2012 Football League Championship play-off final
The 2012 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 19 May 2012 at Wembley Stadium, London, between West Ham United and Blackpool. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2011–12 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; West Ham ended the season in third place while Blackpool had finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2012–13 season in the Premier League.
Event | 2011–12 Football League Championship | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Date | 19 May 2012 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Man of the Match | James Tomkins (West Ham) | ||||||
Referee | Howard Webb | ||||||
Attendance | 78,523 | ||||||
The 2012 final, refereed by Howard Webb, was watched by a crowd of more than 78,000 people. West Ham United took the lead in the latter stages of the first half through Carlton Cole. Blackpool's Tom Ince scored the equaliser three minutes in the second half before Ricardo Vaz Tê's 87th minute strike secured victory and promotion for West Ham. It West Ham's second win in three play-off finals. Their defender, James Tomkins, was named man of the match.
West Ham ended the next season in mid-table in the Premier League. Blackpool finished the following season in 15th place, nine points outside the play-offs and five points above the relegation zone.