Championship Play-Offs 2025/26: Dates, teams, venues, history & more

The end of season Championship play-offs provide four teams with the opportunity to be promoted to the Premier League at Wembley Stadium.

Here is everything you need to know about the 'richest game in football' - the Championship play-offs and the race for promotion to the Premier League.

Championship Play-Offs 2025/26 dates

The 2025/26 Championship play-off semi-finals dates have not been confirmed but will likely take place within two weeks of the final games of the regular season, which are scheduled for the weekend of the 2nd/3rd May 2026.

The Championship Play-off final is scheduled to take place on Saturday 23rd May 2026.

Format

The Championship play-offs are played using a simple knockout format. The teams are seeded based on finishing positions in the league, with third playing sixth and fourth playing fifth in the semi-finals.

The two higher-placed teams in the semi-final pairings will play at home in the second legs.

A simple aggregate score of the two matches decides which teams progress.

The away-goals rule does not apply and if the scores are level after the second leg, extra-time and penalties will be played until a winner is found.

The Championship play-off final will also be decided on the day, with extra-time and penalties if required.

Championship Play-Offs history

There were some wildly entertaining matches in Championship play-off finals soon after the showpiece match moved to Wembley Stadium in the 1990s. 

Some notable games were Swindon's 4-3 win over Leicester in 1993, Bolton beating Reading by the same score after extra-time two years later and an epic clash between Charlton and Sunderland in 1998, which the Addicks won on penalties after extra-time ended with the score at 4-4.

The finals between 2001 and 2006 were played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while Wembley was rebuilt.

None of the last 13 finals have produced more than three goals and both teams have scored in only three of the last 13.

While last year's play-off winner Southampton were relegated to the Championship, four of the previous five Wembley winners - Aston Villa, Fulham, Brentford and Nottingham Forest - remain in the top flight.