Route To The Final
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Preston North End | 46 | 28 | 11 | 7 | 74 | 37 | 95 |
| 2. | Burnley | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 69 | 47 | 88 |
| 3. | Gillingham | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 79 | 48 | 85 |
| 4. | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 72 | 38 | 83 |
Gillingham had finished the 1999–2000 Football League season in third place in Division Two, one place ahead of Wigan. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic promotion places and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. On the final day of the league season Gillingham had the opportunity to finish in second place in the table and thereby clinch an automatic promotion place, but a 1–0 defeat away to Wrexham meant that Burnley were able to overtake them thanks to their 2–1 win over Scunthorpe United. Wigan had looked on course for an automatic promotion place in the first half of the season but the team's form fell away dramatically after Christmas. Both teams were appearing in the play-offs for a second consecutive season. In the 1998–99 season both Wigan and Gillingham had qualified for the play-offs but been defeated in the semi-finals and final respectively by eventual winners Manchester City.
In the play-off semi-finals, Wigan were paired with fifth-placed Millwall and Gillingham with sixth-place finishers Stoke City. Wigan drew 0–0 in the first leg against Millwall, but Darren Sheridan's goal gave them a 1–0 win in the second leg and therefore a 1–0 aggregate win. Gillingham lost the first leg of their tie 3–2 away to Stoke, but overturned the deficit with a 3–0 second leg win. Barry Ashby, Iffy Onuora and Paul Smith scored the goals in an emotionally charged match in which Stoke had two players sent off.
| Wigan Athletic | Gillingham | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Legs | Round | Opponent | Result | Legs |
| Millwall | 1–0 | 0–0 away; 1–0 home | Semi-finals | Stoke City | 5–3 | 2–3 away; 3–0 home |
Read more about this topic: 2000 Football League Second Division Play-off Final
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