Playoff history shows that it's far from over

By Nathan Jackson
May 13 2007

Despite having to overturn a 2-1 deficit on Thursday night, the Imps will be full of confidence knowing that coming from behind in the playoffs is surprisingly common. Several sides have lost the first leg, only to go through to the final and most of those teams went on to win the final, proving that this tie is far from over.

The first instance of a side losing the first leg and then going through to the final came in the Division 2 playoffs in 1988/89, 6^th placed Swindon won the first leg when Hopkins scored an own goal in front of 16,656 at the County Ground. The return leg at Selhurst Park was played in front of 23,677 fans, with Mark Bright and Ian Wright scoring the goals to send Crystal Palace through 2-1 on aggregate. They went on to meet Blackburn Rovers in the final. Palace went on to win the final and went into Division One (now known as the Premiership). 

The next instance came in Division 4 in 1991/2 when Barnet took a 1-0 lead into the second leg against Blackpool thanks to Carter’s goal at Underhill. Groves and Garner both scored for Blackpool and the Tangerines went through. Blackpool went on to get promoted via a 4-3 penalty win in the final. 

In 1992/3 the Premiership was formed, Division 2 became Division 1, 3 became 2 and 4 became 3. In the new Division 2, McFarlane and Hayes cancelled out the own goal of the former to take a 2-1 lead to West Brom. Hunt and a certain Ian Hamilton secured a place in the final for West Brom. West Brom went on to win the final. 

The following season saw Torquay United take on Preston in the semi finals. Darby and Moore gave Torquay a seemingly comfortable lead going into the second leg. Preston went on to win the second leg 4-1 thanks to goals from Ellis, Moyes, Hicks and Raynor. Preston however became the first side to come from behind in the semi finals to lose in the final, losing 4-2 to Wycombe. 

In 1994/5. Wolves and Bolton met in the semis. Wolves took a 2-1 lead into the second leg thanks to goals from Steve Bull and Venue. Bolton went through 3-1 on aggregate though thanks to a 2-0 victory in the second leg. Bolton won the final and spent the next season in the Premiership. 

1995/6 saw the long trips between Plymouth and Colchester take place. Kinsella gave Colchester the win in the first leg, but Evans, Leadbitter and Williams secured a 3-1 victory for Plymouth in the second leg, meaning they went through 3-2 on aggregate. Plymouth went on to win the final, beating Darlington 1-0. 

That same year saw arguably the biggest shift around in playoff history. Bradford City finished 6^th in Division 2 but lost 2-0 at home to Blackpool in the first leg. Everyone expected Blackpool to easily win the 2^nd leg, but not only did Bradford win, but their 3-0 scoreline meant that they went through to the final against all odds. Bradford went on to beat Notts County in the final. 

1997/8 was the last time that the Imps went up, that same year Barnet and Colchester faced each other in the playoffs. Heald gave Barnet a first leg lead, however, two goals from Gregory and a single goal from Green in the second leg saw Colchester go through 3-2 on aggregate. They went on to beat Torquay 1-0 in the final. 

That same year in Division 2 saw Bristol Rovers take a 3-1 lead into their second leg at Northampton Town. The Cobblers ended up winning 3-0 in the second leg, sending them through to the final. Northampton went on to lose the final however, a Donovan goal for Grimsby proving the difference. 

It became a tripe comeback that year as Sunderland came back from a 2-1 first leg deficit to win 2-0 in the second leg, going through 3-2 on aggregate. After a thrilling 4-4 draw in the final, Sunderland would lose to Charlton on penalties. 

Our old friends Scunthorpe achieved it the following season, going into a second leg with Swansea’s Matthew Bound giving the Swans a 1-0 lead. Dawson and a Sheldon brace saw Scunthorpe go through to the final. 

The following year in Division 2 saw Stoke and Gillingham face each other. An exciting 3-2 scoreline in the first leg saw Stoke have the advantage. A 3-0 win for Gillingham in the second leg saw them comfortably go through. A 6^th minute Calvo-Garcia goal was enough against Orient in the final as they got promoted to Division 2. 

The last time that a team lost the first leg and went through in this division came in the 2000/1 season when Hull and Orient met. A 69^th minute John Eyre goal meant Hull took a 1-0 lead to Orient. Ex-Imp Steve Watts drew Orient level on aggregate before Matt Lockwood won the tie for Orient. Despite taking a first minute lead in the final, Orient went on to lose 4-2 to Blackpool. 

That same season saw a certain Nicky Eaden give Birmingham a first leg lead. It finished 2-1 in the second leg to Preston and they eventually went through 4-2 on penalties. Preston lost by a heavy 3-0 scoreline in the final.  

2001/2 again saw Stoke involved in a similar game. Cardiff took a 2-1 lead into the second leg, but Stoke won 2-0 in the second leg thanks to goals from O’Connor and Oulare to go through to the final. Stoke beat Brentford 2-0 in the final. 

In 2003/4 there were 3 instances of the team that lost the first leg taking the tie to penalties, but neither Sunderland, Swindon or Northampton could complete the turnarounds as they all lost on penalties. 

Although in that year, Ipswich beat West Ham in the Division One semi final first leg by a 1-0, but a 2-0 victory for West Ham sent them to the Millennium Stadium. They went on to lose 1-0 to Crystal Palace in the final. 

The final instance came in the 2005/6 season, Huddersfield won 1-0 at Barnsley in the first leg but the Tykes won 3-1 at the Galpharm Stadium to progress to the final. They beat Swansea City on penalties in the final.