Sheffield Wednesday will not face their bitter city rivals Sheffield United in the Championship next season after the Blades once again bowed out of the promotion race in the play-offs.
Swindon Town progressed in the semi-final on Monday and will now face Preston North End at Wembley for the right to join Bristol City and the MK Dons in earning promotion to the second tier of English football.
Wednesday have not gone head-to-head with their city counterparts since the two sides battled for promotion from League One in 2011/12. The Owls beat the Blades 1-0 at Hillsborough and drew 2-2 away in a season which saw them clinch automatic promotion as the Blades again failed in the play-offs.
Last night Sheffield United found yet another way of inflicting play-off heartbreak on their fans. Having lost the home leg 2-1 they made the trip to Swindon needing a 2-goal swing and got off to a terrible start, finding themselves 3-0 down in no time. They battled back to 3-2 at half-time and the attacking encounter, which seemed bereft of any defensive capability continued in the 2nd half. With less than 5 minutes to go the visitors were 5-3 down on the night and in need of a seemingly impossible 3 goals just to force extra-time. 2 strikes in quick succession and the announcement of 7 minutes of injury time gave them hope but it was ultimately false hope and they will now spend a 5th successive season in League One.
The result maintains the Blades record of 100% failure in the play-offs having failed to win promotion in each of their 8 attempts via this route.