More teams will have a chance to compete for a spot in the Wembley final.
The Championship play-offs will be expanded to six teams from next season, the EFL has announced.
End-of-season play-offs were first introduced in the old second, third and fourth divisions in the 1986-87 season and were initially contested by the three teams finishing third to fifth.
The format was expanded to include the sixth-placed team in the 1988-89 season, with the four-team play-offs remaining in place after the advent of the Premier League in 1992-93.
But the EFL confirmed on Thursday that it had agreed to implement a proposal to expand the second-tier play-offs from the next season, with the seventh and eighth-placed finishers gaining extra opportunities to secure Premier League football.
A statement from the EFL read: “At a General Meeting today, EFL Clubs approved changes to expand the number of teams competing in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs from four to six, starting in the 2026-27 season.
“The decision is intended to increase the number of competitive fixtures during the closing stages of the campaign, while also giving two additional Clubs the opportunity to reach the Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium and progress to the Premier League.”
How will the new Championship play-off format work?
The new play-off format will feature a total of seven fixtures.
The fifth-placed team will host the eighth-placed side, and sixth will take on seventh in a pair of one-legged ‘eliminator’ ties, with the winners progressing to two-legged semi-finals against the third and fourth-placed teams.
As usual, the two winning semi-finalists will progress to a final at Wembley, though the exact final format will be agreed later this year
EFL confident change will strengthen Championship
The change is bound to attract scepticism, as there is the risk that adding extra teams will dilute the play-offs, which attract huge attention and often deliver tremendous drama.
But EFL chief executive Trevor Birch is confident the expansion will prove to be a positive.
“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,” Birch said.
“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.”
Sunderland were promoted from the play-offs last season after finishing fourth, 14 points behind third-placed Sheffield United and 24 adrift of Leeds United and Burnley, who were promoted automatically. The Black Cats beat Sheffield United 2-1 in the final.
Having reached the 40-point mark with a 1-0 win at Leeds on Tuesday, Sunderland are near-certainties to avoid an immediate return to the Championship. By contrast, Burnley look destined for the drop, while Leeds are just three points above the relegation zone.
Assuming Sunderland do survive, it will mean that four of the last seven teams to have been promoted from the play-offs have avoided relegation in their subsequent Premier League campaign. Aston Villa (2019), Brentford (2021) and Nottingham Forest (2022) all survived, while Fulham (2020), Luton Town (2023) and Southampton (2024) were relegated.
Ipswich Town, Millwall, Hull City and Wrexham occupy the play-off places in this season’s Championship, with the race for promotion still in the balance.
Third-placed Ipswich are three points behind second-placed Middlesbrough and eight adrift of leaders Coventry City with a game in hand. Ipswich host relegation-threatened Leicester City on Saturday and can leapfrog Middlesbrough, who face QPR on Sunday, into second with a win.
Southampton and Derby County would be in line to benefit from the changes if they were to be implemented this season, as they sit seventh and eighth in the table, the latter level on points with ninth-placed Watford.
