1996 Football League Third Division play-off Final
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| Date | 25 May 1996 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Matty Appleby | ||||||
| Referee |
William Burns (North Yorkshire) |
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| Attendance | 43,431 | ||||||
The 1996 Football League Third Division play-off final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 25 May 1996, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Third Division to the Second Division of the Football League in the 1995–96 season.
It was contested by Plymouth Argyle, who finished fourth in the Third Division table, and Darlington, who finished fifth. The teams reached the final by defeating Colchester United and Hereford United respectively in the two-legged semi-finals.
Plymouth Argyle won the match 1–0 thanks to a headed goal from Ronnie Mauge to gain promotion back to the third tier of English football one season after being relegated. For the club's manager, Neil Warnock, it was his fourth success in the play-offs as a manager, having achieved it twice with Notts County and once with Huddersfield Town. His counterpart, Jim Platt, would leave full-time management at the end of that year.
Plymouth Argyle had finished the 1995–96 Football League season in fourth place in the Third Division, one place ahead of Darlington. Therefore, both missed out on the three automatic promotion places and instead took part in the play-offs to determine who would join Preston North End, Gillingham, and Bury as the fourth promoted team. On the final day of the league season, Plymouth Argyle had the opportunity to finish third in the table and thereby clinch the final automatic promotion place but a 3–0 win at Home Park against Hartlepool United was not enough to overtake Bury, after they also won 3–0 at home to Cardiff City.
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