2025 EFL League Two play-off final

2025 EFL League Two play-off Final
Wembley Stadium in London hosted the final
AFC Wimbledon Walsall
1 0
Date26 May 2025 (2025-05-26)
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeWill Finnie
Attendance50,947

The 2025 EFL League Two play-off final was an association football match which was played on 26 May 2025 at Wembley Stadium, London, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football, to EFL League One. The top three teams of 2024–25 EFL League Two, Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale and Bradford City, gained automatic promotion to League One, while the clubs placed from fourth to seventh in the table – Walsall, Wimbledon, Notts County and Chesterfield – took part in the 2025 EFL play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals, AFC Wimbledon and Walsall, competed for the final place for the 2025–26 season in League One.[1][2]

Wimbledon won the game 1–0 and were promoted to play in League One for the 2025–26 League One season.[3]

Route to the final

EFL League Two final table, leading positions
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Doncaster Rovers (C, P) 46 24 12 10 73 50 +23 84
2 Port Vale (P) 46 22 14 10 65 46 +19 80
3 Bradford City (P) 46 22 12 12 64 45 +19 78
4 Walsall 46 21 14 11 75 54 +21 77
5 AFC Wimbledon 46 20 13 13 56 35 +21 73
6 Notts County 46 20 12 14 68 49 +19 72
7 Chesterfield 46 19 13 14 73 54 +19 70
Source: EFL Official Website
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Walsall finished the regular 2024–25 season in fourth place in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They finished 1 point behind Bradford City (who were promoted in third place), 3 behind second-placed Port Vale and 7 points behind league winners Doncaster Rovers.[4] Walsall had been top of the division in mid-January, 15 points clear of fourth place, but a poor run of form saw them miss out on the play-offs on the season's final day.[5][6] They played seventh placed Chesterfield in a two-leg semi-final. The first leg was played at Chesterfield's SMH Group Stadium on 6 May. Walsall won the game 2–0, taking the lead through a Taylor Allen penalty before Alfie Chang added a second goal.[7] Walsall also won the second leg, recording a 2–1 victory on 16 May at Bescot Stadium. Charlie Lakin and Levi Amantchi scored for Walsall, with Armando Dobra scoring for Chesterfield. Their win meant a 4–1 aggregate win and a place in the play-off final.[8]

AFC Wimbledon finished in fifth place, 4 points behind Walsall.[4] Like Wallsall, AFC Wimbledon had been in contention for automatic promotion earlier in the season, having been in third place in late March but then recording only two wins from their last nine games.[9][10] They played sixth-placed Notts County in the semi-final.[4] in the first leg, played on 10 May at Notts County's Meadow Lane stadium, AFC Wimbledon won 1–0, Riley Harbottle scoring the game's only goal.[11] The second leg was played on 17 May at Plough Lane. After only eight minutes, Josh Neufville scored for AFC Wimbledon, with what proved to be the game's only goal. AFC Wimbledon thus won 2–0 on aggregate.[12]

Match

Background

The two finalists played each other twice during the regular season, with Walsall recording a 1–0 win at Plough Lane in November 2024, followed by a 1–1 draw at the Bescot Stadium in March 2025.[13] Loan player Nathan Lowe was the highest scorer for Walsall with 15 league goals during the season, although he had departed the club in January, having been recalled by his permanent club Stoke City. Matty Stevens was AFC Wimbledon's top marksman with 17 goals during the league campaign.[14]

The match was Walsall's second appearance at Wembley, their first being the 2015 Football League Trophy final which they lost to Bristol City.[15] It was the club's third play-off final, following a 4–0 win in a replay against Bristol City in 1988 and a 3–2 victory over Reading in 2001.[16] The match was AFC Wimbledon's second appearance at the national stadium and their second play-off final since they were founded in 2002, the other being a 2–0 win against Plymouth Argyle in 2016.[17][18]

The referee for the match was Will Finnie. The assistant referees were Alistair Nelson and Conor Brown with Matt Sowerby as a reserve; the fourth official was Tom Kirk. James Bell and Marc Perry were named as the video assistant referee (VAR) and assistant video assistant referee respectively.[19]

The match was televised live by Sky Sports on both its Premier League and Main Event channels and was also available for live streaming on Sky Go and NOW.[20] BBC Local Radio stations covered the game for each team: BBC Radio WM for Walsall and BBC Radio London for AFC Wimbledon.[21][22] BBC Radio 5 Live provided national radio commentary.[20]

Match

The match kicked off at 3 p.m. in front of a crowd of 50,947, of whom more than 28,500 were AFC Wimbledon supporters and over 17,000 for Walsall.[20][23][24][25] AFC Wimbledon were the more threatening side in the opening stages, though there were few clear chances for either side, the best being a shot by AFC Wimbledon's Marcus Browne after 30 minutes, which was saved by Walsall goalkeeper Tommy Simkin. Aside from this, their early efforts consisted mainly of long balls forward, which were handled by the Walsall defence.[26] AFC Wimbledon had a further promising attack on 40 minutes when Stevens won the ball deep in Walsall territory, but his attempted pass to Alistair Smith was cleared.[27] AFC Wimbledon took the lead in first-half stoppage time following a corner kick when Myles Hippolyte scored with a low shot into the corner after Browne's volley had been blocked by the Walsall defence. The half ended with Wimbledon ahead 1–0.[28]

Walsall began to play more positively after the break and they almost equalised when a shot by Jamille Matt cleared off the line by Harbottle on 49 minutes. They brought on veteran player Albert Adomah and Amantchi after 62 minutes, and the latter had a chance to score shortly afterwards, his dinked shot being stopped by AFC Wimbledon goalkeeper Owen Goodman.[26][27] Simkin then made a good save from Neufville's shot close to the goal.[26] Further substitutions were made by both sides in an effort to influence the game, but further clear chances were limited. Following six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game, AFC Wimbledon held on to complete a 1–0 win and earn a place in League One.[28][27]

Details

AFC Wimbledon1–0Walsall
 Report
Attendance: 50,947
Referee: Will Finnie
AFC Wimbledon
Walsall
GK1England Owen Goodman
CB26England Riley Harbottle downward-facing red arrow 69'
CB31Wales Joe Lewis
CB6Northern Ireland Ryan Johnson
RWB7England James Tilley
CM12England Alistair Smith
CM4England Jake Reeves (c)
CM21Grenada Myles Hippolyte 45+2', downward-facing red arrow 90'
LWB11England Josh Neufville
CF18England Marcus Browne downward-facing red arrow 90'
CF14England Matty Stevens downward-facing red arrow 77'
Substitutes:
GK22England Lewis Ward
DF33England Isaac Ogundere upward-facing green arrow 69'
MF8England Callum Maycock upward-facing green arrow 90'
MF16England James Ball
MF29Norway Aron Sasu upward-facing green arrow 90'
FW10England Josh Kelly upward-facing green arrow 77'
FW39England Joe Pigott
Head Coach:
England Johnnie Jackson
GK1England Tommy Simkin
CB26Republic of Ireland David Okagbue
CB24England Harry Williams downward-facing red arrow 34'
CB21England Taylor Allen
RM19Uganda Nathan Asiimwe downward-facing red arrow 74'
CM15England Alfie Chang downward-facing red arrow 74'
CM25Wales Ryan Stirk
LM3Guyana Liam Gordon
RW22England Jamie Jellis downward-facing red arrow 62'
LW20England George Hall
CF9Jamaica Jamille Matt (c) downward-facing red arrow 63'
Substitutes:
GK12England Sam Hornby
DF2England Connor Barrett upward-facing green arrow 74'
DF4Republic of Ireland Oisin McEntee upward-facing green arrow 34'
MF8England Charlie Lakin upward-facing green arrow 74'
MF14Montserrat Brandon Comley
FW11England Levi Amantchi upward-facing green arrow 63'
FW37Ghana Albert Adomah upward-facing green arrow 62'
Head Coach:
England Mat Sadler

References

  1. ↑ EFL (3 May 2025). "Sky Bet EFL Play-Offs: Schedule confirmed". efl.com. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "League Two Table and Standings – Football – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  3. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon promoted with League Two Play-Off Final win". EFL. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "England 2024/25". rsssf.org. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  5. ↑ "Walsall 4–2 MK Dons: League Two leaders claim ninth straight win". BBC Sport. 18 January 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  6. ↑ "Crewe Alexandra 0–1 Walsall: Saddlers miss out on automatic promotion". BBC Sport. 3 May 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "Chesterfield 0–2 Walsall: Saddlers ease to win in League Two play-off first leg". BBC Sport. 11 May 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "Walsall 2–1 Chesterfield (4–1 agg): Saddlers reach League Two play-off final". BBC Sport. 16 May 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "11v11 league table generator". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "2024–2025 AFC Wimbledon Stats, League Two | FBref.com". FBref.com. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Aloia, Andrew (10 May 2025). "Notts County v AFC Wimbledon LIVE: League Two play-off score & updates". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  12. ↑ Peddy, Chris (17 May 2025). "League Two play-offs: AFC Wimbledon 1–0 Notts County (agg 2–0) – Dons to face Walsall in final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 April 2026.
  13. ↑ "Walsall football club: record v AFC Wimbledon". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "League Two – 2024/25". Soccerbase. Centurycomm Limited. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  15. ↑ Clitheroe, Nick; Dawkins, Andrew (25 May 2025). "'My child will miss Walsall's big day like I did'". BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "Best stats from League Two Play-Off Final". English Football League. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon promoted with League Two Play-Off Final win". English Football League. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  18. ↑ Pilnick, Brent (30 May 2016). "AFC Wimbledon 2–0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "Everything you need to know ahead of the Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Final". English Football League. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  20. 1 2 3 Holmes, Ned (23 May 2025). "How to live stream AFC Wimbledon v Walsall online". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  21. ↑ "BBC Radio WM Sport: AFC Wimbledon v Walsall (26/05/2025)". BBC Radio WM. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  22. ↑ "Total Sport London: AFC Wimbledon v Walsall (26/05/2025)". BBC Radio London. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  23. ↑ "Wimbledon 1–0 Walsall (26 May, 2025) Final Score – ESPN (UK)". ESPN. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  24. ↑ Wimbledon, AFC (25 May 2025). "Come Together at Wembley – AFC Wimbledon". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  25. ↑ Drury, Jonny (26 May 2025). "Super Saddlers! 18 pictures of Walsall fans heading to Wembley – can you spot yourself?". Express and Star. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  26. 1 2 3 Hashim, Taha (26 May 2025). "AFC Wimbledon relish reaching League One after edging out Walsall in playoff final". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2026. Tommy Simkin
  27. 1 2 3 "LIVE: AFC Wimbledon v Walsall Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Final". English Football League. 26 May 2025. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
  28. 1 2 Peddy, Chris (26 May 2025). "AFC Wimbledon 1–0 Walsall: Dons promoted to League One". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2026.
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