1993 Football League Third Division play-off Final

The 1993 Football League Third Division play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 29 May 1993, at the end of the 1992–93 season. It was the seventh play-off final to be played at the fourth level of English football. The match determined the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Third Division to the Second Division, and was contested by York City, who had finished fourth during the league season, and Crewe Alexandra, who had finished sixth. The teams reached the final by defeating Bury and Walsall respectively in the two-legged semi-finals.

1993 Football League Third Division play-off Final

Event	1992–93 Football League Third Division
York City Crewe Alexandra 1 1
York City won 5–3 on penalties
Date	29 May 1993
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Allan Gunn (Sussex)
Attendance	22,416

After a 0–0 draw at full-time, the match went into extra time, and York took the lead through a Gary Swann goal. However, Dave McKearney scored a penalty kick a minute before the end of time to initiate a penalty shoot-out. York won the shoot-out 5–3, with Wayne Hall converting the decisive penalty.

Route to the final

1992–93 Football League Third Division:
final table, leading positions

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1.	Cardiff City	42	25	08	09	77	47	83
2.	Wrexham	42	23	11	08	75	52	80
3.	Barnet	42	23	10	09	66	48	79
4.	York City	42	21	12	09	72	45	75
5.	Walsall	42	22	07	13	76	61	73
6.	Crewe Alexandra	42	21	07	14	75	56	70
7.	Bury	42	18	09	15	63	55	63
Pos=Position P=Games played W=Wins D=Draws L=Losses F=Goals for A=Goals against Pts=Points

York City finished the season in fourth place in the Third Division table with 75 points, four points short of the automatic promotion places.[1] In the play-off semi-final they faced seventh placed Bury, with the first leg away at Gigg Lane on 16 May 1993 finishing 0–0.[2] In the second match at Bootham Crescent three days later, Gary Swann scored the only goal as York won 1–0 to reach the final.[3]

Crewe Alexandra finished the season in sixth place; two places and five points behind York.[1] Crewe faced fifth placed Walsall in the play-off semi-final, who they played at home in the first leg, and won by a score of 5–1 at the Gresty Road.[4] Their progression to the final was confirmed with a 4–2 victory at the Bescot Stadium, which ended the tie with an aggregate score of 9–3.[5]

York City			Round	Crewe Alexandra
Opponent	Result	Legs	Semi-finals	Opponent	Result	Legs
Bury	1–0	0–0 away; 1–0 home		Walsall	9–3	5–1 home; 4–2 away

Match

Details

29 May 1993

York City	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Crewe Alexandra
Swann  104'	Report	McKearney  119' (pen.)
Penalties
Jon McCarthy Paul Barnes Tony Canham Nigel Pepper Wayne Hall	5–3	Dave McKearney Shaun Smith Gareth Whalley Ashley Ward

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 22,416

Referee: Allan Gunn (Sussex)

GK 1 Dean Kiely RB 2 Andy McMillan  62' LB 3 Wayne Hall CM 4 Nigel Pepper  95' CB 5 Paul Atkin CB 6 Paul Stancliffe (c)  108' RM 7 Jon McCarthy LM 8 Tony Canham CF 9 Paul Barnes CM 10 Gary Swann CF 11 Ian Blackstone Substitutes: DF 12 Steve Tutill  108' FW 14 John Borthwick Manager: Alan Little

GK 1 Mark Smith RB 2 Dave McKearney LB 3 Shaun Smith CB 4 Stewart Evans (c) CB 5 Darren Carr CM 6 Gareth Whalley CF 7 Ashley Ward CF 8 Tony Naylor CM 9 Neil Lennon RM 10 Steve Walters  104' LM 11 Rob Edwards  70' Substitutes: DF 12 Andy Woodward  70' MF 14 Phil Clarkson  104' Manager: Dario Gradi

Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Two named substitutes. Maximum of two substitutions.

References

1. "Final 1992/1993 Football League Two Table". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
2. "Bury 0 (0) – 0 (0) York". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
3. Batters, David (2008). York City: The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 380. ISBN 978-1-85983-633-0.
4. "Crewe 5 (2) – 1 (1) Walsall". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
5. "Walsall 2 (1) – 4 (2) Crewe". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2009.