EFL in talks over expanding Championship playoffs to six teams | Championship

The English Football League is in talks over adding an eliminator round to the Championship playoffs and increasing the number of participants from four to six.

The proposal is a similar format to the one used by the National League. In the Championship the team that finish fifth would play the eighth-placed team and sixth would meet seventh in one-off ties at the higher-ranked team’s home stadium.

Unlike in the non-league playoffs, the winners of the eliminators would proceed to two-leg ties against the teams that finished third and fourth, with the winners meeting at Wembley to play for promotion to the Premier League.

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The plan, presented to clubs by the Preston North End chief executive, Peter Ridsdale, at a meeting last week, would add greater jeopardy to the end of the season and early feedback from Championship clubs has been favourable.

The proposal, first reported by the Athletic, remains at an early stage. There is appetite from EFL to introduce the proposal across League One and League Two but at this stage only Championship clubs have been consulted. Football Association rules dictate changes to competition formats require the approval of the FA board and the Premier League.

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The former Crystal Palace, Wycombe and Bristol City chief executive Phil Alexander, the interim chief executive of the National League, previously unsuccessfully floated the idea on numerous occasions.