Huge new EFL Championship change to happen from 2027 | OneFootball

The biggest alteration to English football's second tier in many a year is coming from next season

The EFL Championship's play-offs have been given its biggest shake up yet, as there will be six teams contesting it from the 2026-27 season onwards.

Since their inception in 1987, there have always been four teams in the second tier of English football's post-season competition, although for the first couple of years they included the fourth-lowest First Division team as well as third, fourth and fifth-placed finishers in the Second Division.

Drama is never too far away in any level of the EFL play-offs, and they have created some of the most shocking and memorable moments in the history of the game in years gone by.

The play-offs have been the way we know it since 1989, with four clubs battling it out to enter the top flight - that however will change come May 2027.

EFL clubs vote to make big Championship play-off changes

As confirmed by the EFL, clubs have voted for the structure of the Championship play-offs to expand to six teams from next season, and whilst the full format is yet to be confirmed, it is expected that fifth place will take on eighth and sixth position will clash with seventh in one-legged eliminators, with the higher-placed teams being at home.

The winners will then go on to take on third and fourth-placed finishers, who will receive byes into the semi-final stage, in a regular two-legged clash, with the winners meeting at Wembley for the ultimate prize of Premier League football.

It is akin to the National League's system, who adopted the structure in the 2017-18 season and have kept it ever since, and it's now coming to the Championship for the following campaign.

The decision was made at an EFL general meeting on the morning of March 5, with the governing body receiving enough votes from club chiefs to expand the play-off system - just for the second tier of English football for now.

Explaining the decision, EFL chief executive Trevor Birch - former chairman of Swansea City and ex-CEO at Derby County and Sheffield United - 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.”

More drama and money is likely going to come from EFL Championship play-offs decision

The play-offs will always be a divisive and debatable topic for anyone - it can be seen at times as unfair given the potentially large points discrepancies between teams who do and don't go up, with Sheffield United losing out to Sunderland in the final last season despite finishing on 90 points, which was 14 ahead of the Black Cats.

But all clubs know what they've signed up for at the start of the season, and if they miss out on automatic promotion with a large points tally, then it's something they've got to deal with and reinvigorate themselves for the play-off challenge that awaits.

Now though, third and fourth will get an advantage from next season in the sense that their opposition will have to play one more very highly-charged game compared to them, which could be beneficial for when the two-legged affairs return for the semi-finals.

What the new format is also going to create is more opportunity for Championship clubs to chase the Premier League pot of gold. There will be less dead rubbers going into the final few matches of the regular season as more teams than ever try to hunt down a spot between third and eighth, and as we know, anything can happen in the play-offs.

The traditional football fan likely won't be pleased at the new changes, but they're probably going to be here to stay, given the new opportunities it is set to bring.