Background This was Burnley's first Championship play-off final, although they had won the third-tier
1994 Football League Second Division play-off final 2–1 against
Stockport County the
old Wembley Stadium. Sheffield United had lost both the
1997 and
2003 Football League Second Division play-off finals. It had been 33 years since Burnley last played top-flight football in the
1975–76 Football League First Division, while Sheffield United had been most recently relegated from the highest tier in the
2006–07 FA Premier League. Paterson was Burnley's top scorer with twelve goals in the regular season, followed by Alexander with nine, while
Craig Beattie led the scoring charts for Sheffield United with twelve. The referee for the final was
Mike Dean of the
Wirral District Football Association, with assistant referees Darren Cann and Mick McDonough, and
Lee Probert acting as the fourth official. Dean's appointment was not without controversy: he had officiated the match in which Sheffield United were relegated from Premier League in 2007 and refereed the
2006 Football League Championship play-off final when
Kevin Blackwell, the Sheffield United manager, was in charge at
Leeds United who lost the match 3–0. Both managers had appeared at the old Wembley Stadium as players:
Owen Coyle played, and scored, in
Bolton Wanderers' 4–3 victory over Reading in the
1995 Football League First Division play-off final while Blackwell featured for
Boston United who lost against
Wealdstone in the
1985 FA Trophy Final. After early pressure, United's
Kyle Walker struck the first shot on target from which was saved by Burnley's goalkeeper
Brian Jensen. Five minutes later, Blake's weak shot was easily saved by
Paddy Kenny in the Sheffield United goal. Two minutes later, a
Matthew Kilgallon free kick was blocked by the Burnley wall but not cleared, allowing Howard to shoot from the edge of the penalty area which was saved by Jensen. On 13 minutes,
Wade Elliott took the ball around the halfway line and started a run towards the Sheffield United goal. He passed to
Chris McCann who was tackled, but the ball fell to Elliott whose first-time strike from flew into the top-left corner of Kenny's net, making the score 1–0 to Burnley. Two minutes later, Alexander brought down Howard as he ran into the box, but the appeals of the Sheffield United players for a penalty were dismissed by Dean. In the 19th minute, McCann headed over the bar from inside the six-yard box while Howard's free kick two minutes later was too high. The first yellow card of the game was shown to Burnley's
Clarke Carlisle after he fouled Halford. Burnley were forced to make the first substitution of the afternoon on 27 minutes after McCann failed to recover from a knee injury he sustained clearing the ball, with
Joey Guðjónsson coming on to replace him. Paterson went close on 31 minutes, curling the ball just wide of Kenny's post from . Heading towards half time, the game became patchy with neither side creating clear-cut chances, but on 45 minutes, Thompson's looping header went wide. Three minutes of additional time were played and the half ended 1–0 to Burnley.
Second half Burnley kicked off the second half and three minutes in, they were awarded a
corner which
Michael Duff toe-poked just wide of the post.
Stephen Quinn's run was brought to a halt by an Alexander tackle before Guðjónsson's tap-in attempt was cleared by United's
Nick Montgomery. In the 58th minute, Sheffield United made their first substitution of the game, with
David Cotterill being replaced by
Jamie Ward. Eight minutes later, Walker played Thompson onside, who picked out Blake. A last-second tackle from Walker did enough to distract Blake whose shot from went wide. United appealed for another penalty in the 69th minute when Walker was seemingly brought down by
Christian Kalvenes, but it was not awarded. A minute later, Burnley made their second substitution with Blake, suffering from a
hamstring injury, being replaced by
Chris Eagles. In the 72nd minute, a break from Ward allowed him to shoot from a tight angle but Jensen deflected the strike. Burnley's final substitution was made in the 74th minute with
Jay Rodriguez coming on for Thompson. A minute later, Ward was booked after a deliberate handball. On 77 minutes, an Eagles pass found Paterson on the wing who cut inside to shoot, but it was blocked by
Kyle Naughton. Ward was shown a second yellow card for another intentional handball in the 79th minute.
Arturo Lupoli was then brought on by Sheffield United to replace Howard, before Quinn was substituted by
Lee Hendrie on 85 minutes. In the last minute of regular time, Morgan and Kalvenes clashed heads and the latter was booked. The resulting free kick was struck into the wall allowing Burnley to break but they failed to score as Montgomery cleared a poor pass from Paterson. Deep into additional time, Lupoli was booked for a foul on Elliott, and the final whistle was blown, with Burnley winning the match 1–0.
Details {{footballbox
Match rules: • 90 minutes. • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. • Five named substitutes. • Maximum of three substitutions.
Statistics ==Post-match==