North Stand. The police made 102 arrests after the match, 3 of which were Middlesbrough fans, and 45 people were injured, including 25 police officers. Bates played down the incident, saying that "the people who described it as a riot have obviously never seen a riot". He blamed the incident on the police, claiming that they should have been policing the perimeter fence. Paul Condon, the Metropolitan Police's deputy assistant commissioner, rebutted the claim, while the official police view was that the fault lay with Chelsea. Both clubs were charged by the Football Association with failing to control their supporters; Middlesbrough were cleared of the charge, but Chelsea were found guilty. They were fined £75,000 plus costs, the largest financial penalty given by the Football Association at the time, and had to close their terraces for the first six home games of the 1988–89 season. Aftermath Chelsea's Nevin later recalled the defeat, noting that for him "the last moment was the worst moment". The second leg was his final appearance for Chelsea before moving to Everton, and he referred to his team's dominance in the match: "we absolutely battered them". Middlesbrough were promoted to the First Division for the 1988–89 season, completing back-to-back promotions, but only survived one season in the top tier. They finished their next campaign in 18th place and were relegated back to the Second Division, where they remained for a further three seasons. Chelsea were Second Division champions in the 1988–89 season, regaining promotion to the top tier and, , have remained there ever since. In June 1988, UEFA, the governing body for association football in Europe, had been due to meet to discuss whether to readmit English clubs to European competitions in the 1988–89 season. In the wake of the post-match incident during the second leg between Chelsea and Middlesbrough, along with hooliganism at a match between England and Scotland, the English Football Association withdrew their request to be re-admitted. English clubs eventually returned to European competition in the 1990–91 season, at the conclusion of the original five-year ban. References Bibliography Play-off Final 1988 Play-off Final 1988 EFL Championship play-off finals Football League Second Division play-off finals play 1 Football League Second Division play-off Final Football League Second Division play-off Final