2012 Football League play-offs

Football League play-offs 2011–12
Season information
Winners	West Ham United (Championship) Huddersfield Town (League One) Crewe Alexandra (League Two)
Season statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	31
Biggest home win	West Ham 3–0 Cardiff (Championship)
Biggest away win	Cardiff 0–2 West Ham (Championship) MK Dons 0–2 Huddersfield (League One)
Highest scoring	Birmingham 2–2 Blackpool Southend 2–2 Crewe (4 goals)
← 2011	2013 →

The Football League play-offs for the 2011–12 season were held in May 2012. All finals took place at Wembley Stadium in London.

The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs, contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League Championship and League One and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th-placed teams in the League Two table. The winners of the semi-finals went through to the finals, with the winner of the final gaining promotion for the following season.

The semi-final matches were played from 3 to 17 May 2012. The finals were held between 19 and 27 May 2012.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.

Championship

Main article:2011–12 Football League Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	West Ham United	46	24	14	8	81	48	+33	86
4	Birmingham City	46	20	16	10	78	51	+27	76
5	Blackpool	46	20	15	11	79	59	+20	75
6	Cardiff City	46	19	18	9	66	53	+13	75

Semi-finals

First leg

3 May 2012 19:45	Cardiff City	0–2	West Ham United	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 23,029 Referee: Neil Swarbrick
		Report	Collison  9', 41'

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4 May 2012 19:45	Blackpool	1–0	Birmingham City	Bloomfield Road, Blackpool Attendance: 13,832 Referee: Mark Halsey
	Davies  45' (o.g.)	Report

Second leg

7 May 2012 16:30	West Ham United	3–0	Cardiff City	Boleyn Ground, London Attendance: 34,682 Referee: Mike Dean
	Nolan  15' Vaz Tê  41' Maynard  90'	Report

West Ham United won 5–0 on aggregate.

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9 May 2012 19:45	Birmingham City	2–2	Blackpool	St Andrew's, Birmingham Attendance: 28,483 Referee: Chris Foy
	Žigić  64' Davies  73'	Report	Dobbie  45' M. Phillips  48'

Blackpool won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

Main article:2012 Football League Championship play-off Final

19 May 2012 15:00	Blackpool	1–2	West Ham United	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 78,523 Referee: Howard Webb
	Ince  48'	Report	Cole  35' Vaz Tê  87'

League One

Main article:2011–12 Football League One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Sheffield United	46	27	9	10	92	51	+41	90
4	Huddersfield Town	46	21	18	7	79	47	+32	81
5	Milton Keynes Dons	46	22	14	10	84	47	+37	80
6	Stevenage	46	21	10	15	69	44	+25	73

Semi-finals

First leg

11 May 2012 19:45	Stevenage	0–0	Sheffield United	Lamex Stadium, Stevenage Attendance: 5,802 Referee: Anthony Bates
		Report

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12 May 2012 12:30	Milton Keynes Dons	0–2	Huddersfield Town	Stadium mk, Milton Keynes Attendance: 11,893 Referee: Darren Deadman
		Report	Rhodes  32' Hunt  73'

Second leg

14 May 2012 19:45	Sheffield United	1–0	Stevenage	Bramall Lane, Sheffield Attendance: 21,182 Referee: Nigel Miller
	Porter  85'	Report

Sheffield United won 1–0 on aggregate.

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15 May 2012 19:45	Huddersfield Town	1–2	Milton Keynes Dons	Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield Attendance: 15,085 Referee: Scott Mathieson
	Rhodes  18'	Report	Powell  39' Smith  90+2'

Huddersfield Town won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

Main article:2012 Football League One play-off Final

26 May 2012 15:00	Huddersfield Town	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Sheffield United	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 52,100 Referee: Roger East
		Report
		Penalties
	Miller Johnson Lee Clarke Arfield Rhodes Roberts Woods Hunt Morrison Smithies	8–7	Williamson Collins Lowton Taylor Porter Quinn Maguire Doyle O'Halloran Hill Simonsen

League Two

Main article:2011–12 Football League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Southend United	46	25	8	13	77	48	+29	83
5	Torquay United	46	23	12	11	63	50	+13	81
6	Cheltenham Town	46	23	8	15	66	50	+16	77
7	Crewe Alexandra	46	20	12	14	67	59	0+8	72

Semi-finals

First leg

12 May 2012 17:30	Crewe Alexandra	1–0	Southend United	Alexandra Stadium, Crewe Attendance: 7,221 Referee: Michael Naylor
	Dugdale  50'	Report

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13 May 2012 12:00	Cheltenham Town	2–0	Torquay United	Abbey Business Stadium, Cheltenham Attendance: 5,273 Referee: James Adcock
	McGlashan  27' Burgess  50'	Report

Second leg

16 May 2012 19:45	Southend United	2–2	Crewe Alexandra	Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea Attendance: 8,190 Referee: Darren Drysdale
	Harris  64' Barker  87'	Report	Leitch-Smith  24' Clayton  86'

Crewe Alexandra won 3–2 on aggregate.

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17 May 2012 19:45	Torquay United	1–2	Cheltenham Town	Plainmoor, Torquay Attendance: 3,606 Referee: Andy D'Urso
	Atieno  85'	Report	McGlashan  75' Pack  87'

Cheltenham Town won 4–1 on aggregate.

Final

Main article:2012 Football League Two play-off Final

27 May 2012 15:00	Cheltenham Town	0–2	Crewe Alexandra	Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 24,029 Referee: Craig Pawson
		Report	Powell  15' Moore  82'

External links

• Football League website
• Football League Ups and downs

2011–12 in English football
FA competitions
FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds, Final) · Community Shield · FA Trophy (Final)
League cups
Football League Cup (Final) · Football League Trophy (Final) ·
Premier and Football League
Premier League · Football League (Championship · League One · League Two)
Football Conference
Football Conference (Premier · North · South)
European competitions
Champions League (Final) · Europa League (Final)
National teams
UEFA Euro 2012 qualification (Group G)
Other
Summer 2011 transfers · Winter 2011–12 transfers · Summer 2012 transfers
2010-11                                                        2012-13