Championship play-offs set to expand to six teams | OneFootball

English Football League clubs have approved a significant reform to the EFL Championship promotion structure, voting to expand the division’s play-offs from four teams to six beginning in the 2026–27 season, BBC Sport reports.

Under the revised format, clubs finishing between third and eighth will now compete for the final promotion place to the Premier League. The sides finishing third and fourth will advance directly to the semi-finals, while those placed fifth to eighth will contest single-leg quarter-finals, fifth hosting eighth and sixth facing seventh, for the right to progress. The semi-finals will remain two-legged affairs, before the winners meet in the traditional showpiece final at Wembley Stadium.

The play-offs have long been regarded as one of the most dramatic spectacles in English football, not least last season when Sunderland secured promotion after finishing fourth and prevailing at Wembley. Yet the new structure will widen the field, offering two additional clubs a pathway to the top flight and intensifying the competitive stakes in the closing weeks of the campaign.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch described the decision as a step designed to enhance the Championship’s drama and opportunity. After months of consultation with clubs and stakeholders, league officials believe the expanded play-off race will deepen engagement while preserving the tension that has long defined the battle for promotion.

GFN | Finn Entwistle