'It was mayhem': Remembering one of the best play-off finals in English football history

Former Charlton stalwart John Robinson on his side's epic contest with Sunderland 25 years ago and the work he does in the UAE with Coventry City, who vie for a place in the Premier League this weekend

Charlton Athletic celebrate with the Championship play-off trophy. Getty

It is 25 years this week since what's regarded as one of the greatest play-off finals in English football history.

The game between Charlton Athletic and Sunderland at the old Wembley Stadium ended 4-4 after extra time, with Charlton winning 7-6 on penalties to secure a place in the Premier League.

To say it was a breathless, see-saw affair played on a humid May day before a raucous capacity crowd probably undersells what was a contest for the ages.

The play-off final on May 25, 1998 was the final game of an English domestic season that had seen Arsenal win a Premier League and FA Cup double, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough secure automatic promotion to the top flight and Manchester City relegated to the third tier.

Sunderland and Charlton had narrowly missed out on promotion and had drawn home and away in the regular season. There was really nothing to separate the sides, and typically, their Wembley final proved to be a game decided by the finest of margins – and only after extra time and penalties.

Charlton took a first-half lead in the final through Clive Mendonca, then Sunderland hit back to go 2-1 ahead through strikers Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips before the hour mark. Mendonca equalised for the Addicks in the 71st minute.

Quinn put Sunderland 3-2 ahead a couple of minutes later. Charlton’s Richard Rufus forced the match into extra time with a header five minutes from time.

Nicky Summerbee nosed Sunderland back in front in the first period of extra time before hat-trick hero Mendonca levelled it up for the final time in the 103rd minute to take the match to penalties.

John Robinson, who is a Charlton hall of famer who made more than 300 league appearances for the club during a decade of service at The Valley, shares his memories of the match with The National.

He came on as a second-half substitute in the final to provide an assist for Charlton’s equaliser in normal time and took the sixth penalty for his side in the shoot-out, but like the match itself, that really only tells half the story.

Robinson, who these days is the director of a youth football academy and talent identification programme for English Premier League contenders Coventry City in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, had fractured his left fibula earlier in the season and faced a race against time to get back to fitness.

John Robinson and Coventry City youth academy players in Dubai. Courtesy of John Robinson

By the time late May ticked around, Robinson thought he had done enough to convince Charlton manager Alan Curbishley to start the game at Wembley by proving his fitness in a behind-closed-doors friendly.

“You want to be part of it. For the club, the staff, players and fans, it is the biggest game in the world,” he said.

Instead, he was named on the bench, but said, “I knew I'd get on, I just hoped to spend as many minutes out there as possible.”

Robinson had been to Wembley before in the play-offs, with Brighton in 1991, but was not selected for the final despite scoring in the semi-final against Millwall. The Seagulls went on to lose the final to Notts County.

“It was a disappointment not to make the match day squad, but I was young at the time and I was just grateful to be going to Wembley. So in 1998, I wanted to take the whole moment in.

“I always remember going down Wembley Way and all you saw from the coach were the twin towers [of the old stadium] and the fans on either side of the road,” he said.

The pre-match atmosphere was extraordinary, says Robinson. “The noise was incredible. The whole stadium was red and white.”

Robinson was summoned from the bench when Charlton were 3-2 down late in the second half. “Curbs [Alan Curbishley] told me ‘do your thing, we need a goal’.”

When Charlton won a corner with five minutes to go, Robinson went over to take it.

“All I could think about was making sure to hit it close to the penalty spot because we knew we’d have lots of players attacking the ball. It's probably one of the best corners I've ever hit. There was a bit of curl on it and it enticed the keeper to come out.”

Sunderland keeper Lionel Perez ended up stranded in no-man’s land, to allow Rufus to head Robinson’s cross in.

“It was Richard’s first goal for the club. So it was just mayhem.”

The rest of normal time passed in a blur: “When you're playing in it, it's just another game. You are just concentrating on trying to get a result.”

The game swung back in Sunderland’s favour in extra time before Mendonca levelled it up to claim his hat-trick four minutes later.

Robinson took the first sudden-death kick in the shoot-out, with the sides deadlocked at 5-5.

Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Sasa Ilic is mobbed by Robinson, left, and Steve Jones after his penalty save in the final. Getty Images

“I was more nervous than I've ever been in my life. Even when I watch it now, I still get butterflies,” Robinson says.

He’d only taken one previous penalty in his professional career, which he missed.

“If the keeper had gone the right way he would have saved it. I was just lucky he went the other way.”

Two more penalties were scored before Michael Gray’s kick, the 14th of the contest, was saved by Charlton keeper Sasa Ilic, sparking wild celebrations from the fans and the players.

This weekend, 25 years on from that memorable contest, Robinson says he will be watching the play-off final between Coventry City and Luton Town with a group of Sky Blues fans in Dubai.

He expects it to be an “evenly matched game”.

“Not many would have expected to see Coventry and Luton in the Championship play-off final this year, but full credit to the teams finishing third and fifth. It really could go either way.

“Hopefully Coventry will get the right result and return to the Premier League. That would be an unbelievable achievement.”