EFL Confirms Championship Play-Off Expansion
Thursday, 5th Mar 2026 11:42

The EFL has confirmed that the Championship play-off format will be expanded to six teams from next season.

EFL clubs ratified the proposal which was revived in September last year by Preston North End chief executive Peter Ridsdale, having previously been put forward by one-time Crystal Palace and Bristol City chief executive Phil Alexander, who is now CEO of the National League.

An EFL statement reads: “At a general meeting today, EFL clubs approved changes to expand the number of teams competing in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs from four to six, starting in the 2026/27 season.

“The decision is intended to increase the number of competitive fixtures during the closing stages of the campaign, while also giving two additional clubs the opportunity to reach the play-off final at Wembley Stadium and progress to the Premier League.”

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch added: “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 new format broadly follows the structure of the National League’s play-offs with the fifth-finishing side hosting the eighth-placed team and sixth at home to seventh in one-off matches.

The winners would then play the teams third and fourth in two-legged semi-finals - differing from the National League where there are one-off games throughout - before the traditional Wembley final.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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Mark added 11:48 - Mar 5 Why can't they league football alone! I don't like this change. It is a league, not a cup!
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Thegeniusofmuhren added 11:59 - Mar 5 £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££ Should be top 3 end of.
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MickMillsTash added 12:03 - Mar 5 Rewarding Mediocrity. is Corbyn behind this ?
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Steelmonkey added 12:07 - Mar 5

What an absolute farce football has become.
It’s just going to bring down the premiership standard level of play if by some chance the lowest finisher gets promoted, they’ve scraped through to that position probably with a greater margin of points then Sunderland did who were 14 points adrift of third place Sheffield Utd.
Now Sunderland had a fantastic transfer window bringing in talented hungry players who have amazed everyone. But they have to be the exception to the rule.
Teams in that position are far likelier to be so unprepared for life in the Premiership, by that I mean ground wise, team squad and tactical nounce, and will get slaughtered every week by the top six at least.
How demoralising will it be for their fans, I was wishing for the season to end in January when we were relegated and I thought Ashton and McKenna had put together a decent enough squad to avoid relegation and obtain at least a bottom five finish.
Well that’s my opinion so I’m probably wrong I usually am.

RetroBlue added 12:21 - Mar 5 The game is a busted flush now isnt it... broken and chasing the £££ 's
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mathiemagic added 12:22 - Mar 5

Have to agree with all that has been said, absolute farce that will just dilute both the Championship and the Premier League. So you will only have to scrape into 8th place to get a stab at promotion. What a joke. As it stands, if the season was finishing now, Derby would get a shot at the Prem whilst being 20 points behind Coventry, 15 behind Boro and 12 behind Ipswich. Shocking decision. Top 3 should go up, end of discussion.

itfcserbia added 12:22 - Mar 5 Lol, so a team like Millwall or Preston can beat the crap out of you and nick a PL promotion. Farcical
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TheMover added 12:25 - Mar 5 I don't agree that the play offs have become the highlight, just a way of extorting more money from supporters
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algarvefan added 12:25 - Mar 5 I can't believe this. last season for example Millwall who were 8th finished 24 points behind 3rd place Sheffield Utd with a -2 goal difference!!! and 34 points behind 1st and second place teams. They could have won the play offs. 3 up and 3 down is faired with a play off between 3rd & 4th if the finish on equal points. The rest is just about making more money.
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algarvefan added 12:27 - Mar 5 PS Do we know how Town voted????
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Citynil added 12:28 - Mar 5 And what about the teams finishing 9th - 24th? Surely it’s only fair that they should be given a shot at the play offs too? A raffle perhaps? Ridiculous.
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TheMover added 12:29 - Mar 5 In my opinion the top 3 teams have earned the right to be promoted, they could have had a ply off between the team that finishes in 17th in the PL and the teams that finished 4th to 7th in the Championship
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barrystedmunds added 12:34 - Mar 5 Kerching! How surprising NOT!
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Eiffel78 added 12:34 - Mar 5 Bloody awful idea. It's just setting teams up to fail over the next 12 months; luck can have an effect on a couple of one-off games and see a woefully underprepaired side potentially promoted to a division where they'll be cannon fodder for almost everyone. On the plus side for Derby fans, it may see them finally lose the record for fewest points in a season!
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cressi added 12:40 - Mar 5 Ridiculous money money money so easy to fall out with football in general 48 teams in the world cup utter nonsense.
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fifeblue added 12:43 - Mar 5 I truly hope that Ipswich Town voted against this insane idea that ruins the integrity of a league system.
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BlueWax added 12:55 - Mar 5

Amy chance the fans get a say one day about changes.
Just stop reinventing the wheel and leave our great game alone! Risdale proposal pathetic!
Sky will have to now drop their famous quote of the championship being the most competative league in the world.
And on another note, why the heck have corner takers been allowed to put the ball.on the very outside of the quadrant!!!
Pushing and shoving from corners, play acting (cheating), time wasting...VAR rubbish.....never used to be like this, oir hame is leaving us!

Gforce added 12:57 - Mar 5 Crazy idea,you will have teams like Norwich who have been crap all season, having a late run to finish in 8th place & potentially going up. How can you have a team in 8th potentially finishing 20 pts behind 3rd going up,it's a total nonsense. And even more reason why we must get top 2 this season.
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naa added 13:09 - Mar 5

I don't have an issue with this. sure , it means a very middling team might get promoted, but with the massive disparity between the Premier League and Championship it means that the auto spaces tend to be taken up with yoyoing teams, and one play-off slot is also taken up by one. Or possibly even more than one if not all the yoyo teams went straight back up (as per Leeds) meaning there isn't much space in the play offs for anyone else, making the disparity even larger.

Opening promotion up to a few more teams beyond those who've just been in the Prem is no bad thing I say.

Saxonblue74 added 13:31 - Mar 5 Utterly ludicrous. Less about winning and more about not losing.
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Saxonblue74 added 13:32 - Mar 5 That's now the top 33%
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John_Grose added 13:33 - Mar 5 Risdale has always been an arse and all the crap teams have voted as it gives them a glimmer. Terrible decision.
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SickParrot added 13:35 - Mar 5 The existing system is already unfair as the top 3 should go up, but extending the playoffs to teams in 7th and 8th is rediculous. A team finishing 7th or 8th in the Championship doesn't deserve an opportunity to play in the Premier League the follow season.
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Saxonblue74 added 13:36 - Mar 5 In the 23/24 promotion season 8th place finished 27 points behind second, but would now still be in with a shout.Thats 8 points closer to relegation than promotion.
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ringwoodblue added 13:43 - Mar 5 Makes even more of a mockery of the 46 league games that come before it. 3rd should go up automatically and scrap the playoffs altogether.
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