The 2002 Football League Second Division play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 11 May 2002 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, between Brentford and Stoke City. It was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system, to the First Division. The top two teams of the 2001–02 Football League Second Division league, Brighton & Hove Albion and Reading, gained automatic promotion to the First Division, while the teams placed from third to sixth place took part in play-offs semi-finals; the winners then competed for the final place for the 2002–03 season in the First Division. Brentford and Stoke City defeated Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City, respectively, in the semi-finals. It was the second season that the play-off finals were contested at the Millennium Stadium during the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium.
The match was refereed by Graham Laws in front of a crowd of 42,523. In the 16th minute Stoke City took the lead from a corner from Arnar Gunnlaugsson, which was flicked on by Chris Iwelumo; Deon Burton struck the ball on the turn from close range, his shot taking a deflection and ending in the Brentford goal. Stoke doubled their lead a minute before half-time, when Gunnlaugsson was fouled just outside Brentford's penalty area and Bjarni Guðjónsson's free kick took a deflection off Ben Burgess and beat Paul Smith in the Brentford goal. In the second half, Stoke goalkeeper Neil Cutler make a number of saves and the match ended 2–0, with Stoke promoted to the First Division.
Brentford finished their following season in 16th place in Second Division, five positions and six points above the relegation zone. Despite gaining promotion, Stoke City sacked their manager Guðjón Þórðarson five days after the final and replaced him with Steve Cotterill, who himself resigned from his position 13 games into the following season. Stoke appointed Tony Pulis as manager and ended the season in 21st place in the First Division, four points above the relegation zone.
Route to the final
Brentford finished the regular 2001–02 season in third place in the Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system, two places and three points ahead of Stoke City. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the First Division and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Brentford finished one point behind Reading (who were promoted in second place) and seven behind league winners Brighton & Hove Albion.
Stoke City's opposition for their play-off semi-final were Cardiff City with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke on 28 April 2002. In the twelfth minute, Robert Earnshaw played a one-two with Peter Thorne before shooting from to give the visitors the lead. Leo Fortune-West doubled the lead in the 59th minute, scoring with a close-range header after Spencer Prior's attempt rebounded off the Stoke goal-post. The game was then delayed for five minutes as police were needed to quell crowd trouble before Deon Burton scored a half-volley for Stoke with six minutes remaining to make the final score 2–1 to Cardiff. The second leg of the semi-final was held four days later at Ninian Park in Cardiff. In the last minute of regular time, Stoke's James O'Connor scored from a header by Bjarni Guðjónsson—the Stoke manager's son—to level the tie on aggregate and send the match into extra time. With five minutes remaining, O'Connor's free kick was deflected into the Cardiff goal by Souleymane Oularé to give Stoke a 3–2 aggregate victory and progression to the final.
In the second semi-final Brentford faced Huddersfield Town; the first leg was held at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield on 28 April 2002. The home side had two goals ruled out: Andy Booth's effort was disallowed because of a handball and in the second half he was given offside after putting the ball into the Brentford net. Both sides had further chances to score but the game ended goalless. The second leg of the semi-final took place four days later at Griffin Park in Brentford. Two minutes into the match, Booth put Huddersfield ahead with a shot that beat Paul Smith in the Brentford goal. Darren Powell levelled the score in the 37th minute when he headed in a free kick. Just after half-time, Lloyd Owusu scored for Brentford to make it 2–1 and ensure their progression to the final.