2013 Football League play-offs

Football League play-offs 2012–13
Season information
Winners	Crystal Palace (Championship) Yeovil Town (League One) Bradford City (League Two)
Season statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	36
Biggest home win	Watford 3–1 Leicester (Championship)
Biggest away win	Burton 1–3 Bradford (League Two)
Highest scoring	Brentford 3–3 Swindon (6 goals)
← 2012	2014 →

The Football League play-offs for the 2012–13 season were held in May 2013 with all finals being staged 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 advanced to the finals, with the winner of the final gaining promotion for the following season.

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: 2012–13 Football League Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Watford	46	23	8	15	85	58	+27	77
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	19	18	9	69	43	+26	75
5	Crystal Palace	46	19	15	12	73	62	+11	72
6	Leicester City	46	19	11	16	71	48	+23	68

Semi-finals

First leg

9 May 2013 19:45	Leicester City	1–0	Watford	King Power Stadium, Leicester Attendance: 29,650 Referee: Neil Swarbrick
	Nugent  82'	Report

10 May 2013 19:45	Crystal Palace	0–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Selhurst Park, Attendance: 23,294 Referee: Michael Oliver
		Report

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Second leg

12 May 2013 12:30	Watford	3–1	Leicester City	Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 16,142 Referee: Michael Oliver
	Vydra  15', 65' Deeney  90+7'	Report	Nugent  19'

Watford won 3–2 on aggregate.

13 May 2013 19:45	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–2	Crystal Palace	AMEX Stadium, Falmer Attendance: 29,518 Referee: Mark Clattenburg
		Report	Zaha  69', 88'

Crystal Palace won 2–0 on aggregate.

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Final

Main article: 2013 Football League Championship play-off Final

27 May 2013 15:00	Crystal Palace	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Watford	Wembley Stadium, Attendance: 82,025 Referee: Martin Atkinson
	Phillips  105+1' (pen.)	Report

League One

Main article: 2012–13 Football League One

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Brentford	46	21	16	9	62	47	+15	79
4	Yeovil Town	46	23	8	15	71	56	+15	77
5	Sheffield United	46	19	18	9	56	42	+14	75
6	Swindon Town	46	20	14	12	72	39	+33	74

Semi-finals

First leg

3 May 2013 19:45	Sheffield United	1–0	Yeovil Town	Bramall Lane, Sheffield Attendance: 15,262 Referee: Stuart Attwell
	McFadzean  46'	Report

4 May 2013 17:20	Swindon Town	1–1	Brentford	County Ground, Swindon Attendance: 10,595 Referee: Geoff Eltrigham
	Luongo  70'	Report	O'Connor  90+4' (pen.)

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Second leg

6 May 2013 13:30	Yeovil Town	2–0	Sheffield United	Huish Park, Yeovil Attendance: 8,152 Referee: Phil Gibbs
	Dawson  6' Upson  85'	Report

Yeovil Town won 2–1 on aggregate.

6 May 2013 16:30	Brentford	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Swindon Town	Griffin Park, Attendance: 9,109 Referee: Nigel Miller
	A. Rooney  24' (o.g.) Donaldson  40', 47'	Report	A. Rooney  44' Devera  57' Flint  90+5'
		Penalties
	Saunders Hayes Dean Craig Forshaw	5–4	Devera Flint Collins Storey Roberts

Brentford 4–4 Swindon Town on aggregate. Brentford won 5–4 on penalties.

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Final

Main article: 2013 Football League One play-off Final

19 May 2013 13:30	Brentford	1–2	Yeovil Town	Wembley Stadium, Attendance: 41,955 Referee: Andy D'Urso
	Dean  51'	Report	Madden  6' Burn  42'

League Two

Main article: 2012–13 Football League Two

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Burton Albion	46	22	10	14	71	65	+6	76
5	Cheltenham Town	46	20	15	11	58	51	+7	75
6	Northampton Town	46	21	10	15	64	55	+9	73
7	Bradford City	46	18	15	13	63	52	+11	69

Semi-finals

First leg

2 May 2013 19:45	Bradford City	2–3	Burton Albion	Coral Windows Stadium, Bradford Attendance: 14,657 Referee: James Adcock
	Wells  37' (pen.) Thompson  75'	Report	Zola  22', 27' Weir  44'

2 May 2013 19:45	Northampton Town	1–0	Cheltenham Town	Sixfields, Northampton Attendance: 6,563 Referee: Mick Russell
	O'Donovan  26'	Report

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Second leg

5 May 2013 12:00	Burton Albion	1–3	Bradford City	Pirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent Attendance: 6,148 Referee: Graham Scott
	Maghoma  55' (pen.)	Report	Wells  27', 57' Hanson  50'

Bradford City won 5–4 on aggregate.

5 May 2013 18:45	Cheltenham Town	0–1	Northampton Town	Abbey Business Stadium, Cheltenham Attendance: 5,955 Referee: Andy Madley
		Report	Guttridge  28'

Northampton Town won 2–0 on aggregate.

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Final

Main article: 2013 Football League Two play-off Final

18 May 2013 13:30	Bradford City	3–0	Northampton Town	Wembley Stadium, Attendance: 47,127 Referee: Keith Stroud
	Hanson  15' McArdle  19' Wells  28'	Report

2012–13 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
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (Group H)
Other
Summer 2012 transfers · Winter 2012–13 transfers · Summer 2013 transfers
2011-12                                                        2013-14