 The match was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. | |||||||
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| Date | 26 May 2003 | ||||||
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| Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Matt Murray (Wolverhampton Wanderers) | ||||||
| Referee | Steve Bennett (Kent) | ||||||
| Attendance | 69,473 | ||||||
The 2003 Football League First Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 26 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the FA Premier League. The top two teams of the 2002–03 Football League First Division season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; Sheffield United ended the season in third position while Wolverhampton Wanderers finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2003–04 season in the Premier League. Reading and Nottingham Forest were the losing semi-finalists.
The 2003 final was played in front of a crowd of 69,473 and was refereed by Steve Bennett. Mark Kennedy opened the scoring for Wolves after six minutes with a shot from distance. They doubled their lead in the 22nd minute when Nathan Blake headed in a corner from Kenny Miller. Just before half-time, Miller made it 3–0 after converting a cross from Miller. At half-time, Neil Warnock, the Sheffield United manager, was sent off for repeatedly complaining about the performance of the referee. His side was awarded a penalty early in the second half, but Wolves goalkeeper Matt Murray saved Michael Brown's strike. Wolves won the match 3–0, taking them back to the top flight for the first time in nearly 20 years. Murray was named man of the match.
Wolves ended the next season bottom of the Premier League and were relegated back to the second tier of English football for the 2004–05 season. Sheffield United ended their following season in eighth place in the First Division, missing out on the play-offs by two points.