The play-offs have been around for nearly forty years and Charlton have taken part on six occasions - winning three times and losing in the semi-finals three times.
The mid-1980s had seen a decline in attendances at football matches and there was public disenchantment with the game. In December 1985 a ten-point plan was agreed which aimed to revitalise the situation and this included the introduction of play-offs, which were initially for two years but with the provision that, if they were successful with the general public, they would be retained permanently.
Charlton had spent thirty years endeavouring to get back to The First Division and it was just our luck that our first season back at the top table (1986/87) coincided with the introduction of play-offs. Lennie Lawrence's squad had battled through 42 games to finish in an honourable 19th place in the top flight above Villa, Man City and Leicester, but this wasn't enough to stave off relegation. The new system demanded that, to retain our hard-won status, we must compete with the clubs that came third, fourth and fifth in Division Two - Oldham, Leeds and Ipswich.
We played Ipswich and a Colin Walsh penalty miss meant that we came back from the first leg at Portman Road with a 0-0 draw. However, two early Jim Melrose goals put us in charge in the second leg at Selhurst Park and, although there were a nervous last few minutes after Stuart McCall pulled one back, we saw it out and booked our place in the final against Leeds who had disposed of Oldham. The final wasn't at Wembley in those days but was played over two legs and a late Melrose goal gave us the advantage at home. Two days later it was cancelled out when Ormsby gave Leeds a 1-0 win at Elland Road and the clubs were scheduled to meet again at St Andrews, Birmingham four days later.
There were no goals in ninety minutes but the heavily outnumbered gathering of Charlton fans feared the worst when Sheridan scored for Leeds with a free kick in the first half of extra time. What happened next was extraordinary. Charlton centre half Peter Shirtliff had never scored two goals in a match in his entire career but, in the space of four minutes (113th and 117th) he had ensured our safety with a precision strike and a brave header. The twenty thousand Leeds fans were finally silenced and Bob Bolder threw all his kit into the crowd behind his goal.
By the 1995/96 season Charlton were back at The Valley and back in the second tier - known by then as The First Division. The play-offs no longer involved clubs in the lower places of the division above; they were purely a competition between the top six and the final was now at Wembley. We managed to achieve sixth place despite a lacklustre end to the season with the last ten games producing just two wins and only six goals. Crystal Palace came to The Valley for the semi-final first leg and Shaun Newton put us 1-0 up after 55 seconds. However, it was downhill all the way after that as Palace scored twice in the second half and then went 1-0 up after four minutes of the second leg. It was another twelve days before we were cheered up by Leicester's Steve Claridge scoring at Wembley eleven seconds before the end of extra time to ensure that Palace stayed down for at least one more season.
We didn't have to wait long for our next play-off outing and there can be little doubt that it was the most dramatic of all. A fine end to the 1997/98 season during which Sasa Ilic kept seven consecutive clean sheets saw us gain fourth place two points behind Sunderland. Once again our semi-final opponents were Ipswich and we left Portman Road with a one goal advantage thanks to a Jamie Clapham own goal. Three days later - with Anthony Barness replacing Danny Mills who had been sent off in the first leg - we took the lead when Newton danced along the penalty box before unleashing a left foot pile-driver into the top corner. The roar from the home crowd would have taken the roof off the West stand if it had only had one. The two extra clean sheets meant that Ilic had equalled a 74 year old club record by not conceding in nine consecutive games.
The final on 25th May was watched by a play-off final record crowd of 77, 739 which was the fourth highest attendance ever for a Charlton game and it will never be forgotten by those there or watching from afar. 1-0 up; 1-2 down; 2-2; 2-3; five minutes left and breathe again at 3-3 with Richard Rufus's first ever goal for the club in his 165th appearance. On to extra time and 3-4 down before Clive Mendonca completed the finest hat trick Wembley has ever seen. An unbearably tense penalty shoot out which was only ended when Ilic saved the fourteenth penalty by Michael Gray. It was the first penalty save by a Charlton goalkeeper for six years and it secured the club's place in The Premier League.
By 2009/10 we were down in the third tier and we missed out on automatic promotion by just two points, finishing fourth behind Norwich, Leeds and Millwall. We travelled to fifth place Swindon for the first leg and conceded twice before a Deon Burton goal meant that we kicked off the second leg just a goal down. Midway through the second half we were 3-2 up on aggregate and Swindon were down to ten men. Despite this they equalised and the numbers were levelled up when Miguel Llera was red carded for dragging down Charlie Austin. There were no goals in extra time and Swindon scored all five of their penalties. Unfortunately, Nicky Bailey's effort is believed to be still orbiting the International Space Station. It was scant consolation but maybe the defeat saved us from the ignominy of ultimately losing to Millwall at Wembley.
Eight years later (2017/18) caretaker manager Lee Bowyer's team made it to sixth place in League One and faced surprise package Shrewsbury Town in the semi final. Despite having beaten them 2-0 away a few weeks earlier we lost both legs 0-1 and most agreed that our chance had come a bit too soon. We had to wait one more season to understand that those games were just a dress rehearsal.
Having secured third place in 2019 Bowyer's team went up to Doncaster for the first leg against a club which had finished fifteen points below us in sixth place. We were coasting at 2-0 until a Blair header three minutes from time halved the deficit. Back at The Valley in front of a sell-out crowd we extended our lead to 3-1 with an early Kristian Bielik header but goals from Rowe and Butler pegged it back to 3-3 on aggregate so extra time was required. There was a communal sinking feeling when Marquis put the visitors 4-3 up but Darren Pratley quickly replied to take the game to penalties. Seven were scored before Dillon Phillips saved Marquis's effort but, with the chance to win the tie, Naby Sarr managed to shoot wide for us. Rowe put us out of our misery by missing the target with the next kick and at last we could invade the pitch and celebrate another Wembley outing.
We were joined there again by Sunderland who had overcome Sheffield United and once again it was Naby Sarr who took centre stage after five minutes when he stroked a back pass past Phillips. Our team rallied however and Ben Purrington arrived at the back post to tap in a Lyle Taylor cross shortly before half time. Sunderland had beaten us 2-1 in the first game of the season with a last minute goal so there was a pleasing symmetry when Patrick Bauer did the same to them with a stabbed effort after his original header had been blocked. Cue delirium and Twist and Shout.
So we have won all three play-off finals we have reached but we have also fallen at the semi-final stage three times. We have played the semi-final second leg at home on four occasions and have won the overall tie on three of those occasions. We have won two shoot-outs and lost one. Our play-off pattern so far is WIN, LOSE, WIN, LOSE, LOSE, WIN.
What does this tell us about the upcoming games with Wycombe?
Nothing.
It is all about performance on the day. If players and supporters can be (in Nathan Jones's phrase) "the best versions of ourselves" we stand a chance of a grand day out on May 25th (which is the 27th anniversary of the greatest Wembley game ever seen). No matter what happens at Adams Park on Sunday make sure that you arrive early at The Valley on May 15th to be the best version of the twelfth man or woman in the stadium.
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