Salford City and Notts County Reach Wembley Final — Foxsports
Salford City and Notts County will meet at Wembley in the League Two play-off final after getting through two tense semi-finals. foxsports puts both clubs one match from promotion to League One, with Salford chasing a first place in the third tier and Notts County aiming for a return after 2015.
Cesay Sends Salford Through
Salford needed extra time to finish the job against Grimsby Town, then won it 4-3 on aggregate when Kallum Cesay struck in the 117th minute at the Peninsula Stadium. The tie finished 2-2 on the night after Salford had gone into the second leg with a 2-1 advantage from the first meeting.
Grimsby flipped that deficit with two second-half goals in four minutes to force the match beyond 90 minutes. Kieran Green headed them level after 74 minutes, and Jaze Kabia made it 2-1 after coming off the bench. Salford answered through Daniel Udoh, who scored his 11th goal of the season with a low right-footed shot before Cesay settled it late.
Notts County Hold Chesterfield
Notts County kept their tie tighter. They drew 0-0 with Chesterfield at Meadow Lane and moved through 1-0 on aggregate after Jayden Luker’s goal in the first leg. Chesterfield started better in the return, with James Berry curling wide early, but County protected the lead and did not need to chase the game.
That path gave them a shorter route than Salford’s, but the reward is the same: a Wembley final with promotion on the line. James Belshaw, County’s goalkeeper and a lifelong fan, has already described reaching the final as a surreal honour, and the club now has one more match to turn that into a return to the third tier for the first time since 2015.
Wembley Awaits Salford
Salford’s trip carries its own edge. Backed by the Class of ’92 ownership group, the club has never played in English football’s third tier, and a win at Wembley on May 25, 2026 would change that history. This is their third visit to the national stadium, after beating Portsmouth in the 2021 EFL Trophy final.
Now the meeting is set: Salford against Notts County, with League One waiting for the winner. One side is trying to break new ground, the other to reclaim a place it last held in 2015.
