2023 English Football League play-offs

The English Football League play-offs for the 2022–23 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2023 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in Wembley.

English Football League play-offs
Wembley Stadium was the venue for each play-off final
Season2022–23
2022
2024

The play-offs begin in each league with two semi-finals which are played over two legs. The teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Championship and League One and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th-placed teams in League Two compete. The winners of the semi-finals advance to the finals, with the winners gaining promotion for the following season.[1]

Background

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The English Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places. The fixtures are determined by final league position – in the Championship and League One this is 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th, while in League Two it is 4th v 7th and 5th v 6th.

Championship

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Championship semi-finals

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The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 8 May 2023. Going into the final day, Luton Town and Middlesbrough had already confirmed their places in their play-offs, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Coventry City started and finished the day in 5th with a draw over Middlesbrough being enough to ensure both teams would face each other in the semi-finals. Millwall started the day in 6th, but Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, and Blackburn Rovers all remained in the hunt for the last spot at the start of play. West Bromwich Albion missed out after a loss against Swansea City. Millwall fell to 8th as they lost against fellow hopefuls Blackburn Rovers who also missed out in 7th on goal difference. Sunderland's win against Preston North End meant that they secured 6th spot and face Luton Town in the semi-finals, giving themselves the chance to be promoted via the play-offs for the second season in a row after they won the 2022 League One play-off final last season.

Final league position - Championship
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Luton Town 46 21 17 8 57 39 +18 80
4 Middlesbrough 46 22 9 15 84 56 +28 75
5 Coventry City 46 18 16 12 58 46 +12 70
6 Sunderland 46 18 15 13 68 55 +13 69

First leg

Sunderland2–1Luton Town
  • Amad   39'
  • Hume   63'
Report
Attendance: 46,060
Referee: Tim Robinson

Second leg

Luton Town2–0Sunderland
Report
Attendance: 10,013
Referee: Simon Hooper

Luton Town won 3–2 on aggregate.

Middlesbrough0–1Coventry City
Report
Attendance: 32,154
Referee: David Coote

Coventry City won 1-0 on aggregate.

Championship final

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Luton Town were promoted to the Premier League and played there alongside automatically promoted teams Burnley and Sheffield United.

Coventry City1–1 (a.e.t.)Luton Town
Report
Penalties
5–6
Attendance: 85,711

League One

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League One Semi-Finals

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The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2023. Going into the final day, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley had already guaranteed a place in the play-offs, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Bolton Wanderers had also guaranteed their place in the play-offs and won their game against Bristol Rovers to finish 5th, ensuring they played Barnsley in the semi-finals. Derby County were 6th with only a win being able to guarantee a play-off spot with any other result opening the door for Peterborough United, who needed to win. Peterborough United beat Barnsley, while Derby County lost to Sheffield Wednesday. This meant that Peterborough United finished 6th and faced Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-finals, while Derby County finished 7th.

Final league position - League One
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
3 Sheffield Wednesday 46 28 12 6 81 37 +44 96
4 Barnsley 46 26 8 12 80 47 +33 86
5 Bolton Wanderers 46 23 12 11 62 36 +26 81
6 Peterborough United 46 24 5 17 75 54 +21 77

First leg

Peterborough United4–0Sheffield Wednesday
Report
Attendance: 12,569
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Bolton Wanderers1–1Barnsley
Report
Attendance: 23,450
Referee: Andrew Kitchen

Second leg

Sheffield Wednesday5–1 (a.e.t.)Peterborough United
Report
Penalties
5–3
Attendance: 31,835
Referee: David Webb

5–5 on aggregate. Sheffield Wednesday won 5–3 on penalties.

Barnsley1–0Bolton Wanderers
Report
Attendance: 16,274

Barnsley won 2–1 on aggregate.

League One Final

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The winner of this match will join Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town in being promoted to the EFL Championship and will play in the 2023–24 EFL Championship season.

Barnsley0–1 (a.e.t.)Sheffield Wednesday
Attendance: 72,492
Referee: Tim Robinson

League Two

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League Two Semi-Finals

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The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 8 May 2023. Going into the final day, Stockport County had already secured a play-off place and could still have finished 3rd if they had won and Northampton Town failed to win in the last game of the season, due to Stockport County's superior goal difference. However, Northampton Town won against Tranmere Rovers on the final day, consigning Stockport to 4th. They subsequently drew with the already relegated Hartlepool United. Carlisle United, Salford City, and Bradford City all had 75 points on the final day with Mansfield Town still in with a chance of displacing any of them on the final day of the season should they win and one of the other 3 teams lose in enough of a goal swing. Carlisle United and Bradford City managed to secure draws with Sutton United and champions Leyton Orient respectively to secure their places. Carlisle United finished 5th due to their superior goal difference over Bradford City in 6th. However, Salford City lost 1–0 to Gillingham but just managed to secure 7th as Mansfield Town only won 2–0 against Colchester United and needed to score 1 more goal to surpass Salford City. The results ensured that Stockport County played Salford City and Carlisle United played Bradford City over 2 legs respectively.

Final league position - League Two
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
4 Stockport County 46 22 13 11 65 37 +28 79
5 Carlisle United 46 20 16 10 66 43 +23 76
6 Bradford City 46 20 16 10 61 43 +18 76
7 Salford City 46 22 9 15 72 54 +18 75

First leg

Salford City1–0Stockport County
Report
Attendance: 3,923
Referee: Tom Nield
Bradford City1–0Carlisle United
Report
Attendance: 20,575
Referee: Ross Joyce

Second leg

Stockport County2–1 (a.e.t.)Salford City
Report
Penalties
3–1
Attendance: 10,023
Referee: Ben Toner

2–2 on Aggregate. Stockport County won 3–1 on penalties.'

Carlisle United3–1 (a.e.t.)Bradford City
Report
Attendance: 15,401
Referee: Simon Mather

Carlisle United won 3–2 on aggregate.

League Two Final

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Carlisle United are promoted to EFL League One and will play in the 2023–24 EFL League One season with promoted Leyton Orient, Stevenage and Northampton Town.

Stockport County1–1 (a.e.t.)Carlisle United
Report
Penalties
4–5
Attendance: 34,004
Referee: Tom Nield

References

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  1. ^ "EFL play-offs: Fixtures, dates and schedule for Championship, League One and League Two". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 May 2023.