1987 Football League Second Division play-off Final
The 1987 Football League Second Division play-off Final was an association football match contested between Leeds United and Charlton Athletic over two legs on 23 May 1987 and 25 May 1987 to determine which club would play the next season in the first division. Charlton Athletic had finish fourth from bottom in the first division while LeedsUnited finished fourth in the second division. They were joined in the play-offs by the teams that had finished third and fifth in the Second Division: Charlton Athletic defeated Ipswich in their play-off semi-final, while Leeds United beat Oldham Athletic. The first leg of the final was played at Selhurst Park in London, in front of a crowd of 16,680. Jim Melrose scored the only goal in the game to give Charlton Athletic a 1–0 win. Two days later, at Elland Road in Leeds, 31,395 fans saw Brendon Ormsby score the only goal of the game as Leeds United won the match 1–0. That meant a replay was arranged at St Andrew's in Birmingham which was played on the 29 May 1987. After full-time remained 0–0, extra-time was played with John Sheridan scoring first for Leeds in the 99th minute, however Peter Shirtliff scored twice in the 113th and 117th minute to give Charlton Athletic a 2–1 victory. The following season, Charlton Athletic finished one spot above the relegation zone in the first division as they finished ahead of Chelsea by goal-difference. Leeds United ended their second division campaign in 7th position, eight points behind the promotion play-offs.
Route to the final
finished the 1986–87 season in 19th place after scraping into the play-off after defeating Queen Park Rangers on the final day of the season as they finished two points ahead of relegated team Leicester City. Leeds United finished the season in fourth place in the second divisions, ten points behind Portsmouth who with Derby Country got an automatic promotion to the top division. Both teams along with Oldham Athletic and Ipswich Town entered the play-offs to determine who would play in the First Division in the following 1987–88 season. Leeds United hosted the first leg of the semi-final at Elland Road as they took on Oldham Athletic who were attempting to make their first appearance in the top flight since 1923. Leeds had a booking in the 13th minute with Mark Aizlewood delivering a late challenge. The only goal of the game being in the 89th minute with Keith Edwards who was brought on in the 71st minute scoring a header at the near post to give Leeds a one goal advantage. The second leg played three days later at Boundary Park saw Oldham open the scoring in the 18th minute from Gary Williams. It would take until the 89th minute before Mike Cecere for Oldham to go in front on aggregate before their defence was opened up which Leed's player Edwards took, scoring in the 90th minute to give Leeds United the aggregate win on away goals. For Charlton, they took on Ipswich Town in what was the first time those two met in nearly twenty years. The first leg was played at Ipswich's home ground of Portman Road to an attendance of 18,465. Solid defending from goalkeeper Bob Bolder kept Ipswich Town scoreless as the match ended in a nil-all draw. The second leg at Charlton's home ground saw Jim Melrose score the opening goal of the tie with a fifteen yard header which came from a Humphrey cross. Melrose scored a second only a minute later with Miller flicking the ball to Melrose to double Charlton's advantage. Despite a goal in the 85th minute from Ipswich midfielder, Steve McCall, Charlton Athletic qualified for the play-off final 2–1 on aggregate.
Match details
First leg
Summary
The first leg of the play-off final was played at Charlton's Selhurst Park, in front of a crowd of 16,680. In the tenth minute of the match, Melrose headed the cross from Walsh before the ball was saved by the Leeds goalkeeper Mervyn Day.
