1997 Football League play-offs

Football league season
Football League play-offs
Season1996–97
ChampionsCrystal Palace
(First Division)
Crewe Alexandra
(Second Division)
Northampton Town
(Third Division)
Matches played15
Goals scored38 (2.53 per match)
Biggest home winSwansea 3–0 Chester
(Third Division)
Biggest away winBristol City 1–2 Brentford
(Second Division)
Highest scoringNorthampton 3–2 Cardiff
(5 goals)
Highest attendance64,383 – Crystal Palace v Sheffield United
(First Division final)
Lowest attendance5,104 – Chester v Swansea
(Third Division semi-final)
Average attendance21,403
← 1996
1998 →

The Football League play-offs for the 1996–97 season were held in May 1997, with the finals taking place at the old Wembley Stadium in London. The play-off semi-finals will be played over two legs and will be contested by the teams who finish in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League First Division and Football League Second Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the Football League Third Division table. The winners of the semi-finals will go through to the finals, with the winner of the matches gaining promotion for the following season.

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 22 10 14 68 51 +17 76
4 Ipswich Town 46 20 14 12 68 50 +18 74
5 Sheffield United 46 20 13 13 75 52 +23 73
6 Crystal Palace 46 19 14 13 78 48 +30 71

Semi-finals

First leg
Crystal Palace3–1Wolverhampton Wanderers
Shipperley 68'
Freedman 89', 90'
Smith 90'
Attendance: 21,053
Referee: Neale Barry

Sheffield United1–1Ipswich Town
Fjørtoft 41' Stockwell 78'
Attendance: 22,312
Referee: Roy Pearson
Second leg
Ipswich Town2–2 (a.e.t.)Sheffield United
Scowcroft 32'
Gudmundsson 73'
Kachura 9'
Walker 77'
Attendance: 21,467
Referee: Terry Heilbron

Ipswich Town 3–3 Sheffield United on aggregate. Sheffield United won on away goals.


Wolverhampton Wanderers2–1Crystal Palace
Atkins 30'
Williams 85'
Hopkin 66'
Attendance: 26,403
Referee: Clive Wilkes

Crystal Palace won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

Crystal Palace1–0Sheffield United
Hopkin 90'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 64,383
Referee: Neale Barry

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Luton Town 46 21 15 10 59 41 +18 78
4 Brentford 46 20 14 12 56 43 +13 74
5 Bristol City 46 21 10 15 69 51 +18 73
6 Crewe Alexandra 46 22 07 17 56 47 0+9 73

Semi-finals

First leg
Bristol City1–2Brentford
Owers 28' Smith 13'
Taylor 30'
Attendance: 15,581

Crewe Alexandra2–1Luton Town
Rivers 53'
Little 68'
Oldfield 3'
Attendance: 5,467
Second leg
Brentford2–1Bristol City
Taylor 67'
Bent 79'
Barnard 49'
Attendance: 9,496
Referee: John Kirkby

Brentford won 4–2 on aggregate.


Luton Town2–2Crewe Alexandra
Oldfield 20', 31' Little 32'
Smith 62'
Attendance: 8,168
Referee: Roy Pearson

Crewe Alexandra won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

Brentford0–1Crewe Alexandra
Smith 34'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 34,149
Referee: Uriah Rennie

Third Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
4 Northampton Town 46 20 12 14 67 44 +23 72
5 Swansea City 46 21 8 17 62 58 0+4 71
6 Chester City 46 18 16 12 55 43 +12 70
7 Cardiff City 46 20 9 17 56 54 0+2 69

Semi-finals

First leg
Cardiff City0–1Northampton Town
Parrish 77'
Attendance: 11,369

Chester City0–0Swansea City
Attendance: 5,104
Second leg
Swansea City3–0Chester City
Thomas 39'
Torpey 43'
Heggs 64'
Attendance: 10,027

Swansea City won 3–0 on aggregate.


Northampton Town3–2Cardiff City
Sampson 23'
Warburton 68'
Gayle 77'
Fowler 36'
Haworth 90'
Attendance: 7,302

Northampton Town won 4–2 on aggregate.

Final

Northampton Town1–0Swansea City
Frain 90'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 46,804
Referee: Terry Heilbron

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