Wigan's John Benson had always intended to step down at the end of the season; Gillingham hoped to retain the services of Peter Taylor but he chose to leave and take the manager's job at Leicester City.

[6][7] Wigan drew 0–0 in the first leg against Millwall, with BBC Sport noting that both teams appeared "edgy from the outset and perhaps too anxious to impress".

Reserve goalkeeper Derek Stillie played in place of Roy Carroll, who had recently undergone an appendix operation, and was praised for his tenacious performance.

[8][9] Gillingham's second leg match was an emotionally-charged game, and before half-time Stoke's Clive Clarke was sent off, reducing his team to ten men.

[14] Neither Gillingham nor Wigan had competed higher than the third tier of English football in their history, so whichever team emerged victorious would reach the second level for the first time.

[12] The match was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on the Sky Sports 2 television channel with commentary provided by Rob Hawthorne and Alan Brazil.

[32] Wigan were the stronger team in the early part of the game, with Sheridan dominating the midfield play and Andy Liddell causing problems for Gillingham's defenders.

[33] Simon Haworth of Wigan had the first goalscoring opportunity after less than four minutes with a header, but Gillingham goalkeeper Vince Bartram made a comfortable save.

[38] Shortly afterwards, Liddell hit a goalbound shot for Wigan which Bartram initially fumbled, but the Gillingham goalkeeper was able to gather the ball at the second attempt.

[33] Former Gillingham manager Tony Pulis, working as a pundit on the Sky Sports 2 broadcast, picked out Liddell as Wigan's key player and stated that his team-mates needed to get the ball to him more frequently in the second half.

[47] Six minutes into the second half, Gillingham had an opportunity to double their lead when Hessenthaler crossed the ball from a position on the right of the pitch and Onoura outjumped a Wigan defender, but his header went slightly to the left of the goal.

[48] Less than two minutes later, Wigan equalised; de Zeeuw crossed the ball from a wide position and Haworth flicked it up with his left foot and then hit a shot with his right from 6 yards (5.5 m) out past Bartram and into the net, to score what Phil Shaw of The Independent described as "one of Wembley's great goals".

[50] The first substitution of the game occurred at the one-hour mark, as Gillingham brought on Paul Smith in place of defender Roland Edge.

Gillingham's Ashby met Gooden's kick with a header in the penalty area but it went wide of the goal, with the Sky commentary team stating that he "should have done better".

[42] Both teams had opportunities to score in quick succession at the 73-minute mark: Bartram dived full-length to save for Gillingham and moments later Asaba hit a shot which Stillie was able to push round the goalpost.

[53] Stillie made another save four minutes later when Hessenthaler hit a long-range shot; at this point Gillingham had recorded eight attempts on goal compared to Wigan's seven.

The Wigan player had already received a yellow card from referee Styles for an earlier offence,[43] and so was sent off, reducing his team to ten men.

[33] Five minutes into the extra period, Gillingham made a second substitution, bringing on Andy Thomson to replace fellow striker Onuora.

[42] Although the commentary team believed that Ashby had only made minimal contact, he was adjudged to have fouled Sheridan and referee Styles awarded a penalty kick to Wigan.

[42][43] Shortly before the end of the first half of extra time, Gillingham manager Taylor made his final substitution, bringing on striker Steve Butler to replace defender Ashby.

[62] Less than three minutes into the second period, Ian Kilford had the chance to extend Wigan's lead, which according to the commentators would have "killed Gillingham off", but his shot went narrowly wide of the goal.

"[65] Thomson beat Stuart Balmer to the ball and headed it past Stillie to give his team the lead with only two minutes remaining.

[70] Wigan manager John Benson had already announced before the play-off final that he would be leaving his post whatever the result,[8] and he was replaced by Bruce Rioch.

[78] Reflecting on the game between Gillingham and Wigan on its 20th anniversary, Peter Taylor described it as one of the best memories of his career and paid tribute to the team spirit of the Gillingham players, stating "We had some real top blokes, real good spirits, your Ady Pennocks, your Barry Ashbys, they were all different class, really good attitudes.