The 2000 Football League Second Division play-off final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2000, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Second Division to the First Division of The Football League in the 1999–2000 season. Gillingham faced Wigan Athletic in one of the last competitive fixtures to be played at the original Wembley Stadium.
The match was Gillingham's second consecutive appearance in the Second Division play-off final after a defeat to Manchester City in a penalty shoot out the previous season. Wigan had been defeated in the semi-finals the previous season and had never previously reached a play-off final. The teams reached the final by defeating Stoke City and Millwall respectively in the semi-finals.
Gillingham took the lead in the first half of the final, but Wigan equalised to send the game into extra time. During the extra period Wigan took a 2–1 lead, but Gillingham scored two goals in the last six minutes through substitutes Steve Butler and Andy Thomson to win 3–2. Gillingham thus gained promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in the club's 107-year history, in what proved to be manager Peter Taylor's final match in charge.
Read more about 2000 Football League Second Division Play-off Final: Route To The Final, Match Summary
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