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| Event | 1994–95 Football League First Division | ||||||
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| (a.e.t.) | |||||||
| Date | 29 May 1995 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Peter Foakes | ||||||
| Attendance | 64,107 | ||||||
The 1995 Football League First Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 1995 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Bolton Wanderers and Reading. The match was to determine the second and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the Premiership. The champions of the 1994–95 Football League First Division gained automatic promotion to the Premiership, while the teams placed from second to fifth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Reading ended the season in second position while Bolton Wanderers finished third. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 1995–96 season in the Premiership.
The match was played in front of a Wembley crowd of more than 64,000 spectators and was refereed by Peter Foakes. Reading's Lee Nogan opened the scoring after four minutes, before Ady Williams doubled their advantage eight minutes later. Bolton's Jason McAteer then fouled Michael Gilkes and conceded a penalty. Stuart Lovell's spot kick was saved by the Bolton goalkeeper Keith Branagan and the first half ended 2–0. Reading lost Nogan and Andy Bernal through injury midway into the second half, and Bolton's Owen Coyle scored to halve the deficit with fifteen minutes remaining. A late goal from Fabian de Freitas resulted in regular time ending 2–2 and sent the game into extra time. Mixu Paatelainen then put Bolton ahead for the first time in the match, scoring midway through the additional period, and De Freitas scored his second, and Bolton's fourth, with two minutes remaining. A last-minute consolation goal from the Reading player and co-manager Jimmy Quinn meant the match ended 4–3 to Bolton who secured promotion to the Premiership.
Rioch left Bolton in June to become the new manager at Arsenal and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was sacked after six months with the club bottom of the Premiership. Bolton were subsequently relegated in their first season in the division, after finishing bottom of the table. Reading ended their following season in eighteenth place in the 1995–96 First Division, three places and four points above the relegation zone.