The Championship play-offs, the undisputed peak of the EFL’s season drama, could be changing for the first time since 1990. Then, the two-legged finals were abandoned for a showpiece occasion increasingly headlined principally for how much money its winner will make.
Next month, according to a report in The Times, the 24 clubs will vote on whether to expand the play-offs from four teams to six. The format would mimic that in the National League, where fifth and sixth play seventh and eighth at home with the winner meeting third and fourth as usual in the semi-finals.
You can see why the EFL and its principal broadcaster and sponsors would be keen: more games, more knockout matches, more revenue, more interest. Play-off matches tend to be their most-watched (outside occasional local derby exceptions) and in the last few years have almost always delivered moments of astounding drama.
We should also say: it will almost certainly be upvoted and thus introduced. The effective question to owners of football clubs in a league where desperation culture is probably higher than anywhere else in world football is “Do you want two extra chances of promotion?” The answer is going to be “Yes” in 24 different ways.
I understand the desire for greater jeopardy, which is sold as the driving influence. Two years ago, 14 of the 24 Championship clubs avoided the top six and bottom three by at least three points. The Championship has a lower percentage of “active” positions (nine of 24 either go down, up or make the play-offs) than the Premier League (replace play-offs with European qualification) and League One. It has the same number as League Two, but three teams being relegated from that division is long overdue.
It also strongly assists the Championship’s “stuck” clubs, intended as a description in some cases and a slur in others. Stoke City, Millwall, Preston and Queens Park Rangers have all finished below sixth in each of the last seven to 10 seasons. Offering extra incentive to move away from a funk – although Millwall have done that themselves this season – could inspire greater flow between divisions. New Premier League teams is a good thing.
The losers are the teams who finish fifth and sixth, who now have a two-legged semi-final and will get an extra fixture at the end of a brutally long league season before facing one of two teams that have had an extra week’s rest. Perhaps you consider that to be just reward for finishing higher, but it nags away at me.
There are three obvious issues with this proposal. The first is a basic question of fairness: should a team that finishes eighth in a 24-team league, on average winning 18 of their 46 games and taking points at a rate of 1.44 per match, have a shot at promotion? In the last two seasons, eighth has finished 24 and 21 points behind third. That is a vast gap established over more than eight months to reduce it to two ties, given how misfortune or controversy can swing them.
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I also have misgivings about how this alters competition and mindset within the division – make the play-offs appear even more important and you risk reducing the intrigue of the league season, not increasing it. With two extra spots, it is easy to envisage a team going behind away at a strong opposition and half-playing the match to preserve energy for more realistic opportunities to win. The last thing the Championship needs is more clubs getting 100 points or more.
But more than all of that, the play-offs are perfect as they are. It is, repeatedly, the most extraordinary drama in English football. Watch the denouement of Coventry vs Sunderland and Sunderland vs Sheffield United from last season; if you can find fault then your standards are too high.
Anything that interferes with that glorious equilibrium – more matches, more fatigue and injuries – represents a risk. Everybody in power only ever seems to argue for more football because more automatically means better. That is often proven false by hindsight. I hope that the integrity of the Championship play-offs are not being damaged; that is the danger.
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