The 2004 Football League First Division play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 2004 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Crystal Palace and West Ham United. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the FA Premier League. The top two teams of the 2003–04 Football League First Division season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; West Ham ended the season in fourth position while Crystal Palace finished sixth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2004–05 season in the Premier League. Ipswich Town and Sunderland were the losing semi-finalists. Winning the final was estimated to be worth up to £30 million to the successful team.

Quick Facts Crystal Palace, West Ham United ...

2004 Football League First Division play-off Final

The match was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
Crystal Palace West Ham United 1 0
Date	29 May 2004
Venue	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee	Graham Poll (Herts)
Attendance	72,523
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The 2005 final was played in front of a crowd of 72,523 and was refereed by Graham Poll. After a goalless first half, Crystal Palace took the lead with a goal from Neil Shipperley in the 62nd minute. West Ham twice had goals ruled out for offside and were denied a penalty late in the second half, and Palace held on to win 1–0.

West Ham finished the following season in sixth place in the Championship and gained promotion through the play-offs, beating Preston North End in the final. Palace were relegated on the final day of the following season finishing in 18th place in the table, making an immediate return to the second tier.

West Ham United finished the regular 2003–04 season in fifth place in the Football League First Division, the second tier of the English football league system, two places and one point ahead of Crystal Palace. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs, along with Sunderland and Ipswich Town, to determine the third promoted team. West Ham finished twelve points behind West Bromwich Albion (who were promoted in second place) and twenty behind league winners Norwich City.^[1]

Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie had been appointed in December 2003 with the club in 19th position, before losing just six times in the final half of the season to finish sixth,^[2][3] a turnaround in form described by the BBC as "a remarkable transformation".^[4] Their qualification for the play-offs was secured in injury time of the final game of the season when West Ham's Brian Deane equalised against Wigan Athletic.^[4] Palace faced Sunderland in their play-off semi-final with the first leg being played at Selhurst Park on 14 May 2004. After a goalless first half, Sunderland took the lead early in the second through a Marcus Stewart penalty. Within a minute, Neil Shipperley equalised with a header before Danny Butterfield's deflected shot gave Palace the lead ten minutes later. Kevin Kyle levelled the tie with five minutes to go before Andrew Johnson restored Palace's lead two minutes later, with the match ending 3–2.^[5] The second leg took place at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland three days later. Although Palace's Aki Riihilahti hit the woodwork in the sixth minute, Kyle scored in the 42nd minute to level the tie on aggregate. Stewart scored with a header just before half-time to make it 4–3 to Sunderland before substitute Darren Powell's header made it 4–4 on aggregate and sent the semi-final to penalties. John Oster and Jason McAteer both missed penalties for Sunderland while Mart Poom saved twice, from Shaun Derry and Wayne Routledge. Jeff Whitley then failed to score and Michael Hughes struck the winning spot-kick.^[6]

West Ham's play-off semi-final opponents were Ipswich Town, and the first leg took place at Portman Road in Ipswich on 15 May 2004. Ian Westlake's shot was cleared off the line by West Ham's Andy Melville in the first half, which ended goalless. Twelve minutes into the second half, Darren Bent scored with a header after Richard Naylor's initial shot rebounded off the crossbar, and the game ended 1–0.^[7] The return leg was played at the Boleyn Ground three days later. Bent missed an early chance to extend Ipswich's lead and Steve Lomas hit the post for West Ham, the first half ending goalless. In the 50th minute, Matthew Etherington scored from inside the Ipswich penalty area with a strike described by the BBC as a "screamer" to level the tie.^[8] Twenty minutes later, an Etherington corner was poorly defended by Ipswich, and Christian Dailly's shot was deflected into the Ipswich goal off Tommy Miller's heel. Westlake hit the post in the last minute but West Ham held on to win the semi-final 2–1 on aggregate to qualify for the final.^[8]

Winning manager Dowie was quick to praise his team: "The players have shown great commitment and desire. We showed today that we are a good football side and now we have to take on the superpowers".^[17] He was realistic about the forthcoming season, noting "we have got to come up with a format for keeping us in the Premier League; it is a huge ask".^[18] His counterpart Alan Pardew described it as a "dark day" for West Ham, suggesting: "all our fans, their dreams and ambitions for the club, have been ended and it hits your right between the eyes".^[18]

West Ham finished the following season in sixth place in the Championship and gained promotion through the play-offs, beating Preston North End 1–0 in the final.^[19] Palace were relegated on the final day of the following season after a 2–2 draw with Charlton Athletic consigned them to 18th place in the table and assured their immediate return to the second tier.^[20]