Championship play-off spots to expand from four to six teams starting next season after EFL clubs vote in favour of proposal

The Championship play-offs will feature six teams from next season after EFL clubs voted in favour to expand it from its current format of four.

The move, which was voted in at an all-club meeting on Thursday, will mean teams finishing from third to eighth will compete for Premier League promotion from the 2026-27 campaign.

Those who finish third and fourth in the second tier will directly qualify for the semi-finals, 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.

Supporters of the change believe it will create more interest in the run-in to the Championship season, as it gives more teams a chance to qualify for the post-season and a shot at promotion to the Premier League.

However, there are currently no plans to expand the play-offs in League One or League Two.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: ‘Since their introduction in 1986-87, the play-offs have become a highlight of the domestic football calendar, capturing the drama, suspense and jeopardy that make the EFL so special.

‘Following several months of discussion with clubs and other stakeholders, 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.’

The Championship play-off final and its riches

The current format in the EFL – with a single-leg final at Wembley preceded by two-leg semi-finals – has been in place since the 1989-90 season.

The Championship play-off final has come to be regarded as the most lucrative single game in world football, given a place in the Premier League is at stake to the winners.

Sunderland were last season’s victors, overcoming Sheffield United 2-1. The success was estimated to have secured a minimum of £200million in extra income for the Black Cats.

Phil Parkinson, the boss of Championship side Wrexham who currently sit in sixth place, said: ‘I think as a supporter it gives everyone the hope, more teams the hope that they can get into the Premier League, which is obviously the aim of every single team in the Championship.

‘Everyone’s got to believe they can do that. And obviously it opens the door up a little bit wider.’