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The last time Phil Parkinson stood on the touchline at Millwall it proved to be a career-changing experience.
Back in May, his Bradford City side had finished the season in imperious form and looked a good bet to reach the play-off final at Wembley when they took an early lead in the first leg at Valley Parade.
Parkinson still winces when the next half an hour of football is brought up, and after some sloppy defending the Bantams found themselves 3-1 down and struggling to stay in the tie.
Only three sides in history have overturned more than a one-goal deficit, and so it proved in South London. Jamie Proctor’s goal was not enough for Bradford, who only managed to draw the game 1-1, leaving Parkinson with some soul-searching to do.
Millwall lost in the final to Barnsley and have since struggled to rid themselves of the hangover, currently sitting in the lower half of the League One table.
Whether Parkinson’s own career would have taken a different path – or indeed led to the Macron – with a different result, he will never know. But the defensive fragility which occurred in his last meeting with Millwall is something he hopes will not happen again tonight.
“It was the first game that cost us – we got done on a couple of set plays, which was frustrating. Millwall carried a big threat at the time with Mark Beevers, Byron Webster and Steve Morison and Bradford missed James Hanson’s threat in that particular game too. It was better the second time around and played as well as we could – but the damage was done.
“Millwall will be disappointed they didn’t get over the finishing line in the final. The play-offs are cruel and sometimes you get that carry-over from it. If you get beaten in the final it can be particularly hard. I know, I experienced it as a player.
“All of a sudden you’ve only got four weeks off, everyone else had six or seven, and you have to mentally and physically recharge the batteries.
“You come back in and there can be that bit of flatness around the training ground.
“I do think about that game and wonder what might have happened with a different result – but you can’t turn the clock back.”
Wanderers fans will need no reminder of Parkinson’s biggest play-off disappointment – a game he had to watch from the stands because of a knee injury.
That glorious sunny day in 1995, Keith Branagan’s penalty heroics and Fabien DeFreitas’s finest hour are all viewed very differently if you happen to be a Reading legend.
“There’s no better example than that, I suppose,” he smiled. “I was injured that day.
“Two-nil up and missed a penalty. Everyone thought the game was over. It was one of the historic play-off finals. Reading had finished second that year too , it was the year they were readjusting the Premier League. But there we go.”
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Back in May, his Bradford City side had finished the season in imperious form and looked a good bet to reach the play-off final at Wembley when they took an early lead in the first leg at Valley Parade.
Parkinson still winces when the next half an hour of football is brought up, and after some sloppy defending the Bantams found themselves 3-1 down and struggling to stay in the tie.
Only three sides in history have overturned more than a one-goal deficit, and so it proved in South London. Jamie Proctor’s goal was not enough for Bradford, who only managed to draw the game 1-1, leaving Parkinson with some soul-searching to do.
Millwall lost in the final to Barnsley and have since struggled to rid themselves of the hangover, currently sitting in the lower half of the League One table.
Whether Parkinson’s own career would have taken a different path – or indeed led to the Macron – with a different result, he will never know. But the defensive fragility which occurred in his last meeting with Millwall is something he hopes will not happen again tonight.
“It was the first game that cost us – we got done on a couple of set plays, which was frustrating. Millwall carried a big threat at the time with Mark Beevers, Byron Webster and Steve Morison and Bradford missed James Hanson’s threat in that particular game too. It was better the second time around and played as well as we could – but the damage was done.
“Millwall will be disappointed they didn’t get over the finishing line in the final. The play-offs are cruel and sometimes you get that carry-over from it. If you get beaten in the final it can be particularly hard. I know, I experienced it as a player.
“All of a sudden you’ve only got four weeks off, everyone else had six or seven, and you have to mentally and physically recharge the batteries.
“You come back in and there can be that bit of flatness around the training ground.
“I do think about that game and wonder what might have happened with a different result – but you can’t turn the clock back.”
Wanderers fans will need no reminder of Parkinson’s biggest play-off disappointment – a game he had to watch from the stands because of a knee injury.
That glorious sunny day in 1995, Keith Branagan’s penalty heroics and Fabien DeFreitas’s finest hour are all viewed very differently if you happen to be a Reading legend.
“There’s no better example than that, I suppose,” he smiled. “I was injured that day.
“Two-nil up and missed a penalty. Everyone thought the game was over. It was one of the historic play-off finals. Reading had finished second that year too , it was the year they were readjusting the Premier League. But there we go.”
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