 Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United flags at Wembley | |||||||
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| Huddersfield won 8–7 on penalties | |||||||
| Date | 26 May 2012 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Peter Clarke (Huddersfield) | ||||||
| Referee | Roger East | ||||||
| Attendance | 52,100 | ||||||
| Weather | Sunny and warm | ||||||
The 2012 Football League One play-off final was an association football match which was played on 26 May 2012 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League One to the Football League Championship. The top two teams of the 2011–12 Football League One season, Charlton Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the teams placed from third to sixth position in the table took part in play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2012–13 season in the Championship.
Roger East was the referee for the match which was played in front of 52,100 spectators. The match itself ended in a 0–0 draw and went into after extra time. With no goals in the additional period of play, the match had to be decided with a penalty shootout. Eight of the first ten penalties were missed or saved and the subsequent twelve were all scored. With the shootout level at 7–7, Huddersfield's goalkeeper Alex Smithies scored past his counterpart Steve Simonsen to give them the advantage. Simonsen then struck his penalty high over Smithies' crossbar and the shootout ended 8–7, with Huddersfield gaining promotion to the Championship.
Sheffield United ended their next season in fifth position in League One and participated in the play-offs where they lost to Yeovil Town in the semi-final. Huddersfield Town's following season saw them finish in 19th place in the Championship, three positions and four points above the relegation zone.