What are the EFL play-offs?
The EFL play-offs are an end-of-season tournament in the Championship, League One and League Two in which four teams compete for one available promotion berth to the division above.
How do the EFL play-offs work?
In both the Championship and League One, the teams who finish first and second are promoted automatically while the teams who finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth enter the play-offs.
Third plays sixth and fourth takes on fifth in a two-legged semi-final home and away, with the victor on aggregate progressing to the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. The two highest finishers in the regular season play on the road in the first leg and at home in the second leg.
If a semi-final tie is level at the full-time whistle in the second leg then extra-time and potentially penalties are played until a winner is determined. The final follows the same pattern if no winner can be found in regulation time (90 minutes).
The League Two play-offs work in the same way but four teams competing are the clubs who finish between fourth and seventh due to three teams earning automatic promotion from the fourth tier to League One.
EFL play-offs history
The play-offs were introduced to the EFL in 1987 and have been played every season since.
In the first three seasons the play-off finals were, like the semi-finals, conducted over two legs on a home-and-away basis, but a one-off final has been in place since 1990.
During the first two seasons of the play-offs, the three teams directly below the automatic promotion line were joined by the team who finished directly above the relegation zone in the division above. This was due to the EFL’s restructuring of the English football pyramid at the end of the 1980s.
When are the 2024 EFL play-offs?
The 2024 EFL playoffs will be held at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign but no dates have been confirmed for the semi-finals yet.
The Championship season is scheduled to finish on Saturday, May 4 while Leagues One and Two are set to reach their conclusions a week earlier, on the weekend of April 27th and 28th.
The dates for the EFL play-off finals, to be held at Wembley once again, have been announced, however.
The Championship play-off final will take place on Sunday, May 26th with the League One decider slated for Saturday, May 18th and the League Two final penned in for Sunday, May 19th.
Who are the most successful clubs in EFL play-off history?
Crystal Palace are the most successful club in the Championship play-offs, earning promotion to the top flight through the end-of-season competition on four occasions.
Seven clubs have won promotion from the League One play-offs twice, including the most recent winners Sheffield Wednesday.
Blackpool hold the record for most successful League Two play-off campaigns with three, and the Tangerines have also tasted play-off success twice in League One (2007 and 2021) and once in the Championship (2010).
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