![]() The final was held at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
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Date | 2 June 1991 | ||||||
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Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Referee | David Elleray (Harrow) | ||||||
Attendance | 59,940 | ||||||
The 1991 Football League Second Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 2 June 1991 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Brighton & Hove Albion and Notts County. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Second Division, the second tier of English football, to the First Division. The top three teams of the 1990–91 Football League Second Division season gained automatic promotion to the First Division, while the clubs placed from fourth to seventh place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; Notts County ended the season in fourth position, two places ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1991–92 season in the First Division. Middlesbrough and Millwall were the losing semi-finalists.
The match was played in front of a Wembley crowd of 59,940 spectators and was refereed by David Elleray. Brighton started strongly but Notts County took the lead in the first half of the final with a Tommy Johnson goal. Brighton hit the post and the bar either side of half time, before Johnson made it 2–0 midway through the second half. Notts County added a third goal through Dave Regis before Dean Wilkins scored a late consolation goal, to end the game 3–1.
In their following season, Notts County finished 21st in the First Division, and were relegated back to the second tier of English football. Brighton's next season also ended with their relegation: they finished in 23rd position and dropped into the third tier.