Championship play-offs could face huge change as clubs show 'widespread support'

ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE bosses are in talks to expand the Championship play-offs to SIX teams.

Currently the top two teams in England’s second tier are promoted automatically the remaining four enter semi-finals, third vs sixth and fourth vs fifth - and then the final, often dubbed the richest in club football .

1 Sunderland celebrated their Championship play-off final win last season Credit: Shutterstock Editorial

The new potential structure would see that 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.

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.

The Athletic reports that the plan, similar to the format the National League employs, was presented to clubs by the Preston North End chief executive Peter Ridsdale and that early feedback from Championship clubs has been positive.

At this stage, only Championship clubs have been consulted about the plan to sex-up the season finale.

But there is interest from the EFL to eventually introduce the proposal across League One and League Two .

Football Association rules dictate that changes to competition formats require the approval of the FA board and the Premier League.

Championship Premier League Sunderland Preston North End Play-off Expansion