This was Norwich's second Championship play-off final, having lost the 2002 Football League First Division play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium against Birmingham City on penalties. Middlesbrough were making their fifth trip to Wembley Stadium, having lost all four previous matches, the 1990 Full Members' Cup Final, the 1997 Football League Cup Final, the 1997 FA Cup Final and the 1998 Football League Cup Final. However they did win the 1988 Football League Second Division play-off Final on aggregate against First Division Chelsea, which was determined over two legs, at their respective grounds. During the regular season, Norwich had lost both times against Middlesbrough: a 4–0 defeat at the Riverside in November 2014, their heaviest of the season, was followed by a 1–0 loss at Carrow Road in April 2015, a game which consigned Norwich to the play-offs. Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, was Middlesbrough's top scorer with 17 goals and had also been recently selected as the "Championship Player of the Year" at the recent Football League Awards, while Norwich's Jerome had scored the most for his team with 20. The Teesside club's Konstantopoulos had also kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper.