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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. ==Route to the final== 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Final 1999/2000 Football League One Table ) (n.b. Soccerbase uses current titles for all competitions, irrespective of the name actually in use at the time)〕 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=League One Play-Off 1998/1999 )〕 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.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2000 Football League Second Division play-off Final」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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