Championship playoffs expand to allow more teams a chance to reach Premier League

Current format has been in place since the 1989-90 season

LUCRATIVE: Luton Town's Dan Potts (right) celebrates after his team win the penalty shoot-out of the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium in 2023. Picture: PA

The Championship play-offs will feature six teams from next season.

The EFL announced its clubs had passed a proposal to increase the number of play-off participants from four to six at an all-club meeting on Thursday.

Supporters of the change believe it will create more interest in the run-in to the Championship season, as it gives more teams a chance to qualify for the post-season and a shot at promotion to the Premier League. Teams finishing between third and eighth will be involved.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: "Since their introduction in 1986-87, the play-offs have become a highlight of the domestic football calendar, capturing the drama, suspense and jeopardy that make the EFL so special.

"Following several months of discussion with clubs and other stakeholders, we are confident this change will further strengthen the Championship as a competition and give more clubs and their supporters a genuine opportunity of achieving promotion."

The National League currently operates a six-team play-off tournament, where the teams finishing second and third progress straight to the semi-finals while those finishing fourth to seventh compete in quarter-finals.

A similar system will be used in the Championship, with teams finishing from fifth to eighth playing in eliminator ties and the winners going on to face the third and fourth-placed teams in two-legged semi-finals. The final format will be agreed later in 2026.

The current format in the EFL - with a single-leg final at Wembley preceded by two-leg semi-finals - has been in place since the 1989-90 season.

HIGH STAKES

The Championship play-off final has come to be regarded as the most lucrative single game in world football, given a place in the Premier League is at stake to the winners.

Sunderland were last season's victors, overcoming Sheffield United 2-1. The success was estimated to have secured a minimum of £200million in extra income for the Black Cats.

Phil Parkinson, the boss of Championship side Wrexham who currently sit in sixth place, said: "I think as a supporter it gives everyone the hope, more teams the hope that they can get into the Premier League, which is obviously the aim of every single team in the Championship.

"Everyone's got to believe they can do that. And obviously it opens the door up a little bit wider."