1992 Football League Third Division play-off final

1992 Football League Third Division play-off final
The final took place at Wembley Stadium.
Event1991–92 Football League Third Division
Date24 May 1992
VenueWembley Stadium, London
RefereeMartin Bodenham
Attendance35,087
1991
1993

The 1992 Football League Third Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 24 May 1992 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Peterborough United and Stockport County to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Third Division to the Second Division. The top two teams of the 1991–92 Football League Third Division, Brentford and Birmingham City, gained automatic promotion, while the teams placed from third to sixth place took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place in the Second Division for the 1992–93 season. Peterborough and Stockport beat Huddersfield Town and Stoke City, respectively, in the semi-finals.

The match was refereed by Martin Bodenham in front of 35,087 spectators. The first half ended goalless but in the 52nd minute, a corner from Bobby Barnes found Ken Charlery at the near post who beat two defenders to head the ball onto the frame of the goal from where it bounced down; the linesman ruled it had crossed the line and the goal was awarded, making it 1–0 to Peterborough. Fifteen minutes later, Kevin Francis scored with a header from an Andy Preece pass, but the linesman raised his flag to signify offside and the goal was disallowed. With three minutes of the match remaining, Francis scored when Peterborough goalkeeper Fred Barber failed to catch a 15-yard (14-metre) strike from Preece. Peterborough took the lead back within two minutes, with Charlery scoring his second. A long pass from Marcus Ebdon was headed on by Charlery who ran past Tony Barras and shot past Neil Edwards in the Stockport goal.

Peterborough ended their following season in tenth position in League Division 1 (the renamed Second Division). Stockport finished their next season in sixth place in League Division 2 (the renamed Third Division) and qualified for the 1993 Football League play-offs, where they lost 2–1 on aggregate to Port Vale.