League One 1998 1999 PlayOff Final Manchester City Gillingham

30 Mai 1999

Wembley Stadium London

ENG resume pass twb22

League.One.1998.1999.Gillingham.City;PlayOff;Final.resume.twb22.mp4

611.1 Mo

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Manchester City beat Gillingham on penalties in the 1999 Division Two play-off final, in what was one of the club’s most famous ever wins. Goalscorer and City legend Kevin Horlock has revealed the inside story of the clash at Wembley, that saw Joe Royle’s side promoted to Division One. Manchester City fans will likely rank Sergio Aguero’s last-minute title-winning goal against QPR as their favourite moment in the club’s history. But, supporters would surely rank Paul Dickov’s equaliser against Gillingham as a very close second.

City’s 1999 Division Two play-off final fightback against the Gills was remarkably similar to the events at the Etihad Stadium on May 13 2012; albeit in hugely different circumstances. Manager Joe Royle had been instilled as the club’s permanent boss midway through the previous season, but couldn’t help City from being relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in its history. The Citizens finished the 1998-1999 season in third place in Division Two, after a terrific end to the campaign, in which they lost just two of their final 23 matches. A play-off semi-final against Wigan Athletic ended in a 2-1 win for City after two legs, setting up a tie with fourth-placed Gillingham in the final at Wembley. City legend Kevin Horlock looks back on the final with affection, knowing that he had a huge role to play in the club’s promotion that day. But, he admits that up until the 80th minute at Wembley, the game was relatively underwhelming for neutrals. “My biggest recollection of that day was it being a really poor game,” Horlock told Express Sport. “I missed an absolute sitter of a header early on. It went straight to the goalie which played on my mind the whole game.”

Besides his early chance, the clash failed to live up to hype, in what was a largely cagey affair. But, the deadlock was broken by Gillingham’s Carl Asaba in the 81st minute, after he broke through the City defence to smash the ball past an on-rushing Nicky Weaver in goal. With City pushing forward, searching for an equaliser, the Gills - who were managed by Tony Pulis - went 2-0 up on 87 minutes. Asana played a neat back-heeled ball into the path of striker Robert Taylor, who placed the ball into the goal from 20 yards out. Asked whether he thought the match was over at 2-0, Horlock admitted that he couldn’t see a way back for the Citizens. “Yeah. I’m not going to lie and say otherwise,” he said. “I remember the two Gillingham centre-halves jumping up and down hugging each other when it was 2-0 on the halfway line, while the game was still going on, and thinking ‘we’ve blown it.’” Fortunately for Blues fans, the match was given extra life when Horlock pulled one back in the first minute of added time. The former Northern Ireland international was in the right place, at the right time, to benefit from a rebound. Top goalscorer Shaun Goater was excellently tackled in the opposition box, and the ball ended up rolling straight onto Horlock’s left foot, as he drilled the ball into the net from outside the box. “I don’t know how I ended up there, because I’m that slow,” said Horlock. “I must’ve been running forward with the previous attack, I reckon. “I just remember the ball rolling toward me and being really thankful that it was on my left foot and not my right. If it was on my right, the story could’ve been totally different I’d imagine. “On my left foot, I would’ve backed myself to score nine times out of 10 in that situation; ball rolling toward me, a couple of defenders in the way, but I knew if I got a clean strike, it would go in.” The defensive midfielder - who racked up an impressive 206 appearances for City over six years - admitted that even if they’d lost the game at that point, he was quietly pleased to at least get on the scoreline. He continued: “Selfishly - I know it sounds really selfish - but at the time I’ve thought ‘we’ve had a really terrible day. We’ve not achieved what we set out to achieve at the beginning of the season and we’re going to stay in this division. But I’ve played at Wembley and scored for Man City; albeit a consolation’. “Little did I know how wrong I was going to be.”

In the 95th minute at Wembley, a similar situation occurred with Shaun Goater being well tackled on the edge of the Gillingham box. The ball rolled out to Paul Dickov, who reigned it in while on the half-turn, and slammed the ball into the goal, while slipping at the same time. Dickov’s celebration would become iconic among City fans, as the former Scotland international slid on his knees, screaming to the skies with delight. “I knew that we’d have a chance as long as we had time left,” said Horlock. he two teams were destined to be separated by the “lottery” of a penalty shootout, with Horlock taking the first spot-kick. After a long run-up, he powered the ball into the middle-left of the net. “Mine was a little bit safe, and I suppose if the keeper goes the right way he saves it, but he didn’t.” Gillingham would go on to miss three of their four penalties. They wouldn’t get a chance to take a fifth. City sealed promotion straight back to Division One at the first time of asking, in a day that would become enshrined in the football club's history. “Looking back on it," Horlock reflected, "And I’ve watched it back many a time - I think Richard Edghill and Terry Cooke’s were really good penalties. “I think Gillingham would admit that their penalties were dreadful, apart from one. There wasn’t a lot for Weaves [Weaver] to do. They basically just hit him, but he had to be there. He was a young lad. It was his first taste of first-team football that season, and he was the hero on the day, and in penalty shootouts, you need a hero.” ity would go on to earn back-to-back promotions, finishing second in Division One the following season. They were joined in the Premier League by Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town in the year 2000.

There were obvious comparisons to the jubilation of City’s play-off success after Aguero won the club the title in 2012. It’s easy to forget that Edin Dzeko scored a crucial goal in added time against QPR to bring City back into the tie, in the same way that Horlock did at Wembley. While Dickov’s goal was immortalised at Maine Road, and subsequently the Etihad Stadium, there is some poetry in fans’ belief that Horlock scored ‘the most important goal in Manchester City’s history’.

City Weaver, Crooks, Edghill, Morrison, Horlock, Wiekens, Brown, Jeff Whitley, Dickov, Goater, Cooke – subs Vaughan(63), Taylor(85), Bishop(63)

Gillingham Bartram, Southall, Ashby, Smith, Butters, Pennock, Patterson, Hessenthaler, Asaba, Galloway, Taylor – subs Hodge(105), Carr(86), Saunders(56)