Regardless of the teams involved, the players on the pitch or the managers in the dugout, the English Football League play-offs never fail to deliver.
Excitement and drama are guaranteed in spades when four of the best teams in the Championship, League One and League Two, go head-to-head in search of promotion.
Last season, Fulham, Wycombe Wanderers and Northampton Town all made the most of their days out at Wembley by winning their respective play-off finals.
And there is an added incentive for the competing clubs this time around as 10,000 fans will be in attendance at the national stadium after matches were played behind closed doors last season.
Here is all you need to know about the play-off finals this season.
When and where are the play-off finals taking place?
All three finals will be held at Wembley Stadium, spread out over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May.
There had been speculation that the Championship final would be moved to accommodate the Champions League final, as Uefa sought an alternative venue to host Manchester City vs Chelsea after Turkey had been placed on the UK government’s travel red-list.
However, the Champions League final will now be held in Porto, meaning the play-off schedule will run as planned with the Championship final taking place first, followed by League One and then League Two.
Sky Sports have exclusive TV coverage for all three games which will also be able to be streamed on Now TV online and via the app.
Championship: Brentford vs Swansea
- Date: Saturday 29 May
- Kick-off: 3pm
League One: Blackpool vs Lincoln City
- Date: Sunday 30 May
- Kick-off: 3pm
League Two: Morecambe vs Newport County
- Date: Monday 31 May
- Kick-off: 3pm
Regularly dubbed the ‘richest game of football’, this season’s Championship play-off final sees Brentford vying with Swansea City in a repeat of last season’s semi-final. On that occasion, the Bees beat the Welsh outfit, only to lose at Wembley.
Thomas Frank’s side will have their hopes set on going one better after overturning a 2-0 deficit to beat Bournemouth on Saturday. Brentford’s star man, Ivan Toney, is the division’s top scorer.
Swansea, meanwhile, want to join Norwich and Watford in returning to the Premier League after a relatively short hiatus.
In League One, Lincoln City will play a rejuvenated Blackpool after beating Sunderland and Oxford United respectively.
Nobody would have anticipated Lincoln being in this position at the start of the season. The Imps finished 16th in the 2019-20 campaign after promotion from League Two but came fifth this time around – that is testament to Michael Appleton’s progress since taking over in 2019.
Down in League Two, it would be hard to begrudge Morecambe promotion either.
They narrowly missed out on the automatic spots by a single point, but they remain on course to put that right after beating Tranmere – who surprisingly sacked their manager Keith Hill just before the play-offs – in the semi-finals.
Morecambe face Newport County, the Welsh side having come out on top in a 5-4 thriller after extra time against Forest Green.
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3hR1dsZ
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