1998 Football League First Division play-off final

Sunderland finished the regular 1997–98 season in third place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, one place ahead of Charlton Athletic. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in that season's play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Sunderland finished one point behind Middlesbrough (who were promoted in second place) and four behind league winners Nottingham Forest. Charlton ended the season two points behind Sunderland.[1][2]

Charlton faced Ipswich Town in their play-off semi-final and the first leg was played at Portman Road in Ipswich on 10 May 1998. An early own goal from Jamie Clapham decided the ill-disciplined match in which nine yellow cards were shown, including two to Charlton's Danny Mills who was dismissed in the 73rd minute. The match ended 1–0 and secured Charlton's eighth consecutive clean sheet.[3] Arguments between the players continued after the final whistle culminating in an altercation in the players' lounge in which Ipswich defender Mauricio Taricco's nose was broken by Neil Heaney.[4] The second leg was played three days later at Charlton's home ground, The Valley, and once again ended in a 1–0 victory to the London club. Although Ipswich dominated in periods of the second half, they only forced one save from Saša Ilić, the opposition goalkeeper. Charlton won the tie 2–0 on aggregate and qualified for the play-off final.[5]

Sunderland's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Sheffield United, the first leg being played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on 10 May 1998. Kevin Ball put the visiting team into an early lead, scoring after 17 minutes, but Marcelo equalised before Vassilios Borbokis scored the winner with 14 minutes to go, the match ending 2–1 to Sheffield United.[3] The return leg was played at the Stadium of Light three days later, Sunderland taking the lead midway through the first half after Nicky Marker deflected a cross-shot from Allan Johnston past his own goalkeeper. Seven minutes before half time, Kevin Phillips doubled Sunderland's lead with his 34th goal of the season. With 17 minutes of the second half remaining, the Sunderland goalkeeper Lionel Pérez made two saves to deny Graham Stuart before keeping Paul Devlin's shot out with what the BBC described as "a truly world-class save". The match ended 2–0 to Sunderland who progressed to the final with a 3–2 aggregate victory.[5]

Kevin Phillips scored his 35th goal of the Sunderland, beating the post-war season scoring record held by Brian Clough (pictured in 1980).

Kinsella was jubilant: "we battled to come from behind and we just kept going and going ... every time we fell behind I felt we could lose, but we just kept pulling them back."[40] The Sunderland forward Quinn claimed that despite the loss, his team were "the best footballing side in this division" but stated he was "delighted for Charlton because we've battled it out with them all season".[40] The Sunderland manager Reid said of Gray who missed the final penalty: "our crowd's reaction to him was second to none. But I feel for the kid, he's heartbroken".[40] Speaking of his team's performance, Reid noted: "I think our inexperience told in the first 45 minutes – we gave the ball away too cheaply".[34] Mendonca offered sympathy to Sunderland's Gray, with whom he had attended Castle View School in Sunderland: "it must be a personal nightmare for him. Michael's a ... local Sunderland lad. It must hurt him so much."[41] Mendonca was abused by some Sunderland supporters as he left the pitch: "that wasn't very nice, I'm gutted it's come to this ... I'd just like to say sorry to all my mates in Sunderland".[40] Curbishley praised Mendonca: "he had four attempts in the game and scored three while the other was saved. What more can you ask?"[34] Curbishley had avoided watching Gray's penalty, preferring instead to keep his head in his hands Talking about his penalty save, Ilić noted: "I hadn't made a save all game so I thought this would be a good time".[40] Charlton held a civic reception at Woolwich Town Hall the day after the final, the players making the journey there from the valley on an open-top bus.[42]

Nick Varley, writing in The Guardian suggested that the final was "the best game played at Wembley in 30 years".[29] The Irish Independent described the match as "one of Wembley's most astonishing games" and "a day of unimaginable drama".[35][40] Roy Collins of The Guardian, described Charlton's victory as "the most splendid of triumphs after the most splendid of games".[43] In scoring his 35th goal of the season, Phillips broke Sunderland's post-war season scoring record previously held by Brian Clough.[34] Mendonca became the first player to score a hat-trick in a play-off final.[30] After the match Phillips stated that he was staying with Sunderland despite their failure to secure promotion, explaining that "all this transfer talk is a lot of nonsense. Playing in front of 40,000 every week, the support is unbelievable".[44] Quinn also stated that he was keen to resolve his contract negotiations to allow him to remain at the club. Phillips, who had been carrying a shin injury for seven months, and Clark who had a hernia problem, were to have operations over the summer.[45] Curbishley's assistant Les Reed left the club after the penalty shootout win to join the Football Association as a technical director;[46] he had made the decision to leave before the final but delayed the announced.[42] After the defeat, Sunderland's share price dropped from more than £5 to less than £4, with an estimated loss in value of around £10 million.[44]

Sunderland ended their following season as champions of the First Division, amassing a record 105 points, and were promoted to the 1999–2000 Premier League.[47] The record stood until Reading finished the 2005–06 Football League Championship with 106 points.[48] Reid described their performance during the season as reaching "a level no one would have dreamed possible" after their Wembley defeat.[49] Charlton's next season saw them finish in eighteenth position, five points from safety, and relegated back to the First Division.[50]

Michael Gray (pictured in 2014) missed the penalty which consigned Sunderland to defeat.

Gray has since reflected that the penalty miss "stayed with me for as long as I wore a Sunderland shirt, which was 12-and-a-half years".[51] In an interview for British radio station Talksport in 2018, he confirmed that he "really didn't want to take [it] ... I just didn't want to be the person responsible for us losing such an important match. It wasn't a good penalty ... as soon as I hit it, I saw Sasa Ilić diving across to his left hand side. I knew he'd saved it. It was the worst feeling in the world."[52] He has also noted that "that penalty miss was probably the defining moment of me becoming an adult ... it still hits you hard, even 20 years on".[51] Curbishley later noted that Reid was the first person to enter the Sunderland changing room after the game and that he congratulated every player.[51] In his 2017 autobiography, Reid described the match as "so remarkable and an outcome so dramatic that it transcended football".[53] He also suggested that his selection of younger, less experienced players was an issue: "Inexperience was a big thing in the game. If you look at the back four I had out — Craddock, (Darren) Williams, (Darren) Holloway were all young players".[37] Reid also spoked of how his team, and in particular Gray, had practised for a penalty shootout: "The irony is at the Stadium of Light practising pens, Micky Gray was drilling them in the top corner with an arrogance and aplomb. I said, 'Oh, it’s easy doing it here. Wait till it's Wembley and there’s 100,000 and you’ve got to do it.' As soon as I said it, I thought, 'Oh, no, no, please don't.' I shot myself in the foot".[37]

Ilić played a further 26 times for Charlton before the club signed Dean Kiely. Before the shootout, Ilić recalled: "I had all my team-mates coming up to me saying, 'It’s all up to you.' I’m like, 'Guys, come on, it's up to everybody'".[37] In a 2019 interview he explained "I found a 10p coin and kept flicking it to decide which way to go. That made me decide to go to my left – unfortunate for Michael Gray and great for us".[54] The referee Wolstenholme later described it as the highlight of his officiating career. He noted that it "was probably the best game I ever refereed, not because of me personally but the game itself. It was perfect because nobody even mentioned me."[27]

Miles Kent writing for the Bleacher Report in 2008 called it "Wembley's greatest game" and described the contest as "a tremendous thriller ... [which] has etched itself into folklore as one of the classic matches in the rich history of English football".[55] In 2009, Eurosport listed the match as 19th best association football match of all-time.[56] In 2014, the English Football League listed it first in its "Top 10 Football League Play-Off Finals", noting that it was "arguably the most unforgettable Play-Off Final".[57] FourFourTwo's Merv Payne referred to the match as "the bonkers Wembley showdown that lives long in the memory",[58] while in 2019, the Evening Standard described the final as an "epic showdown" and that it would "forever be a part club folklore".[59] The South London Press described Ilić's save and Mendonca's hat-trick as "iconic, indelible moments in Charlton Athletic’s history".[54] In 2019, Rob Stevens of BBC Sport suggested that the match was "arguably the best play-off final in English Football League history".[60] Mick Collins, writing in his 2003 history of Charlton Athletic, suggested: "if life is a series of peaks and troughs, for many Charlton fans, Monday, 25 May 1998, at about 6 p.m., marks the highest point".[61]

Sunderland faced Charlton in the 2019 EFL League One play-off final, with a goal in injury time securing the London club's promotion to the EFL Championship.[62] It was the first time in the history of the play-offs that two teams would face each other in a final for a second time.[63]

• Collins, Mick (2003). The Rise and Rise of Charlton Athletic. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 978-1-8401-8765-6.
• Foster, Richard (2015). The Agony & The Ecstasy. Ockley Books. ISBN 978-1-910906-00-2.
• Ramzan, David C. (2014). Charlton Athletic – A History. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4456-1657-5.
• Reid, Peter (2017). Cheer Up Peter Reid: My Autobiography. Trinity Mirror Sport Media. ISBN 978-1910335741.

• Video highlights on YouTube