1989 Football League play-offs

Football League play-offs

Season	1988–89
Champions	Crystal Palace (Second Division) Port Vale (Third Division) Leyton Orient (Fourth Division)
Matches played	18
Goals scored	38 (2.11 per match)
Biggest home win	C. Palace 3–0 Blackburn (Second Division)
Biggest away win	Fulham 0–4 Bristol Rovers (Third Division)
Highest scoring	Blackburn 3–1 C. Palace Fulham 0–4 Bristol Rovers Port Vale 3–1 Preston Wrexham 3–1 Scunthorpe (4 goals)
Highest attendance	30,000 – Crystal Palace v Blackburn (Second Division final)
Lowest attendance	4,377 – Scarborough v Leyton Orient (Fourth Division semi-final)
Average attendance	12,994
← 1988 1990 →

The Football League play-offs for the 1988–89 season were held in May 1989, with the two-legged finals taking place at the finalists home stadiums. The play-off semi-finals were also played over two legs and were contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League Second Division and Football League Third Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the Football League Fourth Division table. The winners of the semi-finals progressed through to the finals, with the winner of these matches either gaining promotion or avoiding relegation for the following season.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places. For the first three seasons the final was played over two legs but this was changed to a single match at Wembley Stadium from 1990.

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Crystal Palace	46	23	12	11	71	49	+22	81
4	Watford	46	22	12	12	74	48	+26	78
5	Blackburn Rovers	46	22	11	13	74	49	+15	77
6	Swindon Town	46	20	16	10	68	53	+15	76

Semi-finals

First leg

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Second leg

Watford 1–1 Blackburn Rovers on aggregate. Blackburn Rovers won on away goals.

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Crystal Palace won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

First leg

Second leg

Crystal Palace won 4–3 on aggregate.

Third Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Port Vale	46	24	12	10	78	48	+30	84
4	Fulham	46	22	9	15	69	67	0+2	75
5	Bristol Rovers	46	19	17	10	67	51	+16	74
6	Preston North End	46	19	15	12	79	60	+19	72

Semi-finals

First leg

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Second leg

Bristol Rovers won 5–0 on aggregate.

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Port Vale won 4–2 on aggregate.

Final

First leg

Second leg

Port Vale won 2–1 on aggregate.

Fourth Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Scunthorpe United	46	21	14	11	77	57	+20	77
5	Scarborough	46	21	14	11	67	52	+15	77
6	Leyton Orient	46	21	12	13	86	50	+36	75
7	Wrexham	46	19	14	13	77	63	+14	71

Semi-finals

First leg

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Second leg

Leyton Orient won 2–1 on aggregate.

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Wrexham won 5–1 on aggregate.

Final

First leg

Second leg

Leyton Orient won 2–1 on aggregate.

External links

• Football League website