'Devastation to incredible': Phillips on his play-off final extremes
It is a match that defines seasons or even careers, sends players and fans into agony or ecstasy and can shape the entire future of a football club.The Championship play-off final really is a fixture like no other as Sheffield United and Sunderland will find out at Wembley on Saturday (15:01 BST).It is the most lucrative single game in world football as players and clubs battle to reach the land of milk and honey - the Premier League.Few people are perhaps as synonymous with it as former England striker Kevin Phillips.He played in four Championship play-off deciders across a 15-year period and experienced the highs and lows of this showpiece occasion.Here Phillips, now 51, talks BBC Sport through the four matches and the impact they had on those clubs and his career.
Classic game, desperate outcome
Charlton Athletic 4-4 Sunderland (25 May 1998)Phillips had enjoyed a spectacular breakthrough season after joining Sunderland the previous summer for a bargain £325,000 from Watford.He had netted 34 goals in a deadly partnership with Niall Quinn as the Black Cats were only pipped for automatic promotion on the final day.Phillips grabbed the winner in the play-off semi-final against... wait for it.... yes, Sheffield United, at an electric Stadium of Light to take Sunderland to Wembley where they were up against Alan Curbishley's Addicks.What unfolded was an absolute classic.Charlton led once and Sunderland three times but, after eight goals and 120 gruelling minutes, including a hat-trick from Sunderland-raised Charlton striker and boyhood Black Cats fan Clive Mendonca, the two teams could not be separated.And it took the 14th spot-kick to find a fall guy as Michael Gray's penalty was saved by Sasa Ilic and Charlton were promoted.Phillips had scored one of the Black Cats' goals but, struggling with cramp, he had to be substituted early and could only watch on as his promotion dream fell short."The game typified how teams played back then," he recalls. "We're going for it, we're not going to be cagey and sit in."That's how we played. Back to front, get it wide, get balls in the box and Charlton weren't too dissimilar."We knew deep down it would be entertaining, but not eight goals and a penalty shootout!"I don't think there have been too many finals like that since."
Having come so close to promotion via both avenues, there was understandable anger and devastation in the Sunderland dressing room.But the seeds for the following season were immediately sown in the bowels of the old stadium.When they returned from their holidays, Peter Reid's side collected a then-record 105 points to cruise to the title and a ticket to the top flight."It was very quiet but our captain Kevin Ball stood up in the dressing room and said: 'What are we going to do now?' Phillips remembers."'Are we going to sit, sulk, mope and let it ruin our summer? Or do we learn from it, enjoy our night tonight, get drunk together and when we return from pre-season, this game never gets mentioned?'"That's what happened. We came back after the summer, we never mentioned that game and we absolutely smashed the league."
'Wembley is horrible for losers'
Derby County 1-0 West Bromwich Albion (28 May 2007)After six seasons away in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, the play-offs returned to the newly-finished Wembley.West Brom had enjoyed a buccaneering season under Tony Mowbray with Phillips, 34, scoring three goals across the two semi-final legs as they defeated bitter rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers to make the final.They began as favourites to defeat Derby County who had surprised many by finishing third.But despite having more of the ball and more chances, the most important detail of all was in Derby's favour thanks to a Stephen Pearson goal.Phillips: "It was a poor game and I don't remember much about it. It was very tense and the pressure was on us as favourites."We dominated the game but we just couldn't find the net."It was harder to take than with Sunderland. There we were a young squad, still learning but we had a lot of experience at West Brom and we were very confident."That wasn't a great summer, for sure."
But, like with Sunderland, Phillips had a happy ending with the Baggies.They did not need the play-offs the season after as Mowbray's men went up as champions with their star striker leading the way.Phillips: "They say Wembley is not a place for losers and that's right. It's absolutely horrible."It was a similar scenario because we came back and won the league."From a personal point of view, I could deal with it a little better and it was all about getting around individuals, telling them we'd had a good season and learning from it and going again."In hindsight, that certainly helped us."
'Repercussions and knock-on effects'
Blackpool 1-2 West Ham United (19 May 2012)For three seasons, Blackpool had provided a magical rollercoaster ride for their supporters.Promoted against the odds in 2010, they thrilled the Premier League before being relegated on the final day and now they were back at Wembley, 90 minutes away from another crack at the top flight.Phillips, 38 by this stage, had earned a reputation as a promotion specialist after doing it with West Brom and Birmingham City.He and Blackpool were up against another club relegated in 2011 in West Ham. Sam Allardyce and his men were under no illusions - they had to go up.The Seasiders were the better side and had chances to go ahead before the Hammers stole in front.Tom Ince equalised but a late goal from Ricardo Vaz Te saw West Ham promoted and more Wembley misery for Phillips as Blackpool's dream died and the club subsequently began a descent down the leagues.Phillips: "We deserved to win that game. We should have been two or three up at half-time, we had some glorious opportunities and we didn't take them."It was devastation. Being a loser at Wembley is tough, but when you've been the better side, that makes it even harder to take."You feel for the fans. It costs a lot of money to go down to London and for them to come away with nothing, you think about that and there are a lot of repercussions and knock-on effects for a lot of people."To fall at the final hurdle is heart-breaking."
'Meant to be'
Crystal Palace 1-0 Watford (27 May 2013)At 39, Phillips knew he was nearing the end of his professional career.On transfer deadline day in January, his agent received a call telling him that Crystal Palace, and his old Blackpool boss Ian Holloway, wanted to sign him.A chance for one last promotion? That was the plan, although after a late-season stumble, the Eagles only reached the play-offs on the last day.They saw off rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in the semi-final to set up a shot at glory.With the game goalless, Phillips was sent on as a substitute before the game slipped into extra time.Then, in the final minute of the first period, Palace were awarded a penalty.Up stepped Phillips and he showed all the experience of almost two decades of scoring goals to grab the winner to end his own play-off final misfortunes and seal Palace's promotion.Phillips: "People had always told me getting promoted at Wembley was the best way to do it, but I completely disagreed because I had lost three of them."I had mixed emotions ahead of it because I did not want to lose another final. "Nobody was going to take that penalty away from me against the club where I had started."It was the win at Wembley I had been craving as an individual and all types of emotion came out of me. It was an incredible feeling."I'm not superstitious but part of me was thinking 'Is this meant to be?' Playing against the club in the final who had given me an opportunity when I was playing non-league."
Gateway to future success
Phillips' goal carried huge significance. It was the fourth time Palace had been promoted to the Premier League but, after years of yo-yoing, this time they stayed there.It is now 12 unbroken years in the top flight for the Eagles, culminating in Saturday's FA Cup triumph over Manchester City - the first major trophy in the club's history.And while recent history suggests the play-off winners will have a very tall order to survive next season, the Eagles offer hope to Sheffield United and Sunderland that victory in this game can be the gateway to a bright future.Phillips: "I bumped into Palace owner Steve Parish when they were playing at Man City a few weeks ago and he reminded me Palace were only playing there because of that goal. It was nice of him to recognise that."What Palace have done as a club to stay in the Premier League is a credit to them and to win the FA Cup shows how far they have come."It's a great learning curve and springboard for others that get promoted."
Phillips will be at Wembley watching to see if his old club can end an eight-year exile from the top flight.And he knows exactly how the players will be thinking before Saturday's encounter."It isn't a normal game, it's hard to treat it as such," he said."You wish the final was about four days after the semi-final. It's a long time to wait and the players will be dreaming about it, a goalkeeper saving a penalty, a striker scoring the winning goal. You can't not. "You have a long time to think ahead of the game and then if you don't win, you start thinking it was all for nothing."As Phillips himself has proven many times, though, whatever the outcome of the final, it's far, far from that.
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