2009 Football League Two play-off Final
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| Event | Football League Two 2008-09 | ||||||
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| Date | 23 May 2009 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Simon King | ||||||
| Referee | Clive Oliver (Northumberland) | ||||||
| Attendance | 53,706 | ||||||
The 2009 Football League Two play-off final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 23 May 2009, at the end of the 2008–09 season. The match determined the fourth and final team to gain promotion from Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, and featured Gillingham, who finished fifth during the league season, and Shrewsbury Town, who finished seventh.
The match was Gillingham's first appearance at the new Wembley Stadium and Shrewsbury's second. The teams reached the final by defeating Rochdale and Bury respectively in the semi-finals. The match remained scoreless until the last minute, when Simeon Jackson headed in Josh Wright's corner kick to give Gillingham the lead with seconds remaining. The Kent-based club thus won promotion back to Football League One one year after being relegated.
Gillingham had finished the 2008–09 season in fifth place in Football League Two with 75 points, two places and six points above Shrewsbury. In the play-off semi-finals, the "Gills" faced Rochdale, who had finished in sixth position. The first leg at Rochdale's Spotland Stadium on 7 May 2009 finished in a 0–0 draw. In the second match at Priestfield Stadium three days later, Simeon Jackson scored from an Andy Barcham cross to give Gillingham the lead in the 13th minute, only for Chris Dagnall to equalise in the 36th minute. Jackson scored a second goal with a penalty kick in the 58th minute after John Nutter had been fouled by Rory McArdle. Gillingham thus won the match 2–1 and won their semi-final on aggregate by the same score.
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