.jpg) The Millennium Stadium hosted the final. | |||||||
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| Date | 26 May 2001 | ||||||
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| Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ||||||
| Referee | David Pugh | ||||||
| Attendance | 23,600 | ||||||
The 2001 Football League Third Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 26 May 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Blackpool and Leyton Orient. It was to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Third Division to the Second Division. The top three teams of the 2000–01 Football League Third Division, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City and Chesterfield, gained automatic promotion to the Second Division, while those placed from fourth to seventh place in the table took part in play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2001–02 season in the Second Division. The losing semi-finalists were Hartlepool United and Hull City who had been defeated by Blackpool and Leyton Orient respectively. It was the first season that the play-off finals were contested at the Millennium Stadium during the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium.
The match was refereed by David Pugh in front of a crowd of 23,600. After 27 seconds, an error from Blackpool's goalkeeper Phil Barnes following a backpass from Brian Reid allowed Chris Tate to score, putting Leyton Orient into an early lead. In the 35th minute, the scores were level as Ian Hughes headed in Paul Simpson's corner to make it 1–1. Two minutes later, Houghton restored Leyton Orient's lead with a strike from around 20 yards (18 m) which beat Barnes. A minute before half-time, Blackpool equalised once again as Reid converted Gary Parkinson's cross, and the half ended 2–2. With 13 minutes of the match remaining, Blackpool took the lead for the first time, after Simpson scored following Brett Ormerod's through ball. In the 88th minute Omerod converted a cross from John Hills from around 6 yards (5.5 m) to make it 4–2 to Blackpool who secured promotion to the Second Division.
Blackpool ended their following season in sixteenth position in the Second Division, five places and twelve points ahead of the relegation zone. Leyton Orient's next season saw them finish in eighteenth place in the Third Division.