Alf Buksh was selected as the
referee for the first leg and Lester Shapter for the second. The latter referee had caused controversy when he disallowed a goal in a match involving Swindon earlier in the season; Macari had been reported to
the Football Association, the governing body of the sport in England, for his comments about Shapter after the match. Tickets for both legs went on sale before the first, and such was the demand that fans camped outside Priestfield Stadium overnight to secure them. David Powell of
The Times highlighted the clash between Gillingham's
Colin Greenall and Swindon's Bamber, close friends off the pitch, as a potential key element of the final.
First leg Summary . The first leg of the final drew a crowd of 16,775 and gate receipts of £49,377, a new record for Priestfield Stadium.
Chris Kamara was an injury doubt for Swindon, and Gillingham's
Steve Lovell,
Joe Hinnigan,
Mark Weatherly and
Irvin Gernon were all out. Gillingham manager Peacock told the press "Everyone here is very excited to be so close, but Lou Macari has done a terrific job at Swindon, and you can be sure any team he fields will run for 90 minutes. We will have our hands full." Before the match, trouble flared between rival groups of fans and two
British Transport Police officers were injured by thrown projectiles. Having scored five goals in the semi-final, Gillingham
centre-forward Cascarino found himself closely marked by Swindon's
Tim Parkin and
Colin Calderwood.
Dave Smith received the ball on the edge of the Swindon
penalty area following
Trevor Quow's free kick and hit a fierce shot past Swindon goalkeeper Digby, to give his team a one-goal lead going into the second leg.
Details Second leg Summary Both teams made one change for the second leg, which took place three days later. Gillingham manager Peacock picked
Steve Lovell in place of goalscorer Smith, who was named as a substitute. Swindon's Macari brought in Coyne in place of Quinn.
Details Replay Summary . The replay took place at
Selhurst Park, home of
Crystal Palace, four days after the second leg; the game was scheduled for the slightly later than usual time of 8.00pm to allow the two sets of fans time to travel to the ground. As a result of their participation in the
FA Cup and
Football League Cup, and a run to the southern section semi-finals of the
Associate Members' Cup, all alongside the Football League programme, it was Gillingham's 63rd match of the season, a new record for the most games the team had played in a season since joining the Football League. Both teams again made one change for the replay. Swindon's Henry, who had come on as a substitute in both previous games, was named in the starting line-up in place of Kamara, who was hospitalised after his injury in the previous match. Gillingham brought in
Martin Robinson in place of Lovell. Swindon remained the bookmakers' favourites to win promotion. Swindon took the lead after just two minutes, when an error by the Gillingham defence allowed
Steve White to score. A long pass from a King free kick was headed on by Henry to White who outran Berry to score past Kite in the Gillingham goal. Neither side dominated the first half; just before half-time, Elsey played a
one-two with Quow, but his shot went outside the far post. The second half saw Gillingham begin to dominate possession and Digby saved a Cascarino header at full stretch. A shot from Shearer then passed over the bar with Digby motionless in the goal. Midway through the second half Swindon's Bamber began an attack and
Leigh Barnard played the ball to White, who scored again to double his team's lead. Gillingham increased the pressure, Digby denying Pritchard and then saving from Quow before punching away a header from Cascarino. With seven minutes remaining Gillingham's Smith set up a goal-scoring opportunity for
Dave Shearer but his close-range shot went wide of the goal.
Details ==Post-match==