Background This was the first time either Norwich or Birmingham City had qualified for the second-tier play-off final. Birmingham had secured a berth in the play-offs for the previous three seasons, but in each case had lost in the semi-finals. The
following season's play-offs saw them defeated 5–2 across two legs against
Barnsley, while in the
2001 Football League play-offs, they lost again on penalties, this time to
Preston North End. Birmingham had played in the second tier of English football since they were promoted in their
1994–95 season. Norwich had played in the Football League First Division since their
1995–96 season after being relegated from the
1994–95 Premiership. During the regular season, the highest scorers for Norwich were Roberts with thirteen goals, followed by McVeigh and
David Nielsen, both of whom scored eight.
Tommy Mooney was Birmingham's top marksman with fifteen, followed by
Marcelo on twelve. Birmingham City had won both encounters between the clubs during the season, winning 4–0 at St Andrew's in December, and 1–0 at Carrow Road the following March.
Delia Smith, a director at Norwich City, said that the club was attempting to model itself on
Charlton Athletic who had retained top-tier status following promotion. She noted: "We'd like to become a modern football club like Charlton. We've long had Charlton as our ideal." The Birmingham City manager
Steve Bruce had been appointed five months earlier, replacing
Mick Mills and
Jim Barron. He captained Norwich City as a player in the 1980s, The referee for the match was
Graham Barber from
Tring. A significant police operation was mounted with concerns over potential clashes of
Cardiff City fans with those of
Brentford and
Stoke City who had contested the
Second Division play-off final the day before. Birmingham were aiming to overcome the "dressing room curse" which had seen none of the eleven clubs using the south changing room win since matches were moved from
Wembley Stadium to the
Millennium Stadium. Birmingham were the first club to lose having used those facilities in the
2001 Football League Cup Final. It was the first time such a course of action had been taken other than for inclement weather.
First half The match kicked off at 3:30p.m. in front of a Millennium Stadium crowd of 71,597. Birmingham dominated the opening exchanges, with a
Martin Grainger free kick going over the Norwich crossbar from and Hughes' shot going wide. Norwich's first attack in the 13th minute saw Rivers' cross defended for a corner. A minute later, John's shot following his run went wide with only the Norwich goalkeeper
Robert Green to beat. Nielsen then
toe-poked his shot wide of Birmingham's goal before a volley from Norwich's
Clint Easton passed outside the post.
Second half Green made a save from Tebily early in the second half before Birmingham's goalkeeper
Nico Vaesen tipped a shot from McVeigh over the bar. Nielsen then headed wide of the goal from . John's shot was then blocked by
Adam Drury before
Paul Devlin's direct free kick was inches high. Birmingham ended the half the stronger team with Tebily striking over the bar, before
Jeff Kenna intercepted to deny Roberts a shot. As regular time ended with a goalless match, extra time was played.
Extra time and penalties Norwich scored within the first minute of extra time when Roberts headed in from an
Alex Notman cross. The lead lasted eleven minutes before Birmingham equalised. Kenna crossed for John who headed the ball back across goal. Green was stranded allowing Horsfield to head the ball in at the far post. A free kick from Mulryne was tipped behind by Vaesen before
Michael Johnson's header was cleared off Norwich's goalline by Drury. With two minutes of extra time remaining, Johnson then struck Grainger's pass from a free kick against the bottom of Norwich's goalpost. There were no more goals and the game finished at 1–1 requiring a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner. Roberts took the first penalty for Norwich, and scored. John then levelled the score at 1–1 before Vaesen saved Mulryne's attempt. Devlin's penalty made it 2–1 to Birmingham.
Daryl Sutch missed his shot, after which
Stan Lazaridis scored. Easton converted his spot-kick but
Darren Carter stepped up to curl a left-footed shot into the right-hand corner of the net to secure the victory for Birmingham City, 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in extra time.
Details ==Post-match==