The Football League play-offs for the 2008–09 season were held in May 2009, 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 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.

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and Sheffield United contested the Championship

play-off final 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 ...

, having defeated

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

respectively in the semi-finals. Burnley secured 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 ...

with a 1–0 victory, courtesy of a goal from

Wade Elliott Wade Patrick Elliott (born 14 December 1978) is an English former professional footballer who is currently head coach of EFL League One club Cheltenham Town. He played mainly as a right midfielder but could also play as a central midfielder. El ...

. In the League One final,

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

won 3–2 against Millwall; Leeds United and

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

were the other teams to reach the play-offs. In League Two, Gillingham won their semi-final against

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 ...

and then secured promotion with a 1–0 victory against

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, who had beaten

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

in their semi-final.

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 division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places. In the Championship, Sheffield United, who had been relegated from the

under controversial circumstances in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, finished 3 points behind second placed

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, who in turn had finished 7 points off the champions

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

- who were aiming to return to the Premier League at the first attempt - were in fourth place in the table.

and

were only a couple of points further back on 76 and 74 respectively. Neither of the latter had played in the

before, with Preston's last spell in the top division ending in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. Burnley were relegated from in the top flight in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Championship

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''Sheffield United won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Burnley won 3–0 on aggregate.''

Final

League One

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''Millwall won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Milton Keynes Dons 1–1 Scunthorpe United on aggregate. Scunthorpe United won 7–6 on penalties.''

Final

League Two

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''Bury 1–1 Shrewsbury Town on aggregate. Shrewsbury Town won 4–3 on penalties.'' ---- ''Gillingham won 2–1 on aggregate.''

Final

References

External links

Football League website
{{2008–09 in English football

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 ...

English Football League play-offs May 2009 sports events in the United Kingdom