2011 Football League Championship play-off Final

2011 Football League Championship play-off final

Reading Swansea City 2 4
Event	2010–11 Football League Championship
Date	30 May 2011
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Player of the Match	Scott Sinclair (Swansea)
Referee	Phil Dowd
Attendance	86,581
Weather	Light rain
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The 2011 Football League Championship play-off final was a football match contested by Reading and Swansea City on 30 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium to decide the third team to be promoted from the Championship to the Premier League for the 2011–12 season.

Under Championship play-off rules, the final is contested by the two teams which secured an aggregate victory over two-legged semi-finals, with the team that finished sixth in the league table (Nottingham Forest) having played third (Swansea City), and fifth (Reading) having played fourth (Cardiff City).

Swansea City won the final by a scoreline of 4–2. The Welsh side went into half-time 3–0 up thanks to two goals from Scott Sinclair and a third from Stephen Dobbie. Reading came close to bringing the score level in the early stages of the second-half through a Joe Allen own goal and a headed goal from Matt Mills. Swansea however, secured victory in the 80th minute with their second penalty kick of the game, converted by Sinclair for his second career hat-trick.

Venue controversy

Due to the UEFA Champions League 2011 final being held at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, it appeared that the three Football League play-off finals may have to be played at a different venue for the first time since 2007 due to the double-booking of Wembley.

Manchester United's Old Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff were also said to be under consideration to host the Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals.

It was later confirmed that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, while Old Trafford would host the League Two and League One finals on 28 and 29 May respectively.

Route to the final

The two-legged semi-finals determined that the final would be contested by Reading and Swansea City.

First legs

12 May 2011 19:45 BST	Nottingham Forest	0 – 0	Swansea City	City Ground, Nottingham Attendance: 27,881 Referee: Mike Dean (Cheshire)
		Report

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13 May 2011 19:45 BST	Reading	0 – 0	Cardiff City	Madejski Stadium, Reading Attendance: 21,485 Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
		Report

Second legs

16 May 2011 19:45 BST	Swansea City	3 – 1	Nottingham Forest	Liberty Stadium, Swansea Attendance: 19,816 Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
	Britton  28' Dobbie  33' Pratley  90+3'	Report	Earnshaw  80'

Swansea City won 3–1 on aggregate.

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17 May 2011 19:45 BST	Cardiff City	0 – 3	Reading	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 24,081 Referee: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)
		Report	Long  28', 45' (pen.) McAnuff  84'

Reading won 3–0 on aggregate.

Match overview

Build-up

Accountancy firm Deloitte calculated that the Championship play-off final would again be worth about £90,000,000 to the winner, including over £40,000,000 of higher broadcast income, gate receipts and commercial income in the 2011-12 Premier League.

A win would also see Reading return to the Premier League after a three-year absence. Swansea City last played in England's top-flight in 1983, but a victory would make them the first Welsh team to enter the contemporary 'Premier League' since its establishment in 1992.

Summary

A hat-trick which included two penalty kicks from Scott Sinclair helped Swansea City secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 1983. Two goals in two first-half minutes for Sinclair, the first a penalty, and a third from Stephen Dobbie saw the Welsh side go into the dressing room at half-time with a seemingly comfortable 3–0 advantage.

Television reports suggested that in the tunnel at half-time, Reading's assistant manager Nigel Gibbs and unused substitute Jay Tabb were both sent off by referee Phil Dowd.

Reading struck back early in the second half, however, through a Noel Hunt header which deflected in off Joe Allen for an own goal and a headed goal by Matt Mills to pull the score back to 3–2. Reading came close to an equaliser when Jem Karacan's shot was deflected onto the post, but Sinclair sealed it for the Swans with an 80th-minute penalty, and in doing so completing his second career hat-trick.

Details

30 May 2011 15:00 BST	Reading	2–4	Swansea City	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 86,581 Referee: Phil Dowd
	Allen  49' (o.g.) Mills  57'	Report	Sinclair  21' (pen.), 22', 80' (pen.) Dobbie  40'

Reading

Swansea City

GK 1 Adam Federici RB 2 Andy Griffin 8' 84' CB 5 Matt Mills (c) CB 15 Zurab Khizanishvili 12' LB 23 Ian Harte CM 4 Jem Karacan CM 8 Mikele Leigertwood RW 14 Jimmy Kébé LW 11 Jobi McAnuff 39' CF 9 Shane Long CF 10 Noel Hunt 76' Substitutes: GK 41 Alex McCarthy DF 24 Shaun Cummings DF 26 Alex Pearce MF 7 Jay Tabb MF 19 Hal Robson-Kanu 84' MF 20 Brian Howard FW 18 Simon Church 76' Manager: Brian McDermott

GK 1 Dorus de Vries RB 22 Àngel Rangel CB 16 Garry Monk (c) CB 2 Ashley Williams LB 5 Alan Tate CM 37 Leon Britton 77' CM 24 Joe Allen 54' 89' RW 12 Nathan Dyer AM 14 Stephen Dobbie 55' LW 21 Scott Sinclair CF 15 Fabio Borini 12' Substitutes: GK 25 Yves Makabu-Makalambay DF 17 Albert Serrán MF 8 Darren Pratley 55' MF 27 Mark Gower 82' 77' MF 29 Ashley Richards FW 9 Craig Beattie FW 19 Luke Moore 89' Manager: Brendan Rodgers

MATCH OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Scott Ledger Simon Long Fourth official: Lee Mason Reserve referee: Andrew Halliday

MATCH RULES 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics

	Reading	Swansea
Total shots	19	6
Shots on target	11	4
Ball possession	47%	53%
Corner kicks	16	1
Fouls committed	18	4
Offsides	3	0
Yellow cards	3	3
Red cards	1	0

Source: BBC Sport

External links

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