‘This is our year! Football fans dream of seeing their team earn promotion with the majority of our pre-seasons full of what is soon proven to be deluded optimism. However, in those rare moments of success, few things can beat the exhilaration of watching your club elevate itself up the leagues.
One way of making promotion even sweeter has to be securing it in the last minute of the season’s final match: snatching glory from the jaws of despair.
Here, we take a look at some of those heart-pounding moments that have simultaneously sent fans into euphoria and broken hearts.
Sheffield United 1 -2 Sunderland – Saturday 24th May 2025
We start with the most recent of dramatic endings, the 2025 Championship playoff final went right to the 95th minute before a winner was found.
United had finished 3rd and 14 points ahead of their opponents in the league table and had taken a 25th-minute lead in this one through Tyrese Campbell.
The Black Cats equalised in the 76th minute through Eliezer Mayenda but the real drama was still to come.
Tom Watson is a 19-year-old Sunderland academy graduate who is due to join Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer, meaning that this outing at Wembley was the last for his boyhood club.
Latching onto a loose pass from United forward Kieffer Moore, Watson took two touches towards the opposing goal before using the third to bend the ball into the bottom corner of the net, sending 40,000 Mackems into delirium and leaving the club the most wonderful of parting gifts.
Derby County 0 – 1 Queens Park Rangers – Saturday 24th May 2014
Another Championship playoff final providing heart-stopping moments was the 2014 version between the Rams and a ten-man QPR side under the guidance of Harry Redknapp.
A QPR side containing Joey Barton, Niko Kranjcar and England goalkeeper Rob Green was already under pressure from the Rams and were down to ten men after an hour when Gary O’Neil was sent off for a lunge on Jonny Russell.
Rangers had to withstand multiple Derby attacks and concede the majority of possession but, despite their numerical advantage, Steve McClaren’s young side could not force the ball past Green.
The game looked destined to head into an extra half hour, with the chances of Redknapp’s side claiming victory dwindling as the players approached an hour with a man less.
Step forward, Robert Lester Zamora! Two-cap England international Bobby Zamora was on hand to seize on a fluffed clearance from Derby skipper Richard Keogh and curl the ball in at the far post beyond Lee Grant.
Pandemonium ensued as the Londoners grabbed promotion with just seconds remaining. ‘When the balls in the goal, it’s not Shearer or Cole it’s Zamora!’
Crystal Palace 1 – 0 Sheffield United – 26th May 1997
Yet another Championship, or Division One, playoff final, this time from the 90s and, staggeringly, close to 30 years ago!
This was before top-flight football was truly dominated by money, and the figures available to the winners were believed to be between £8 and £10 million. Huge sums in real terms, but it wouldn’t buy you a backup goalkeeper in the present day.
Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley had achieved automatic promotion, while the Blades and Eagles had finished fifth and sixth, respectively. United had got past Ipswich Town on away goals while Palace edged out Wolverhampton Wanderers over two legs.
Steve Coppell was the caretaker manager of Palace, a club he had previously led to the FA Cup final in 1990, after Dave Bassett’s departure to Nottingham Forest.
In the Sheffield United dugout was Everton legend Howard Kendall, who had been in charge of the brilliant Toffees team of the 1980s.
After 90 minutes of action described as ‘indifferent’, the 64,000 spectators inside a scorching hot Wembley were preparing for extra time.
Step forward, David Hopkin.
The Scottish midfielder with the fiery red hair had been at Palace for two seasons following a move from Chelsea.
The ball was headed clear by Sheffield United and it fell to Hopkin who took one touch with his left foot to set the ball before curling it beautifully into the top corner from 25 yards out, leaving United keeper Simon Tracey completely helpless.
There was barely time for the restart and Palace had done it. They were in the Premier League.
Hopkin would leave for Leeds United that summer and Palace couldn’t manage the step up, being relegated immediately back to Division One.
Brentford 0 – 1 Doncaster Rovers – Saturday 27th 2013
While a draw would have been enough for Rovers to seal promotion, a win for Brentford would have seen the second automatic spot belong to them instead.
Doncaster looked to have achieved the point they required for a place in the Championship until Dean Furman fouled Toumani Diagouraga in the fourth minute of added time to hand the Bees a chance from 12 yards.
Brentford captain Kevin O’Connor was the designated penalty taker but, to add to the 94th-minute drama, on-loan Fulham man Marcello Trotta wrestled the ball away from his skipper to place the ball on the spot for himself.
Trotta placed the ball, started his run up and…smashed the ball against the bar! Rovers were saved, but the story was still being written. Eventually, the ball was cleared to the halfway line where Billy Paynter was waiting.
Given the freedom of the Brentford half, he closed in on keeper Simon Moore before squaring for James Coppinger to tap home the winner and send the Rovers fans behind the goal into joyous rapture.
Barnsley 0 – 1 Sheffield Wednesday – Monday 29th May 2023
It’s back to Wembley and the playoff final for this all-Yorkshire League One clash as the Tykes took on the Owls.
Wednesday had already overcome Peterborough in a remarkable two-legged semi-final and were given a great chance to win this match when Barnsley were reduced to ten men after an Adam Phillips red card.
Despite playing 40 minutes of normal time with an extra man, Wednesday were taken to extra time by their battling opponents. After half an hour of extra time, the Yorkshire derby looked to be going to penalties.
Step forward Josh Windass. Fifteen years after his father Dean had volleyed Hull City into the Premier League, Josh got his head onto a Lee Gregory cross in the final seconds of the 120th minute to seal a Championship return for the Owls.
Bristol Rovers 7 – 0 Scunthorpe United – Saturday 7th May 2022
What an unbelievable end to the 2021-22 League Two season!
Going into the final weekend of the season, Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers were vying for the third and final automatic promotion spot with the pair level on points.
The Cobblers were in pole position thanks to their superior goal difference, they sat on +20 while Rovers were +15. Northampton travelled to Barrow, who were already safe in their second season of league action, and the Pirates were at home to a Scunthorpe side who had won just four matches all season.
Northampton were three goals to the good inside 25 minutes, meaning Bristol Rovers would need an astonishing eight goals to overturn the Cobblers’ advantage. A Barrow goal right on half-time meant just the seven goals were needed for Rovers!
With Bristol Rovers winning 2-0 at halftime, Northampton’s place in the top three looked to be a certainty with a five-goal advantage over the Pirates.
What happened in the second half at the Memorial Stadium was nothing short of remarkable. After an hour, the home side was 4-0 up thanks to goals from Connor Taylor, Aaron Collins, Antony Evans and an earlier own goal from Oliver Lobley.
The Gas still required three goals as they entered the final 15 minutes of the campaign. Antony Evans scored his second of the match and that was quickly followed by Aaron Collins netting his second goal. This left ten minutes on the clock and one goal to find.
In January of 2022, Bristol Rovers had taken a young Newcastle United midfielder by the name of Elliot Anderson on loan. The then 19-year-old Anderson had been in impressive form for Joey Barton’s men and was about to write his name into Bristol Rovers folklore.
With just five minutes to go (not quite the last minute!), an Antony Evans cross was deflected and found its way to the head of Anderson. The Whitley Bay-born youngster, now with Nottingham Forest, made no mistake and sent the nearly 10,000 crowd into euphoria.
Bradford City 1 – 0 Fleetwood Town – Saturday 25th May 2025
Bradford City went into this match knowing a win would be enough to secure the third and final promotion spot from League Two, regardless of what Walsall did away at Crewe Alexandra.
Over 24,000 packed into the University of Bradford Stadium to, hopefully, witness a return to the third tier for the first time since 2019.
A George Hall goal gave Walsall all three points and, as their game came to an end, promotion looked to have slipped from the fingers of Bradford City.
With 96 minutes on the clock, the Bantams had mere seconds left to save themselves from the playoff lottery. A long ball into the Fleetwood box was headed clear to the chest of George Lapslie. The substitute controlled the ball well but scuffed his shot only for it to strike the shin of the advancing Antoni Sarcevic and was diverted into the net after wrong footing Jay Lynch.
The last action of the last match of the season had seen Bradford gain a place in League One next season and sparked jubilant scenes that spilt over onto the pitch.
