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The Football League play-offs for the 2001–02 season were held in May 2002, with the finals taking place at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The play-off semi-finals will be played over two legs and will be contested by the teams who finish 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 will go through to the finals, with the winner of the 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.

In the First Division, Wolverhampton Wanderers, who were aiming to return to the top flight after nearly 20 years, finished 3 points behind their Black Country rivals West Bromwich Albion, who finished second and thus gained automatic promotion. Albion ended the season 10 points behind champions Manchester City, who returned to the Premier League after being relegated the previous season. Millwall who were aiming for a place in the top flight for the first time since 1990, finished in fourth place in the table. Birmingham City, who were aiming to return to the top flight for the first time since 1986, finished in fifth place. Norwich City finished 1 point behind Birmingham City and were looking for a place back in the Premiership for the first time since 1995.

First Division

Semi-finals

First leg

Birmingham City	1–1	Millwall
Hughes 56'	Report	Dublin 80'

Norwich City	3–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rivers 56' McVeigh 73' Mackay 90'	Report	Sturridge 22'

Second leg

Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0	Norwich City
Cooper 77'	Report

Norwich City won 3–2 on aggregate.

Millwall	0–1	Birmingham City
	Report	John 90'

Birmingham City won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Birmingham City	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Norwich City
Horsfield 102'	Report	Roberts 91'
Penalties
John Devlin Lazaridis Carter	4–2	Roberts Mulryne Sutch Easton

Second Division

Semi-finals

First leg

Stoke City	1–2	Cardiff City
Burton 84'	Report	Earnshaw 12' Fortune-West 59'

Second leg

Brentford	2–1	Huddersfield Town
Powell 14' Owusu 46'	Report	Booth 2'

Brentford won 2–1 on aggregate.

Cardiff City	0–2 (a.e.t.)	Stoke City
	Report	O'Connor 90' Oularé 115'

Stoke City won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

Brentford	0–2	Stoke City
	Report	Burton 16' Burgess 45' (o.g.)

Third Division

Semi-finals

First leg

Hartlepool United	1–1	Cheltenham Town
Williams 45'	Report	Grayson 89'

Rushden & Diamonds	2–2	Rochdale
Wardley 34' Butterworth 73'	Report	McEvilly 8' Simpson 57'

Second leg

Cheltenham Town	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Hartlepool United
Williams 26'	Report	Arnison 17'
Penalties
Grayson Lee Yates Duff Finnigan Alsop	5–4	Smith Stephenson Arnison Henderson Watson Humphreys

Cheltenham Town 2–2 Hartlepool United on aggregate. Cheltenham Town won 5–4 on penalties.

Rochdale	1–2	Rushden & Diamonds
Peters 65' (o.g.)	Report	Lowe 67' Hall 76'

Rushden & Diamonds won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

Cheltenham Town	3–1	Rushden & Diamonds
Devaney 27' Alsop 49' Finnigan 80'	Report	Hall 28'

External links

• Football League website

• 2002 Football League play-offs
• English Football League play-offs
• 2001–02 Football League
• May 2002 sports events in the United Kingdom