Found this on t'internet
Francis fury as Preston prevail
Ian Whittell at Deepdale
Fri 18 May 2001 00.46 BST
Preston's remarkable march to within one victory of the Premiership was overshadowed here last night by a furious argument over which end was to be used for the deciding penalty shootout, which led to the Birmingham manager Trevor Francis threatening to take his team off the field.
After a tense 120 minutes of the semi-final's second leg, the extraordinary events unfolded as the teams prepared for the penalties and the referee Paul Danson indicated that they would be taken in front of the packed Bill Shankly Kop rather than the empty building site at the opposite goal.
Francis had understood before kick-off that any shootout would take place in front of the "neutral" end, but the referee later said the Kop option was taken on the advice of safety officers and police before the match started.
An irate Francis twice gestured to his players to leave the field, holding them by the dugout, before arguing with his opposite number David Moyes, hurling a water bottle down and removing himself to the Birmingham bench.
The penalties that eventually ensued at the Kop end confirmed Francis's worst fears. The first three Preston players scored while the first two Birmingham kicks failed.
A Rob Edwards failure and successful kicks by City's Stan Lazaridis and Nicky Eaden made it 3-2 but Francis's glimmer of hope was snuffed out when the Preston substitute Paul McKenna converted his side's fifth penalty to earn a final against Bolton at the Millennium stadium on May 28.
In February's Worthington Cup final defeat by Liverpool at the Millennium stadium, Birmingham were also forced to take the deciding penalties in front of opposition supporters. Despite the heartbreaking manner of the defeat, though, Francis found little sympathy from Moyes. "I thought it was an unbelievably petty situation for them to get into," said the Preston manager.
"I didn't even know what it was about until I was told that Birmingham had gone to the referee before the game and asked for the penalties to be taken into the empty end.
"My view is that if I was a paying supporter I would want the penalties taken into where I was sitting. If I had paid £20 to watch tonight I would not want the penalties taken into the other end. We finished fourth in the division and won the right to play the second game here."
That Preston even reached extra-time, let alone the shoot- out, was down to an amazing goal from Mark Rankine two minutes into the four added on at the end of normal time, pouncing on a David Healy shot parried into his path by the goalkeeper Ian Bennett.
Healy had started this most memorable of Deepdale evenings in the 24th minute. Graham Alexander's long throw, taken near the right-hand corner flag, was inadvertently helped into his path by Martin Grainger for the Northern Ireland international to drive the ball into the roof of the goal from eight yards with clinical efficiency.
Chances flowed at both ends, the better to Birmingham but the bulk of possession to the home side, before a counter-attack in the 57th minute ended with Birmingham's half-time substitute Lazaridis crossing from the left and Geoff Horsfield, having edged goalside of his marker Edwards, converting tidily from close range.
Preston's chances appeared go in the 79th minute when Alexander's penalty struck the crossbar after Danny Sonner handled an Edwards corner..
) - you could only toss for who went first.
