'It was mayhem': Remembering one of the best play-off finals in English football history

It is 25 years this week since what's regarded as one of the greatest play-off final in English football history.

The game between Charlton Athletic and Sunderland at the old Wembley Stadium ended 4-4 after extra time, with Charlton winning 7-6 on penalties to secure a place in the Premier League.

To say it was a breathless, see-saw affair played on a humid May day before a raucous capacity crowd probably undersells what was a contest for the ages.

The play-off final on May 25, 1998 was the final game of an English domestic season that had seen Arsenal win a Premier League and FA Cup double, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough secure automatic promotion to the top flight and Manchester City relegated to the third tier.

Sunderland and Charlton had narrowly missed out on promotion and had drawn home and away in the regular season. There was really nothing to separate the sides, and typically, their Wembley final proved to be a game decided by the finest of margins – and only after extra time and penalties.

Charlton took a first-half lead in the final through Clive Mendonca, then Sunderland hit back to go 2-1 ahead through strikers Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips before the hour mark. Mendonca equalised for the Addicks in the 71st minute.

Quinn put Sunderland 3-2 ahead a couple of minutes later. Charlton’s Richard Rufus forced the match into extra time with a header five minutes from time.

Nicky Summerbee nosed Sunderland back in front in the first period of extra time before hat-trick hero Mendonca levelled it up for the final time in the 103rd minute to take the match to penalties.

John Robinson, who is a Charlton hall of famer who made more than 300 league appearances for the club during a decade of service at The Valley,