2010 Football League Championship play-off final
The 2010 Championship play-off final was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 22 May 2010. The match pitted Blackpool against Cardiff City, with the winner earning a place in the Premier League for the 2010–11 season. The game was one of the most lucrative in football, with promotion worth around £90 million.
Cardiff started strongly and took the lead twice. Michael Chopra headed home four minutes in, and Joe Ledley extended Cardiff’s lead to 2–1 after about 36 minutes. Blackpool responded quickly in the first half. Charlie Adam scored from a free kick to pull the teams level, Gary Taylor-Fletcher then equalised, and Brett Ormerod hit a shot that deflected in to give Blackpool a 3–2 lead just before half-time. There were no goals in the second half, and Blackpool held on to win 3–2 in front of 82,244 spectators. Keith Southern was named man of the match, and the referee was Andre Marriner.
Blackpool’s promotion meant their Bloomfield Road stadium—one of the smallest in the Premier League after upgrades—would host top‑flight football. It was Blackpool’s first time back in the top division since the 1970–71 season, when they spent a single season in the old First Division. However, they were relegated back to the Championship after one season in the Premier League.
Cardiff, meanwhile, returned to the play-offs the following season but were defeated in the semi-finals. Newcastle United had won the Championship that year with 102 points, earning automatic promotion along with West Bromwich Albion. Blackpool finished the season in sixth place, sealing their dramatic route to Wembley, while Cardiff finished fourth and entered another Play-off campaign.
The match marked a historic achievement for Blackpool and a dramatic near-miss for Cardiff, both encapsulating the high-stakes allure of the Championship play-offs.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:24 (CET).