Sheffield Wednesday comeback vs Peterborough voted as greatest match in play-off history
Sheffield Wednesday became the first team in the history of the EFL play-offs to overturn a four-goal deficit when they progressed to the League One play-off final in May 2023.
Sheffield Wednesday’s historic League One play-off semi-final second leg comeback against Peterborough United at Hillsborough in May 2023 has been crowned as the greatest play-off match of all-time, the English Football League has confirmed.
After losing the first leg 4-0 at the Weston Homes Stadium, Wednesday, who had finished three places and 19 points ahead of Posh in the regular season, were staring down the barrel at a third successive campaign in League One.
However, former Owls boss Darren Moore masterminded the greatest night Hillsborough has ever witnessed as his side won the second leg 5-1, meaning the contest finished 5-5 on aggregate after 210 minutes before Wednesday prevailed on penalties.
Trailing 4-0 after the first leg, Wednesday came flying out of the blocks in the second leg at Hillsborough, taking a 2-0 lead into half-time following goals from Michael Smith and Lee Gregory. Reece James then made it 3-0 on the night and 3-4 on aggregate with a little under 20 minutes remaining to give Wednesday hope of completing an unprecedented play-off comeback.
Then, of course, Liam Palmer scored with virtually the last kick of the game, turning home Aden Flint’s header back across goal, to make it 4-0 to Wednesday on the night and 4-4 on aggregate. However, Peterborough got their noses back in front on aggregate in extra-time when Gregory headed a free-kick from Dan Butler into his own net, leaving Wednesday with work to do again.
Fortunately, Wednesday rallied and fought back again, drawing level on aggregate for a second time when Callum Paterson prodded the ball home in the second half of extra-time to take a pulsating semi-final contest to a penalty shootout.
Wednesday, who had practised penalties ahead of the second leg, confident they could fight their way back from 4-0 down, dispatched all five of their spot kicks to win 5-3 on penalties and reach the League One play-off final, booking a date with Barnsley at Wembley.
Ranking as arguably the most famous game in Wednesday’s entire history, it has now been voted as the greatest play-off match in 40 years of the play-offs. The EFL, earlier this month, put forward a vote for supporters to choose what they believed was the greatest match in play-off history and the Miracle of Hillsborough has come out on top.
The Miracle of Hillsborough was nominated alongside Charlton Athletic’s and Sunderland’s 4-4 draw in the First Division play-off final in 1998, Manchester City’s dramatic triumph over Gillingham in the Second Division play-off final in 1999, Watford’s 3-1 Championship play-off semi-final second leg win over Leicester City in 2013, Exeter City’s pulsating 3-2 win over Carlisle United in the second leg of their League Two play-off semi-final in 2018, sealing a 6-5 aggregate victory, and Derby County’s 4-2 win over Leeds United in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final at Elland Road in 2019.
Recalling how he oversaw the greatest play-off comeback of all-time, former Owls boss Moore told BBC Sport: "When I came in on the Monday, we finished training and I started taking penalty kicks with the boys.
"The looks I got... but what I did was I got into them psychologically. They were finishing the pens they were taking, but they were proving to me they could score.
"The second day, I got all the academy staff out and I had them waving banners behind the goal. On the Wednesday, we went down to Hillsborough and this time I'd done it under a chorus of boos over the tannoy.
"It was the easiest team talk. I said, 'lads, we are prepared for this'. If you look at the five kicks that they took, they were absolutely sublime.
“The work over the four or five days, the intensity to make sure everything was possible, that we were going to leave it on the pitch, was achieved."