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      DIVISION 2    1987/88
     
 

Leading League goalscorer:
Mark Bright
 (Crystal Palace)
 25  goals

Less than a month after being appointed manager, Malcolm Macdonald watches his Huddersfield Town side lose 10-1 against Manchester City at Maine Road. Paul Stewart, Tony Adcock and David White each scoring a hat-trick for the home side. It was the last time that a club scored 10 or more in a League match. A couple of months later the same two clubs were back at Maine Road for an FA Cup tie - that time it ended 0-0!

Millwall finished as champions and earned themselves a place in Division 1 for the first time in their history. Also automatically promoted were Aston Villa after one season out of the top flight. They didn't do it the easy way though, not managing a home League victory until their 8th attempt.

   P W D L F A Pts
    1 Millwall 44 25 7 12 72 52 82 Promoted
    Results 2 Aston Villa 44 22 12 10 68 41 78 Promoted
    3 Middlesbrough 44 22 12 10 63 36 78 Promoted
    4 Bradford City 44 22 11 11 75 54 77

Play Off
    5 Blackburn Rovers 44 21 14 9 68 52 77 Play Off
    Results 6 Crystal Palace 44 22 9 13 86 59 75
    Results 7 Leeds United 44 19 12 13 61 51 69
    8 Ipswich Town 44 19 9 16 61 52 66
    Results 9 Manchester City 44 19 8 17 80 60 65
    10 Oldham Athletic 44 18 11 15 72 64 65
    11 Stoke City 44 17 11 16 50 57 62
    12 Swindon Town 44 16 11 17 73 60 59
    Results 13 Leicester City 44 16 11 17 62 61 59
    14 Barnsley 44 15 12 17 61 62 57
    15 Hull City 44 14 15 15 54 60 57
    16 Plymouth Argyle 44 16 8 20 65 67 56
    Results 17 Bournemouth 44 13 10 21 56 68 49
    18 Shrewsbury Town 44 11 16 17 42 54 49
    19 Birmingham City 44 11 15 18 41 66 48
    Results 20 West Bromwich Albion 44 12 11 21 50 69 47
    Results 21 Sheffield United  44 13 7 24 45 74 46 Relegated
    22 Reading 44 10 12 22 44 70 42 Relegated
    23 Huddersfield Town 44 6 10 28 41 100 28 Relegated
   
   

Play Off Unlike current play-offs, in seasons 1986/87 and 1987/88 the four teams in each divisional play-off comprised 3 clubs from the lower division who were competing for promotion plus one from the higher division who were aiming to avoid relegation.
Divisions 1 & 2 Play Off Semi-Finals    
Competing clubs - Chelsea from Division 1 plus Blackburn, Bradford City & Middlesbrough from Division 2
1st Leg
Sun May 15 Blackburn Rovers 0 - 2 Chelsea
Sun May 15 Bradford City 2 - 1 Middlesbrough
2nd Leg
Wed May 18 Chelsea 4 - 1 Blackburn Rovers
Wed May 18 Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Bradford City
Aggregate scores
Chelsea 6 - 1 Blackburn Rovers
Middlesbrough 3 - 2 Bradford City
Play Off Final  
1st Leg
Wed May 25 Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Chelsea
2nd Leg
Sat May 28 Chelsea 1 - 0 Middlesbrough
Aggregate score
Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Chelsea
Middlesbrough promoted to Division 1, Chelsea relegated to Division 2.
Divisions 2 & 3 Play Off Semi-Finals
Competing clubs - Sheffield United from Division 2 plus Bristol City, Notts County & Walsall from Division 3
1st Leg
Sun May 15 Bristol City 1 - 0 Sheffield United
Sun May 15 Notts County 1 - 3 Walsall
2nd Leg
Wed May 18 Sheffield United 1 - 1 Bristol City
Wed May 18 Walsall 1 - 1 Notts County
Aggregate scores
Bristol City 2 - 1 Sheffield United
Walsall 4 - 2 Notts County
Play Off Final  
1st Leg
Wed May 25 Bristol City 1 - 3 Walsall
2nd Leg
Sat May 28 Walsall 0 - 2 Bristol City
Aggregate score
Walsall 3 - 3 Bristol City
  (Walsall won a penalty shoot-out 4-2 for the right to stage the final replay at home)
Replay
Mon May 30 Walsall 4 - 0 Bristol City
Walsall promoted to Division 2, Sheffield United relegated to Division 3.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

Crystal Palace
joined the Football League in 1920. For every Palace first team result and League table click on...

 Crystal Palace

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