1989 Football League Second Division play-off final

Crystal Palace finished the regular 1988–89 season in third place in the Football League First Division – the second tier of the English football league system – two places and four points ahead of Blackburn Rovers. Both missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the First Division and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Watford and Swindon Town, to determine the third promoted team. Crystal Palace finished one point behind Manchester City (who were promoted in second place) and eighteen behind league winners Chelsea. The home side made the better start but the match ended goalless with misses from Howard Gayle and Scott Sellars, while Neil Redfearn's shot for Watford in the second half was saved by Terry Gennoe. Ending 1–1, the game moved into extra time but with no further change to the score, Blackburn progressed to the play-off final on the away goals rule. In the other play-off semi-final, Crystal Palace's opponents were Swindon Town, and the first leg was played at the County Ground, Swindon, on 21 May 1989. The match was dominated by Swindon but the first half ended goalless. In the 53rd minute, Crystal Palace's captain Jeff Hopkins scored an own goal after a dangerous cross from Dave Hockaday. Swindon manager Lou Macari suggested that his side were favourites going into the second leg but added "we shan't be defending". The return leg took place at Selhurst Park three days later. The largest crowd of the season meant congestion caused the kick off to be delayed by fifteen minutes. On eight minutes, Mark Bright scored his 25th goal of the season after Paul Digby had beaten away a shot from David Madden, to put Palace ahead. Seven minutes before half-time, Ian Wright doubled the lead after scoring from a Bright header. The match ended 2–0 and Crystal Palace qualified for the final with a 2–1 aggregate win. ==Match==

Background Neither side had featured in a play-off final although Blackburn Rovers had lost in the semi-finals during the 1988 Football League play-offs. Crystal Palace had played in the second tier of English football since being relegated in the 1980–81 season, while Blackburn had been in the Second Division since they were promoted in the 1979–80 season. During the regular 1988–89 season, Blackburn Rovers had won their home game between the two sides 5–4 in October, while the clubs played out a 2–2 draw at Vicarage Road the following February. Garner was Blackburn's leading scorer during the regular season with 23 goals across all competitions (20 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 2 in the League Cup), followed by Gayle who scored 20 in total (19 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 1 in the League Cup). The leading marksman for Crystal Palace was Wright who had scored 30 goals during the regular season comprising 24 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup, and 5 in the League Cup. First leg Pre-match In a training session leading up to the first leg of the final, the Blackburn manager Don Mackay tore ankle ligaments, but suggested it had helped to relax his players: "There was a lot of tension in the air until the players saw me hobbling about." He had a fully fit squad to choose from. Crystal Palace had Gavin Nebbeling available for selection after suspension. In the 13th minute, a chance fell to Garner as he volleyed a cross from Chris Sulley, but Perry Suckling in the Crystal Palace goal saved the shot. Eight minutes later, Garner flicked on a cross from Sellars and Gayle scored to make it 1–0 to Blackburn. In the 27th minute, Gayle doubled his side's lead with a half-volley from just outside the Palace penalty area after David Burke had failed to clear the ball. Garner restored the two-goal lead in injury time with a tap-in from a Gayle cross, ending the match 3–1. Details Second leg Pre-match Crystal Palace had been hoping to temporarily increase the capacity of Selhurst Park by 7,000 to 38,000. Summary The second leg of the final took place at Selhurst Park on 3 June 1989 and was refereed by George Courtney in front of a crowd of 26,358. Blackburn started the game strongly but Palace's defence kept the score goalless. Palace took the lead through Wright who scored from after 17 minutes from an Alan Pardew cross. Details ==Post-match==

Coppell stated that he had a fulfilled his five-year ambition at Crystal Palace: "It is five years tomorrow since I joined the club as manager. I said then that promotion was a five-year job." Crystal Palace ended the following season in fifteenth position in the First Division, having conceded more goals than any other team. Blackburn's next season saw them finish in fifth position in the Second Division and qualify for the 1990 Football League play-offs where they lost 4–2 on aggregate to Swindon Town. ==References==