2022 English Football League play-offs

2022 English Football League play-offs

Wembley Stadium was the venue for each play-off final
Season	2021–22
← 2021 2023 →

The English Football League play-offs for the 2021–22 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2022 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in Wembley.

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.

All three play-off finals will use Video Assistant Referees (VAR), making it the first time that they have been used in each of the respective leagues.^[1]

Background

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.

Television

All English Football League play-off games will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. It will be simulcast on the ESPN+ streaming platform in the United States.

Championship

Semi-finals

The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2022, due to Bournemouth beating Nottingham Forest on 3 May 2022; this meant that Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town were guaranteed to finish either 3rd or 4th and in the play-offs. Sheffield United and Luton Town won their games against Fulham and Reading respectively, because of this, Middlesbrough and Millwall did not qualify for the play-offs regardless of their results. It meant that Luton played Huddersfield, and Sheffield United played Nottingham Forest in the 1st legs, and vice versa in the 2nd legs.

Final league position – Championship
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Huddersfield Town	46	23	13	10	64	47	17	82
4	Nottingham Forest	46	23	11	12	73	40	33	80
5	Sheffield United	46	21	12	13	63	45	18	75
6	Luton Town	46	21	12	13	63	55	8	75

First leg

Second leg

Huddersfield Town won 2–1 on aggregate.

3–3 on aggregate. Nottingham Forest won 3–2 on penalties.

Final

The winner, Nottingham Forest, won promotion to the top fight after more than two decades of absence, joining Fulham and Bournemouth in being promoted to the Premier League for the 2022–23 season.

League One

Semi-finals

The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 30 April 2022, Milton Keynes Dons had already guaranteed a place in the play-offs and would have been promoted if they had a better result than Rotherham United. Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland won their games against Portsmouth and Morecambe respectively to finish 4th and 5th. Wycombe Wanderers beat Burton Albion and due to Plymouth Argyle losing to MK Dons, Wycombe finished 6th and Plymouth finished 7th. It meant that Wycombe played MK Dons and Sunderland played Sheffield Wednesday in the first legs, and vice versa in the second legs.

Final league position – League One
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Milton Keynes Dons	46	26	11	9	78	44	34	89
4	Sheffield Wednesday	46	24	13	9	78	50	28	85
5	Sunderland	46	24	12	10	79	53	26	84
6	Wycombe Wanderers	46	23	14	9	75	51	24	83

First leg

Second leg

Wycombe Wanderers won 2–1 on aggregate.

Sunderland won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

League Two

Semi-finals

The final table was confirmed after the final matchday on 7 May 2022, Bristol Rovers had already secured a play-off place and could still have finished 3rd and gained automatic promotion if they bettered Northampton Town's result in the last game of the season. Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers both won their games, putting both of them on 80 points with the promoted team decided on goal difference. Due to Bristol Rovers winning their game 7–0, it put them both on a +22 goal difference, but Bristol Rovers had scored more goals than Northampton Town (71–60). This meant that against all the odds at the time, Bristol Rovers were promoted and Northampton were condemned to the play-offs. Swindon Town beat Walsall in their game, and Mansfield Town drew to champions Forest Green Rovers, which was enough to qualify for the play-offs. It meant that Mansfield Town played Northampton and Swindon Town played Port Vale in the 1st legs, and vice versa in the 2nd legs.

Final league position – League Two
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Northampton Town	46	23	11	12	60	38	22	80
5	Port Vale	46	22	12	12	67	46	21	78
6	Swindon Town	46	22	11	13	77	54	23	77
7	Mansfield Town	46	22	11	13	67	52	15	77

First leg

Second leg

Mansfield Town won 3–1 on aggregate.

2–2 on aggregate. Port Vale won 6–5 on penalties.

Final

References