1994 Football League First Division play-off final
The 1994 Football League First Division play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 30 May 1994 at Wembley Stadium, London, between local rivals Derby County and Leicester City. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the Premiership. The top two teams of the 1993–94 Football League First Division season gained automatic promotion to the Premiership, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1994–95 season in the Premiership. Leicester City ended the season in fourth position, two places ahead of Derby County. The teams defeated Tranmere Rovers and Millwall, respectively, in the semi-finals. The final was played in front of a crowd of 73,671 and was refereed by Roger Milford. Derby made the better start with Marco Gabbiadini's early chance being cleared off the line. On 27 minutes, Derby took the lead: Paul Simpson's through-ball found Tommy Johnson who out-ran both Simon Grayson and Brian Carey before scoring past Gavin Ward. Four minutes before half-time, Steve Walsh levelled the score after Paul Williams failed to clear his shot off the line. In the 86th minute, Grayson made a run down the right and his pass to the centre was met by Ian Ormondroyd's header. Martin Taylor made the save but the rebound fell to Walsh who scored to put Leicester back into the lead. The match ended 2–1 to secure Leicester City's first win in the play-offs in three attempts. Derby County ended their following season in ninth place in the First Division, six points below the final play-off places. Leicester City were relegated from the Premiership the next season after finishing in 19th position, three places and nineteen points from safety. Route to the final Leicester City finished the regular 1993–94 season in fourth place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, two places and two points ahead of Derby County. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premiership and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Millwall and Tranmere Rovers, to determine the third promoted team. Leicester City finished ten points behind Nottingham Forest (who were promoted in second place) and seventeen behind league winners Crystal Palace. Derby County faced Millwall in their play-off semi-final, and the first match of the two-legged tie took place at the Baseball Ground in Derby on 15 May 1994. Midway through the first half the home side took the lead with a goal from Gordon Cowans. Paul Simpson's shot struck the post and as the Millwall goalkeeper Kasey Keller failed to gather the rebound, Cowans struck low to score his first goal in 19 months. Derby dominated the second half and doubled their lead when Tommy Johnson scored on 60 minutes having been sent clear by