1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final

1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final

Event	1988–89 Football League Fourth Division
Wrexham Leyton Orient 1 2
First leg
Wrexham Leyton Orient 0 0
Date	30 May 1989
Venue	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Attendance	7,915
Second leg
Leyton Orient Wrexham 2 1
Date	3 June 1989
Venue	Brisbane Road, Leyton
Attendance	13,355
← 1988 1990 →

The 1989 Football League Fourth Division play-off final was an association football match played over two legs between Wrexham and Leyton Orient on 30 May and 3 June 1989. The final was to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of English football, to the Third Division. The top three teams of the 1988–89 Football League Fourth Division season, Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Crewe Alexandra, gained automatic promotion to the Third Division, while those placed from fourth to seventh in the league competed in the play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals played against each other for the final place in the Third Division for the 1989–90 season. Leyton Orient ended the season in sixth position, one place ahead of Wrexham, while Scarborough and Scunthorpe United were the other semi-finalists.

The first leg of the final was played at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham and ended goalless. The second leg took place at Brisbane Road in Leyton four days later and a minute before half-time, Leyton Orient took the lead when Lee Harvey struck the ball past Mike Salmon in the Wrexham goal from the right of the penalty area. One minute into the second half, Jon Bowden equalised for Wrexham when he was unmarked at the near post and headed in a cross. With eight minutes of the match remaining, Mark Cooper received the ball from Harvey before swivelling and striking it past Salmon to make it 2–1. Leyton Orient won the match and tie, and were promoted to the Third Division.

Leyton Orient's next season saw them finish in fourteenth position in the Third Division. Wrexham ended their following season in 21st place in the Fourth Division.

Route to the final

Main article: 1988–89 Football League § Fourth Division

Football League Fourth Division final table, leading positions ^[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Rotherham United	46	22	16	8	76	35	+41	82
2	Tranmere Rovers	46	21	17	8	62	43	+19	80
3	Crewe Alexandra	46	21	15	10	67	48	+19	78
4	Scunthorpe United	46	21	14	11	77	57	+20	77
5	Scarborough	46	21	14	11	67	52	+15	77
6	Leyton Orient	46	21	12	13	86	50	+36	75
7	Wrexham	46	19	14	13	77	63	+14	71

Leyton Orient finished the regular 1988–89 season in sixth position in the Football League Fourth Division – the fourth tier of the English football league system – one place and four points ahead of Wrexham. Both missed out on the three automatic places for promotion to the Third Division and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Scunthorpe United and Scarborough, to determine the fourth promoted team. Leyton Orient finished three points behind Crewe Alexandra (who were promoted in third place), five behind Tranmere Rovers (promoted as runners-up) and seven behind league winners Rotherham United. ^[1]

Wrexham's opposition for their play-off semi-final were Scunthorpe United and the first match of the two-legged tie was held at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham on 21 May 1989. Darren Wright put the home side into the lead after two minutes when he scored from a free kick. David Cowling then equalised for Scunthorpe with a mishit cross from around 30 yards (27 m). Ollie Kearns scored twice, each time with a header, to give Wrexham a 3–1 victory. ^[2] The second leg took place four days later at Glanford Park in Scunthorpe. Kevin Russell gave the visitors the lead in the first half before Scunthorpe lost both Paul Nicol and Cowling to injury. Russell then scored his and Wrexham's second goal, giving them a 2–0 win and a 5–1 aggregate victory to see them progress to the final. ^[3]

Leyton Orient faced Scarborough in the other semi-final with the first leg being played at Brisbane Road in Leyton on 21 May 1989. Mark Cooper gave the home side the lead after six minutes with a header. He scored his and Leyton Orient's second in the 83rd minute from a free kick to give his side a 2–0 win. ^[4] The return leg was held three days later at the McCain Stadium in Scarborough. The home side applied most of the pressure including shots from Paul Olsson and Chris Short, and a goalline clearance from Kevin Hales, but the first half ended goalless. Martin Russell scored in the 70th minute to give Scarborough the lead. Despite losing the match 1–0, Leyton Orient progressed to the final with a 2–1 aggregate win. ^[5]

Match

Background

Neither Wrexham nor Leyton Orient had participated in the English Football League play-offs prior to this season. ^{[6] [7]} Wrexham had played in the Fourth Division since being relegated from the Third in the 1982–83 season while Leyton Orient had played in the fourth tier since being relegated there (as Orient) in the 1984–85 season. ^{[6] [8]} Both sides had won their away game in the matches between them during the regular season: Wrexham secured a 1–0 victory at Brisbane Road in December 1988 while Leyton Orient won by the same scoreline at the Racecourse Ground the following April. ^[9]

First leg

Summary

The first leg of the play-off final took place at the Racecourse Ground on 30 May 1989 in front a crowd of 7,915, ^[10] Wrexham's largest attendance of the season. The referee for the match was Terry Holbrook. Ian Ross, writing in The Times , described the playing surface as "so dry as to make the bounce of the ball unpredictable". Although those conditions did not favour Leyton Orient whose "attempts to play cohesive football floundered", they had the first opportunity to score when a free kick from Kevin Dickenson struck the Wrexham crossbar from a Cooper header. Alan Comfort played in a number of crosses but none were converted by his Leyton Orient colleagues. Wrexham were limited to long-range chances, to no avail, and the match ended in a goalless draw. ^[11]

Details

Wrexham v Leyton Orient

30 May 1989	Wrexham	0–0	Leyton Orient	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
				Attendance: 7,915 Referee: Terry Holbrook

GK 1 Mike Salmon RB 2 Neil Salathiel CB 3 Darren Wright CB 4 Geoff Hunter LB 5 Nigel Beaumont RM 6 Joey Jones CM 7 Andy Thackeray CM 8 Brian Flynn LM 9 Ollie Kearns CF 10 Kevin Russell CF 11 Jon Bowden Substitutes: FW 12 Steve Buxton Manager: Dixie McNeil

GK 1 Paul Heald RB 2 Terry Howard CB 3 Kevin Dickenson CB 4 Kevin Hales LB 5 Keith Day RM 6 John Sitton CM 7 Steve Baker CM 8 Steve Castle FW 9 Lee Harvey FW 10 Mark Cooper LM 11 Alan Comfort Substitutes: FW 12 Paul Ward Manager: Frank Clark

Second leg

Summary

The second leg of the final was held at Brisbane Road on 3 June 1989 in front of a crowd of 13,355. ^[10] The referee for the game was J. Martin and kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes as the large attendance was safely introduced to the ground. A minute before half-time, Leyton Orient took the lead when Lee Harvey struck the ball past Mike Salmon in the Wrexham goal from the right of the penalty area. One minute into the second half, Jon Bowden equalised for Wrexham when he was unmarked at the near post and headed in a cross. With eight minutes of the match remaining, Cooper received the ball from Harvey before swivelling and striking it past Salmon to make it 2–1. Leyton Orient won the match and tie, and were promoted to the Third Division. ^{[12] [13]}

Details

Leyton Orient v Wrexham

3 June 1989	Leyton Orient	2–1 (2–1 agg.)	Wrexham	Brisbane Road, Leyton
	Harvey 44' Cooper 82'		Bowden 46'	Attendance: 13,355 Referee: J. Martin

GK 1 Paul Heald RB 2 Terry Howard CB 3 Kevin Dickenson CB 4 Kevin Hales LB 5 Keith Day RM 6 John Sitton CM 7 Steve Baker CM 8 Steve Castle FW 9 Lee Harvey FW 10 Mark Cooper LM 11 Alan Comfort Substitutes: FW 12 Paul Ward Manager: Frank Clark

GK 1 Mike Salmon RB 2 Neil Salathiel CB 3 Darren Wright CB 4 Geoff Hunter LB 5 Nigel Beaumont RM 6 Joey Jones CM 7 Andy Thackeray CM 8 Brian Flynn LM 9 Ollie Kearns CF 10 Kevin Russell CF 11 Jon Bowden Substitutes: FW 12 Steve Buxton MF 13 Graham Cooper Manager: Dixie McNeil

Post-match

Frank Clark, the winning manager, said "I do not feel sorry for [Wrexham] but I feel for them." ^[13] He added that "Going back into the third won't make us a million ... But it's a start." ^[14] His counterpart Dixie McNeil said "the lads fought hard all the way." ^[13] He left Wrexham in November 1989 and was replaced by Brian Flynn. ^[15] After the match, Comfort departed by helicopter for Heathrow Airport to catch a flight to Ireland where he was to be married later that afternoon. ^[12]

Wrexham ended their following season in 21st place in the Fourth Division. ^[16] Leyton Orient's next season saw them finish in fourteenth position in the Third Division. ^[17]

References

1. "League Division Four end of season table for 1988–89 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
2. "Wrexham on right course" . Liverpool Echo . 22 May 1989. p. 47. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Wrexham take on Orient in final" . Evening Herald . 25 May 1989. p. 65. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. Taylor, Louise (22 May 1989). "Blackburn fail to gain the initiative" . The Times . Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Gale.
5. Searby, Martin (25 May 1989). "Orient are cleared to qualify" . The Times . Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Gale.
6. "Wrexham". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
7. "Leyton Orient". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
8. "Orient". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
9. "Leyton Orient football club: record v Wrexham". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
10. Foster 2015, p. 199.
11. Ross, Ian (31 May 1989). "Orient's revival on course" . The Times . Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Gale.
12. Taylor, Louise (4 June 1989). "Orient up". The Observer . p. 24. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Newspapers.com.
13. Alexander, Jeremy (5 June 1989). "Cooper's late winner allows Orient and Comfort to get there in the end". The Guardian . p. 14. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Newspapers.com.
14. Signy, Dennis (5 June 1989). "Orient's home comforts" . The Times . Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Gale.
15. "Untitled". The Guardian . 3 November 1989. p. 20. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021– via Newspapers.com.
16. "League Division Four end of season table for 1989–90 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
17. "League Division Three end of season table for 1989–90 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.

Bibliography

• Foster, Richard (2015). The Agony & The Ecstasy (A Comprehensive History of the Football League play-offs). Ockley Books. ISBN   978-1-910906-00-2.