on to play professionally for Gillingham himself.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:13:48–00:13:55
Gillingham manager Peter Taylor picked seven of the players who had started the previous season's play-off final, but made the decision to leave the team's captain, Paul Smith, out of the starting line-up due to personal issues, which led to the player requesting a transfer. Wigan manager John Benson, who was taking charge of the team for the last time before the appointment of a new manager, picked the same eleven players who had started the second leg of the play-off semi-final; the line-up included five players who had played at Wembley in the previous season's Football League Trophy final. There was media speculation that Benson would recall goalkeeper Carroll, by now fully recovered from his operation, but ultimately he opted to again select Stillie, and Carroll was named as one of the substitutes.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:01:04–00:01:13 Stuart Barlow, the club's top goalscorer during the regular season, had recently recovered from an operation on his ankle and it was anticipated that he would be named as a substitute, but he was ultimately named in the starting line-up. Both teams adopted a 5–3–2 formation, consisting of three defenders (three central defenders and two wing-backs), three midfielders and two strikers.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:37:00–00:39:30
Match First half
A hailstorm occurred approximately 90 minutes before the game, but by 3:00pm the sky was clear, although the pitch remained slick and greasy.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:40:45–00:40:47Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:59:35–00:59:45 After the players were presented to the guest of honour, Gillingham kicked off the match.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:32:30–00:41:35 Wigan were the stronger team in the early part of the game, with Sheridan dominating the midfield play and Andy Liddell causing problems for Gillingham's defenders. Simon Haworth of Wigan had the first goalscoring opportunity after less than four minutes with a header, but Gillingham goalkeeper Vince Bartram made a comfortable save.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:44:44–00:44:51 Carl Asaba had a shot which went well wide of the goal after 10 minutes, but as the 15-minute mark approached, the ball had been in the third of the pitch closest to Gillingham's goalkeeper for almost twice as much time as in the third closest to Wigan's goalkeeper.Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:51:30–00:51:35Classic Match : Wigan Athletic 2–3 Gillingham (AET) 2000 Division 2 Play-off Final, 00:55:44–00:55:55