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The Richest Game

The EFL Championship Play-Off Final is reportedly the most valuable single match in world sport, valued at up to £160 million for the winner!

The Football League play-off system began in fairly humble circumstances in the late-1980s when the game in England was in a major slump. The short-term aim was to allow restructuring of the League's four divisions, with a longer term goal of keeping excitement alive for longer as clubs in mid-table would potentially have something to play for through to the final few matches of the season. Nowadays, the match has all the razmataz of a big final as the teams battle it out for a place in the promised land of the Premier League.

It is interesting to note the Northern Ireland players who have featured in the match, some sneaking into the Premier League via the "back-door" and others who have suffered the heartbreak of missing out on satisfying a life-time ambition of playing in one of the world's elite stages...

Year

Winners

Losers

Notes

Football League Second Division

1988

 -

-

Chelsea

Kevin Wilson

 -

2 legs

1992

 -

-

 -

Leicester

Colin Hill

 -

Football League First Division

1993

 -

-

 -

Leicester

Colin Hill

 -

 -

1995

 -

-

 -

Reading

Jimmy Quinn

sub/

also p-m

1996

Leicester

Neil Lennon

 -

 -

-

 -

 -

-

 -

Colin Hill

sub

 -

-

 -

 -

1999

Watford

Peter Kennedy

 -

 -

-

 -

 -

2000

Ipswich

Jim Magilton

 -

 -

-

 -

 -

2001

 -

-

 -

Preston

Colin Murdock

 -

 -

-

 -

-

 -

 -

David Healy

 -

 -

2002

Birmingham

Damien Johnson

u/sub

Norwich

Phil Mulryne

 -

 -

-

 -

-

 -

 -

Paul McVeigh

 -

 -

2004

 -

-

 -

West Ham

Steve Lomas

 -

 -

Football League Championship

2006

 -

-

 -

Leeds

David Healy

sub

 -

2007

Derby Co

Lee Camp

u/sub

 -

-

 -

 -

2008

 -

-

 -

Bristol C.

Ivan Sproule

sub

 -

2009

Burnley

Michael Duff

 -

Sheff Utd

Jamie Ward

sub 

 -

-

 -

Martin Paterson

 -

 -

-

 -

 -

2010

 -

-

 -

Cardiff

Tony Capaldi

u/sub

 -

2012

West Ham

George McCartney

sub

Blackpool

Craig Cathcart

u/sub

 -

2014

QPR

Aaron Hughes

u/sub

Derby Co

Jamie Ward

 -

 -

EFL Championship

2016

Hull City

Alex Bruce

u/sub

 -

 -

 -

2018

Fulham

Ollie Norwood

sub

 -

 -


Managers:
Iain Dowie (won 2004)
Martin O'Neill (won 1996)
Jimmy Quinn (lost 1995 [joint-player-manager])
Brendan Rodgers (won 2011)
Nigel Worthington (lost 2002)

THIRD TIER
Football League Third Division
1987 Swindon Town - Jimmy Quinn (1L) (won)
1990 Tranmere Rovers - Jim Harvey (lost)
1991 Tranmere Rovers - Jim Harvey (sub) (won)
Football League Second Division
1993 West Brom - Bernard McNally (won)
1997 Crewe - Dele Adebola (won)
1998 Grimsby - Aidan Davision, Kingsley Black (sub) (won); Northampton - Colin Hill (lost)
1999 Man City - Kevin Horlock, Jeff Whitley (won - pens)
2000 Wigan - Pat McGibbon, Roy Carroll (u/sub) (won)
2001 Reading - Barry Hunter (sub) (lost)
2004 Bristol City - Tommy Doherty; Danny Wilson (manager) (lost)
Football League One
2005 Sheff Wed - Alex Bruce, Chris Brunt, James Quinn (won)
2009 Scunthorpe - Grant McCann (won)
2011 Peterborough - Grant McCann (won)
2012 Sheff Utd - Danny Wilson (manager) (lost - pens)
2014 Rotherham - Michael O'Connor (u/sub) (won - pens)
EFL League One
2016 Millwall - Shane Ferguson (lost)
2017 Millwall - Shane Ferguson (sub) (won); Bradford - Rory McArdle (lost)
2018 Rotherham - Caolan Lavery (sub) (won)
2019 Charlton - Ben Reeves (u/sub) (won); Sunderland - Tom Flanagan, Will Grigg (sub) (lost)
2020 Oxford - Mark Sykes (lost)
2021 Blackpool - Daniel Ballard (won)
2022 Sunderland - Corry Evans (capt) (won)

FOURTH TIER
Football League Fourth Division
1987 Wolves - Robbie Dennison (2L) (lost)
Football League Third Division
1993 York City - Jon McCarthy (won - pens); Crewe - Neil Lennon (lost - pens)
1994 Wycombe - Martin O'Neill (manager) (won)
1996 Darlington - Jim Platt (manager) (lost)
2002 Cheltenham - Michael Duff (won); Rushden & Diamonds - Barry Hunter (u/sub) (lost)
Football League Two
2005 Lincoln - Gareth McAuley (lost)
2006 Cheltenham - Shane Duff, Grant McCann (won); Grimsby Town - Ciaran Toner (u/sub) (lost)
2008 Rochdale - Rory McArdle (lost)
2009 Gillingham - Alan Julian (u/sub) (won)
2011 Torquay - Billy Kee, Eunan O'Kane (lost)
2013 Bradford - Rory McArdle (won)
2014 Fleetwood - Conor McLaughlin (won); Burton - Robbie Weir, Adam McGurk, Billy Kee (lost)
2017 Blackpool - Kyle Vassell (won); Exeter - Liam McAlinden (lost)
2021 Morecambe - Brad Lyons (sub) (won)

FIFTH TIER (play-offs introduced 2003)
Football Conference
2004 Shrewsbury - Jimmy Quinn (manager) (won)
Conference National
2005 Stevenage - Alan Julian (won)
2007 Morecambe - Sammy McIlroy (manager) (won); Exeter - Wayne Carlisle (lost)
Conference Premier
2008 Exeter - Wayne Carlisle (u/sub) (won); Cambridge - Lee McEvilly (lost)
2009 Torquay - Wayne Carlisle (won)
2010 Oxford - Adam Chapman (MotM) (won); York - Michael Ingham (capt) (lost)
2012 York - Michael Ingham (won)
2013 Newport - Alan Julian (u/sub) (won); Wrexham - Dele Adebola (lost)
2014 Gateshead - Carl Magnay (lost)
2015 Bristol Rovers - Mark McChrystal (capt) (won); Grimsby - Carl Magnay (lost)
National League
2017 Tranmere - Jeff Hughes (lost)
2018 Tranmere - Jeff Hughes (won)

Summary by Player/Manager:
Barclay's First Division Play-Off winner's trophy, 1993

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