So another season for Yeovil Town concludes, and we'd like to thank all those connected to the club - officials, management, players, staff, volunteers and supporters - for their contributions big and small to what has been a difficult but ultimately successful season for the club. At Ciderspace we believe the final position of 15th in our first ever season at this level is a creditable performance - one we'd have happily taken at the beginning of the campaign, and certainly one we are more than pleased to see when compared to the worrying possibilities of the last few months.
As it happened, after all the speculation on the highest points total ever in League One possibly being needed to stay up, it turned out that fifty-one would have been enough. Hartlepool United and Milton Keynes Dons couldn't do enough to save themselves at the last, and it was the Franchise's 0-0 draw at Millmoor that determined matters, with Rotherham United surviving. The Millers will start next season in League One, though it is expected that they will begin their campaign on a ten point deduction, whilst Pools and Franchise join Swindon Town and Walsall in League Two.
At the other end of the table Colchester United got the point they needed against the Glovers to secure automatic promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history. That point would not have been enough for the title anyway, but Southend United put all concerns about the result from Huish Park to bed when a late goal at Roots Hall saw them defeat Bristol City and confirmed them as Champions. Our congratulations to both the Shrimpers and the U's.
The result at Huish Park would have consigned Brentford to the play-offs regardless of the result at Dean Court, but a last minute equaliser for 2-2 from the Cherries meant the Bees had to accept third spot. A 0-0 draw for Huddersfield Town against Swindon and a 1-2 win for Barnsley at Bescot Stadium kept those clubs in fourth and fifth place respectively. Swansea City, who have been stumbling badly as the finishing line approached, refound their form at the death and hammered Chesterfield 0-4, including a hat-trick from Leon Knight. Already with a better goal difference that should have been enough to clinch the last play-off spot, but as Nottingham Forest could only draw 1-1 away at Bradford City it definitely was.
The final League One 2005-06 table can be seen here.
The League One play-off schedule is thus :
Thursday, 11th May 2006
Barnsley v Huddersfield Town, 7.45 p.m.
Swansea City v Brentford, 7.45 p.m.
Sunday, 14th May 2006
Brentford v Swansea City, 12.15 p.m.
Monday, 15th May 2006
Huddersfield Town v Barnsley, 7.45 p.m.
Play-off Final : Saturday, 27th May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium, kick-off 3.00 p.m.
All matches will be shown live on Sky Sports.
The new arrivals into League One from the Football League Championship, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crewe Alexandra and Millwall have been known for a while, and Carlisle United and Northampton Town were already up from League Two. The third automatic promotion place was grabbed by Leyton Orient, their 2-3 victory over Oxford United also consigning the home side to relegation. Since election into the Football League in 1962 when the place of Accrington Stanley became available when that club folded, Oxford have reached the top flight in the mid-eighties when they played in the First Division for three seasons, and won the Football League Cup. They now return to Non-league football after forty-four years, with, as many have pointed out, the coincidence of a club named Accrington Stanley coming up to replace them.
The League Two play-offs will see Grimsby Town, Cheltenham Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Lincoln City battling for promotion.
Saturday 13th May
Lincoln City v Grimsby Town, 12.05 p.m.
Wycombe Wanderers v Cheltenham Town, 6.05 p.m.
Tuesday 16th May
Grimsby Town v Lincoln City, 7.45 p.m.
Thursday 18th May
Cheltenham Town v Wycombe Wanderers 7.45 p.m.
Play-off Final : Sunday, 28th May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium, kick-off 3.00 p.m.
All matches will be shown live on Sky Sports.
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