February 12 – The English Football League is set to meet with its member clubs to discuss expanding the end-of-season promotion play-off to six teams on March 5.
English football took its time to fully embrace play-offs – the first iteration in the second-tier came in 1987 – but the format is appointment viewing, with the EFL Championship play-off final often described as the ‘World’s Richest Game’.
The excitement provided by the play-offs has traditionally showcased those clubs finishing third, fourth, fifth and sixth, however, next month the EFL will vote on a proposal that nudges the Championship further toward an unmistakably American idea of sporting drama.
Clubs will decide whether to expand the Championship play-offs from four teams to six. If approved, sides finishing between third and eighth would compete for a place in the Premier League from the 2026–27 season, mirroring a format already in use in the National League.
Under the proposal, third and fourth would receive byes into the semi-finals, while fifth would host eighth and sixth would face seventh in one-off eliminators.
The remaining four would then contest two-legged semi-finals before the familiar Wembley finale at the end of May. The structure has been signed off by the EFL board and the English Football Association (FA), but still requires majority approval across both the wider EFL and the Championship itself.
On one level, the change makes sense because more teams equals more jeopardy, more meaningful matches late in the season, and, of course, more commercial opportunities. It is also framed as a leveller, offering clubs without parachute payments or Premier League-scale budgets more chances to earn promotion.
However, by widening the door to more clubs, the Championship edges closer to the American model, where mediocre seasons can suddenly become the stuff of dreams. The league has always been framed as the hallmark of consistency, and that should be rewarded as opposed to scrapping in eighth, getting hot, and finding yourself in the Premier League
That tension cuts to the heart of English football’s traditional contract with its supporters. League placing has always been the ultimate currency, a reward for endurance rather than momentum. It has always been viewed as a marathon, not a sprint. Expand the play-offs, and that ideal is thrown out of the window.
There are no immediate plans to roll the model into League One or League Two, though the EFL will monitor its impact. Proposals to reshape promotion and relegation between League Two and the National League are also on the table, another sign that the system is eventually going to bow to the concept that almost everyone should have a chance.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at [email protected]