2022 EFL Championship play-off Final

Association football match

Football match

2022 EFL Championship play-off Final

Wembley Stadium in London hosted the final.

| Huddersfield Town | Nottingham Forest

|

0 | 1
Date| 29 May 2022 (2022-05-29)
Venue| Wembley Stadium, London
Referee| Jonathan Moss
Attendance| 80,019

<- 2021

2023 ->

The 2022 EFL Championship play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 2022 at Wembley Stadium, London, England to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2021–22 EFL Championship, Fulham and Bournemouth, have gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth in the table took part in the 2022 English Football League play-offs. Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest competed for the final place in the 2022–23 Premier League season.

Jonathan Moss was the referee for the match, which was played in front of 80,019 spectators. Nottingham Forest took the lead in the 43rd minute when Huddersfield Town's Levi Colwill scored an own goal attempting to defend a cross from James Garner. Despite Huddersfield Town's claims for two penalty kicks, neither were awarded and Huddersfield Town ended with no shots on target. Nottingham Forest won the match 1-0 to gain promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Route to the final
* 2 Match
* 2.1 Background
* 2.2 Summary
* 2.3 Details
* 3 Post-match
* 4 References

## Route to the final[edit]

Main articles: 2021–22 EFL Championship and 2022 English Football League play-offs § Championship

EFL Championship final table, leading positions[2] Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts

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1  | Fulham (C, P) | 46  | 27  | 9  | 10  | 106  | 43  | +63  | 90
2  | Bournemouth (P) | 46  | 25  | 13  | 8  | 74  | 39  | +35  | 88
3  | Huddersfield Town | 46  | 23  | 13  | 10  | 64  | 47  | +17  | 82
4  | Nottingham Forest | 46  | 23  | 11  | 12  | 73  | 40  | +33  | 80
5  | Sheffield United | 46  | 21  | 12  | 13  | 63  | 45  | +18  | 75
6  | Luton Town | 46  | 21  | 12  | 13  | 63  | 55  | +8  | 75

(C) Champion; (P) Promoted

Huddersfield Town finished the regular 2021–22 season in third place in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, one place and two points ahead of Nottingham Forest. They both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third and final promoted team.[3] Huddersfield Town finished six points behind Bournemouth (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winners Fulham.[2]

In their play-off semi-final, Huddersfield Town faced sixth-placed Luton Town with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at Kenilworth Road in Luton on 13 May 2022. In the 12th minute, Harry Toffolo passed the ball forward for Danel Sinani who struck the ball past Matt Ingram in the Luton Town goal to give Huddersfield Town the lead. Eighteen minutes later, Sonny Bradley scored from Kal Naismith's free kick to level the score. Although Huddersfield controlled the second half, neither side were able to add to their score and the match ended 1–1.[4] The return leg was held three days later at the John Smith's Stadium in Huddersfield. Luton Town dominated the first half but failed to capitalise and with eight minutes to go in the second half, Jordan Rhodes scored from close range from a Sorba Thomas free kick, to secure a 1–0 victory for Huddersfield Town, and progression to the final with a 2-1 win on aggregate.[5]

In the other play-off semi-final, Nottingham Forest met Sheffield United and the first leg was held at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on 14 May 2022.[6] The visiting side took an early lead when Jack Colback scored after Wes Foderingham had saved a shot from Philip Zinckernagel. Brennan Johnson then doubled his side's lead with 19 minutes of the match remaining after taking advantage of an error from John Egan. One minute into injury time, Sander Berge scored from a Morgan Gibbs-White corner to halve the deficit and the matched ended 2-1 to Nottingham Forest.[7] The second leg was played three days later at the City Ground in Nottingham. In the 19th minute, Johnson scored for Nottingham Forest to give them a 3-1 aggregate lead but Gibbs-White and John Fleck scored second-half goals for Sheffield United to force the match into extra time. With no change to the scoreline in the extra 30 minutes, the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Brice Samba, the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper, who had made a number of saves during regular and extra time, denied three of the Sheffield United penalty-takers and Nottingham Forest won the shoot-out 3-2 to qualify for the final.[8] During a pitch invasion after the match, Sheffield United's Billy Sharp was headbutted to the ground and required stitches to a wound; the perpetrator was later jailed.[9][10]

## Match[edit]

### Background[edit]

This was Huddersfield Town's sixth appearance in a play-off final, most recently in the 2017 EFL Championship play-off Final where they drew 0-0 with Reading before going on to win 4-3 in the resulting penalty shoot-out to secure promotion to the Premier League. This was also Huddersfield Town's most recent appearance at Wembley Stadium. They were relegated two seasons later and have played in the second tier of English football since the 2019–20 season.[11] Nottingham Forest will be playing in their first play-off final, having been knocked out in the semi-finals three times in the 2000s. They have played in the Championship for fourteen seasons after securing promotion from League One in the 2007–08 season. Nottingham Forest made their most recent appearance at the national stadium when they lost 1-0 to Manchester United in the 1992 Football League Cup Final at the original Wembley. They last played at the top tier of English football in the 1998–99 season.[12] The final was Forest's first appearance at the new Wembley since the stadium was re-opened in 2007.[12]

Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town had faced each other three times during the season, with both sides winning away in the league. Nottingham Forest won 2-0 in September 2021 while Huddersfield Town secured a 1-0 victory three months later.[13] In March 2022, the teams played each other in the fifth round of the 2021–22 FA Cup, with Nottingham Forest coming from behind to win 2-1.[14] Going into the final, Johnson was top scorer for Nottingham Forest with 18 goals and 10 assists in 48 appearances, while Danny Ward was leading marksman for Huddersfield Town, having scored 14 times and making 3 assists in 42 games.[15]

In May 2022, the EFL announced that for the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system would be used at all play-off finals.[16] The referee for the final was Jon Moss, who was officiating his final match before retirement,[17] and was assisted by Marc Perry and Tim Wood. Craig Pawson was the fourth official while Paul Tierney acted as the VAR.[18]

### Summary[edit]

Levi Colwill (pictured in 2019) scored the only goal of the game, into his own net off his knee.

Nottingham Forest kicked off the match at around 4.30 p.m. on 29 May 2022 in front of 80,019 supporters at Wembley Stadium, London. Two early fouls from Joe Worrall both resulted in free kicks, neither of which threatened the Nottingham Forest goal. In the 12th minute, Zinckernagel was brought down by Naby Sarr but Ryan Yates headed James Garner's free kick wide of the Huddersfield Town goal.[19] Nottingham Forest increased the pressure and Sarr had to clear the ball to prevent Keinan Davis from shooting. In the 23rd minute, Yates struck the ball from the edge of the Huddersfield Town penalty area but it went high over the crossbar. Seven minutes later, Scott McKenna's shot was cleared by Huddersfield Town. Zinckernagel's curving strike was then blocked before Thomas's dribble ended in indecision.[20] The deadlock was broken in the 43rd minute with Nottingham Forest taking the lead. Davis passed the ball to Garner who crossed it into the Huddersfield Town penalty area from the left towards Yates but it ricocheted off Levi Colwill's knee and went high into the left corner of the net for an own goal. After one minute of stoppage time, the first half came to an end with the score 1-0 to Nottingham Forest.[21]

Neither side made any changes to their playing personnel during the interval and Huddersfield Town kicked the second half off. Three minutes in, Yates struck the ball from around 25 yards (23 m) but it was saved by Lee Nicholls in the Huddersfield goal.[21] In the 55th minute, Zinckernagel received the first yellow card of the match for a foul on Lewis O'Brien but the resulting free kick went wide of the Nottingham Forest goal. Two minutes later, Jonathan Hogg's header was high before Huddersfield Town made the first substitution of the game with Jon Russell replacing Sarr. In the 66th minute, Nottingham Forest made their first personnel change, with Sam Surridge coming on for Davis, while Huddersfield Town made a double-substitution a minute later, when Sinani was replaced by Duane Holmes and Rhodes came on for Ward. On 71 minutes, a shot from Johnson went wide of the Huddersfield Town goal before Toffolo fell in the Nottingham Forest penalty area after a tackle from Colback, a foul which went to review by the VAR. Toffolo was booked for what the referee perceived as a dive, and subsequently no penalty was awarded by the VAR.[22]

With fifteen minutes remaining, Zinckernagel was substituted and replaced by Max Lowe for Nottingham Forest. In the 84th minute, Huddersfield Town's O'Brien was brought down by Lowe and despite claims for a penalty, the referee declined to award it. Three minutes later, Pipa's 35-yard (32 m) strike went high over the Nottingham Forest goal before Samba was forced off the pitch with an injury to be replaced by Ethan Horvath. Six minutes of stoppage time were indicated by the fourth official,[23] and with one minute remaining, O'Brien's shot from the edge of the Nottingham Forest penalty area flew wide. The referee blew the final whistle and Nottingham Forest won the match 1-0, to gain promotion to the Premier League.[24]

### Details[edit]

29 May 2022 (2022-05-29)

16:30 BST

Huddersfield Town| 0–1| Nottingham Forest

|
|

| Report |

* Colwill 43' (o.g.)

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 80,019

Referee: Jonathan Moss

Huddersfield Town

Nottingham Forest

|

|  |

|

GK | 21 |  Lee Nicholls
CB | 32 |  Tom Lees
CB | 23 |  Naby Sarr |  |  57'
CB | 26 |  Levi Colwill
RM | 2 |  Pipa
CM | 6 |  Jonathan Hogg (c)
CM | 8 |  Lewis O'Brien
LM | 3 |  Harry Toffolo |  73'
RW | 24 |  Danel Sinani |  |  66'
CF | 25 |  Danny Ward |  |  67'
LW | 16 |  Sorba Thomas
Substitutes:
GK | 18 |  Jamal Blackman
DF | 4 |  Matty Pearson
DF | 20 |  Ollie Turton
MF | 7 |  Tino Anjorin
MF | 19 |  Duane Holmes |  |  66'
MF | 37 |  Jon Russell |  |  57'
MF | 9 |  Jordan Rhodes |  |  67'
Head Coach:
Carlos Corberán
|  |  |

|

GK | 30 |  Brice Samba |  |  90'
CB | 4 |  Joe Worrall (c)
CB | 27 |  Steve Cook
CB | 26 |  Scott McKenna
RM | 2 |  Djed Spence
CM | 22 |  Ryan Yates
CM | 37 |  James Garner
LM | 8 |  Jack Colback
AM | 11 |  Philip Zinckernagel |  55' |  74'
CF | 20 |  Brennan Johnson
CF | 9 |  Keinan Davis |  |  66'
Substitutes:
GK | 1 |  Ethan Horvath |  |  90'
DF | 3 |  Tobias Figueiredo
DF | 15 |  Max Lowe |  |  74'
MF | 18 |  Cafú
MF | 23 |  Joe Lolley
FW | 16 |  Sam Surridge |  |  66'
FW | 17 |  Alex Mighten
Head Coach:
Steve Cooper
Statistics[21] | Huddersfield Town  | Nottingham Forest

|
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Possession  | 48% | 52%
Goals scored  | 0 | 1
Shots on target  | 0 | 2
Shots off target  | 5 | 6
Fouls committed  | 7 | 11
Corner kicks  | 4 | 2
Yellow cards  | 1 | 1
Red cards  | 0 | 0

## Post-match[edit]

Huddersfield Town's manager Carlos Corberán questioned the utility of VAR, stating he had "No idea what the point of VAR is ... I don't know if they can review actions, if the referee doesn't ask? ... I can only accept the decisions."[17] His defender, Tom Lees, was also convinced that decisions had gone against his side, suggesting that it "could change the club forever, I thought we had the cameras there to make sure the game wasn't spoiled by a bad decision. We've just got to take it."[17] Steve Cooper, the Nottingham Forest manager, stated "We deserve to be promoted, there is no doubt about that."[25]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 0–1 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport.
2. ^ a b "Championship – 2021/2022 – Regular season". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
3. ^ "EFL Official Website – About the Play-Offs". English Football League. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
4. ^ McIntyre, David (13 May 2022). "Luton Town 1-1 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
5. ^ Woodcock, Ian (16 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 1-0 Luton Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
6. ^ "Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest, 14 May 2022". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
7. ^ Woodcock, Ian (14 May 2022). "Sheffield United 1-2 Nottingham Forest". Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
8. ^ Aloia, Andrew (17 May 2022). "Nottingham Forest 1-2 Sheffield United (agg 3-3): Forest win 3-2 on penalties". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
9. ^ "Billy Sharp: Man arrested after Sheffield United captain allegedly assaulted after loss to Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
10. ^ "Billy Sharp: Fan jailed for headbutting player at end of match". BBC News. 19 May 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
11. ^ "Huddersfield Town". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
12. ^ a b "Nottingham Forest". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
13. ^ "Nottingham Forest football club: record v Huddersfield Town". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
14. ^ Anderson, Jess (7 March 2022). "Nottingham Forest 2-1 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
15. ^ "Championship Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
16. ^ "VAR to be used in all three EFL play-off finals". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
17. ^ a b c Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2022). "Carlos Corberan: Huddersfield Town boss questions VAR decisions in play-off final defeat". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
18. ^ "Referee appointments: Sky Bet Championship and Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Finals". English Football League. 26 May 2022. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
19. ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 7 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
20. ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 6 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
21. ^ a b c Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 5 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
22. ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 4 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
23. ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 3 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
24. ^ Newsum, Matt (29 May 2022). "Championship play-off final: Forest promoted after beating Huddersfield (page 2 of 9)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
25. ^ "Steve Cooper: Nottingham Forest belong in Premier League, says boss after promotion". BBC Sport. 29 May 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

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*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
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