 View of Wembley Stadium prior to the final | |||||||
| Event | 2017–18 EFL League Two | ||||||
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| Date | 28 May 2018 | ||||||
| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Marc McNulty | ||||||
| Referee | David Webb | ||||||
| Attendance | 50,196 | ||||||
| Weather | Hot, sunny, 30 °C (86 °F) | ||||||
The 2018 EFL League Two play-off final was an association football match played on 28 May 2018 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Coventry City and Exeter City. The match determined the fourth and final team to gain promotion from EFL League Two, English football's fourth tier, to EFL League One. The top three teams of the 2017–18 EFL League Two season gained automatic promotion to League One, while the teams placed from fourth to seventh in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2018–19 season in League One. Exeter finished in fourth place while Coventry ended the season in sixth position. Lincoln City and Notts County were the losing semi-finalists.
The game, which was refereed by David Webb, was played on a hot sunny day in front of a crowd of 50,196. After a goalless first half, Coventry took the lead four minutes into the second half through Jordan Willis. Five minutes later they doubled their lead with a goal from Jordan Shipley. Midway through the half, Jack Grimmer made it 3–0 to Coventry. Kyle Edwards scored a consolation goal in the closing minutes of the game, but Coventry won 3–1 to earn promotion to the 2018–19 EFL League One. It was their first promotion for 51 years since being guided by Jimmy Hill into the 1967–68 Football League First Division. Marc McNulty, the Coventry striker was named the man of the match.
Three days after the final, the Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale left the club after twelve years, having failed to agree a new contract. At the time of his departure, he was the longest serving manager in English football's top four divisions. Exeter's new manager and former player Matt Taylor led them to ninth place in the 2018–19 League Two table in their next season, two places and a single point below the play-off positions. In their following season, Coventry finished in eighth place in the 2018–19 League One table, two places and eight points outside the play-offs.