Background

Wycombe's Gareth Ainsworth, the longest-serving manager in the EFL, said before the match: "The season we have had has been astonishing ... This Wycombe team keeps on surprising and this could be the biggest surprise in history."^[12] His counterpart Karl Robinson noted: "This is one more push, one more game and one more adventure together".^[12] Oxford were expected to continue to play a passing game, having made the most passes during the season.^[13] Conversely Wycombe's approach was more direct, having scored 24 times from set pieces throughout the season.^[12][14] Robinson stated that his team would be unfazed by the difference in style but urged caution: "I don't overly worry about the style of the opposition ... It is very disrespectful if we use derogatory terms, as their style has got them to the final and ours has got ourselves to the final".^[12]

Oxford United last played in the second tier of English football after being relegated from the First Division in the 1998–99 season.^[12] The club was relegated to the Football Conference in the 2005–06 season and spent four seasons playing non-League football.^[12] They had never previously featured in any Football League play-off finals, but had achieved promotion to League Two after winning the 2010 Conference Premier play-off final. In contrast, Wycombe had never played at Championship level in their history,^[12] having been promoted as champions into the Football League from the Football Conference in the 1992–93 season.^[15] They went on to make back-to-back promotions by beating Preston North End 4–2 at the old Wembley Stadium in the 1994 Football League Third Division play-off final.^[15] The suspension of the league had meant there had been only one match between the two teams during the regular season: in December 2019, Oxford won at home 1–0.^[16] Described by the BBC as a "fiery local derby", the match saw Akinfenwa sent off mid-way through the first half, and seven other players booked.^[17] Wycombe's highest scorers during the season were Jacobson with eleven (and three assists) and Akinfenwa with ten (and five assists). Oxford's top marksmen were Matty Taylor with thirteen goals (and one assist), and James Henry with twelve goals (and ten assists).^[18]

The referee for the match was Robert Jones, who was assisted by Timothy Wood and James Mainwaring. Gavin Wood acted as the fourth official.^[19] Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the match was played behind closed doors, only the second time a competitive match at Wembley Stadium had been conducted in such conditions.^[14] Robinson made one modification to his team from the second play-off semi-final, with Taylor replacing Jamie Mackie in Oxford's starting lineup, while Wycombe's team was unchanged.^[13][20] A minute's applause was held before kick-off to commemorate the death of Jack Charlton and the Black Lives Matter cause was recognised with both teams taking the knee for a short period.^[13]

First half

Wycombe Wanderers kicked the game off at around 7:30 p.m. On 6 minutes, a volley from Oxford's Browne from outside the penalty area went high and wide of the goal. Three minutes later, Wycombe took the lead: Jacobson curled in the first corner of the game and Anthony Stewart's header found the back of Oxford's net, making it 1–0. In the 16th minute, Henry passed to Taylor, who headed it down into the Wycombe area but failed to find any of his teammates. Three minutes after, Onyedinma's shot was collected by Eastwood at the second attempt, before Sam Long's strike for Oxford went wide. In the 23rd minute, the game was temporarily halted for a drinks break. In the 29th minute, Oxford's Alex Rodríguez received the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Samuel; the resulting free kick came to nothing. Two minutes later, another Jacobson corner was swung into the far post but was cleared by Oxford. Ofoborh then conceded Oxford's first corner which was sent into the area and tipped away by Wycombe's goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.^[13] On 37 minutes, a sliding tackle from Stewart intercepted a pass from Henry to Taylor inside the six-yard box, and six minutes later, another long-range effort from Browne went high once again. With a minute of the half remaining, Onyadinma made space for himself before striking wide of the Oxford goal. After three minutes of added-on time, the half was brought to a close with Wycombe leading 1–0.^[21]

Second half

The first two substitutions of the match were made at the beginning of the second half, with Alex Pattison replacing Matt Bloomfield for Wycombe and Rodríguez coming off for Liam Kelly for Oxford. Pattison then made a run but his pass failed to find Onyadinma and on 50 minutes, Browne's ball into the Wycombe box was cleared. Stewart then deflected a cross from Mark Sykes out for a corner. In the 55th minute, a free kick from Jacobson went over the crossbar, and in the following minute Oxford equalised. A cross from Sykes from a tight angle beat Allsop and made it 1–1.^[21][22] Eight minutes later, Henry made a run into the Wycombe box and passed to Taylor whose shot went wide. Wycombe then made two further substitutions in the 64th minute, Akinfenwa and Curtis Thompson replacing Samuel and Ofoborh. Stewart once again made a saving tackle to deny Taylor before Allsop saved an attempt from Robert Dickie. After the second-half drinks break, Thompson was booked in the 73rd minute for a foul on Kelly. On 77 minutes, the Oxford goalkeeper Eastwood fouled Onyadinma and a penalty was awarded. Jacobson struck the spot kick down the centre as Eastwood dived to his left, giving Wycombe the lead once again. Oxford responded by making two further substitutions, Anthony Forde and Dan Agyei replacing Long and Henry. Heavy rain began to fall and in the 87th minute a Forde cross was headed into Allsop's hands by Taylor. Agyei and Taylor then combined but Stewart once again denied the chance. On 89 minutes, Ben Woodburn replaced Browne.^[23] Five minutes of additional time was indicated and three minutes in, Nick Freeman came on to replace Onyadinma. The match ended 2–1 to Wycombe who were promoted to the EFL Championship for the first time in their 133-year history.^[24][25]

Details

More information Wycombe Wanderers, 2–1 ...

Wycombe Wanderers	2–1	Oxford United
Stewart 9' Jacobson 79' (pen.)	Report	Sykes 57'

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Wycombe Wanderers[26]

Oxford United[26]

GK 1 Ryan Allsop RB 19 Jack Grimmer CB 5 Anthony Stewart CB 21 Darius Charles LB 3 Joe Jacobson RM 7 David Wheeler CM 4 Dominic Gape LM 28 Nnamdi Ofoborh  63' RF 10 Matt Bloomfield (c)  46' CF 25 Alex Samuel  62' LF 23 Fred Onyedinma  90+3' Substitutes: DF 2 Sido Jombati MF 8 Alex Pattison  46' FW 11 Scott Kashket DF 16 Giles Phillips MF 18 Curtis Thompson  72'  63' FW 20 Adebayo Akinfenwa  62' MF 22 Nick Freeman  90+3' FW 27 Josh Parker GK 31 David Stockdale Manager: Gareth Ainsworth

GK 1 Simon Eastwood RB 12 Sam Long  79' CB 4 Rob Dickie (c) CB 5 Elliott Moore LB 3 Josh Ruffels RM 18 Mark Sykes CM 6 Alejandro Rodríguez Gorrín  27'  46' LM 8 Cameron Brannagan RF 17 James Henry  79' CF 9 Matty Taylor LF 30 Marcus Browne  89' Substitutes: MF 10 Ben Woodburn  89' GK 13 Jack Stevens MF 14 Anthony Forde  79' DF 15 John Mousinho FW 19 Jamie Mackie DF 20 Jamie Hanson FW 23 Dan Agyei  79' DF 26 Rob Atkinson MF 28 Liam Kelly  46' Manager: Karl Robinson