2017 EFL Championship play-off final

2017 EFL Championship Play-Off final

Wembley Stadium hosted the final
Event 2016–17 EFL Championship
After extra time
Huddersfield Town won 4–3 on penalties
Date 29 May 2017
Venue Wembley Stadium, London
Man of the Match Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
Referee Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Attendance 76,682

The 2017 EFL Championship play-off final was hosted on 29 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London. The winner gained promotion to the 2017–18 Premier League season. The top two teams of the 2016–17 EFL Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, whilst the teams placed between third and sixth place in the league table played two initial matches in a series of play-offs, and the top two teams of the play-offs play for the final place for the 2017–18 season in the Premier League.

Huddersfield Town won on penalties against Reading in the final, returning to the top flight for the first time since 1972.[1][2]

Teams

Club Previous appearances
Reading 1995, 2011
Huddersfield Town None

Route to final

Reading Round Huddersfield Town
Final league position
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3Reading 46267136864+485
4Sheffield Wednesday 46249136045+1581
5Huddersfield Town 46256155658−281
6Fulham 462214108557+2880
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Play-offs Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Fulham 2–1 1–1 (A) 1–0 (H) Semi-finals Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 0–0 (H) 1–1 aet (A)
4–3 on pens

Reading qualified for the play-offs following a 1–0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the Madejski Stadium on 29 April 2017.[3] On 16 May, Reading reached the final after beating Fulham 1–0 at the Madejski Stadium with a penalty scored by Yann Kermorgant after Tomas Kalas had handled the ball.[4] This gave them a 2–1 aggregate victory, the first leg having finished 1–1 at Craven Cottage with goals from Jordan Obita for Reading and Tom Cairney for Fulham.[5] The game is Reading's first appearance in the final since 2011 when they were beaten 4–2 by Swansea City.[6] Reading have never won a play-off competition, having previously lost to Bolton Wanderers in the 1995 First Division play-off final[7] and to Walsall in the 2001 Second Division play-off final,[8] while losing in the second tier play-off semi-finals in 2003 and 2009.[9]

Huddersfield Town qualified for the play-offs on 25 April 2017 following a 1–0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[10] In the first leg of the semi-final, on 14 May 2017, they drew 0–0 at the John Smith's Stadium against Sheffield Wednesday.[11] The second-leg, on 18 May 2017, finished 1–1 at the end of extra-time. Sheffield Wednesday scored first through Steven Fletcher only for Tom Lees to score an own goal to equalize for Huddersfield Town. The resulting penalty shootout finished 4–3 in Huddersfield's favour with their goalkeeper, Danny Ward saving two Wednesday penalties, from Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri.[12]

Match overview

Build up

The final took place on 29 May 2017.[13] Winning the game is estimated to be worth at least £170m to the winning team.[14]

Reading were allocated 38,342 tickets for the final in the eastern half of Wembley Stadium,[15] with their opponents being allocated the western half of the ground. Ticket prices range from £36 to £98 for adults, with concessions being half price[15]

Reading went without captain Paul McShane, who was shown a straight red in their play-off semi-final first leg game at Fulham. He will, additionally, be suspended for the first game of next season.[16]

Match

Huddersfield Town
Reading
GK 1 Wales Danny Ward
RB 2 England Tommy Smith YC 75'  88'
CB 44 Germany Michael Hefele
CB 26 Germany Christopher Schindler
LB 15 Germany Chris Löwe
DM 6 England Jonathan Hogg YC 29'
DM 10 Australia Aaron Mooy
RM 9 Democratic Republic of the Congo Elias Kachunga YC 61'  66'
AM 37 England Isaiah Brown  98'
LM 17 Netherlands Rajiv van La Parra
CF 21 Bermuda Nahki Wells
Substitutes:
GK 13 England Joel Coleman
DF 5 England Mark Hudson
DF 12 England Tareiq Holmes-Dennis
DF 14 England Martin Cranie  88'
MF 4 England Dean Whitehead
MF 45 England Kasey Palmer  98'
FW 23 Germany Collin Quaner  66'
Manager:
United States David Wagner
GK 26Oman Ali Al-Habsi
RWB 2Wales Chris Gunter
CB 20Portugal Tiago Ilori
CB 16England Liam Moore
CB 4Netherlands Joey van den Berg YC 17'  64'
LWB 24England Tyler Blackett
CM 6England George Evans
CM 23United States Danny Williams
AM 8England John Swift  100'
RS 18France Yann Kermorgant YC 19'
LS 50England Lewis Grabban  74'
Substitutes:
GK 31Finland Anssi Jaakkola
DF 11England Jordan Obita YC 105'  64'
MF 25Romania Adrian Popa
MF 7Netherlands Roy Beerens
MF 12England Garath McCleary  74'
MF 38Republic of Ireland Liam Kelly  100'
FW 9France Joseph Mendes
Manager:
Netherlands Jaap Stam

References

  1. "Huddersfield are promoted to the Premier League as Christopher Schindler fires winning penalty to send the Terriers to play-off final victory over Reading". Daily Mail. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  2. "Huddersfield reach Premier League after penalty shoot-out win over Reading". Guardian. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  3. "Reading 1–0 Wigan Athletic". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. "Reading 1–0 Fulham". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  5. "Fulham 1–1 Reading". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. "Reading 2–4 Swansea". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. "Reading 3 Bolton Wanderers 4 (After Extra Time)". royals.org. Hob Nob Anyone?. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  8. "Walsall break Reading hearts". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  9. "Play Off Records". royalsrecord.co.uk. Royals Record. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  10. Association, Press (25 April 2017). "Isaiah Brown strike puts Huddersfield Town in play-offs after win over Wolves". Retrieved 18 May 2017 via The Guardian.
  11. "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Sheffield Wednesday". 14 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017 via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. "Sheffield Wednesday 1–1 Huddersfield Town (agg: 1–1, 3–4 pens)". 17 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017 via www.bbc.co.uk.
  13. "When is the play-off final?". skysports.com. Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Wembley ticket details announced". readingfc.co.uk. Reading F.C. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  15. "Reading FC captain Paul McShane set to miss start of next season". getreading.co.uk. Get Reading. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

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