2020 EFL League Two play-off final

Ryan Bowman (pictured in 2014) was Exeter City's top scorer.

This was Northampton Town's fourth play-off final: they had won promotion from the fourth tier when they defeated Swansea City in the 1997 Football League Third Division play-off final at the old Wembley Stadium before losing the third tier final the following year 1–0 against Grimsby Town.[15] They had also lost out to Bradford City 3–0 in the 2013 Football League Two play-off final.[16] Exeter City were making their third fourth tier play-off final appearance in four years, having lost 2–1 to Blackpool in the 2017 EFL League Two play-off final and being defeated 3–1 by Coventry City in the following season's final.[17] Exeter had also re-gained promotion to the Football League with victory over Cambridge United in the 2008 Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley.[18] In the matches played between the two sides in the regular season, each team won once: Exeter City secured a 3–2 victory at home in December 2019 while Northampton Town won 2–0 the following February.[19] The highest scorer for Exeter City during the regular league season was Ryan Bowman with 13 goals followed by Broom on 8, while Sam Hoskins and Andy Williams were joint-top marksmen for Northampton Town with eight apiece.[20][21]

Northampton Town had played in League Two since being relegated from League One in the 2017–18 season,[22] while Exeter City had been relegated to the fourth tier and remained there since the 2011–12 season.[23] The referee for the match was Michael Salisbury, assisted by George Byrne and Matthew Jones, with Leigh Doughty acting as the fourth official and Natalie Aspinall the reserve assistant referee.[24] The game was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.[24] The EFL reported that it was believed to be the first match at Wembley Stadium played behind closed doors.[18] Neither team were considered to be clear favourites to win the final by bookmakers,[25][26] although Exeter were favoured in the press.[27]

The Exeter City manager Matt Taylor made one change to his team from the semi-final against Colchester with Nigel Atangana replacing Archie Collins. Keith Curle made no changes to his Northampton Town team.[27] No presentation to dignitaries was held before the match: a minute's silence was held in remembrance of Theo Foley who had represented both clubs, before the players and officials took the knee to observe the Black Lives Matter movement.[27] Taylor reflected on Exeter's previous losses in play-off finals: "We've got a recent history with Wembley and play-off finals and we certainly don't want to be left wanting at the end of this one ... My memory's not gone back to those two occasions, when I was involved as a coach, because they were negative times in terms of the results that we got".[28] Curle had suffered defeat to Exeter City in the play-off semi-final in 2017 when he was Carlisle United manager.[28] Northampton Town played in the black shirts and shorts of their away strip, with claret socks, while Exeter wore their traditional red and white shirts, with black and white shorts and socks.[29]

Northampton Town kicked off around 7:30 p.m. and dominated the early stages of the match. In the fourth minute, Exeter City's Randell Williams was fouled by Scott Wharton who was shown the first yellow card of the game: the resulting free kick was cleared. On ten minutes, a long throw-in from Northampton Town's Charlie Goode was cleared by Aaron Martin. The subsequent throw-in was headed away and fell to Ryan Watson on the edge of the Exeter City penalty area. He controlled the ball on his thigh, feigned to shoot to send Jake Taylor the wrong way before taking a shot which deflected off Martin's heel past Jonny Maxted in the Exeter City goal.[27][29] Four minutes after the restart, Northampton Town won a free kick about 25 yards (23 m) from Exeter City's goal. The direct shot from Nicky Adams was saved by Maxted and the Exeter City goalkeeper then kept out the follow-up strike. Vadaine Oliver then headed over the Exeter City crossbar from a Goode cross. Midway though the first half, play was hallted in order for both teams to take a drinks break. In the 29th minute, Exeter City's Richardson made a run down the left but the ball went out for a goal kick.[29][30] Two minutes later, Northampton Town were forced to make their first substitution of the match: Adams went off with a leg injury to be replaced by Mark Marshall. Almost immediately, Morton doubled Northampton Town's lead after converting a flick-on from Jordan Turnbull from a Wharton header. On 35 minutes, a curling strike from Exeter City's Williams was blocked by Harriman. Three minutes later, Maxted made the first of several saves and with four minutes of the half remaining, Northampton Town had accumulated six shots on target without reply. Four minutes of injury time were indicated, and one minute in, Bowman beat the offside trap to run clear, only to trip over before being able to shoot. Maxted then made two more saves, from both Oliver and Goode, to keep the score 2–0 to Northampton Town at half time.[30][31]

Sam Hoskins (pictured in 2014) scored Northampton Town's third goal.

Neither side made any changes during half time and the second half was kicked off by Exeter City. Three minutes in and following a free kick, Watson's shot was blocked by Exeter players.[31][32] In the 51st minute, Exeter City made their first substitutions of the evening, with Richardson and Alex Fisher being replaced by Tom Parkes and Collins. Two minutes later, Northampton Town's Hoskins was brought down by Atangana in the penalty area but the referee declined to award a penalty and in the 55th minute, Watson was booked for a foul on Randell Williams. On 59 minutes, Exeter City were reduced to ten players when Dean Moxey was sent off after being shown a red card for a late tackle on Watson. Jack Sparkes was brought on two minutes later to replace Atangana. The second half was interrupted in the 68th minute for a drinks break. With 19 minutes of regular time remaining, Morton went through one-on-one with Maxted but his shot went just past the outside of the post. Collins was then brought down in the box as he went to shoot, but no penalty was awarded and replays indicated that Northampton Town's Marshall won the ball legally. In the 75th minute, Alan McCormack and Oliver were replaced by James Olayinka and Harry Smith for Northampton Town. Five minutes later Hoskins made it 3–0 converting Marshall's pass at the far post. On 82 minutes, Exeter City made their final substitution of the game with Pierce Sweeney being replaced by Brennan Dickenson. With four minutes of the match remaining, Martin was shown a yellow card for a foul on Morton, and two minutes later, Northampton Town made their final changes, with Morton and Watson being substituted for Andy Williams and Paul Anderson. A minute after his introduction, Andy Williams increased Northampton Town's lead further when he scored from close range after Smith headed on a long throw-in from Goode. Four minutes of additional time were played but with no change to the score: Northampton Town won the match 4–0 and were promoted to League One.[32][33]