Our play-off semi-final win in 2001
This article will look back at the 2000-01 season, and the second leg of the playoff semi-final with West Bromwich Albion.
After a season which promised automatic promotion at one point, Fulham and Blackburn ended up taking the top two spots, which meant we had to go through the playoffs. After a defeat at Wembley in 1999, before losing to Barry Knight in the semi-finals in 2000, would it be third time lucky?
After a 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns in the first leg, with two late goals getting us back in the tie, we certainly had the momentum going back to the Reebok.
And we made sure there was little drama on this Thursday night, with Sam Allardyce describing the victory as a “professional performance” as we ran out 3-0 winners.
Simon Charlton delivered a tree-kick in the 10th minute which Gudni Bergsson was able to head in to double his playoff tally and put us ahead in the tie and on the night.
Mid-way through the second half, with us under a fair bit of pressure, Anthony Barness played through Ricardo Gardner who doubled our lead.
Then, in the 90th minute, Michael Ricketts went around goalkeeper
Russell Hoult, and finished the tie off once and for all. Bolton were going to Cardiff, where they would return to the top flight with another 3-0 win, this time over Preston North End.