.jpg) The match was played at the Millennium Stadium. | |||||||
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| Huddersfield Town won 4–1 on penalties | |||||||
| Date | 31 May 2004 | ||||||
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| Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ||||||
| Referee | Mark Clattenburg (Durham) | ||||||
| Attendance | 37,298 | ||||||
The 2004 Football League Third Division play-off final was an association football match which was played on 31 May 2004 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Huddersfield Town and Mansfield Town to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Third Division to Football League One (the renamed Second Division). The top three teams of the 2003–04 Third Division season, Doncaster Rovers, Hull City and Torquay United, gained automatic promotion to League One, while those placed from fourth to seventh place in the table took part in play-offs. The winners of the semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2004–05 season in Football League One. Huddersfield and Mansfield defeated Lincoln City and Northampton Town, respectively, in the semi-finals.
The final kicked off around 3 p.m. in front of a crowd of 37,298 and was refereed by Mark Clattenburg. Both sides had chances to score in regular time and in the final minute of the match, Colin Larkin put the ball into the Huddersfield net but the goal was disallowed as the ball had gone out of play during the build-up. The match was goalless after 90 minutes, sending it into extra time. Tony Carss went close for Huddersfield in the first period of additional time while Laurent D'Jaffo and Wayne Corden missed chances for Mansfield, but with no score after 120 minutes, a penalty shootout was required to decide the outcome of the match. Huddersfield scored their first three penalties while Mansfield converted one, and Lee Fowler scored Huddersfield's fourth penalty to secure a 4–1 victory for his side and promotion to the 2nd Division or League 1 after the change.
Huddersfield's next season saw them finish in ninth place in Football League One, three positions and one point below the play-offs. Mansfield ended their following season in thirteenth position in Football League Two (the renamed Third Division).