The

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

for the 2007–08 season were held in May 2008, with the finals taking place at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs and were contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

and

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

tables, and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. The semi-final winners progressed to the finals, with the winner of each match earning promotion for the following season.

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

won promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

after defeating

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the Championship final, 1–0 with a goal from their leading scorer

Dean Windass Dean Windass (born 1 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played spells at Bradford City and contributed to his hometown team Hull City's promotion to the Premier League in 2008. Windass started ...

. This marked the Tigers' first entry to the top division of English football in their existence. In the League One final, another 1–0 victory saw

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

promoted ahead of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

defeated

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

3–2 in the League Two final. This meant all three clubs who had finished immediately below the automatic promotion places in their divisions were promoted.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. They take place for each of the three Football League divisions following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places. In the Championship,

finished four points behind second-placed

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, who were promoted with champions

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

- who were aiming to return to the top flight for the first time since 1980 - finished in fourth place in their first season at Championship level for nine years. The other entrants,

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, had both played in the

before, with Palace's last spell in the top division ending in a final day relegation in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, a year after having won the play-offs. Watford had been relegated from the top flight in the previous season, having finished bottom, and were looking to return at the first attempt.

Championship

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''Bristol City won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Hull City won 6–1 on aggregate.''

Final

League One

* Leeds United were docked 15 points by the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

due to the club not following Football League rules on clubs entering administration.

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''Leeds United won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Doncaster Rovers won 5–1 on aggregate.''

Final

League Two

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''Rochdale 3–3 Darlington on aggregate. Rochdale won 5–4 on penalties.'' ---- ''Stockport County won 2–1 on aggregate.''

Final

References

External links

Football League website
{{2007–08 in English football English Football League play-offs

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

May 2008 sports events in Europe