Simon Jordan reacts to huge EFL Championship change that could happen | OneFootball

TalkSPORT host Simon Jordan has had his say on whether the Championship should expand the play-offs to six teams.

Simon Jordan has weighed in on the news that the Championship play-offs could include six teams for the first time from as soon as next season.

The current system sees the second tier's top two earn automatic promotion to the Premier League, whereas teams finishing between third and sixth battle for the final top-flight spot in the play-offs.

Middlesbrough and Coventry City are this term's current top two, while the remaining top-six teams are Ipswich Town, Hull City, Millwall, and Wrexham.

The play-offs have provided some of the most dramatic moments in Championship history, while expanding them to the teams finishing seventh and eighth would hand more clubs the opportunity to seal promotion to the Premier League.

Simon Jordan claims play-off expansion is not everything that must happen to close Championship gap to Premier League

Several strong Championship sides have narrowly missed out on a play-off place over the years, including the Coventry team which reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 2024.

Meanwhile, Hull finished on 70 points in 2023/24, but a seventh-place finish was not enough to earn a chance of winning promotion to the Premier League.

Under the proposed expansion, that Tigers team would have been good enough to land a play-off spot.

TalkSPORT host Jordan, who was formerly Crystal Palace's chairman, has weighed in on the proposals, which Championship sides are set to vote on in March: "When you’re put in a situation about coming up from the Championship, and you have to carry the losses from the Championship, and you’re only allowed to make a certain amount of losses that you get in the Premier League, how about levelling those playing fields up a little bit so that when Nottingham Forest went up a few years ago, and got sanctioned for breaching financial fair play, because they were only allowed to carry less losses from the Championship, as opposed to the Premier League sides that are already there getting far greater losses at a far greater bandwidth, how about sorting that one out first, before you start worrying about which teams come up from the league that’s got nothing to do with you?

"As far as this idea is concerned, this was my chief executive’s idea, Phil Alexander, from 20 years ago. We flew this kite 20 years ago. Phil came to me and said ‘I think there’s an opportunity to create more jeopardy in this division to create more broadcast revenue, to create more longevity in the season with teams having more to play for and more consequences towards the back end of the season if we actually increase the size of the play-offs. They put it to the EFL board, they didn’t want to do it. Now 20 years forward, maybe they do. The only acid test for this is if 24 clubs vote for it, it’s the end of the discussion."

Championship play-off expansion will be the correct choice for all parties

As reported by Sky Sports, the concept of the seventh and eighth placed teams earning a play-off spot from next season is very popular among Championship clubs, but the Premier League are concerned that the change would dilute the quality of teams being promoted to the top flight.

However, as alluded to by Jordan, whether the play-offs are expanded is more relevant to the second tier than it is to the Premier League, who are currently not doing everything they can to bridge the gap between the divisions.

Furthermore, the play-off expansion would make the business end of the Championship season more exciting for more clubs, which can only benefit the league.

The Premier League also shouldn't be overly concerned by the prospect of lower-quality teams winning promotion, as there often isn't a major gulf in class between sides finishing sixth and those finishing seventh and eighth.