For traditionalists, the English Championship offers six opportunities for clubs to get promoted to the promised land that is the Premier League. Those include winning the title or finishing second, which are rewarded with automatic promotion, plus four play-off places for teams finishing between third and sixth. However, that will change in 2026/27.
Representatives of the English Football League (EFL) have confirmed that the play-offs will be expanded to six teams this term – so, with the champions and runners-up continuing to enjoy automatic ascension, that’s eight clubs that could be vying for one of football’s richest prizes come the end of the campaign.
English Championship Play-Offs Explained
From the 26/27 season, the #SkyBetChampionship Play-Offs will be expanded to six teams.
Read more: https://t.co/E8Njme9iOL#EFL pic.twitter.com/eWqfM8TB08
— EFL (@EFL) March 5, 2026
It was back in March 2026 that Championship clubs were asked to vote on whether the play-offs should be revamped or not. They agreed to the new format, which will the teams finishing in seventh and eighth place also getting a crack at the play-offs.
Commenting on the change, EFL chief 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 new format will be similar to that used in the National League since 2017. Although only one team is promoted automatically from the top-tier of non-league football, there are six play-off places available – albeit, only the winner of the play-off final is promoted to League Two.
At the time of writing, the play-off systems used in League One and League Two are unchanged, with no plans on the part of the EFL to change them.
How Many Teams Get Promoted from the English Championship?
The new play-off system in the Championship is the same but different, if that makes sense. Only three teams can get promoted – nothing new there. However, the door is now open to the club that finishes as low as eighth in league table to secure promotion to the Premier League.
- Championship Winner – Automatic Promotion
- Championship Runner-Up – Automatic Promotion
- Third & Fourth Place – Qualify for Play-Off Semi Finals
- Fifth, Sixth, Seventh & Eighth Place – Qualify for Play-Off Quarter Finals
For the quarter finals, the team that finishes in fifth place will take on the side that finishes eighth in a single eliminator game – the fifth-placed team gets home advantage due to their better league performance. The teams that finish sixth and seventh also clash in a single eliminator game, with the higher ranked club enjoying home advantage.
The winners of those two games progress to the play-off semi-finals. The team that finishes the regular season in third will take on the lowest available league finisher – that will be whoever wins the quarter-final between sixth and seventh, or eighth if they defeat fifth in their eliminator.
And then the team that finishes fourth will play against the highest-ranked team from the quarter finals – that could be fifth, sixth or seventh, depending on the outcome of those quarter-final games. Those semi-finals will be played over two legs, with the second leg to be played at the home ground of the team that finished higher in the league table.
Then we’ll be left with just two teams, who will progress to Wembley Stadium for the play-off final towards the end of May. Confused? The changes perhaps don’t come across that clearly on paper, but fans will soon get used to the revised format. For supporters of the clubs that finish seventh or eighth in the Championship, what a chance it is to secure promotion to the Premier League against all odds…
How Many Teams Get Relegated from the Premier League?
Although the format of the Championship play-offs has been revamped, the actual output hasn’t changed. Only three teams can be promoted: the league champion, the runner-up and the winner of the play-off pathway. That’s because there are no plans to alter the number of teams that are relegated from the Premier League each season, which will remain at three for the foreseeable future.
How Likely Is It That the Team Finishing Eighth in the Championship Gets Promoted?
Although they should be grateful for the opportunity, it’s clear that the odds are still stacked against the teams finishing in seventh and eighth in the Championship. They will have to win through three rounds – the quarters, semis and final – by defeating teams that finished higher than them in the league table. Impossible? Absolutely not. Improbable? Perhaps.
For context, since the 2003/04 season when the old Second Division was rebranded as the Championship, only three teams that finished sixth in the table have gone on to secure promotion via the play-offs. Hull City were the latest to achieve that unlikely feat in the summer of 2026, defeating Middlesbrough in the play-off final before enjoying a solid start to life in the Premier League.
Remember, in that old play-off system the team finishing sixth only had to win through two fixtures to secure promotion – a much better opportunity than winning three matches. But, even so, finishing in sixth has been a major disadvantage. And it’s not impossible that the side finishing in eighth could be 20 points behind the team in third in the league table… highlighting the gulf in quality.
For context, here’s the number of occasions in which each finishing position has been promoted via the National League play-offs since they adopted the same extended format in 2017/18:
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- Second Place – 4
- Third Place – 2
- Fourth Place – 1
- Fifth Place – 1
- Sixth Place – 1
- Seventh Place – 0
For the most part, the ‘better’ teams have gone on to maximise their advantage in the play-offs – apart from Grimsby’s outstanding triumph in 2021/22, when they finished sixth. And the lowest possible qualifier in seventh place? They are yet to taste promotion via the expanded play-offs.
