Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Millwall narrowly missed out on a spot in the play-offs, despite putting up a fight against already-promoted Burnley.
Alex Neil’s side were in the Championship play-off hunt and at one point did occupy a top-six spot as Mihailo Ivanovic opened the scoring, only for Burnley to respond immediately.
They were eventually beaten 3-1 as Coventry City and Bristol City held onto their spots.
For Burnley, they couldn’t fully celebrate as Leeds United pipped them to the title but for a while, it seemed as if Scott Parker’s side were going to be crowned champions and it is something the Millwall boss alluded to at half time.
Millwall manager told his side the Plymouth score at half time
Going into half time of the final day fixtures, Burnley were drawing 1-1 with Millwall whereas Plymouth Argyle were surprisingly ahead against Leeds.
At that stage, all Burnley needed to do was take the lead and they would be champions. In the end it wasn’t to be as Manor Solomon scored a late winner down in Devon.
But as they headed into the changing rooms at half time, Neil made a point of telling his players the Leeds score.
He told Southwark News: “We took it to the last 45 minutes of the season. It was one each. Then the next goal is going to decide the game, I said that to the players.
“But, equally, I knew and I said this to the lads because we got the message that Leeds were losing, and I’m thinking that’s the last thing we need because Burnley are trying to win the league. I knew that the next twenty minutes were going to be really important.
“What I’m hoping is you can weather that storm and then nick a chance later on in the game, and it goes in your favour. We did get a chance before they scored the second goal, but unfortunately, we didn’t manage to capitalise on it. Those moments, ultimately, decide games sometimes.”
Alex Neil’s message to Millwall fans
Even though they fell short it was still a great season for Millwall fans to remember and after the game, Neil paid tribute to the supporters for their back throughout the year.
“They’ve been brilliant,” the Millwall manager said. “We’ve got a lot of gratitude and appreciation for how they’ve backed us in all the matches.
“I go back to the deepest winter. We went to Luton away, we went to Portsmouth away on a Tuesday night, and we needed to pick up those points. They were vital games for us at that stage, and the fans were sensational. They pulled us through. We got the ones we needed, and it set us up for the remaining games.
“There were a little bit of nerves tingling at the end there, when they were all celebrating the players. That was a fantastic experience, so we do appreciate that.”