Championship playoffs will expand to six teams after approval from EFL clubs

The Championship playoffs will expand to six teams from next season after the change was approved by EFL clubs on Thursday.

The Guardian revealed last month that a proposal to add a quarter-final stage to the playoffs had been recommended by the EFL board, and the clubs gave their assent in a vote at an extraordinary general meeting held at the Belfry.

The format will add an eliminator round to the Championship playoffs in a set-up similar to that used by the National League. The fifth-placed team will play eighth and sixth will play seventh, at the higher-ranked club’s ground, in a one-off tie to determine progression to the two-leg playoff semi-finals, against the clubs that finished third and fourth.

The EFL’s chief executive, Trevor Birch, said after the vote that the change would make the Championship more competitive, and there are also hopes it will add to the division’s commercial appeal.

The EFL’s domestic rights holder, Sky Sports, has given its approval, but the Guardian has been told the broadcaster will not be increasing its rights fee for the final three seasons of its contract despite having two additional marquee fixtures. Its five-year deal is worth £935m.

Future TV rights packages could be more valuable, however. The expanded playoff format may be adopted in League One and League Two if successful next season.

“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,” Birch said.

The Premier League has raised objections amid concerns that promoting the eighth team in the Championship could lead to a drop in standards in the top flight, but the Football Association board overruled these concerns and approved the EFL’s proposal at the end of last year.

There is often an apparent drop-off in quality between the top three Championship sides and the rest of the division, with eighth-placed Derby currently 12 points behind Ipswich, who are third. Last season Millwall finished eighth, 24 points behind third-placed Sheffield United, and the previous season the gap was 21 points.

A four-team playoff format in the second tier has been in place since the 1988-89 season. Playoff results from the National League, which has had a six-team format for the past eight seasons, suggests the lower-ranked teams will find it difficult to win promotion. Only Grimsby, in 2022, have gone up after finishing outside the top four playoff spots.