Millwall lifted the
Second Division championship trophy and gained promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. Runners-up were
Aston Villa, and
Middlesbrough won promotion via
play-offs.
Huddersfield Town and
Sheffield United were relegated.
Second Division play-offs The team fourth from bottom of the First Division played off for one place in that division with the teams finishing third, fourth and fifth in the Second Division. In the semi-final,
Chelsea of the First Division beat fifth-placed
Blackburn Rovers 6–1 on aggregate, and third-placed
Middlesbrough beat
Bradford City 3–2 on aggregate. The final was also played
over two legs. Playing at their
Ayresome Park ground in front of a crowd of 25,531, Middlesbrough duly won the first leg 2–0 with goals from
Bernie Slaven and
Trevor Senior. In the second leg at
Stamford Bridge, which was marred by violence perpetrated by some of the 40,550 spectators, Chelsea's
Gordon Durie scored the only goal. Thus Middlesbrough won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to the
First Division for 1988–89, while Chelsea were relegated to the Second. Source:
Second Division results ==Third Division==