The 1998 Football League First Division play-off Final was an association football match played on 25 May 1998 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Charlton Athletic and Sunderland. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League First Division, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League for the 1998–99 season. The top two teams of the 1997–98 Football League First Division season gained automatic promotion, and the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; Sunderland had ended the season in third position and Charlton had finished fourth. The clubs won their semi-finals and competed for the final promotion place. Winning the game was estimated to be worth up to twenty million pounds