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The Football League play-offs for the 1992–93 season were held in May 1993, with the finals taking place at Wembley Stadium in London. 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 First Division and Football League Second Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th placed teams in the Football League Third Division table. The winners of the semi-finals progressed through to the finals, with the winner of these matches gaining promotion for the following season.

Background

The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. 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.

First Division

Portsmouth, whose top scorer Guy Whittingham had found the net 42 times in Division One, only missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference. Fourth placed Tranmere Rovers had recorded the highest finish of their history and had yet to play in the top flight of English football. Swindon Town, who finished fifth, had won the playoff final three years earlier but promotion was then withdrawn due to financial irregularities. The last playoff place went to the previous season's beaten finalists, Leicester City.

In the end, it was Leicester and Swindon who went through to the final. Swindon took a 3-0 lead before Leicester clawed back to make it 3-3, only for Paul Bodin to score the winner and deliver top flight football to Swindon for the first time in their history.

Glenn Hoddle's impressive two-year spell as player-manager of Swindon attracted attention of bigger clubs, and soon after this famous victory he was appointed player-manager of Chelsea, while losers Leicester had now been beaten in all of their six appearances at Wembley.

Semi-finals

First leg

Leicester City	1–0	Portsmouth
Joachim 86'

Swindon Town	3–1	Tranmere Rovers
Vickers 2' (o.g.) Mitchell 3' Maskell 27'		Morrissey 58'

Second leg

Tranmere Rovers	3–2	Swindon Town
Proctor 45' Nevin 64' Irons 83' (pen.)		Moncur 28' Maskell 81'

Swindon Town won 5–4 on aggregate.

Portsmouth	2–2	Leicester City
McLoughlin 51' Kristensen 72'		Ormondroyd 53' Thompson 69'

Leicester City won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

Leicester City	3–4	Swindon Town
Joachim 57' Walsh 68' Thompson 69'		Hoddle 42' Maskell 47' Taylor 53' Bodin 84' (pen.)

Second Division

Semi-finals

First leg

Stockport County	1–1	Port Vale
Gannon 5' (pen.)		Glover 24'

Swansea City	2–1	West Bromwich Albion
McFarlane 50' Hayes 65'		McFarlane 72' (o.g.)

Second leg

Port Vale	1–0	Stockport County
Foyle 84'

Port Vale won 2–1 on aggregate.

West Bromwich Albion	2–0	Swansea City
Hunt 10' Hamilton 20'

West Bromwich Albion won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

Port Vale	0–3	West Bromwich Albion
		Hunt 66' Reid 82' Donovan 90'

Third Division

Semi-finals

First leg

Crewe Alexandra	5–1	Walsall
Naylor 19', 39' Clarkson 49' Edwards 50' Ward 83'		Cecere 38'

Second leg

Walsall	2–4	Crewe Alexandra
Clarke 18' O'Connor 78'		Naylor 31', 42', 88' Ward 77'

Crewe Alexandra won 9–3 on aggregate.

York City	1–0	Bury
Swann 59'

York City won 1–0 on aggregate.

Final

Crewe Alexandra	1–1 (a.e.t.)	York City
McKearney 119' (pen.)		Swann 104'
Penalties
McKearney Smith Whalley Ward	3–5	McCarthy Barnes Canham Pepper Hall

External links

• Football League website

• 1993 Football League play-offs
• English Football League play-offs