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At Wembley Stadium.

Read and slowly reread - .

It might take some getting used to over the next few weeks and it might be an unlikely story - but it is true and, in my opinion, fully deserved.

It is a victory for attractive football, the players who have worked so hard, their inspirational manager and for the supporters of Burnley who turned out in great numbers at Wembley on Monday - but also for hundreds of thousands of fans of other Football League clubs.

For in ending their 33-year exile from the top flight of English football - a time during which the game has been transformed beyond all recognition - the Clarets have given hope to supporters all over the country.

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Have you ever looked at ? I suspect it is about to undergo some major changes.

As I write, the photograph of the Scunthorpe midfielder is so grainy and indistinct that it looks as though he has been snapped by the paparazzi from several thousand metres. If the 23-year-old showed the same lack of focus in his football he would not have scored the winner for Scunthorpe in .

Woolford drilled the ball low and hard past Millwall goalkeeper David Forde in the final act of a match that seesawed this way and that. It was no more than he deserved for a performance of immense energy and willing, scooting up and down the left flank in defiance of temperatures that hit 100 degrees.

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At Wembley Stadium

Like a seagull caught in a squall far out at sea, spent most of Saturday afternoon blown badly off course.

Plenty of the build-up to the League Two play-off final had focused on the Canadian's burgeoning reputation and his 20 goals this season. He was touted as a matchwinner.

But, try as he might, for most of the final against Shrewsbury the 22-year-old seemed unable to make any sort of impact.

He failed to make a clean contact with the few shooting opportunities that came his way, had little change from Shrews defender Graham Coughlan in the air and was often frustrated with his attempts to link play with his team-mates.

When I looked back over my notes from the match there was nothing that Jackson would have remembered fondly - until the very end.

For having refused to yield to an afternoon that was not going his way, Jackson finally found himself in space as Josh Wright swung in a 90th-minute corner and and into the top corner.

It was a very difficult header to execute because the ball was slightly behind him but he showed enough flexibility and instinct to adjust his body shape and find the net.
Job done. Headlines written - and the previous 90 minutes consigned to an insignificant memory.

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The Football League season ends this weekend with the three play-off finals at Wembley.

Back in August there were 72 teams harbouring ambitions of promotion, just six still retain that ambition - and three of them will realise it over the coming days.

I would wager that there are few men more determined to spend their summer holiday contemplating life in a higher division than .

His previous involvement in the play-offs came in a Preston shirt against. Alexander was 33 then and in his sixth play-off campaign. He had been a North End player for six years and the not unreasonable consensus among many fans was that the final was the right-back's last crack at the big time. Preston lost 1-0.

Fast forward four years and a lot has changed in the life of Alexander. He and is more likely to be found in a holding midfield role nowadays, cajoling his team-mates and directing operations. But arguably the most successful season in his long career could yet culminate with the Scotland international finally reaching the Promised Land.

Burnley play Sheffield United in Monday's Championship play-off final hoping to end a 33-year exile from the top flight of English football.

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The rumours had been doing the rounds for weeks, ever since at the back end of April suggested Steve Coppell would quit not only Reading but also football in general at the end of the season.

The Royals boss said that it was but stopped short of saying that he would remain at the Madejski Stadium.

And a few hours after on Tuesday evening after six years in charge at the Berkshire club.

The 53-year-old had refused to discuss his future in the immediate aftermath of the game, choosing to wait until he had fulfilled all his media obligations before releasing a short statement.

In some ways it was typical Coppell; straightforward, low key and done with the minimum of fuss.

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At the Madejski Stadium.

As the final whistle sounded at the Madejski Stadium on Wednesday evening Burnley boss Owen Coyle turned and walked towards opposite number Steve Coppell, pulling his white club sweatshirt down at his sides as he did so.

He exchanged a word or two with Coppell and then made his way onto the pitch, shaking the hands of the match officials and several opposition players before strolling over to his adoring Burnley supporters.

I couldn't help but think that somehow the act of pulling his sweatshirt down at the sides was significant, it hinted at a pride in his appearance and a respect for his fellow professionals; a man who wants things to be done right.

I thought it was telling that he did that instead of putting his hands in the air at least momentarily after the final whistle, or embracing his backroom staff in celebration. After all, he had just seen to book their place in the play-off final on 25 May, where they will take on Sheffield United for a place in the Premier League.

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The build-up to Saturday's League One play-off tie between Millwall and Leeds at the New Den had inevitably surrounded the off-the-field issues - but the headlines that follow will take their lead from what happened on it.

The evergreen as Millwall ended a hoodoo that had seen them go eight play-off games without a victory since their first campaign in 1991.

Harris, who replaced the injured Jason Price after 15 minutes, is the leading scorer in the south London club's history and a legend among its fans. He has battled and beaten testicular cancer and his popularity as a player far transcends the New Den, though it probably isn't too high in one corner of west Yorkshire at the moment.

Unfortunately a small pitch invasion followed his goal. Most of the supporters who made their way onto the pitch were intent on celebrating, carried away on a wave of emotion. Play-offs have that tendency.

Had it ended there we probably would not hear too much more about the matter but one fan did appear to make his way towards Leeds keeper Casper Ankergren. Afterwards , while the police later confirmed that an arrest had been made on suspicion of assault.

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I called an old colleague who now works for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Leeds the other day to ask his opinion of .

"Diamond," was the immediate reply.

I suspect that Grayson himself would wince at the description. When I asked the 39-year-old how he would describe his managerial qualities the quiet confidence of his previous answers gave way to a momentary uncertainty.

"I don't know, it is for other people to analyse," Grayson, whose nickname is Larry, told me. "Different people would have different opinions."

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At the Madejski Stadium.

Before the season started told Alex McLeish that he did not care how the manager did it but he wanted him to win promotion straight back to the Premier League.

McLeish delivered on Sunday as his team cast aside their patchy form to on a tense afternoon at the Madejski Stadium, thus securing the second promotion spot.

But the unbridled joy among the Blues supporters at the final whistle could soon be tempered by uncertainty over the future of their manager.

A newspaper story on Sunday claimed the 50-year-old would walk away from the club at the end of the campaign, promotion or not.

And McLeish was asked time and again after the game whether he would be in charge next season, only to respond with answers which were hardly emphatic.

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The Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield.

Ever heard of the V10 project? Neither had I until recently.

It might sound like a bit like a plot by a mad scientist to create a rocket of incredibly destructive power but in reality the V10 landed to joyous celebration at on Saturday as Exeter were promoted to League One.

Launched at the start of 2006, it was a bold plan by the Devon club to reach the third tier of English football by 2010.

Back then Exeter were a non-league club that had only just become solvent after years of hard work by the to clear all its debts. League One looked a long, long way away.

Fast forward to 2 May 2009 and 2,454 magnificent Grecians supporters saw the dream become reality as Exeter clinched the second automatic promotion place in League Two with , in the process completing back-to-back promotions.

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