It took 300 minutes to settle the first playoff final to enter what was then called the First Division. In 1987, Charlton Athletic, who finished the league season one place above the relegation zone in the top flight, came through a semi-final with Ipswich Town to meet Leeds United, who were fourth in the Second Division and had beaten Oldham.
The final was over two legs, with the home side winning each 1-0, so they played for a third time at Birmingham City’s ground, where it was 0-0 until Leeds went ahead in the ninth minute of extra time before Peter Shirtliff scored twice for Charlton. So began 40 years of increasingly lucrative shots at glory.
Hull City and Southampton will be relieved that they now only have to play once: Southampton will hope the Middlesbrough spying allegations don’t deny them promotion – assuming it still goes ahead as planned (Saturday, Sky Sports Main, time TBC).
There are also playoffs in rugby’s Championship, though the one at the top seems pointless since there will be no promotion. Ealing Trailfinders, who won all 26 league matches, can simply hope to finish unbeaten. There are bigger gains on offer for Blackheath, seeking to play in the second tier for the first time in 27 years. After beating Plymouth Albion in the National One playoff, they face the loser of yesterday’s relegation decider between Richmond and London Scottish, who share a ground at the San Siro of the South Circular (Saturday, all streamed on Clubber, 3pm).
While Aston Villa chase their first European trophy since 1982 (we don’t count the Intertoto Cup), against Freiburg in the Europa League final (Wednesday, TNT Sports 1, 8pm), other clubs have lesser goals that are just as important to them. Wealdstone are in the FA Trophy final for the first time since 1985, against Southend United (today, TNT Sports 4, 4.30pm), while Stoneham and Cockfosters get their first day out at Wembley in the FA Vase (today, TNT Sports 5, 12.30pm).
The women’s Six Nations comes down to the final match, as always seemed likely, when France host England in Bordeaux. Neither has struggled this season but the Red Roses should meet some resistance as they aim to win an eighth straight title (today, BBC One, 4.45pm).
Ukrainian heavyweight boxing world champion Oleksandr Usyk, on a 24-match winning streak, returns to the ring to fight Rico Verhoeven, a former kickboxing champion who has boxed professionally only once. Their bout in Egypt has optimistically been called the Glory in Giza (Saturday, DAZN, 6pm) but Usyk sees it as a palate cleanser before potential clashes with Daniel Dubois and Tyson Fury.
Photograph by Richard Pelham / Getty Images
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