1998 Football League First Division play-off final

Sunderland finished the regular 1997–98 season in third place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, one place ahead of Charlton Athletic. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in that season's play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Sunderland finished one point behind Middlesbrough (who were promoted in second place) and four behind league winners Nottingham Forest. Charlton ended the season two points behind Sunderland. Charlton faced Ipswich Town in their play-off semi-final and the first leg was played at Portman Road in Ipswich on 10 May 1998. An early own goal from Jamie Clapham decided the ill-disciplined match in which nine yellow cards were shown, including two to Charlton's Danny Mills who was dismissed in the 73rd minute. The match ended 1–0 and secured Charlton's eighth consecutive clean sheet. Arguments between the players continued after the final whistle culminating in an altercation in the players' lounge in which Ipswich defender Mauricio Taricco's nose was broken by Neil Heaney. The second leg was played three days later at Charlton's home ground, The Valley, and once again ended in a 1–0 victory to the London club. Although Ipswich dominated in periods of the second half, they only forced one save from Saša Ilić, the opposition goalkeeper. Charlton won the tie 2–0 on aggregate and qualified for the play-off final. Sunderland's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Sheffield United, the first leg being played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on 10 May 1998. Kevin Ball put the visiting team into an early lead, scoring after 17 minutes, but Marcelo equalised before Vassilios Borbokis scored the winner with 14 minutes to go, the match ending 2–1 to Sheffield United. The return leg was played at the Stadium of Light three days later, Sunderland taking the lead midway through the first half after Nicky Marker deflected a cross-shot from Allan Johnston past his own goalkeeper. Seven minutes before half time, Kevin Phillips doubled Sunderland's lead with his 34th goal of the season. With 17 minutes of the second half remaining, the Sunderland goalkeeper Lionel Pérez made two saves to deny Graham Stuart before keeping Paul Devlin's shot out with what the BBC described as "a truly world-class save". The match ended 2–0 to Sunderland who progressed to the final with a 3–2 aggregate victory. ==Match==

Background That season, the Charlton manager Alan Curbishley had invested around £1.7million in his squad, signing Clive Mendonca from Grimsby Town for £700,000. Other signings included Mills, Matty Holmes and Eddie Youds, while Ilić was acquired on a free transfer from semi-professional team St. Leonards of the Southern Football League (known at that time as the Dr Martens League for sponsorship reasons); he went on to be selected over Charlton's 1996–97 player of the year Andy Petterson. The Liverpool Echo noted that Sunderland had suffered relegation as a result of a failure to score towards the end of the previous season, and Peter Reid's investment of more than £4million in the transfer market sought to address that issue. Mendonca was the highest scorer for Charlton with 25 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions during the regular 1997–98 season, followed by the midfielder John Robinson with 9 goals in 42 matches. Sunderland had paid £350,000 for Phillips in July 1997 and he formed a prolific strike partnership with club-record signing Niall Quinn throughout the season: Phillips had scored 33 times in 44 appearances, and Quinn 15 times from 37 games. Phillips had also been named the League Player of the Year. Reid wrote in his 2017 autobiography that Phillips was "arguably the best signing [he] ever made". This was Charlton's second appearance in the second tier play-off final, having beaten Leeds United after a replay in the two-legged 1987 Football League Second Division play-off final. Sunderland were also making their second appearance in a second-tier play-off final: despite losing 1–0 to Swindon Town in the 1990 Football League Second Division play-off final at the old Wembley Stadium, they were promoted as Swindon were later found guilty of financial misconduct. Charlton had played in the second tier of English football for the last eight seasons, having been relegated from the First Division in the 1989–90 season. Sunderland were aiming to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, having been relegated in the previous season. During the regular season, both games between the sides had ended in a draw: the match at the Stadium of Light in November 1997 was goalless, while the return fixture the following March resulted in a 1–1 draw. With Charlton's run of nine consecutive clean sheets and a series of 1–0 victories leading up to the final, their captain Mark Kinsella acknowledged the club's reputation for being "boring" but noted "at this stage of the season it's not about the performances, it's about results and we have been coming up trumps". Kinsella himself had opted to take part in the play-off final in preference to collecting his third cap for the Republic of Ireland in a friendly in Dublin against Mexico two days prior, suggesting the domestic match was "the biggest game in Charlton's history" and that as club captain, he "had to be there". Curbishley noted that his club were "firmly back on the map" and that "people... are talking about what a good side we are". Irish bookmaker Paddy Power had Sunderland as favourites to win, while former England international Gary Stevens also thought the Wearside club had the advantage. For Sunderland, Quinn had recovered from a recurring hamstring injury he aggravated in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Sheffield United, while Phillips was also fit after suffering a thigh strain in the same match. Charlton's Robinson was selected on the bench having not played for eight weeks following a hairline fracture of his right leg. he had officiated the second leg of the semi-final between Ipswich and Charlton. It was reported in the press that the match was worth £5–10million, and later by Deloitte to be worth up to £20million, to the winning team from television revenue. The match was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports. Charlton wore their traditional red and white kit while Sunderland were in an away strip of old gold and dark blue. First half The match kicked off around 3p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 77,739, Second half During the break, Sunderland made their first substitution of the game, Chris Makin coming on to replace Darren Holloway. In the 50th minute, the score was levelled by Quinn. He evaded Youds to head a Summerbee corner between the near post and Mark Bowen, making it 1–1. Kinsella then came close to scoring from a free kick and Quinn missed a good chance, shooting over the crossbar, before Phillips put Sunderland ahead in the 58th minute. Having been put through by Clark, he lobbed Ilić to make it 2–1. Charlton made their first change of the game minutes later, Heaney being replaced by Steve Jones. In the 71st minute, Richard Rufus passed to Mendonca, who took two touches and struck the ball into the Sunderland goal, levelling the match once again. Two minutes later, Quinn put Sunderland ahead: after controlling a deep cross from Clark using his chest, the Sunderland forward struck the ball past Ilić, making it 3–2. Phillips was then replaced by Danny Dichio who quickly missed a chance by electing to attempt a volley rather than a diving header from a Summerbee cross. Mendonca was then prevented from scoring twice by the Sunderland defence, before Rufus brought the game level once again. Pérez missed an attempted clearance on a Robinson corner, having been blocked by Bright, and make it 3–3 with five minutes remaining. No further goals were scored so the game went into extra time. Mendonca scored the first penalty, followed by Summerbee, Brown, Johnston, Keith Jones, Ball, Kinsella, Makin, Bowen and Rae, to make it 5–5 and take the shootout to sudden death. Robinson and Quinn then scored, to make it 6–6. Shaun Newton then stepped up to give the advantage to Charlton. Gray's weak shot was then saved by Ilić to his left and the match was over, Charlton winning 7–6 on penalties, and promotion to the Premier League. Details ==Post-match==

Kinsella was jubilant: "we battled to come from behind and we just kept going and going... every time we fell behind I felt we could lose, but we just kept pulling them back." The Sunderland forward Quinn claimed that despite the loss, his team were "the best footballing side in this division" but stated he was "delighted for Charlton because we've battled it out with them all season". Mendonca was abused by some Sunderland supporters as he left the pitch: "that wasn't very nice, I'm gutted it's come to this... I'd just like to say sorry to all my mates in Sunderland". Curbishley had avoided watching Gray's penalty, preferring instead to keep his head in his hands Talking about his penalty save, Ilić noted: "I hadn't made a save all game so I thought this would be a good time". Nick Varley, writing in The Guardian suggested that the final was "the best game played at Wembley in 30 years". The Irish Independent described the match as "one of Wembley's most astonishing games" and "a day of unimaginable drama". In scoring his 35th goal of the season, Phillips broke Sunderland's post-war season scoring record previously held by Brian Clough. Curbishley's assistant Les Reed left the club after the penalty shootout win to join the Football Association as a technical director; he had made the decision to leave before the final but delayed the announced. Sunderland ended their following season as champions of the First Division, amassing a record 105 points, and were promoted to the 1999–2000 Premier League. The record stood until Reading finished the 2005–06 Football League Championship with 106 points. Reid described their performance during the season as reaching "a level no one would have dreamed possible" after their Wembley defeat. Charlton's next season saw them finish in eighteenth position, five points from safety, and relegated back to the First Division. ==Legacy==

Gray has since reflected that the penalty miss "stayed with me for as long as I wore a Sunderland shirt, which was 12-and-a-half years". In an interview for British radio station Talksport in 2018, he confirmed that he "really didn't want to take [it]... I just didn't want to be the person responsible for us losing such an important match. It wasn't a good penalty... as soon as I hit it, I saw Sasa Ilić diving across to his left hand side. I knew he'd saved it. It was the worst feeling in the world." He has also noted that "that penalty miss was probably the defining moment of me becoming an adult... it still hits you hard, even 20 years on". He also suggested that his selection of younger, less experienced players was an issue: "Inexperience was a big thing in the game. If you look at the back four I had out — Craddock, (Darren) Williams, (Darren) Holloway were all young players". Reid also spoked of how his team, and in particular Gray, had practised for a penalty shootout: "The irony is at the Stadium of Light practising pens, Micky Gray was drilling them in the top corner with an arrogance and aplomb. I said, 'Oh, it’s easy doing it here. Wait till it's Wembley and there’s 100,000 and you’ve got to do it.' As soon as I said it, I thought, 'Oh, no, no, please don't.' I shot myself in the foot". The referee Wolstenholme later described it as the highlight of his officiating career. He noted that it "was probably the best game I ever refereed, not because of me personally but the game itself. It was perfect because nobody even mentioned me." In 2009, Eurosport listed the match as 19th best association football match of all-time. In 2014, the English Football League listed it first in its "Top 10 Football League Play-Off Finals", noting that it was "arguably the most unforgettable Play-Off Final". FourFourTwo Merv Payne referred to the match as "the bonkers Wembley showdown that lives long in the memory", while in 2019, the Evening Standard described the final as an "epic showdown" and that it would "forever be a part club folklore". The South London Press described Ilić's save and Mendonca's hat-trick as "iconic, indelible moments in Charlton Athletic’s history". Mick Collins, writing in his 2003 history of Charlton Athletic, suggested: "if life is a series of peaks and troughs, for many Charlton fans, Monday, 25 May 1998, at about 6p.m., marks the highest point". Sunderland faced Charlton in the 2019 EFL League One play-off final, with a goal in injury time securing the London club's promotion to the EFL Championship. It was the first time in the history of the play-offs that two teams would face each other in a final for a second time. ==References==