The EFL Championship playoffs have delivered special moments in the past, but a EFL-wide vote could expand the format to six teams ahead of next season.

The Championship playoff final is seen as one of the most lucrative matches in football as the winner of the game receive in excess of £200 million.

But a meeting next month amongst the 24 clubs in the division will see a vote to expand the playoffs could add an extra jeopardy to proceedings.

A majority vote of at least 13 clubs required to pass the motion would see the playoffs expand to the same format as the Enterprise National League, coming into play for the start of next season.

In addition, despite no plans for a vote in the third and fourth tier, an approval including the clubs in those tiers are required, with 37 votes needed in favour to pass.

Playoff hopes for Preston?

Should the expansion come into action, this could have positive permutations for Preston North End.

The Lilywhites have not played top division football since 1960/61 with this season their 11th consecutive season in the second tier.

In those 11 seasons, Preston have failed to finish in the top six and compete in the playoffs.

Preston’s highest finish of seventh in 2017/18 which would be enough under the new proposal for a playoff campaign.

Preston currently sit in seventh in the Championship, out of the playoffs on goal difference behind Wrexham, again a position which under the new proposal would be a playoff position.

By expanding the playoff spots to six places, it could allow teams like Preston, who have had lengthy spells away from the topflight, a better chance of reaching the promised land of the Premier League.

The fan dismissal

The vote is set to take place on March 5th and has already been approved by the FA over a year ago, with Sky Sports suggesting the proposal is popular amongst Championship sides.

Fans do not share the same view with many in belief that if eighth place in the division won the playoffs, it would ruin the magic and competitiveness of the competition.

The competitiveness is a key aspect of fan critique with the gap between the Premier League and the Championship growing in recent years.

In both 2023/24 and 2024/25, all three newly promoted sides were immediately relegated from the Premier League back to the Championship, with the nearest challenges for safety six and 13 points adrift of safety in each respective season.

Fans have took to social media wary of the expansion causing these gaps to persist and widen.

The impact on the playoffs and for lower tiers

The controversial aspect of the eliminator stage sees the removal of home and away legs, instead hosting one-off games at the home of the higher-placed team.

The expansion would see the addition of an eliminator round contested of matches between fifth and eighth place and then sixth versus seventh.

This would move to the traditional semi-finals where the third and fourth place teams would be added before the final at Wembley Stadium.

There are no current plans for a similar vote for League 1 and League 2,but these clubs will get a vote on the whether the expansion will be implemented, including Tranmere Rovers.

This news would come as a disappointment for Tranmere, who have flattered to deceive in League 2, falling in position season-on-season in recent years after relegation from League 1 in 2020.

‘The worst it’s been for five years!’- What is going wrong at Tranmere Rovers?

(Featured Image taken by Steve Daniels from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons)

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR