Brentford 1 Yeovil 2 League One Play-Off final match report: 'Little old Yeovil' defy odds and tiny budget to win promotion to Championship
The West Country side won at Wembley
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Your support makes all the difference.Yeovil will play in English football's second tier next season for the first time in their history after beating Brentford in the League One play-off final at Wembley. Promotion to the Championship is a remarkable achievement for a club whose wage bill was among the smallest in their division, at less than £1m.
For Gary Johnson, this feat comes ten years after he got Yeovil into the Football League during his first spell in charge at Huish Park. "It is a fantastic achievement for little old Yeovil and at times like these you do think of the people who have helped you along the way," he said. "We will have to have a whip-round to compete next season. We'll be going round with a bucket later. This is like our Premiership.
"If we can handle the Championship for a few years then the club has done a great job."
Yeovil, whose average crowd is just over 4,000, will be one of the smallest teams ever in the Championship. Paddy Madden had them ahead with his 24th goal of the season after just six minutes and Dan Burn headed a second just before half-time. Brentford never recovered and could only manage a header from defender Harlee Dean in reply after the break.
Johnson was quick to praise Madden, the division's top scorer, who joined Yeovil permanently from Carlisle in January following a successful loan. "Our club has got to take chances on people who are not big names," he said. "I go for character and personality. Paddy is a worker and those ones always come up trumps in the end. He went on a goal-scoring spree and kept going.
"He has had a vision for a little while that he was going to score at Wembley and the way he took the goal was a sublime piece of ingenuity. It was a fantastic goal that ends a fantastic season for him."
Brentford, who have now failed in seven play-off campaigns, were one kick away from automatic promotion on the final day of the season and endured further disappointment here.
Uwe Rosler, the club's German manager, has built a talented young squad since his appointment in 2011 but had said getting out of League One was crucial to the club's progression.
Harry Forrester, out of contract this summer, is one of his players attracting interest and may not be around for another promotion push.
"No one said a word in the dressing room after the game," said Dean. "We are gutted, there is no other word for it. We are a young team and this will hold us in good stead for next season. The club is all set up for the Championship so we have got to rebuild and go again next year."
Brentford (4-3-3): Moore; Logan, Craig, Dean, Bidwell; Forshaw, Adeyemi, Diagouraga (Hayes, 82); Donaldson, Forrester (Saunders, 67), Trotta (Wright-Phillips, 61).
Yeovil (4-4-2): Stech; Ayling, Burn, Webster, McAllister (Maksimenko, 77); Dawson, Edwards, Upson, Foley; Hayter, (Dolan, 86), Madden.
Referee: Andy D'Urso.
Attendance: 41,955.
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