Fighting relegation & still eyeing promotion? Championship ready for eight-team play-offs
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Derby County, Millwall (twice), Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers all have something in common which next season could be worth in the region of £150m.
Across the past five seasons those teams finished eighth in the Championship table - a decent year but with no reward at the end of it.
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All that will change for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign with seventh and eighth being enough to get you in the play-offs for a shot at reaching the Premier League.
Clubs finishing third and fourth will progress directly to the semi-final - as has been the case in previous seasons - while a one-legged quarter final will be played with fifth at home to eighth and sixth hosting seventh.
Semi-finals will remain as two legs and the final will still take place at Wembley at the end of May with two sides fighting it out for the right to play in the top flight and all the riches that brings.
Will this new format change the way teams approach the season which gets under way on Friday? How likely is it a side finishing seventh or eighth will actually win through? And, is it fair?
Less dead rubbers?
Phil Parkinson (left) and John Eustace led Wrexham to seventh and eighth place respectively last season [Getty Images]When announcing the decision to extend the Championship play-offs at in March the English Football League said the aim was to "increase the number of competitive fixtures during the closing stages of the season".
Last season three teams went into the final day of the campaign vying for the sixth and final play-off spot while the top eight was already decided with just the order to be sorted. As it turned out, Wrexham finished seventh and Derby eighth.
On the last weekend of the 2024-25 season five sides had a shot at the last two play-off berths but only Middlesbrough, who were ninth would have had a chance of breaking into the top eight had they been working under the new rules.
Staying with the new regulations, had they been in place for the 2023-24 season only ninth-placed Coventry City would have been in with a shout of overhauling Middlesbrough in eighth.
This is not to say managers might not change their approach if there is more of a chance of snagging a play-off spot as the season progresses - picking different players, making alternative signings in the January transfer window if seventh or eighth places are still realistic hopes.
"I thought the system worked pretty well previously - I think we'll have to see how it pans out," Portsmouth boss John Mousinho said.
"I didn't think there was an issue but we'll see how it goes. I think since the introduction of the play-off system it's been wildly successful."
How likely is a side finishing eighth to be promoted?
Sheffield United lost the 2025 Championship play-off final despite finishing 14 points ahead of opponents Sunderland [Getty Images]Since the Championship play-offs were tweaked in 1989 to only include the teams finishing third to sixth, the side coming sixth has been promoted just seven times.
Three of those six (Crystal Palace - twice and Blackpool) were immediately relegated.
Hull City's promotion last season came as something of a surprise as the first sixth-placed outfit to go up for 16 years.
Between them, Wrexham and Derby managed only three wins in 16 games against the sides who qualified for the play-offs. That ratio would appear to make it unlikely either would have gone all the way in the post-season competition.
Before the new season, League Two offered the lowest spot of seventh a chance to compete in the play-offs but that side has only gone up seven times from 38 attempts - further evidence of the challenge facing lower placed teams to go all the way. Championship sides will also face that extra one-off game before the semi-finals.
Despite the odds being against seventh or eighth actually winning promotion there are still reservations about even allowing them to compete.
Lyle Taylor, a play-off winner with Nottingham Forest, Charlton Athletic and AFC Wimbledon feels it is rewarding mediocrity.
"If you're talking about going down to eighth you could have a team with 10 or 11 fewer wins than the one finishing third," he told the BBC podcast 72+.
"Are you therefore deserving of being in the same post-season competition as that team? No, this is a meritocracy isn't it?"
"I get that it gives more teams a chance to compete but I can't help feeling some of the teams who end up competing could have a chance of getting to the Premier League over a team which finishes third and amassses an enormous amount of points," added former Huddersfield Town play-off winner Tommy Smith.
"I think back to Sheffield United just missing out on the automatics and then losing to Sunderland in the play-off final (having finished 14 points ahead of them in 2024-25) so I don't know how that sits with me, a team finishing eighth could be in the Premier League over a team finishing third."
Fighting relegation & trying to make the play-offs?
At the 2026-27 EFL season launch in Manchester, several EFL players and managers gave their thoughts on the change.
Nigel Clough, manager of League One side Mansfield Town, expected the format to be used in League One and League Two in future seasons, but was not keen on the expansion.
"If you come third and are 20 points away from eighth and in the same competition for the last few games, that does seem a little bit unfair, but it does keep the season alive for so many teams," he said.
"With how close League One was last year, you could be fighting relegation and trying to make the play-offs at the same time. How far do you take it?
"There must be a reward for your 46 games. I know there is for the top two, but maybe going to top eight is a bit far for my liking because if you are the third best team after 46 games you should get some reward."
Derby striker Rhian Brewster, whose side finished eighth in the Championship last season, said: "It will be good as some teams will have slow starts and kick on and could have a chance of getting in the play-offs this year and going up.
"It [the league] is going to be harder but you could be near the bottom and go on a run and finish eighth or seventh, You want to finish first or second, but if you end up in the play-offs then win the play-offs."
Burnley and former England defender Kyle Walker played in the 2009 Championship play-off final.
He was featuring for Sheffield United, who had finished third in the league, and they lost 1-0 in the Wembley final to Burnley.
He was in favour of the new format and said: "I think it's good, more chances for more people, but first of all you don't want to be involved in the play-offs.
"I've been involved in it and it's a roulette, anything can happen. Make sure you make a gap between first, second and let the rest deal with it themselves."
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray scored in the 2000 Championship play-off final as his Ipswich Town side beat Barnsley 4-2 to win promotion into the Premier League.
"I think it's good and keeps the dreams alive for fans and a lot of football teams. You could be sitting 10th, 12th or 14th but still be three points off the top eight and two wins back-to-back and you can catapult yourselves in," Mowbray said.
"People have to dream, they have to have a reason why they want to go and believe they can still do it. For me it's only positive. The argument is you could have a team finishing eighth and getting promoted, but good luck to them.
"Sunderland when they scraped through the play-offs [in 2025], Coventry in the semi-finals over two legs were the better team but Dan Ballard got them through with a header right at the death. Then at Wembley Sheffield United might have been the better team over 90 minutes and they [Sunderland] got there. Then they spent £180m and are now playing in Europe so it can happen to any team."
'Eighth is a realistic target' - Mousinho
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho hopes the change in format will not 'dilute' the play-offs [Getty Images]The new format will mean one third of the Championship will be able to point to some sort of 'success' be that automatic promotion, going up via the play-offs, a Wembley appearance or just a top eight finish.
It could also heap even more pressure on managers (there were 13 managerial changes in the division last season) and on owners to invest even more money in pursuit of the Premier League riches.
"It depends whether it dilutes it too much and all of a sudden the side that finishes eighth and maybe is a long way off the side that finishes third ultimately gets a chance to go into the Premier League and what knock-on affect that has. It'll be very interesting to see if and when that does happen," Portsmouth boss John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.
Sheffield United's poor start to last season saw them lose eight of their opening nine matches but following the reappointment of Chris Wilder they were 15th, within nine points of the top six and, perhaps more pertinently only three short of eighth with 11 games remaining.
Mousinho thinks the Blades are an example of what the extension of the play-offs can offer for those who might have previously started planning for the next campaign.
"For sides competing at the top of the bottom half currently, or who maybe want to compete and get in the top half it's a good thing because eighth is a realistic target whereas sixth previously was a bit of a leap," he said.
"The acid test will be if a side does finish seventh or eighth and is maybe a long way off the top four but does get promoted to the Premier League. In other leagues I think you can bridge the gap a bit more easily but in the Championship to the Premier League there is a big gap there.
"I'm sure if a side does do it there'll be no complaints but it'll be a good one to keep an eye on."