A win and a favour on the last day.

[kushiro]

We've been in this situation a total of seven times in the past - going into the last day needing a result ourselves and also needing help from somewhere else. On three of those occasions we ended the day smiling - not a bad ratio really when you consider that two games have to go the right way. Here's those seven occasions:

 

Let's look at promotion battles first:

 

1894/95  Division Two

 

We 've spent much of our existence as a yo-yo club, but incredibly our first 26 seasons in the Football League were all spent in the same Division - the second. There was very little last day excitement in those years, and before we finally got promotion in 1925 the closest we'd come was in our very first year in the League.  There was a dramatic climax to the season, the top four playing each other on the final day, with places in the play-offs (then called 'Test matches') at stake. This was the table before the game:

 

 

We needed to beat Bury and hope Newton Heath (later Man U) lost at home to Notts County. We won 2-0 but Newton Heath drew 3-3 to deny us on goal average. They lost in the Test match anyway, to Stoke (who thus stayed in Division One). Just missing out meant that Walnut Street (as the ground was then called) was free to stage the test match between Notts County and Derby County, Derby won 2-1. 

 

1991/92  Division Two

 

After blowing it the previous week with a 2-0 defeat v Charlton (at Upton Park) we now needed to better Middlesbrough's result.

 

 

Boro won 2-1 at Wolves and we couldn't beat Newcastle anyway - losing 2-1 at home to Keegan's men. We lost in the play-off final to Blackburn.

 

2012/13   Championship

 

Could we win at Forest? Would Bolton fail to beat Blackpool?

 

 

Yes and yes. But then came the play-offs.

 

 

 

Now here's the relegation battles:

 

 

1934/35   Division One 

 

The end of the first great Leicester team. To stay up, we need to win at Portsmouth and hope Middlesbrough lose at home to Chelsea.

 

Both games were draws so we were relegated to Division Two after 10 years in the top flight - our first ever experience of the R word.

 

 

1985/86   Division One

 

We had to beat Newcastle at Filbert Street and hope either Ipswich, Coventry or Oxford slipped up.

 

 

Peter Beardsley so nearly ruined it for us in the first half but his shot hit the post, and we went on to win 2-0. Ipswich lost at Sheffield Wednesday, so in our first post-Lineker season we managed to stay up. 

 

 

1986/87   Division One

 

The following year we couldn't pull off the same trick. We needed to better Charlton's result.

 

 

 

 We could only draw 0-0 at Oxford while Charlton beat QPR 2-1. That didn't actually keep Charlton up - yet. This was the first year of the modern play-offs, which were then between three sides from Division Two and the 19th place team in Division One. Charlton managed to get past Ipswich in the semis and beat Leeds in the final to retain their top flight status.

 

 

1990/91  Division Two

 

We were lucky that only two were relegated from Division Two that season. If we bettered West Brom's result we'd stay up.

 

 

We beat Oxford with Tony James' goal, and Albion could only draw 3-3 with ten man Bristol Rovers at Twerton Park.

 

I was only at one of those seven games - the second Newcastle game. 1895 and 1935 might be stretching it a bit, but was anyone at all the other five?

 

 

 

Edited 23 May 2021 by kushiro

[WigstonWanderer]

Thanks for that. Really interesting.

[Sly]

Great read this. 

[foxfanazer]

Bloody hell a thread actually worth opening! Good info thanks! 

[Sir Shep]

I was at the oxford game in 91, scenes after the final whistle. Probably my first ever “tense” game watching Leicester with something actually riding on the result. 

[ClaphamFox]

Proper content.

[Sunbury Fox]

I was at both Newcastle games and the Oxford home game in 1991.

 

I think there might also be another one to add to the list. In 1995/96, in O'Neill's first season we were 7th going into the final game away at Watford. In the event we won that game and leapfrogged Ipswich, who could only draw at home to Millwall, and Charlton, who could only draw with Wolves, to secure a play off place.

 

I was at Vicarage Road for this one too. Izzet scored the winner to prompt proper scenes in the away end. We went on to beat Palace in the play off final with that iconic last second Claridge winner.

Edited 23 May 2021 by Sunbury Fox

[kushiro]

3 minutes ago, Sunbury Fox said:

I was at both Newcastle games and the Oxford home game in 1991.

 

I think there might also be another one to add to the list. In 1995/96, in O'Neill's first season we were 7th going into the final game away at Watford. In the event we won that game and leapfrogged Ipswich who could only draw at home to Millwall and Charlton who could only draw with Wolves.

 

I was at Vicarage Road for this one. Izzet scored the winner to prompt proper scenes in the away end. We went on to beat Palace in the play off final with that iconic last second Claridge winner.

You're dead right. I was going by Of Fossils And Foxes - saying we were 6th after our penultimate game, but between then and the Watford game, Ipswich won their game in hand to move above us and push us down to 7th. Thanks for the correction. That makes four out of eight times we ended the day smiling. I won't edit the original post, I'll just leave people to read your update.

 

 

[foxile5]

2 hours ago, foxfanazer said:

Bloody hell a thread actually worth opening! Good info thanks! 

Mods. Sort it. We can't have any raised standards around here. Delete this and get a thread opened speculating about Gary Taylor-Fletcher's favourite pre-match playlist. 

[foxfanazer]

1 minute ago, foxile5 said:

Mods. Sort it. We can't have any raised standards around here. Delete this and get a thread opened speculating about Gary Taylor-Fletcher's favourite pre-match playlist. 

Apparently he was a big fan of The fast food rockers 

[Guest ttfn]

I was thinking earlier - when was the last time we had a home game in front of fans on the final day of the season that meant something?

 

Obviously last season was effectively a CL playoff but there were no fans there. 2012/13 we were away at Forest, 2007/8 we were away at Stoke. 2009/10 I think we were playing to decide whether we’d be home or away in the first leg of the playoffs but I’m not sure it really counts.

 

Are we going all the way back to 1991? Or did we sneak into the playoffs with a home game on the final day at all in the mid-90s?

[Big Blue Maff]

Think about it ? Last season v Man Utd 

[Big Blue Maff]

Apologies, forgot , foxes c Man Utd last season no fans ( my bad ) 

[kushiro]

3 minutes ago, Big Blue Maff said:

Think about it ? Last season v Man Utd 

We needed to win and Man U to lose - but they were our opponents! So it's just the one game. We didn't need any favours.